Beijing Travel Tips 2025: Things to Know Before You Go

China’s modern and ancient capital, Beijing is one of the iconic and oldest cities in the world. On many people’s travel wish list, the sprawling city of Beijing offers a lot for international travelers to see, do, eat and experience. There are so many reasons to travel to Beijing. But before you take your first trip to Beijing, it is really helpful to know when to go, best places to visit, what to eat, how to travel around, and safety guide. To help you save time, money and a great deal of effort, we come up Beijing travel tips that cover essential details on how everything goes.

When to Go - Best time to visit Beijing

What is the best time of the year to visit the capital city Beijing? May, September and October are the best months for paying a visit while autumn the greatest season; since Beijing has continental climate with long hot summer days as well as dry & cold winter weather condition.But the truth is: Touring Beijing in different seasons and you get quite varied scenes. Spring is the season with green vegetation and blooming flowers and the terrible sandstorms less and less now; the summer always hot and tourist’s crowds everywhere; autumn is cool and comfortable with amazing views all around, and a hiking along the great wall is pleasant. The snow-covered season bring special activities like skiing, skating, snow sightseeing, and great hot pot as well as fewer tourists.

High seasons in China:

• Labor Day (May 1, 3 days duration)

• National Day (October 1, 7 days duration)

• School Holidays: Summer holiday (June-September) and Winter holiday (January-February)

Is it safe to travel to Beijing China? - Beijing Safety Tips

Beijing is a pretty safe city and the dangers in most common are normally more of getting tricked, misdirected and ripped off in terms of money than crimes like having a gun or knife put on your back.

Just looking both sides when crossing the street, even on pedestrian or zebra lines, pay attention and walk with the crowds.

Watch your belongings when sight seeing or just walking at the subway, malls, restaurants and don't leave your coats or bags unattended.

In some metro or train stations in Beijing city, an X-ray machine or scanner check are needed.

China's Emergency Call Numbers:

Hospitals and Medical Services in Beijing

The capital of China, Beijing has the most advanced medical system, with different levels of hospitals and pharmacis everywhere. For foreign travelers, there are 29 advanced-level hospitals having special foreign clinics and highly recommended by local foreigners and expats in Beijing.

Beijing United Family Hospital (北京和睦家医院)

Address: 2 Jiangtai Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Tel: 010-59277000

Beijing Tongren Hospital (北京同仁医院)

Address: No.2, Chongwenmen Street (inner), Beijing

Tel: 010-65129911

Peking Union Medical College Hospital (北京协和医院)

Address: 1 Shuaifuyuan, Wangfujing, Dongcheng District

Tel: 010-65295284

China-Japan Friendship Hospital (中日友好医院)

Address: No.A2, Cherry Road, Heping Street

Tel: 010-64221122, 010-64222965

Beijing Chaoyang Hospital (北京朝阳医院)

Address: No.8, Baijiazhuang Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.

Tel: 010-85231000

Exolore Beijing by public transport

Beijing is less expensive than many other Western cities, still it is not cheap for tourists. So you’re suggested to take public transport in the city if you have a tight budget.

Beijing’s public transport is very convenient and considered to be one of the best ways to explore the city. There are city bus, subway, taxi, tourist bus, long-distance bus, and bus to the Great Wall.

As of December 2019, there are 23 subway lines, plus 15 subway lines are under construction in Beijing. It is cheap to travel with subway that link almost all Beijing attractions, hospitals, train stations, hospitals, shopping malls and parks.

What to buy in Beijing - Beijing shopping tips

There are many famed malls and market places in Beijing and shopping brings really great fun in this big city. There is great variety of clothes, toys, watches, DVDs, jewelries at local shops.To avoid being ripped off, always bargain for the desired items (except at the major department stores); when shopping at street-sides shops near tourist sites you could quote the price to 10% of the original. Generally the shopkeepers will give a counter offer but straight faced and maintain your price with big smiles.To keep it easy, just stick to your price and pretend walk away; and if you felt the price too high or something unusual just walk away and shop around.

Fakes goods are easy to find although government has tried fair efforts; many a famous brand name, like Tommy, Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, etc. Some of the fakes are obviously just a plain sweat shirt with a Versace logo embroidered across it.Do not be fooled. Don't pay anything like the brand name price, just offer your quote based on its quality. The most popular places for shopping in Beijing are, Xiushui(Silk) Market, Hongqiong Market, Wangfujing street, Panjiayuan Market, Xidan, Qianmen Street, etc.

>> recommended 3-day Beijing Shopping Tour

Eating in Beijing

Beijing is a city full of ancient relics as well as great foods around. We suggest you try authentic Chinese cuisine in Beijing. Eating in Beijing range from the simple street stand to the small family owned restaurant or the big imported chain stores. Local Beijing Cuisine is a cooking style based on Shangdong cuisine and the essences of the imperial cuisine of Ming and Qing dynasties; Beijing dishes are soft, crisp, fresh and tender prepared in different ways of frying. 

Beijing Roast Duck is the represent ivies of Beijing food, which is mostly prized for the thin, crispy skin, though the meat is fat, it is tender and tasty, not greasy. Quanjude, Da Dong or Cheap Place are famous local roast duck restaurants. Dumplings, the most famous food in China, come in a variety of fillings and are steamed, boiled or fried to suit different tastes. Copper pot shabu-shabu and fried noodles are local Beijing favorites. Doughnuts and soy milk are the traditional breakfast. For vegetarian and Muslim tourists, Beijing has many delicious halal and vegetarian restaurants.

Delicious regional cuisine, from Sichuan Smoked Duck to Cantonese Snake Soup, can be accompanied by Tsingtao beer, tea or wines from around the world.

>> recommended 5-day Beijing Food Tour

Nightlife in Beijing

Beijing offers varied amusement at night.

Sanlitun Bar Street and Houhai Ba Area are the most popular places if you want to visit a bar, frequently visited by many foreign customers and you won't feel out of place.

There also some fun and interesting shows available at night, like Pecking Opera, Kungfu Show and acrobatics. Pecking Opera is the traditional opera in Beijing; actors have various colors painted on their face in the show, reflecting each character's heart. Except the colorful makeup, there are many different bright costume and exaggerated eye movements and body gestures, dancing and acrobatic jumps with fans or swords are common. Laoshe Tea House is another place to experience Chinese traditional culture with superb tea cuisine and impressive performances. Kungfu, acrobatics, dance, and tea ceremony will be shown everyday.

Family Travel Tips to Beijing

With proper hiking distances, cable cars, and toboggan, the Mutianyu Great Wall is suitable for families with children. And at the Forbidden City, you can hear stories of Chinese emperors and discover many treasures. Getting up close and personal with pandas at the Beijing Zoo, boating in the Summer Palace, flying kites or playing Tai Chi at the Temple of Heaven will also bring lots of fun family time. Want to experience local culture and art? In the hutongs, you can learn Chinese, make dumplings and cut paper. In the 798 Art District, children and parents can immerse themselves in local art from around the world and China.

Looking for ideas for delicious Beijing food to eat? Your child should enjoy dumplings, fried rice, fried noodles, jianbing guozhi, Kung Pao chicken, mixed sauce noodles, Beijing Roast Duck, etc. There are also great Western restaurants in Beijing.

Beijing Travel Tips for Senior Travelers

For seniors with weak legs, Badaling Great Wall has wheelchair friendly access and cable cars. For ACTIVE seniors, take on the challenge of hiking the Mutianyu and Jinshanling Great Wall for photography. At the Temple of Heaven you can see many local seniors playing chess, dancing, and playing Tai Chi - you can join them too! At the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, our professional guides can give you an insight into Chinese history, culture and art. Take a rickshaw ride through the hutong alleys and learn about the lives of Beijing's locals. Also, enjoy the modern architecture of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube.

Festivals in Beijing

Temple fairs are the held in Beijing during lunar New Year in the most parks or temple areas of the city. You will find many stalls selling local snacks, food or the games stalls with range of souvenir. Cultural performances are also the highlight; traditional games like yangko dance, stilt-walking dance, land boat dance, lion dance, traditional flower fair, folk arts and craft exhibition, traditional local food enjoying, painting exhibition are held in traditional ways. This is also the old way of celebrating Spring Festival.

National Day is the day that makes the city crowd, with most of the Chinese on holiday and thousands of them visit the city. It will be difficult to enjoy a scenic spots, and hard to transfer in or out of Beijing. We do recommend you avoid the Oct.1st- 7th.