Beijing Travel TipsFind out about the best Beijing Travel Tips

​​​Last Update: 18th November 2019

What are the best Beijing Travel Tips?
Beijing is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. It offers more than 200 spots to explore, including the cultural attractions, modern shopping malls, and old buildings such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, Summer Palace, and much more. Here are some useful travel tips for your Beijing Tour.

Beijing Travel Tips

  • Best Attractions to Visit in Beijing
  • Things to bring to Beijing
  • What to wear in Beijing
  • Visa in China
  • How to get to Beijing
  • Train Ticket Booking Advice
  • VPN Advice
  • Money in Beijing
  • Phones in China
  • Useful Numbers in China
  • Driving in China
  • ​Best months to Visit Beijing

Interested in Beijing Travel Tips to plan a Beijing Tour?

Wendy Wei Tours offers a variety of different packaged tours as well as custom tours in Beijing, among other cities and areas. To find out more, please visit our Tours page or Contact Us directly to find out more.

Beijing Travel Tips
  • Best Attractions to Visit in Beijing
    Some of the best attractions to visit in Beijing include the following attractions:
  • Forbidden City
  • Summer Palace
  • Great Wall of China – Mutianyu
  • Temple of Heaven
  • Lama Temple
  • Jingshan Park
  • Tian’anmen Square
  • Liyuan Theater Peking Opera
  • Wangfujing Street
  • Sanlitun Bar Street
  • Temple of Confucius and Guozijian Museum
  • Prince’s Gong Mansion
  • Hutongs
  • Things to bring to Beijing

The weather is dry and the sunshine is strong in Beijing. Therefore, it is suggested that you bring sunglasses, umbrellas, long shirts, and body lotion with you.

  • What to wear in Beijing

If you are planning to spend your holiday from November to March in Beijing, you’d better bring enough warm clothes with you to prevent from the coldness there. During the period of time, it is very dry with little rain but much snow. You could take shorts, skirts, umbrellas, T-shirt, sunglasses, and sunscreen scream with you in the summer holiday in Beijing.

  • Visa in China

Since the 72-hour visa-free transit policy was implemented on January 1, 2013 in Beijing, air passengers who are the passport holders from the following 45 countries can stay for up to 72 hours (3 days) in Beijing without a visa.

The 45 countries are as follows.

24 Schengen Countries: Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland

7 other European countries: Russia, Britain, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.

6 American Countries: the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile

2 Oceania Countries: Australia, and New Zealand

6 Asian Countries: United Arab Emirates, Japan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, and Brunei

  • How to get to Beijing

More and more foreigners choose Beijing as their destination during their stay in China. The transportation network in Beijing is very developed.

 

By air
As at 17th May 2019, tens of airlines offer international direct flights to Beijing from the main international cities, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Kula Lumpur, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Tashkent, Berlin, Los Angeles, Moscow, Manila, London, Washington, New York, Seoul, Paris, Amsterdam, Dubai, Djakarta, Male, and more.

 

As at 17th May 2019, many airlines also offer direct flights to Beijing from the main tourist destinations around China, such as Guilin, Xi’an, Urumqi, Lhasa, Sanya, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Harbin, Chongqing, Xiamen, Shijiazhuang, Changchun, Shanghai, Quanzhou, Hefei, Kunming, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Luoyang, Dalian, Nanjing, Nanning, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Haikou, and much more.


By train
Beijing has a developed railway network as well. It offers high-speed trains from the main cities across China, including Guilin, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Harbin, Xiamen, Tianjin, Kunming, Nanjing, Suzhou, Shijiazhuang, Hefei, Hangzhuo, Qingdao and so on.

  • Train Ticket Booking Advice
If you would like to book the train ticket online, you could book it 30 days at most prior to the travel date. You could book it via Trip.com which offers the booking services to foreigners. Train tickets to Beijing are always fully booked. Thus, it is recommended that you book it as early as possible in case there is no ticket to Beijing available.
  • VPN Advice   
Several international social media and search engines, including Google, Gmail, Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram are blocked to be used in mainland China. If you need to use them during your stay in China, please set up VPN on your cellphone, ipad and laptop before you head for China. We recommend that you get a paid VIP as sometimes the free VIP is inaccessible in China.
  • Money in Beijing

You could withdraw money on most of ATMs in Beijing via Visa and Mastercard debit cards. It is suggested that you advise your banks know you will be using your cards in China in advance so that you could withdraw money on ATMs when you stay in China. We strongly recommend that you exchange some CNY cash at the airport exchange service office. When you hail a taxi to your hotel from the airport, you could pay in CNY cash.

  • Phones in China

If your phone is unblocked and your phone service is accessible in China, you could use your phone in Beijing. Alternatively, you could get a local SIM card. The pricing of the SIM card is from 50 CNY on. Please remember to advise the staff of the local phone service company that you want to get international calls when you buy the SIM card.

  • Useful numbers in China

If you feel uncomfortable during your stay in China and need an ambulance, please call 120. If you need any help, you could call 110. If you see a fire around, please call 119.

  • Driving in China

If you would like to drive a car to explore Beijing, you are required to take an English driving exam with your international driving license at the local vehicle administration under the condition that you hold the Chinese residence permit for more than 6 months.

 

​The international driving licenses are unacceptable in China. Your driving license needs translating into Chinese version in advance. When you go to the local vehicle administration, please take your license as well as the Chinese version. If you pass the exam, you will be offered a Chinese driving license and are qualified to drive in China. The license is valid for 10 years.

  • Useful numbers in China
If you feel uncomfortable during your stay in China and need an ambulance, please call 120. If you need any help, you could call 110. If you see a fire around, please call 119.
  • Best months to visit Beijing
The best months to visit Beijing are from April to October. It is not recommended that you explore it during the May Day Holiday – May 1 – 4, the National Holiday in China – October 1 – 7 and the summer vacation – July and August as the best attractions in Beijing are always very crowded.

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Interested in Beijing Travel Tips to plan a Tour?

Wendy Wei Tours offers a variety of different packaged tours as well as custom tours in Beijing, among other cities and areas. To find out more, please visit our Tours page or Contact Us directly to find out more.