Overview
Beijing has been a capital for much of the last eight centuries, and the old city was laid out on a strict north-south axis that still orders its centre. Around that ceremonial core of palace, square and temple has grown a metropolis of more than twenty million, ringed by expressways and served by a vast subway. Winters are cold and dry, spring and autumn are the kind seasons, and the great sights are spread far enough apart that a few unhurried days suit the city best.
Highlights
The Forbidden City opens off Tiananmen Square as the vast former imperial palace, and the round Temple of Heaven sits in its park to the south. The Summer Palace offers lake and garden on the city’s edge, while the old hutong lanes around the Drum Tower keep the low-rise courtyard city alive. Day trips reach the Great Wall at Mutianyu or Badaling, the most-visited restored sections within easy range of the capital.