China is Opening Up

If you’re from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, or Luxembourg, you can visit China visa-free for up to 15 days since March 2024. Australians can do the same from July 2024. You can view the complete list of countries that can visit China visa-free here. Since we were already heading to Singapore, we thought we shouldn’t miss the opportunity as I heard that the visa application process could be daunting.

Our time in Beijing really exceeded the expectation. Highlights include a guided tour of the Forbidden City (Palace Museum), Great Wall of China (Mutianyu portion), and lots of amazing food (including vegetarian options). However, it does require a bit of researching to be able to navigate this city. If you’re considering visiting Beijing or would like to get some inspirations, continue reading. 🙂

Our 4-Day Beijing Itinerary

Here’s what we did during our stay in Beijing and we thought they are pretty much the most important places to visit, so feel free to reference it for your plan:

• Day 1: We arrived at our hotel and walked around the Shishahai area
  • We also stayed here because it’s very central as you can see from map below
  • There are a lot of hutongs (traditional alleys) to explore with night markets
• Day 2: We visited the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan)
  • The two parks are very nearby each other so we do recommend grouping them
  • It’s a lot of walking for both parks. If you can only choose one, I would recommend the Summer Palace
  • I get my Chinese friend to help me buy tickets for Summer Palace as it requires a local phone number (though it seems like it doesn’t receive verification code or anything) and bought tickets for Old Summer Palace on the spot
• Day 3: We spent the day exploring the Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
  • We took this Viator tour and highly recommend it!
  • Firstly, it’s extremely hard to book tickets for top attractions like the Palace Museum. You need to book one week in advance and probably need a local phone number. In the end we decided it’s better to just let the tour guide help us get tickets. This is also why we decided not to go to the national museum.
  • The experience is definitely much better if you have someone to guide you through the place and explain the history. Otherwise you wouldn’t notice all the details and stories.
• Day 4: We visited the Great Wall of China (not in map below as it’s a 1.5 hour drive from city centre) and the Temple of Heaven in the afternoon
  • The two popular sections of the Great Wall are Badaling and Mutianyu. Mutianyu generally is less crowded so we decided to go there.
  • We rent a private car for Great Wall so we can arrive at 8am to avoid the crowd.

Other Tips for Your Beijing Trip

1. Best Time to Visit: Try to avoid July and August (school holidays), the first week of May (Labor Day), and the first week of October (National Day). These are super busy times, and it’s better to dodge the crowds.
2. Booking your stay: We stayed at a hotel right in the middle of the Hutong area, which is very central and convenient. We picked the place based on online reviews and photos from booking.com. Not all hotels in China can take foreigners but generally the English user facing listings on booking.com are fine.
3. Apps You’ll Need:
   • WeChat or Alipay: These apps are essential for making payments in China. I recommend WeChat because you can also use it to chat and order rides through Didi.
   • Gaode Map: Google Maps isn’t great in China as some information is outdated, so download Gaode (or Baidu Map) for directions and finding restaurants.
4. Getting Around on the Subway: You can buy tickets at the station using WeChat or Alipay. Super easy. If you want to take taxi, use the didi small app, which is also built-in in the WeChat/Alipay apps so you don’t need to download an extra app.
5. Staying Connected:
   • SIM Card: we bought this e-sim from trip.com, which is much cheaper than other options I found online. Trip.com is a major travel agency in China.
   • VPN: I heard ExpressVPN is recommended, but I didn’t need one because my Singaporean number somehow included VPN service when I used roaming.
   • Tickets: As mentioned, double check how your tickets should be booked and if you need to book in advance. Definitely recommend getting someone to help for Palace Museum.

Final Thoughts

Though it’s a lot of research to ensure we could really enjoy the trip, we had a great time. Be ready for lots of walking and loads of tasty, cheap food (especially compared to London). If you want more details, check out my YouTube vlog linked below. And if you have any questions, drop a comment—I’m happy to help! 🙂