When to go, how to get around, and what only locals know — quick guides for all seven destinations.
September and October are the best months in Beijing, with clear skies and comfortable temperatures. Spring is windy but pleasant, summer is hot and wet, and winter is cold, dry and beautifully clear.
Beijing's metro is the fastest way around the city, the airport express costs a fraction of a taxi, and rush hour is best avoided entirely. A practical guide to trains, transfers and getting to the Great Wall.
Both are bookable in advance, both punish late arrivals, and doing them on the same day is possible but exhausting. Here is how to sequence Beijing's two biggest sights.