Beijing Things to Do Tips by geekgrrl

I was not prepared to be as awestruck and amazed as I was upon viewing the Great Wall. Even with the huge crowds that were there when we were, the Great Wall was one of the most magnificent sites I have ever seen. The way the Wall snaked up and down (sometimes very steeply) and around so that it was difficult to follow it, as far as the eye could see was breath-taking.

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Address: At Badaling north of Beijing
Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/index.htm

Center of Beijing
This place is as mammoth as everyone says. Normal tours take you down through the center of the city which takes a couple of hours. We went back on a free day and spent 6 hours (much to our surprise) wandering the palaces on both the east and west side. I enjoyed the east side the most.
This photo is taken from the northeast side outside the City to try and get a sense of how huge the Forbidden City really is.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

This is a rather interesting museum containing some 200 really unusual clocks from all over the world that had been given as gifts to various emperors. The entrance is located to the east of the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

This has some wonderful porcelain pieces from 200BC. I was most impressed with actually seeing some real Ming Porcelain.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

This square is impressive if only for its sheer size. On the morning we were there, it was terribly crowded. I was amazed at the line to enter the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall to view Mao's body. On the north side is the Forbidden City. South is Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. West is the Great Hall of the People.

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Directions: In the very center of Beijing
Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/tianan.htm

It was so peaceful even with the hoards of tourists in Beijing, and was a delight. Thirteen out of the 16 Ming emperors are buried in this valley. Chongling's tomb is one of two tombs open to the public. The others are not restored. At the entrance to Chongling's tomb there is a smaller version of the Hall of Supreme Tranquility of the Forbidden City. This is a museum and houses some of the relics from the tombs: gold chopsticks, plates, head pieces, crowns, etc. The hall is held up with single tree columns. We walked up one huge level of the tomb from which we could see one of the other tombs in the distance.

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Address: Between Beijing and Badaling.
Directions: Most tours to the Great Wall stop here.
Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/ming_tomb.htm

This is one of the first buildings on the Sacred Way. It houses a 50-ton stone tortoise supporting a stone tablet. On each of the four corners of the grounds surrounding this pavilion is a large stone monument.

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Address: Between Beijing and Badaling
Directions: Most tours to the Great Wall stop here.
Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/ming_tomb.htm

A beautiful pedestrian avenue with 12 pairs of large stone animals and 6 pairs of warriors that represent the funeral cortege of the deceased emperors buried here. These were carved around 1540.

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Address: Between Beijing and Badaling
Directions: Most tours to the Great Wall stop here
Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/ming_tomb.htm

There are 11 unrestored tombs in this valley. Our guide took us by two of them.

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Address: Between Beijing and Badaling
Directions: In the Ming Tomb valley. Hopefully a guide will know how to get to these.
Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/ming_tomb.htm

The Summer Palace was not as pleasant as it might have been. It was horrendously crowded, and even our guide was amazed. We wandered through quickly, seeing many of the things we had read about. This would be an interesting place to spend a day when there were no crowds.

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Address: Northwest of Beijing
Website: http://www.summerpalace-china.com
Other Contact: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/