Beijing’s top tourist attractions, from the old standbys to the hidden gems
Posted: September 30, 2026 Filed under: Discovering China, Dunham's Discourses, Uncategorized | Tags: Asia, Beijing, Beijing tourism, Beijing Zoo, China, China tourism, Forbidden City, Great Wall, history, Lama Temple, pandas, Summer Palace, tea, Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, travel, Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park, Zhoukoudian Leave a commentBy RICK DUNHAM
In more than 13 years in Beijing, I’ve visited just about every museum I could find. As a history major and a journalism professor, I’ve explored dozens of sites with ties to Chinese history and some that even pre-date modern humans. I’ve hiked the Great Wall 40 times, from its western terminus in Gansu province to the Yalu River bordering North Korea.
I’ve seen domestic tourism explode in China and the number of museums in the nation more than doubled. Visiting cultural sites “has become trendy among citizens in Beijing,” says Yin Li, secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee. Tourism is a much more user-friendly experience today than it was a decade ago, from ubiquitous QR codes to more modern toilet facilities.
Beijing boasts hundreds – yes, hundreds – of museums, cultural attractions, parks, historical sites and other locations for visitors to see. As Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, said recently, “the city bears witness to more than 3,000 years of cultural history.”
There’s no way to see it all in a short visit. Or even if you are here for a year or two. But try to pack in as much as you can in whatever time you have. Here are some of the best tourist opportunities Beijing has to offer.
The Core Four
I hope this guide will help you to prioritize your adventures in China’s capital city and environs. It’s a wonderful place to explore. Enjoy!
These are the Beijing tourist attractions that every visitor must see. If your family is visiting, take them there. If someone has just two or three days in town, figure out a way to squeeze all of these in.
The Great Wall
Photo by Rick Dunham
The Forbidden City
The Summer Palace
The Temple of Heaven
Memorable sites you don’t want to miss
Everyone has to make choices. You can’t see everything. But there are some places that you should try to find time to see, whether your visitor is here for four days or three months.
Many of these memorable sites can be combined with the must-see sites on a single itinerary. Yuanmingyuan is close to the Summer Palace and can be visited together in an outing. The same is true of the National Museum, Tian’anmen and the Forbidden City (admittedly, a very long and intense day). And the Beijing Zoo, with its delightful pandas, is a short subway ride away from the city center.
Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park
The ruins of Yuanmingyuan are one of the most stunning parks in Beijing. They range from traditional Chinese architecture of the Ming era to Italian-Chinese fusion palaces of the 18th century. All were destroyed by British and French invaders. (Photo by Rick Dunham)
The National Museum
Tian’anmen Square
Lama Temple (Yong He Gong)
The Beijing Zoo
Highly recommended half-day trips outside of the city
If you have access to an automobile, or have enough spending money to rent a driver for a few hours, these historically significant sites are well worth your time.
Marco Polo Bridge (Lugou Qiao)
Anti-Japanese resistance museum and Wanping walled town
Zhoukoudian (Peking Man caves, park and museum)
Ming Tombs
A historical photo of the Ming Tombs, circa 1950s.
Jiaozhuanghu tunnels and exhibit
The Second Tier — but still first rate
Everyone has to make choices. These are all great options, if you have time to visit. Look at a map and try to cluster as many sites that are in the same general vicinity as possible. For example, you can visit Jingshan or Behai after a trip to the Forbidden City. Or combine the Bell and Drum Tower with a visit to Houhai for food, recreation or tourism.
The Bell Tower and Drum Tower
The Drum Tower between the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese invasion.
Jingshan (Coal Hill)
Beihai Park
Olympic complex
Military Museum
A young boy practices on a jet aircraft simulator at the Military Museum. (Photo by Rick Dunham)
Hidden Gems
These stops are not in many tour books. But they are all memorable.
Beijing Ancient Observatory
Beijing Ming City Wall Ruins Park
Confucius Temple
Photo by Rick Dunham
Paleozoological Museum of China
The universities: Tsinghua and Beida
Photo by Rick Dunham
Tea tours
Hutong tours
New and Nice
Beijing has been on a museum building binge in recent years as the ruling Communist Party underscores Xi Jinping’s theme of “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Among the results are some interesting new museums that showcase Chinese traditional culture, historical accomplishments and modern might.
Museum of the Communist Party of China
Chinese Traditional Culture Museum
The Grand Canal Museum
Hiking and outdoor activities
Chinese families love to spend weekends outdoors. Older people spend much of their leisure time in the city’s plethora of parks. Young couples also stroll through the romantic and beautiful surroundings. Whatever your mood, there is a park for you. Whether you are seeking flowers, or a challenging hike, or 50 kinds of bamboo – you can find it somewhere in the Big City. Sometimes it’s free. Otherwise, the entry fee is inexpensive.
Purple Bamboo Park
More than 50 varieties of bamboo are on view at Purple Bamboo Park, located near the zoo. The purple bamboo is the most famous, of course. The yellow duck boats are a favorite for visitors.
Fragrant Hills (Xiangshan)
Olympic Forest Park
China National Botanical Garden
This massive park is known to many locals as the Beijing Botanical Garden. (Photo by Rick Dunham)
Ritan Park (Temple of the Sun)
Popular with younger people
Several zones in Beijing are particularly popular among younger people for their combinations of culture, restaurants, art, entertainment, bars, diverse nightlife, and, yes, even some museums tucked away for further exploration. Many of them are near hutong neighborhoods, which add to their charm, though they can cause you confusion and minutes lost while looking for your destination.
Houhai
Sanlitun
Sanlitun, with its alleys, hutongs and gleaming glass shopping malls, is the social center for young professionals, students and the diplomatic set.
Wudaokou
798 Art District (Dashanzi)
An old warehouse area has been transformed into the funky arts district. For a quarter-century, it is the closest thing Beijing has to a Bohemian quarter, with galleries, cafés and gathering spots for the intellectual set, both Chinese and expat.
Your top tourist attractions in Beijing?
Do you have any more tourist destinations you’d like to add to the list? Please post a comment and explain why you would add your favorite place to this compilation.
Hidden Gems of Beijing: The Ming Tombs
Posted: May 31, 2019 Filed under: Discovering China | Tags: Avenue of the Animals, Beijing, Beijing tourism, China, China tourism, Cultural Revolution, Dingling, Forbidden City, Hidden Gems of Beijing, Jundu Mountains, Li Zicheng, Mao Zedong, Ming Tombs, Mongolia, Nanjing, Sacred Way, Spirit Way, tourism, Wangli, Yongle 1 CommentThe Ming Tombs are often overshadowed on the Beijing tourist trail by the nearby Great Wall, one of the world’s greatest wonders. In the past, en route to the Great Wall, I’ve quickly visited the publicly open parts of the 13 tombs of Ming Dynasty emperors buried in an arc-shaped valley at the foot of the Jundu Mountains, about 40 km north of the Forbidden City.
The second Ming emperor, the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, decided to build royal tombs in his northern capital of Beijing in 1420 rather than the southern capital, Nanjing, chosen by his predecessor because of its distance from the Mongolian frontier. The tombs themselves have been ransacked and emptied of valuables, starting in 1644 when the rebel army of Li Zicheng’s ransacked and burned many of the tombs as he advanced toward Beijing, where the last Ming emperor committed suicide shortly thereafter. But the glorious structures remain.
Today, there are three public museum sites among the 13 tomb locations. It’s a massive, sprawling complex that stretches over 40 square kilometers. I feel sorry for the tourists who never get to visit the tombs because of the even-more-famous sights to see in Greater Beijing.
Off the beaten path of tourist Beijing, the tombs have their own fascinating history that touches the contradictions of modern (and ancient) China. After the Yongle Emperor built the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1420, he decreed that a burial site be found to house the remains of future Ming emperors. Four years later, his was the first of 13 mausoleums built in a verdant valley beneath the Jundu Mountains, not far from the Great Wall.
The place has been ransacked repeatedly in the six centuries that have followed, most notably during the revolution that preceded the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the Cultural Revolution that followed the rise of Mao Zedong. Its tombs have been raided for political and pecuniary purposes. But its Sacred Way, sometimes known as the Spirit Way or the Avenue of the Animals, remains as a reminder of the permanence of Chinese history, despite its periodic revision.
A final contradiction: A photo of Mao admiring one of the spirit elephants is posted on the Sacred Way, but Red Guards a few years later seized the remains of Emperor Wanli from the Dingling tomb, posthumously “denounced” him and burned his remains, along with his Empress.
Pulitzer Prize winner Ken Herman encourages Tsinghua journalism students to ‘try different things’
Posted: May 14, 2015 Filed under: Breaking news, Global Business Journalism, Journalism Training, U.S. politics | Tags: Austin, Austin American-Statesman, Beijing, Data Journalism, Forbidden City, George W. Bush, Global Business Journalism, Journalism, journalism education, Journalism Training, Ken Herman, multimedia journalism, Pulitzer Prize, Sharon Jayson, social media, Texas, Tiananmen, tourism, Tsinghua University, U.S. Congress, U.S. military, USA Today Leave a comment
Ken Herman (center) talks to Global Business Journalism Program students, flanked by Rick Dunham (left) and Sharon Jayson (right).
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ken Herman encouraged students in Tsinghua University’s Global Business Journalism Program to experiment with the many new technological tools available to today’s reporters.
“Try different things,” Herman, a columnist at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas, said in a lecture on May 12. “Don’t be afraid to fail. Keep trying and you’ll get better.”
Herman and his wife Sharon Jayson, a longtime reporter for USA Today, spoke to Professor Rick Dunham’s Data Journalism and Multimedia Business Reporting classes at the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication. They told the stories of their award-winning journalism careers and advised students to master traditional news writing, audio, video and social media.
Jayson’s three-decade career has included stints as a television news reporter and anchor, a radio station reporter, a radio network Austin bureau chief and a newspaper journalist in Washington and Austin.
“I love journalism,” she said. “I’m glad to go to work every single day.”
Herman, who covered George W. Bush both during his days as governor of Texas and president of the United States, won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1977 for a series of stories in the Lufkin (Texas) News investigating the death of a young recruit in the U.S. military. The series led to congressional hearings and changes in American military recruiting practices. For the past six years, he has written a newspaper column that sometimes covers serious policy topics and often uses humor to make his points.
“I feel it is important to tell people what is going on in their government – or just entertain them,” he said.
Herman was one of the first print reporters to supplement his reports with multimedia elements such as video and audio. He said that some of his early efforts at video journalism were “pretty bad.”
“Make mistakes,” he said. “I certainly did. But you’ll learn how to do it and you’ll get better.”
Jayson, who specialized in coverage of younger Americans and human relationships during her decade at USA Today, said she knew she wanted to be a reporter from the age of 12, when she worked on a newspaper at her school. She encouraged the students to follow their passion in life, like she did, even if it does not lead to material wealth.
“Don’t just accept something because you think you’re going to get rich,” she said.
Ken and Sharon in Tian’anmen Square, with the Forbidden City in the background.
An American in Tiananmen on China’s National Day
Posted: October 2, 2013 Filed under: Discovering China | Tags: Beijing, Caroline Ward, China, Forbidden City, Fourth of July, Mao Zedong, National Day, National Mall, Sara Balajthy, Texas on the Potomac, Tiananmen, Tiananmen Square, Washington Leave a comment
An indelible image that changed world history — October 1, 1949.
On Oct. 1, 1949, Mao Zedong read a statement before a bank of microphones and hundreds of thousands of people assembled in Tiananmen Square declaring the formation of the People’s Republic of China.
Sixty-four years later, I was one of the perhaps dozens of “westerners” visiting Beijing’s most famous landmark on China’s National Day holiday. It is a festive celebration, with special decorations, tourist-friendly hats, face painting, parades and family pilgrimmages.
The Lion and Mao. (Photo by Rick Dunham)
The scene, I thought, was very much like the Fourth of July celebrations on the National Mall in Washington. Patriotism, pageantry, family, country.
My small group of three Americans (thanks, Caroline and Sara) tried to blend in with the hundreds of thousands — more probably, millions — of Chinese tourists. Well, we were never going to blend in. Caroline and Sara are striking young blondes, and perhaps a dozen Chinese families asked to have their photos taken with them. (Nobody asked me.)
We walked around Tiananmen, headed inside the main gate toward the Forbidden City, and then wandered through the historic core of old Beijing.
I hope this photo essay gives you a sense of the grandeur and the scope of the day.
Recent Comments