Not a list of everything — a short list of what's worth your limited time, with the practical notes we give our own guests.
The best all-round section of the Wall near Beijing: fully restored Ming-dynasty ramparts snaking through forested mountains, with 20+ watchtowers and far thinner crowds than Badaling. A cable car takes you up, and a summer toboggan run brings you down — which children (and most adults) rate as the day's highlight.
The world's largest palace complex — 980 buildings across 72 hectares — home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors for nearly 500 years. Walk the central axis through its ceremonial halls, then drift into the quieter eastern courtyards. Book exactly 7 days ahead with your passport; it sells out and is closed Mondays.
The triple-tiered, deep-blue Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is Beijing's most elegant building — an altar where emperors performed rites for the year's crops. Come in the morning and the surrounding park is full of tai chi, ribbon dancers and chess players: the best free show in the city.
The Qing court's lakeside retreat: temple-topped Longevity Hill, the 728-metre painted Long Corridor, and Kunming Lake with its arched Seventeen-Arch Bridge. It's a garden on an imperial scale — rent a boat in summer or walk the causeways in golden autumn light.
Beijing's surviving grid of grey-brick alleys, where courtyard homes, tiny noodle shops and bar-lined lakes carry on regardless of the skyscrapers beyond. Explore on foot or by rickshaw, then stay for dinner — the area pairs naturally with a Peking duck restaurant.
The artificial hill directly north of the Forbidden City, raised from its moat's earth six centuries ago. Ten minutes of steps buy you the definitive Beijing panorama: the entire palace laid out in golden roofs, with the modern city rising behind. Sunset is the photographer's slot.
Want them without the logistics? Our Beijing day tour links the essentials door-to-door, and the 3 days journey covers the full set at a relaxed pace.