Faris

I`ll visit Beijing 15th of November..Is it snowy in November.. I`ll stay for 6 days.I have a list for most of tourist attractions in Beijing which I collected from the net.I want to complete most of them.I would be grateful if you divide according to distance between each other.If I missed any other important place?? Is all worth visiting?? Thanks

1- Aviation Museum
2- Beijing World Park
3- Badaling Great Wall
4- Ming Tombs
5- The Forbidden City
6- Beihai Park
7- Tiananmen Square
8- Summer Palace
9- Temple of Heaven
10- Yuan Dynasty Dadu City Wall Relics Park
11- Fragrant Hills Park (Xiangshan Gongyuan )
12- Cherry Valley Botanical Garden
13- Jingshan Park
14- Shidu
15- Jingdong Grand Canyon
16- Black Bamboo Park
17- YuanMing Yuan Park
18- Purple Bamboo Prk ( Zizhu Yuan )
19- Lugou Bridge
20- Long Qing Xia ( LongQing Gorge)
21- zhongshan Park
22- Niu Jie Mosque
23- National Stadium (Bird's Nest).
24- Lama Temple
25- Houhai/Shichahai District for the old hutongs, Drum/Bell Towers, Gulou Street
26- Capital Museum

Iowa_Redhead

Oy, that's quite a list and <b>way</b> too much for 6 days. I would suggest narrowing that down to your top 10-15 places. What is worth visiting is entirely up to you and your interests. I spent most of a day in the Forbidden City and could have happily stayed longer, but I adore history and architecture. Other people might go through it in half a day at most. Once you narrow down your list, look up where places are on a map and coordinate the places that are closest together.

Weather in November... I was there in late December and it wasn't really even snowy then. Dress in layers (a base layer like Cuddle Duds or underarmor is wonderful and very lightweight). Many of the public buildings are not nearly a heated as what I'm used to at home so I would have been chilly inside without my cuddle duds on. I think wind was most of the issue in December.


3 - Great Wall: Badaling is the closest section and the easiest to walk. Because of that, it's also usually the busiest section. GreatWallForum.com is a good resource for more information about the Wall.

5, 7 - Forbidden City, Tian. Square: This can be a few hours to an entire day. I spent most of a day in the FC and returned to the Square a couple times while I was in Beijing. Start at the north and walk south through the FC towards Tiananmen Square. That will set you up to cross under the street and go into the Square. The Square is great for people watching, but I don't think you're allowed to sit down.

8 - Summer Palace: I think this was a half day (morning) visit for me. In December, I really didn't find it that interesting. Other people love it. There's a Metro stop very close to the entrance.

9 - Temple of Heaven: I visited here for an hour or two one afternoon. It was a very nice, relaxing stroll through a park area.

24 - Lama Temple: I must have been tired this day. I spent an hour or two here and was not that impressed/interested. Other people absolutely love this place. There's a Metro stop nearby.

25 - Drum/Bell Towers: The Bell Tower was closed for construction when I visited in December, but the Drum tower was a lot of fun as I got there just before a drum performance. Counting the performance and the crazy steep stairs going up the tower, I think I was there for around half an hour or so.


The Beijing Night Market - think scorpion on a stick. It's in the Wanfujing area and would only take a little bit to wander by late in the evening. Very fun photos, though I would suggest the cantaloupe or mixed fruit on a stick.

I had fun at the Silk Market and the Pearl Market. However I also wanted to purchase trinkets and pretty but cheap jewelry. If shopping and being mobbed isn't your thing, avoid these as the salesgirls are a bit rabid. If you go, do NOT pay full price. I generally ended up paying 10-30% of their first asking price at the market stalls. Negotiating price is very easy as they all have a 4 function calculator and you both just type in your price.

Get a pass for the Metro, it's very handy so that you don't have to buy an individual ticket each time.

Definitely cut down on the number of places you want to visit. You might want to plan out each day and leave a lot of wiggle room so that if you love one place you don't have to keep moving in order to see all 5 places on that day's schedule. Hit the places you most want to see in an area of the city first in the day, and then if you still have time then add in the places that would be nice to visit.

alan43

Thanks Iowa_Redhead for your list. I'll be in Beijing in a couple of weeks for 6 days and your information was invaluable to me.

rkkwan

Tell you the truth, you're not going to get too much help with a question like this on this or another forum I've seen your post. And your post on Guangzhou here receives no reply.

For preliminary work, you should buy a guide book or consult some online local guides. Look a a map, group the ones together, filter some down, and then post a rough itinerary. Then ask for comments whether that's doable and other places to add/delete.

Throwing out a list of 25 places with no particular order is not going to get you far on forums like this.

angel1

Thanks Iowa_Redhead.
It will also help me in finalizing itinerary in Beijing from 5th to 9th Nov. Due to limited time, we have booked a hotel in the nearby area of Tiananmen Sq. Feeling great! The word "Journey" has a new meaning, and includes meticulous planning before traveling.

NoFlyZone

Warning: meticulous planning results oftentimes in missing the best part of travel: serendipity. Do NOT overplan!

Iowa_Redhead

Angel1,

I'll second NoFlyZone's warning. Plan, but don't overplan.

I always have to watch myself with that one because I LOVE to plan things out to the final detail so that I get the most out of my time. That's great, but who wants to be on a rigid schedule on vacation?

One thing that I've found works for me is to research like crazy ahead of time and organize a <i>very</i> loose schedule. I mainly lay things out by neighborhood and what days/times they're open, with a loose estimate of how much time I might want to spend there (an hour or two, half a day or an entire day). It works well for me because I keep myself moving so that I don't miss out on something I really wanted to see, but I've left enough time that I never feel like I'm hurrying or missing out.


I stayed in the T Square area and loved it. The Metro was close and fantastic. Have fun!

EllenLM

Iowa_Redhead has given you terrific advice. I'd suggest you plan for one destination per day, allowing yourself time to simply wander and relish all that is Beijing. That way, you won't feel pressured to see-a-place, check-it-off-the-list, and run-to-the-next-place. You'll want time to enjoy the unexpected--for example, depending on the weather, you may just want to sit and look rather than race through a spot and move on. One of my favorite places to sit and look is at the Temple of Heaven, which is a huge park that on a weekend morning may have church choirs singing, children flying kites, adolescents enjoying the Chinese version of hacky-sack, musicians playing traditional instruments, women line-dancing, and whole lot more that will simply put a smile on your face. Furthermore, traffic is unpredictable, so allow yourself extra time and patience.

angel1

I will definitely give enough time to sink in the chinese culture. I thought 4 days would be a enough time for a single city. And we want to cover all must-sees.
Is it possible to cover city in 2 days and other two days, 1 for Badaling and 1 for Mutianyu? After reading about great wall, it seems that both places should be visited.

Iowa_Redhead

Angel1,

I wouldn't even try to cover the city in just 2 days. I never have jetlag issues but even I wanted my bed early that first day or two. I also wouldn't visit both Badaling and Mutianyu. While the two places are different, I think that the experience is similar enough that I wouldn't want to double up when you're soooo limited on time. If you're going to go to Mutianyu, I wouldn't (pardon the phrase) waste the time to go to Badaling.


I haven't been to either (I spent the day at Jinshanling section) but I've seen pictures. Badaling looked to be completely "renovated" (read that as "redone to the point of losing all historical interest") complete with handrails on the sides. Badaling is excellent if you have mobility issues and/or very limited time. I think most people choose to spend a couple hours on this trip at most, but check on the GreatWallForum for more info on specifics.

Mutianyu is often considered to be a very nice middle ground. It's not a difficult walk but probably not the best idea if someone has any mobility issues. It's also a little further out from the city requiring either a bus ride or hiring a car and driver. There are many bus trips that will spend a lot of time at shops on the way there and/or back, and there are also bus trips that spend little or no time at shops. Depending on your interests, budget and number of people, hiring a car and driver might be the best idea.

I went to Jinshanling section for a day and loved it. I'm not in the best shape in the world and had no problems, but I definitely would not recommend it to anyone with mobility issues. My legs HURT the next couple days from all of the steep steps and uneven surfaces. A private car and driver was 700 CNY (approx $100) but was entirely worth the expense as we departed and returned on my schedule and I got to talk to Joe (the driver) the entire time and that was fantastic.

Again, I haven't been to either Badaling or Mutianyu, so check the GreatWallForum for better info on those places. I absolutely loved my day on the Wall and plan to return eventually. However, I really do think that you'd miss out on a lot that Beijing has to offer if you spent two days on the Wall. I would suggest one day of your six on the Wall and would suggest that you pick the section depending on your health and mobility (Badaling if you have mobility issues, otherwise Mutianyu or even Jinshanling).

trebex

For the Wall, take a look at Beijing Hikers and see if they have anything the week you are there. I took a hike with them to a village about 90 minutes from the city, then we ate lunch right underneath the wall and then had a chance to visit a remote section of it. We were a group of around 20 and had it entirely to ourselves. It's a much better alternative to the most visited sections.

Personally, I didn't see the big deal with the Forbidden City, though many will disagree. And the Temple of Heaven is definitely worth a visit, though you may be sharing it with thousands of other people. The Lama Temple is more peaceful, and there is another right nearby whose name I can't think of at this moment.

I really liked the Summer Palace and it is a good place to watch the sunset. The Fragrant Hills Park is nearby, and mid-November may be prime time to see the changing leaves. See the Bird's Nest at night, the best time to go.

The Police Museum, near Tiananmen Square makes for an interesting hour or so. Try to stay in a hutong, far better than in a high-rise hotel. I stayed in the Dongcheng area, which is near the Lama Temple and the Drum and Bell Towers. It is also near the Nanlugo Xiang, a pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants. For easy eats, go to the mall at Wanfujiang, where you'll find everything from fast food to upscale Chinese places, all with English menus.

Faris

Thanks alot Iowa_Redhead

Faris

Thanks Trebex