Shichahai (Ten Grounds Lakes) (什刹海, Shíchà Hǎi)

798 Art District

Contemporary art in a former East German-designed electronics factory. 200+ galleries, UCCA ¥100. Half day (3–5 hours). Open 24/7, galleries 10:00–18:00. Free district entry.

Working People's Cultural Palace (Former Imperial Ancestral Temple)

太庙所在地，故宫东南角，约14万平方米古柏林。免费需预约。6:00-20:00开放，古柏数百株多明代遗存。

Badaling Great Wall

最经典长城段落，距北京约60公里，海拔约1000米。门票淡季40元旺季45元，缆车另付120元。建议2-4小时，避开节假日。

Beihai Park

皇家园林，约71公顷，白塔高35.9米（建于1651年）。门票10元登塔另加30元。06:00-21:00，《让我们荡起双桨》歌声发源地。

Beihai Park

Beijing's most central imperial garden — a circular island temple, lotus-covered moat, and white pagoda rising from the lake, walking distance from the Forbidden City. ¥5 park entry, 2 hours.

Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan)

The ruins of the 18th-century imperial garden destroyed by Anglo-French troops in 1860 — haunting stone arches, reconstructed marble bridges, and a museum of recovered artifacts. 2–3 hours. ¥10.

Beijing Botanical Garden

香山脚下，约200公顷，温室8000平方米，植物1万余种。门票大门5元温室另加50元。4月桃花节、10月红叶节最美。06:00-19:00。

The Forbidden City

The world's largest ancient palatial complex — 980 surviving buildings across 72 hectares. 3-4 hours minimum. Book tickets 7 days in advance.

Fragrant Hills Park

北京最著名红叶观赏地，香炉峰海拔575米，门票10元（淡季5元）。缆车单程100元。10月中下旬红叶节最美，06:00-19:00。

Great Wall at Mutianyu

The best-preserved Great Wall section, 70 km from central Beijing. Cable car + toboggan slide. 3-4 hours including travel.

Gubeikou Great Wall

Wild, unrestored Ming Wall section 2.5h from Beijing. Crumbling watchtowers, no crowds, camping allowed. ¥45. Best for hikers and photographers wanting the real Wall.

Jingshan Park (Prospecting Mountain Park)

俯瞰故宫最佳位置，高约45米，万春亭为北京中轴线最高点。门票2元，6:00-21:00。故宫神武门正对面，地铁1号线天安门东站步行15分钟。

Juyongguan Great Wall

燕京八景之一，居庸叠翠，地势险要关口遗址。门票45元（含云台），8:30-17:00。云台为元代遗存，12座敌楼。明代重修，建议2-3小时。

Yonghe Temple (Lama Temple)

北京最大藏传佛教寺庙,活佛府邸,法轮殿五百罗汉山

Liulichang (Glazed Tile Factory)

古玩字画一条街，800多年历史，全长约750米，荣宝斋（1672年创建）总部所在地。免费，9:00-18:00。地铁2号线和平门站B口步行5分钟。

798 Art District (Malingyao)

北京当代艺术中心，1950年代东德援建包豪斯风格厂房，约60万平方米，上百家画廊。免费，画廊约10:00-18:00。地铁14号线将台站换乘公交401/402路至大山子站。

Mutianyu Great Wall

保存最完整长城段落之一，全长约5400米，22座敌楼，海拔约1000米。门票淡旺季40-45元，缆车120元滑道100元。7:30-18:00，建议3-5小时。

Nanluoguxiang (South Luogu Alley)

老北京胡同名片,800年历史,文创小店美食一条街

National Day 70th Anniversary Exhibition

展现新中国成立70周年发展成就,天安门广场西侧,需预约

National Museum of China

世界上最大博物馆,48个展厅,代表中华五千年文明

Old Summer Palace Ruins Park

万园之园废墟,1860年英法联军焚毁,遗址警示后人

China Art Museum (Red Wall Museum)

中国顶级美术馆，1962年建立，馆藏10万余件，21个展厅。免费需预约，9:00-17:00，周一闭馆。镇馆之宝齐白石《虾》、徐悲鸿《马》。地铁1号线或5号线东单站步行15分钟。

Summer Palace

慈禧太后夏宫，面积约290公顷，昆明湖占3/4。门票淡旺季50-60元，联票含佛香阁苏州街。长廊728米（14000余幅彩画）。1750年建成，1998年世界遗产。旺季6:30-20:00。

Temple of Heaven

皇帝祭天祈谷圣地，面积约273万平方米，祈年殿高38.2米。门票淡旺季10-15元，联票34元含祈年殿、回音壁、圜丘。6:00-22:00，1420年建成，1998年世界遗产。

Tiananmen Square

世界上最大的城市广场，面积44万平方米，1959年建成。免费开放，全天。人民英雄纪念碑高37.94米。升降旗仪式必看（每天日出前30分钟）。地铁1号线天安门东站或天安门西站。

798 Art District (798 Art Zone)

Beijing's converted 1950s East German factory complex now packs roughly 200 galleries, cafes, and design shops into about 600,000 sqm of Bauhaus industrial space — a full day of wandering, though 3 hours covers the highlights.

Anhui Museum

Huizhou art and architecture, Shang-Zhou bronze, and the Anhui School of painting — a strong provincial museum in Hefei's 2011 landmark building. Free.

Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum

Chinese architectural history from Neolithic to Qing, housed inside the 15th-century Temple of Agriculture (先农坛). ¥15. The Hall of Jupiter ceiling alone is worth the trip.

Beijing Auto Museum

China's automobile history from Chairman Mao's limousine to modern EVs, in a striking turbine-shaped building in southwest Beijing. Rare Hongqi and Shanghai sedans. ¥30.

Beijing Capital Museum

Beijing's city-level museum in its landmark new building — the definitive collection of Beijing's imperial, folk, and modern urban culture, plus the finest display of archaic bronze in the city outside the Palace Museum. Free.

Beijing Planetarium

China's largest planetarium with two buildings, a 3D space theater, and a 200mm refractor telescope open to the public. ¥45. Excellent for families and space enthusiasts.

Beijing Police Museum

Police history, forensics, and criminal investigation through the ages. Free. Passport required. Allow 1.5–2 hours. One of Beijing's most unusual specialty museums.

Capital Museum

Beijing's city museum: 3,000 years of the capital's history with world-class galleries of ancient bronzes, Buddhist art, and Beijing folk culture. Free. An excellent complement to the National Museum.

CAFA Art Museum

China's top fine-arts university museum holds roughly 13,000 works across six floors inside a purpose-built I.M. Pei-adjacent campus; allow 2 to 3 hours.

China Customs Museum

Seized smuggled goods — ivory, endangered animal parts, counterfeit luxury items — and the 2,000-year history of Chinese customs. Free. One of Beijing's strangest museums.

China Railway Museum

Stand inside Mao Zedong's personal train carriage, then walk among dozens of steam locomotives in a vast roundhouse — all for ¥20.

Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution

Beijing's massive free military museum — tanks, missiles, and Korean War exhibits told through a Chinese perspective, housed in a Stalinist architectural landmark. Allow 3–4 hours.

Museum of Chinese Gardens

All Chinese garden styles in one place — from Suzhou scholar gardens to Lingnan tropical courtyards — in a museum with real outdoor gardens and indoor exhibitions. ¥20.

National Art Museum of China

China's flagship state-run art museum with 100,000+ modern Chinese paintings, calligraphy, and folk art; 1.5-3 hours is enough to see the highlights during a single sit-and-skim visit.

National Museum of China

China's premier national museum on Tiananmen Square — 1.2 million artifacts spanning 3 million years of Chinese history, including the famous "Four Great Inventions" gallery and the largest bronze collection in the country. Free (basic).

Palace Museum (Forbidden City)

The imperial palace of Ming and Qing Dynasty emperors for 500 years — 180-acre palace complex with 980 buildings and the definitive collection of imperial Chinese art, furniture, and court culture. ¥60 (April-October ¥80).

Red Gate Gallery

China's first privately-run contemporary art gallery, operating since 1991 in a Ming-dynasty watchtower, with rotating shows by 200+ Chinese and international artists across roughly 800 sqm of exhibition space — plan 60 to 90 minutes.

Today Art Museum

Contemporary Chinese art in a converted boiler factory. ¥20. One of Beijing's first private contemporary art museums. Experimental and unpredictable.

UCCA Center for Contemporary Art

The anchor museum of Beijing's 798 Art District. World-class contemporary exhibitions. ¥100. The most internationally recognized contemporary art museum in China.