Beijing - Gateway to the Ancient and Modern
- Work To Wonders
- May 26
- 4 min read
Whether or not you agree with its politics and policies, there can be no doubt that China is one of the world’s great nations and a superpower. While we can’t agree with a lot that happens in relation to their government and its use of power, we can state unequivocally that this is a country that is well worth visiting.
There is a lot to see, as anyone who has seen the latest series of the BBC TV show ‘Race Across the World’ can testify. There is also a lot to learn from a country with many ancient cultures and races.
Beijing was a great place to visit. We visited its temples and gardens. We experienced its transportation. We ate its food. We paid a poignant visit to Tiananmen Square. We entered the Forbidden City, once the home of the Chinese royal family. We talked to its people, who were both friendly and hospitable.
All of these were special on their own. However, the greatest wonder we saw there was the Great Wall.
Built to keep out raiding Mongol hordes (which worked, to a degree, until the Mongols hit on the idea of bribing the guards), this ancient engineering marvel, first built in 220 BC, stretches for a dizzying 5,500 miles. Extraordinarily, some parts of it were constructed of people’s garden walls! It might not be visible from space (the legend is wrong), but this is one of the most remarkable pieces of engineering in the world and simply has to be seen to be believed.
And if you're feeling a little tired after hiking and clambering over this incredible historical monument, the Mutianyu section of the Wall has a Starbucks.
We saw a lot when we were there, but we feel like we barely scratched the surface of a truly astonishing country.
How to get there
Flights to Beijing from overseas will land at Beijing Capital Airport. As Beijing Capital is a large
international hub, there are many flights here from across the world. The airport is very well connected by metro and bus to downtown.
Visas will be needed for any stay longer than 10 days, or any visit that will take you outside designated areas, or for any purpose other than tourism. Google your local Chinese Embassy to apply.
Important note: If you plan to visit Xinjiang or Tibet, it’s important to clear this with your local Chinese Embassy before you travel and be prepared to meet obstacles along the way. They are not part of the 10-day transit visa.
How we did it
When we were there, it was on a brief stopover on our way to the Philippines through Hong Kong. By virtue of the fact that we had a flight booked to a third country (for the purposes of our visa, Hong Kong counted as a third country), we were able to stay in the country for 72 hours visa-free. The Chinese government has now extended this to 240 hours (10 days).
However, our airline did not know this. They looked for a visa in our passport when we tried to check in. It took a call to Beijing to clarify the policy. If you want to use this policy, we strongly recommend that you take a printout of this document with you when you check in with your airline and follow the instructions in it very carefully. If there are any disputes at check-in, ask your airline to call Chinese Immigration to verify it.
We also made a mistake. We stayed at an apartment hotel. This meant that we had to lose the best part of half a day to go with someone from the apartment hotel to register us with the police: larger hotels can do this themselves; smaller ones and apartment hotels have to do it in person with the tourist physically present. If you don’t want to avoid this inconvenience, we recommend that you stay at a hotel and check with them first if you will need to register in person with the police.
Flights: Hainan Airlines
Transport: Beijing Subway - fast, efficient, and, despite the city’s size, it didn’t feel overcrowded.
Tours: We did it all ourselves - including to the Great Wall. We visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall as it has excellent transport connections from Beijing.
To see a map of the places we visited, click here.
Our top tips
Be prepared also for a level of security in Beijing airports that far outstrips anything we have seen
at any other airport anywhere. Your bags will be scanned multiple times by security before you even reach your gate. You are also likely to be hand-searched at the gate itself. For this reason, we cannot recommend Beijing airports, or indeed any airports in China, for international transit flights where you won’t be leaving the airport. It’s just too stressful.
You will be behind the ‘Great Firewall of China’ for the entire duration of your trip. Google, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, along with any other Western app, will not function without a VPN. Come prepared.
Separate your feelings about Chinese people from whatever you think about their government. The people we met in Beijing were polite, warm, considerate and hospitable, despite coming from an enormous city. They were one of the highlights of our trip.
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