Beijing

travel time: October 2024

After an overnight flight, we arrived in Beijing early in the morning. We quickly dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed into town. Our first stop was Wangfujing Street, known for its many shops and, according to what we had read, the famous “Snack Street”. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the snack street anywhere, and after checking online, we came across a comment from another traveler mentioning that it no longer exists.

Beijing Subway

Beijing at night

Feeling tired and a bit disappointed, we returned to the hotel, checked in, and took a quick power nap. Refreshed, we took the subway to the Summer Palace, a huge park with lakes, palaces and a pagoda. Due to a lack of research, we exited the subway at the wrong stop (West Gate), which led to an unexpected walk through the entire park before reaching the pagoda, the Tower of Buddhist Incense. By the time we arrived, darkness had already begun to set in, but we still enjoyed the view from the pagoda.

In complete darkness, we made our way through the park to a closer subway entrance and returned to the area near our hotel for a well-deserved dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Red lanterns at Summer Palace

Bridge at Summer Palace

In Beijing, we planned to visit the Forbidden City, along with approximately 80,000 other visitors, the maximum number allowed each day. Upon arriving at the subway station, we were met with a massive line, as everyone had to go through security checks just to get near the Forbidden City. It was clear that this part of Beijing is the city’s (and also world's 🤪) most visited tourist attractions, with lines at nearly every turn.

Once inside the Forbidden City, we explored the magnificent buildings that were, for centuries, accessible only to a select people. While the central tourist route was packed with visitors, making it difficult to fully appreciate the surroundings, we found that venturing off to the side buildings offered a more peaceful experience with far fewer people.

Forbidden City People

Entrance Forbidden City

Gate at Forbidden City

Crowded Forbidden City

Waiting lines Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Traditional Chinese women

On our way to the Drum and Bell Towers, we stopped at a restaurant where Alex finally had the chance to try the famous Peking Duck—and it did not disappoint. The Drum and Bell Towers have an intriguing history, having served as the city's official timekeepers for many years.

Our final stop of the day was the Lama Temple, a sprawling complex of Buddhist temples. Free incense sticks were handed out to visitors, and the air in front of each temple was thick with fragrant smoke from the burning incense. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, especially admiring the massive statue inside one of the temples.

Buddhists

Praying people

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit Tian’anmen Square or the Temple of Heaven, as we hadn’t booked tickets in advance, and by the time we arrived, all tickets had already been sold out.