Beijing

Spring (April and May) and autumn (September and October) bring mild temperatures and the clearest skies; autumn is often considered the best time of all, when the leaves turn in the Western Hills. Summer is hot, humid and rainy, with heavy downpours in July and August. Winter is cold and dry, often well below freezing, but crisp, bright days and thin crowds have their own appeal. Air quality has improved a great deal over the past decade, but smog can still build in winter, and spring sometimes brings dust storms from the north; check an air-quality app before outdoor days. Avoid the national holidays around 1 May and the first week of October if you can, when sights are at their busiest.

Beijing has two international airports, Capital in the northeast and Daxing in the south, both linked to the city by express metro lines. The metro is cheap, fast and well signed in English, covering almost everywhere in the city, with security checks at every station; the transport QR code in Alipay or WeChat is the easiest way to pay, and many gates now accept contactless foreign bank cards. Taxis and ride-hailing (DiDi, also available inside Alipay) are inexpensive; have your destination written in Chinese. High-speed trains run from Beijing's main stations to Shanghai, Xi'an and many other cities. For the Great Wall, a private driver or small-group tour is the simplest option for Mutianyu and Jinshanling; public buses and trains serve Badaling.

• Carry your passport at all times; you'll need it for bookings, train tickets, hotel check-in and security checks.
• Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you arrive and link a foreign card; both now accept major international cards, and cash is less widely used than in most countries. Carry some yuan as a backup.
• Many foreign websites and apps, including Google services and most Western social media, are blocked in China. Download offline maps (Apple Maps works, as do Chinese apps such as Amap) and translation tools before you travel. Using unapproved VPNs is restricted under Chinese regulations, so understand the rules before relying on one; international roaming data and some travel eSIMs connect through overseas networks.
• Book the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and other major sights several days in advance with your passport details; on-the-day tickets are often unavailable.
• Many museums and sights close on Mondays.
• Expect long walks: distances within the sights, let alone the city, are huge.

Peking duck is the essential meal: roasted until the skin is crisp and lacquered, then sliced at the table and wrapped in thin pancakes with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. Book ahead at well-known restaurants. Try zhajiangmian, thick noodles with fried bean paste and pork; jianbing, the savoury breakfast crêpe sold from street stalls; and lamb hotpot cooked in a copper pot, best in winter. The hutongs have small noodle and dumpling shops, and Beijing's cafés and craft-beer bars have multiplied in recent years. Tap water isn't safe to drink; use bottled or boiled water.

Dongcheng, the eastern half of the old city, puts you close to the Forbidden City, the hutongs and the Lama Temple, with courtyard hotels in restored siheyuan houses as well as large international hotels around Wangfujing. Xicheng, around the lakes, is quieter and atmospheric. Sanlitun and the Central Business District in Chaoyang have modern hotels, nightlife and international restaurants. Hotels register foreign guests with the police, so check that yours accepts foreigners before booking.

China's entry rules for visitors have relaxed in recent years, but they vary by nationality and change often, so check the National Immigration Administration and your nearest Chinese embassy before you book. Ordinary passport holders of more than forty countries, including most of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, can currently enter visa-free for up to thirty days for tourism; this arrangement runs until 31 December 2026, so check whether it has been extended if you're travelling later. Separately, citizens of 57 countries, including the United States, can use the 240-hour visa-free transit policy: you must be travelling on to a third country or region (not back to where you came from) with a confirmed onward ticket, arrive at a designated port such as Beijing's two international airports, and stay within the permitted area, which for Beijing travellers includes Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province. Anyone who doesn't qualify needs a visa in advance.

Ming Beijing was laid out according to ancient ideas about the ideal capital: square, walled and symmetrical, with the emperor's palace at its centre on a north-south line. The 7.8-kilometre Central Axis runs from Yongdingmen Gate in the south, past the Temple of Heaven and the Altar of Agriculture, through Tiananmen and the Forbidden City, over Jingshan, and on to the Drum and Bell Towers. Most of the city walls were demolished in the twentieth century to make way for the Second Ring Road and the metro, but walking the axis from south to north is still the best way to understand the city's design.

The walls around Beijing were built mainly by the Ming dynasty, from the late fourteenth century onwards, to defend the capital against raids from the north, though earlier walls date back more than two thousand years. They follow the crests of the mountains, with watchtowers within signalling distance of each other. Choose your section by what you want: Badaling for easy access, Mutianyu for restored wall with fewer crowds, and Jinshanling for dramatic scenery and hiking. Unrestored "wild" sections can be dangerous and some are officially closed; don't climb them without an experienced local guide, and wear good shoes, as the steps are steep and uneven everywhere.

Respect the security procedures around Tiananmen Square and government buildings, and avoid photographing police, military sites or checkpoints. The hutongs are residential neighbourhoods under pressure from tourism and redevelopment; support small family businesses, don't photograph residents without asking, and keep noise down in the evenings. On the Great Wall, take your rubbish with you, don't write on or remove stones, and stay off sections that are closed for conservation.