We decided to go to China’s Capital over a 3-day week-end. We heard some bad recommendations about the fact that it will be overcrowded due to National Day’s festivities. However, we didn’t have too many tourists and were able to (re)-discover (for me) this incredible city with an amazing weather. Just be aware before going that speaking basic Mandarin can be a real advantage as most people there don’t understand English (taxis, restaurant staff etc.)

We arrived in our typical decorated hostel (#kitsch) around 2 am in the morning. We had our tour plan to the Great Wall on the next day. Book in advance your tour and schedule a whole day for this trip as the wall is minimum 20 km outside of the city (depending on the section you choose). We avoided the crowd of the touristic Badaling part of the wall and preferred the Jinshanling/Simatai section, with stiff stairs and a real hiking spirit. Be prepared to get early (6:30am) and to spend some time in the badly renowned traffic jam of the city. Except that, the Great Wall is an amazing thing to climb with beautiful landscape to admire. Think of wearing good snickers or hiking shoes and if you want to feel like local tourists, adopt like us some panda hats.

Happy Dragon Backpackers Hostel (5/10): except the location in the Dongcheng district (with 2/3 subway lines nearby), I won’t recommend it as the staff is not friendly or helping at all!

Great Wall Tour with Beijing Local tour (8/10): a Chinese lunch is also included – Around US$50 per person.

Tip 1: It seems that you can go on your own by subway but the task is quite difficult without many indications to follow and takes more time.

Tip 2: it seems to be not worth going to see the Ming Tombs, much more a touristic trap than other thing

After this exhausting day we had a Chinese burger and sausages in a typical restaurant near our hotel and then just wandered in the streets to Tiananmen Square. Visiting it and the surrounding of the Forbidden City by night was a good and less crowded experience and I’d recommend to do it if you have some time.

Chinese Restaurant (7/10): At the crossroad of Dongsi West Street and Wangfujing Street – cheap but good quality – try the Chinese burger and the litchee smoothie #yummy.

The second day was reserved for the magnificent Forbidden City (or the Palace Museum as it was recently renamed …). On our way, we discovered a small pastry #gem for breakfast. As you can imagine, you may want to head early to the Forbidden city to avoid the afternoon crowd. The audio guide is useful as you wandered through this historical monument. Once you visited the 9,000 rooms, head-up to the Jingshan Park and climb up the hill to discover the #palace from the top.

Pastry shop (9/10): just next to the entrance of Dongzhimen metro station – Try their mocha and passion fruit juices with some delicious French/Chinese pastries (yes, believe me!)

You can complete the tour of the area with a visit in the Hutongs, old lanes and alleys where Beijing residents live that form the heart of Old Beijing. You may visit them by cycling or even booking a tour to have access to some secret gardens and houses (you can also have a lunch with local people). You can take the opportunity to be in the area to go visit the Bell and Drum towers in the neighborhood. For lunch, we had a wonderful Korean Barbecue but you can go for the typical Pekin Duck (avoid the touristic Da Dong Roast Duck and prefer a smaller restaurant where you can also view the kitchen for a less expensive price) or some incredible dumplings (cf. below) or even the Imperial chicken recommended by a friend of us as her preferred Chinese dish while she was living there.

Korean Barbecue (8/10): on Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng area

Da Dong Roast Duck: DongChengQu WangFuJing DaJie 301Hao Jing Xin Lv DaSha LiuCeng

Bell and Drum Towers:  9 Zhonglouwan Hutong

Some Chinese dishes recommendations from my friend Yuna:

Baoyuan Dumplings

Gong Bao ji ding kung pao Chiken

We visited the Back Lakes area at night, a very pleasant place to have a walk, a dinner and some drinks. If you want to try food novelties, be audacious and eat a donkey burger. Find a nice rooftop to try a #Chinesebeer and have a top view on the lakes. You can even do a boat tour on the lakes but these are quite expensive for what it is (around HK$700/person).

Wang Pang Zi Donkey Burger (7/10): honestly, it tastes like less salty duck, but you have to try it once.

Our last day was dedicated to the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. Former Imperial residence, the Summer Palace is very beautiful with some water areas in and around it. The crowd is there too unfortunately. Try the typical Chinese pancake ‘jian bing’ as a street food breakfast – I must admit I looked for it for 3 days asking to everybody where to find some when there was tiny shop selling some just opposite to our hostel. Finally, go to the Temple of Heaven and visit the park just next to the monuments for a refreshing visit between the trees. We ended the Chinese culinary tour with a typical #hotpot which was good without being exceptional.

Jianbing: ask people in the street where you can find some…good luck!

Summer Palace (7/10): Get there by subway. 

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With large streets and many green spots, Beijing is surprisingly a fresh and huge city! I guess we are now used to Hong Kong small streets and packed environment, giving us an airy feel of the Chinese Capital. You can grasp a good overview of the city in 3 / 4 days so don’t hesitate to go for it.