2 Free Days In Beijing - Is this Viable?
 

I bought a pretty low priced ticket to Beijing a few months back. Originally I had 5 days on the ground to explore, but with the fiasco involving AA's flight times from Chicago to Beijing, I now have only 3 days on the ground due to the switched departure times.

At this point I can't really change my plans, but I still want to make the most of the three full days I'll have. I already have plans to go out to the Great Wall near Huang Hua Cheng for one day, which leaves me 2 days to see what I can in the city.

On my list of things I know I want to see:

Tiananmen Square
Forbidden City
Bird's Nest/National Stadium
CCTV Building
Drum & Bell Towers
Temple of Heaven
Lama Temple
Summer Palace
Beihei Park

Is this doable in 2 days, or am I being unrealistic/too ambitious? Is there something I'm missing that a first time visitor to Beijing should definitely see? I'm planning on using public transportation to get to these locations, am I crazy?

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Well, it's possible, but you will need to roll out of bed early, and "speed-visit" some sites in order to fit it all in. And use a combination of subway and taxi, which are both inexpensive. Wear the best walking shoes you've got. I'd suggest the following, for geographical efficiency.

One Day (LOTS of walking):
Temple of Heaven, arrive 7:30 by taxi south entrance, walk through the entry park to temple and out east entrance. Subway Line 5 change Line 1 to ...
Tiananmen then Forbidden City. To save time, you'll need to pick and choose the parts of the FC. My tip: spend more time towards the back esp the garden area. Exit north gate. Cross street and walk slightly west to south gate of...
Beihai Park. Walk south to north using route you prefer. Again, some of best stuff is at the north end. Don't miss the 9-dragon screen. Exit north gate. Walk across to Houhai area. If your feet are killing you, grab an overpriced pedicab to take you on a little tour. End up at the northeast end by the Drum and Bell Towers. Have dinner in this area.

One Day (yes, LOTS more walking):
Summer Palace, frankly I'd taxi there to the east gate. Walk westward around top edge of the lake, where the main structures are. Leave from the north gate which is closest to the subway station Line 4. You don't want to be backtracking your steps in this large complex. Subway Line 4 to Line 10 to Line 8 (Olympic spur) come up in...
Olympic Park, walk around. Recommend you don't pay the extra to go inside the Birds Nest, as it's just a stadium on the inside. Water Cube, maybe. Then subway back Line 8 to Line 10 to Line 5 (Yonghegong stop) to...
Lama Temple. Then Line 5 to Line 1 to (Guomao stop) to...
CCTV Building. I'm assuming you mean the new funky architecture building. Walk toward it and past it (from opposite side of the 3rd ring road) to catch the angles. Go one street past the Kerry Center, walk westward to get some distance and look back.

There you are. To fit this all in, you won't be able to spend 5 hours inside the FC or the SP, and you won't be able to have long lingering lunches, but it is doable. Remember that if you are coming in winter (November thru February it will be cold and you will only have limited useable daylight hours--7:30 am to 4:30 pm, and opening hours of main sights will be shorter. You will need to be very mobile. In some ways, the subway changes are a pain (and you need to not mind crowds), but with traffic being so bad these days, I'm hesitant to say that taxi would be any faster in the center of the city. But don't hesitate to grab a taxi if you can communicate your destination (spoken or in characters to show driver) and your feet need a break. If you run short of time, I've put the least important items at the end of each day, skippable if you need to give up early.

Honestly? With only 3 days, I would skip the Great Wall. Yes, it's impressive, but there's a certain amount of, "Well, here I am at the Great Wall." You're going to spend a few hours going there and getting back and the ride isn't particularly interesting. Beijing offers (1) an amazing variety of things to see and do, and (2) horrible traffic getting from place to place. Part of the fun in Beijing is not just seeing the famous landmarks, but watching the people. Outside the Temple of Heaven, and at the park at the Summer Palace, you'll find local Beijingers singing Chinese opera, engaging in traditional dances, playing cards, and just generally enjoying the area and each other. Even though December can be quite cold, it doesn't stop the people from enjoying their People's Parks. Beijing is also the one city in China where you can find excellent examples of the entire country's very varied cuisine -- there are more good restaurants than there are cars on its streets (and there are a LOT of cars). Unless you are absolutely certain that you will never return to China for the rest of your life, or have some kind of burning need to see the Great Wall, I'd recommend skipping it and just enjoying as much of Beijing as you can visit in three days.

I disagree. There is no way a first time visitor should come to Beijing and skip the Great Wall. However, I do question the OP's sanity in wanting to go out to the Huanghua section on such a limited time frame. That blows an entire day. I would suggest instead that he go to Mutianyu, early in the morning as soon as it opens. It may not be as "wild" as Huanghua but it is also safer (esp if a cold-weather visit) and a round trip back to the city still leaves time for a late lunch and a few useable sightseeing hours.

Wow, you pretty much took all the planning from me! :eek:

Sounds great and not too difficult to understand. Is there anything here I should drop? Anything really not worth looking at?

I've spent a lot of time in Hong Kong/Tokyo and recently spend 2 weeks in India, so crowding doesn't phase me much.

I respect what you've said but honestly its probably the one thing I don't want to compromise on, which is why its already planned. I just can't be in Beijing and not see the Great Wall, it just seems *wrong*.

I have my time booked at the Raffles which I hear is close to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen.

I'm not sure I'd spend a lot of time going all the way across town just to see the CCTV building.

FWIW, the taxi to the Summer Palace (2p) and the subway back (5p on Friday) to Wangfujing area (where Raffles is) both took about 1 hour.

You should be able to combine the Summer Palace with Huanghua. Just ask to get dropped off there after you finish your hike. Afterwards, you can grab dinner in the university district, which is cheap and kind of interesting.

The CCTV tower isn't open yet and is depressing IMO.

I've done Mutianyu and Summer Palace in the same day (but it was in late July when the days were longer). Hire yourself a car with driver and start real early to GW first then the SP.

I would drop the drum and bell towers unless you time the visit with the drum performance (8:30, 9:30, 10:30am, 1PM).

Make sure you do the temple of heaven in the morning (8am - 11am) to catch the morning exercises from the locals.

Along with the other comments, this will be two long days.

Having done the two days/three nights in Beijing, I highly recommend going to Mutianyu if at all possible, and hiring (or if daring enough) renting a car to do so, it isn't that much (I think it was 100-200RMB? can't quite rememner). Very worthwhile thing to do, and Mutianyu was very scenic; its about an hour to two hours away from the city center though., When I did it, I did the wall on the last day, then had the taxi take me directly to PEK for the return flight to PVG.

I finally had a minute to fully read digest this great post and have a couple questions. You combine summer palace and great wall on the same day. When we went to great wall and badaling in 2000, we also did ming tombs the same day Do you recommend ming tombs or summer palace? Is Ming tombs not combinable with Mutianyu (which is where we want to go this time?) We are going to have a private driver and car since we have 5 persons - we will probably get from the hotel Any ideas on what the price should be?

Also, we have a mixed group some hilton and some marriott so currently some are at wangfujing hilton and some at great wall marriott - how far apart are they and are there any hilton/marriott close to each other. I know this adds to the travel time, but it is what it is.

Thanks for all your great information - It is really helpful

-Summer Palace,... without any pause or hesitation.

-With 5 people, you probably need some sort of van. I'm going to guess you'll be paying 800-1000 for that, but I'm really loath to talk about price in these threads any more.

-They aren't very far apart as the crow flies, but are on opposite sides of Chang'an Jie, and the Marriott is near the train station (negative). You want to think about moving to Marriott NE and the other Hilton for part of your trip. Marriott NE has been completely deserted the few times I've been, but it has a very nice feel and an excellent lounge. It's a 5-10 minute walk from the Hilton. There's also a Renaissance in the area, which I'm unable to recommend.

Thanks for your suggestions. I understand your reluctance to give pricing, but I really just wanted a ballpark so thanks for that. Time and convenience factor into the equation, and its not a bad trade-off to pay for that sometimes.

What makes near the train station negative? Wangfujing is a nice area to stay in, yes?

Thanks for summer palace recommendation - I received that from others as well, so that will be the plan.

You should get a van. The hotel is usually overpriced by a huge amount. Given your situation (need a van not a regular car) and two different hotels, I'd not try to deal with negotiating "on the street." Try this company for an alternative to the hotel--they have a reputation for reliability. I don't think their full day (8 hour) rate for a van is bad--I was going to estimate a "going rate" for a van at about RMB 1000 and this is right there in that ballpark. Divided 5 ways...I'd do it. You should be able to contract the arrangements in advance and with an English speaker.

Now to your arrangements. Summer Palace, absolutely over the Tombs.

Doing both Mutianyu Great Wall and the Summer Palace successfully in the same day ABSOLUTELY DEPENDS on being able to leave the hotel by about 7:30 in the morning, and for central hotels like yours, 7:00 is better. And I mean van loaded and pulling away from the hotel door--or in your case, the 2nd hotel door. If your group is not the kind that can do this, then do not attempt both these sites on the same day.

There isn't anything wrong with the hotels or the neighborhoods per se, it's just that traffic patterns around each, and particularly this Marriott, are NOT conducive to doing a double pickup and getting on the road early. Basically, you'll get mired in some of the worst traffic in the city. If you cannot change hotels, then I suggest that the group at the Marriott finish breakfast and get in a taxi at 6:45 am, then taxi over to the Wangfujing Hilton and all of you go from there. The two hotels aren't far and the fare won't be expensive, but you want to bridge the gap before traffic starts to go to gridlock. Getting everybody corralled at one spot would also be easier to deal with explaining van arrangement to the provider.