Given a strict time limit in China for visa-free transit, I was on a mission to see as much as I could with 24 hours in Beijing. Of course, this post is purely introductory. 24 hours is not nearly enough to experience what the bustling city has to offer, let alone scratch the surface.
But if you’re like me and wanted to see the Great Wall of China without applying for a complicated China travel visa, this quick introductory guide will be useful! Whether you’ve found yourself with a layover in Beijing or you’re making the most of the visa-free transit policy, here’s my recommendations on how to spend 24 hours in Beijing.
What to do in Beijing with such little time?
There are essentially 3 main tourist attractions that deserve a spot 24 hours in Beijing itinerary: the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, and.….. The Great Wall! Beijing has tons more to do and see, but you can’t miss these three.
Below, I put information for public transportation options to arrive at each destination when applicable. However, I highly, highly recommend hiring a driver for your short time in the city. It’s pricier to hire a driver, but it saves you loads of time. I hear public transportation is difficult to navigate for non-Mandarin speakers, and you’re bound to waste time figuring it out when you could be spending that precious time seeing Beijing.
8 a.m.: Visit The Temple of Heaven
This stunning complex is one of Beijing’s most important imperial templates. It was constructed in the early 1400s and was the meeting point for emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Arriving here early gives you the opportunity to see the interesting morning meetups that happen here. We saw groups of women who were dancing to serene music scattered throughout the park, and groups of dozens of older men lined up along benches playing cards and other games.
How to get to The Temple of Heaven:
Take the subway line 5 to Tiantan East Gate Station (天坛东门 in Mandarin). Take exit A1 or A2 as it will lead you to the entrance of The Temple of Heaven where you can buy tickets. Entrance tickets cost 10-15 RBM ($1-2 USD) depending on the time of visit.
I’d suggest budgeting anywhere from half an hour to two hours at the Temple of Heaven. It’s a large complex with many happenings to observe.
10 a.m.: Head to Tiananmen Square
This is the revolutionary heart of China, or at least Beijing. It’s infamous in history textbooks for being the site of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre where pro-democracy, student-led protests took place, and where a number in between 180-10,000 deaths occurred (Google says so, not sure why there’s such a wide disparity there). Being a political science graduate and a girl who is generally very fascinated by political/social uprisings, this was really important for me to see on our Beijing trip.
But even if you’re not fascinated by politics, it’s still a must-see on any one-day itinerary in Beijing. The square is massive – it’s actually the sixth biggest city square in the whole world. It was powerful to try to close my eyes and imagine this exact scene only a few decades ago when the tragic events took place.
Don’t miss seeing some of the most important sights in Tiananmen Square, such as the National Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.
Something to keep in mind before visiting is that there’s a ton of safety checks and armed guards here. You have to pass through a security checkpoint to enter. They looked through our bag and checked out passports when we entered. I’m not sure if that’s the norm all the time. Be prepared for it though.
You’re not allowed to bring food into the square, but there are vendors inside. You should eat a substantial meal at this point since the next few hours will be quite busy with activities.
How to get to Tiananmen Square:
This square is so huge that it has 3 subway stops! Line 1 (the red line) will take you to the Tiananmen Square East and Tiananmen Square West subway stops, placing you on different portions of the square.
Line 2 (the blue line) will take you to Qianmen Station on the southern side of the square.
10:30 a.m.: Walk over to The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City is located on the northern side of Tiananmen Square, so it’s easy to move from one to the next. It’s an absolutely massive imperial palace (the largest palatial structure in the world) that served as the official Chinese imperial palace for almost 500 years. Also, it’s the best-preserved imperial palace in all of China. The Forbidden City is certainly the most popular with tourists too, 14 million people visit it annually!
In all, the Forbidden City covers 180 acres of land space with almost 1,000 different buildings. Unfortunately, it’s simply too large and takes too long to visit to include going inside in this guide for 24 hours in Beijing. We took a gander at the entrance to the Forbidden City, and left to head to the Great Wall.
Alternatively:
You can choose to skip the first stop, the Temple of Heaven, and come straight here so you can see Tiananmen Square quickly before entering the Forbidden City. If you chose to do this, buy your tickets for the Forbidden City in advance online so you can skip the queue lines.
You should budget at least 2-3 hours for visiting the Forbidden City.
11 am: Check the Great Wall of China off your bucket list!
Of course, no trip to Beijing is complete without visiting the Great Wall of China. It’s probably the main reason why you’re taking a quick trip to Beijing after all. The Great Wall of China is about a 1.5-2 hour drive outside of Beijing city center, and there are two primary sections that tourists visit: Badaling and Mutianyu.
The Mutianyu section:
This one is less crowded and less touristy than Badaling so of course, I sprung chose it, and I recommend that you do too. Once you arrive at the entrance complex, there are plenty of shops and little cafes to get water, snacks, and souvenirs. From here, you take a very short shuttle bus to the cable car station. And from there, you ride a short cable car trip up a small mountain to reach the Great Wall.
We were lucky enough to have the Wall virtually to ourselves. I guess since it was wintertime and off-season it was much less crowded than it normally would be. We probably ran into only about a dozen other people in our hour or two walking along the Wall.
The Mutianyu section is very well kept and easy to navigate, and it sure is a beautiful sight. The centuries-old wall went on for as far as the eye could see, twisting and turning along the ridges of the mountains. There are simply no words to describe the feelings one gets at the Great Wall of China. I search the whole world for those speechless moments and this one probably tops them all.
The Mutianyu section of the wall is open until 6 p.m. from March to November and 5 p.m. from November to March. So you can spend 5 hours exploring here if you like, but we felt done after three hours. After you’ve visited the Wall, you take the cable car back down to the shuttle station, a shuttle back to the entrance complex, and head back to Beijing city center from there.
How to get to the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall
This is the time where your driver will really come in handy, because it’s complicated and time-consuming to get from Beijing city center to the Mutianyu section via public transport. If you hire a driver, they’ll drive the 2 hours to the Great Wall, drop you off at the entrance complex, and wait for you there until you’re done exploring the wall.
If you insist on public transportation, you can get here with a series of bus rides. Start from the Dongzhimen Public Transport Hub. Take bus line 916 express to Huariou North Avenue Station. From there, change to bus h23, h24, or h36 to the Mutianyu. Beware that this takes 3-4 hours per one-way trip, so it’s best to hire a driver.
Practical tips for visiting Beijing for the first time
How to get to Beijing
Most travelers enter by air through Beijing Capital International Airport, either from abroad or from other cities in China. There are also high-speed trains connecting many Chinese cities to Beijing.
Where to stay in Beijing
I highly recommend both Hotel Eclat Beijing and Hotel East Beijing. They are moderately priced around $100-$200 per night. Which is quite the bang for your buck, because they’re luxurious!
For more budget options, the best dorm/hostel is Peking Youth Hostel.
Conclusion: 24 hours in Beijing
If you’re considering spending only 24 hours in Beijing, just know in advance it will be a jam-packed day. It’s not going to be a leisurely, relaxing time since you’ll be in a rush from place to place. But it’s totally worth it to see the world-class sights this amazing city is home too. You can always plan a longer trip to visit again in the future.
Again, I 100% suggest hiring a driver for the day to take you to all of the sights. Beijing isn’t the most English-friendly city which is totally fine because I certainly don’t speak Mandarin. But it just makes it difficult to navigate around by yourself without a guide.
With our driver we had a jam-packed but super enjoyable day and saw mostly all that we wanted to see in Beijing. I can’t wait to return one day and go back to see more of the Wall!
There you have it, how to see Beijing in 24 hours.
