北京烤鸭
Peking duck
A whole bird, carved at the table, wrapped with scallion and sauce. One duck feeds two or three. Order it at a restaurant that still bothers to carve, not a picture on a laminate.
北京 · 4 days, plus the Wall
Beijing
Beijing is the history lesson with a subway map. Give it four days in the city and one more for the Wall. The good meals are not inside the ticket gate.
Stay near
Dongcheng, for the palace and the lanes
Give it
Four days, and a fifth for the Wall
Book first
Forbidden City, up to 7 days ahead
Watch for
Monday closures and winter air
Base yourself in Dongcheng if you want to walk to the palace and the hutongs. Sanlitun is easier for international food and a louder night. The subway is the way across town. Save the Chinese name of the hotel before you get in a car.
Do the Forbidden City on a booked morning, the Temple of Heaven or the Lama Temple after lunch, and a hutong walk when the tour groups have chosen one café street and stood in it. The Summer Palace is a half day in the northwest. Mutianyu is its own day.
Winter air can erase the Wall. Check it the night before and keep one indoor day — a museum, a duck — that does not depend on the sky.
Eat this, not a poster of it
What Beijing actually tastes like
炸酱面
Zhajiangmian
Wheat noodles with a salty fermented soybean sauce. The honest weekday lunch.
煎饼
Jianbing
A crisp street crepe for breakfast, eaten too hot, before the offices fill.
The sights
Where to go, and whether you can just show up.
Passport reservation
Forbidden City
The palace museum. Real-name tickets open seven days out, and same-day entry is not sold.
Passport reservation
Mutianyu Great Wall
The straightforward Wall day: restored, scenic, and reserved under your passport.
Reserve a time
Temple of Heaven
A park and an altar. The Hall of Prayer is the ticket people mean.
Reserve a time
Summer Palace
A lake, a long corridor, and a half day in the northwest.
Passport reservation
Lama Temple
A working Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the middle of the city.