Honestly, what I planned for my weekend in Beijing was doing all the predictable things. The Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square and Hutongs were all on my list, but one would not happen. Honestly, just bad luck, but it is what it is and some day I do want to come back so I can stay in a tent on the Great Wall of China for one night. Then I will explore what I missed. Because Beijing is so much more than those major sights and I want to experience it all.

In total I had 4 days in Beijing, and as you can imagine, it was far from enough in this metropolis. It was still enough time to see the most famous sights and I do have some tips. My planning for this trip started in details at home with the visa, the sections of the wall, tickets to other places and of course food.

Hotel

I had a small dream of staying in a Hutong, preferably close to the Forbidden City. It came true when I managed to find the perfect place to stay with only a 20 minutes walk to the Forbidden City. And it was in a Hutong! It was a small happiness that liftet my whole day.
The staff at my hotel was the sweetest and took such good care of me. Even when I got caught in the rain on my last day and came back just to change because I looked like a drowned rat.

The Forbidden City

20 minutes walk to the Forbidden City and I arrived at the side, meaning I had to walk along it all the way up to the entrance. I expected people, but I also thought to myself that it was a Thursday, it cannot be that many people. Bear in mind that there is always a lot of Chinese tourists as well as foreigners visiting Beijing and especially the famous and historical sites.
While that said, once you enter after seeing the que, the crowd will fan out and you will realise how enormous it is inside. People say 2 hours are enough, but if you want to cover every small side road inside, I would plan at least the double of that inside.

My Chinese is very limited, but at one point when I was trying to take a selfie when another solo traveler approached me offering to take my photo. She was Chinese and spoke very limited English, but we managed to communicate. I asked if she wanted me to return the favour, but instead she asked to take a photo with me. I was surprised, but it is not the first time it has happened to me. I hear it is not that uncommon, but as I am very tall, I suspects that´s why I have sometimes been approached for photos.

The whole place was just amazing to walk around, but bring water. There are shops near the Forbidden City, if not they do sell it inside, but all the way at the end by the garden.

Temple of Heaven

Not far from the Forbidden City lays both Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square. Though Tiananmen Square is closer I had tickets booked for Temple of Heaven, so I headed over there.

The details of the temple is breathtaking up close and it is a very good spot if you are looking for nice pictures. In China they also have intricrate ice creams designed to look like the monuments. I did see them as I entered the park where Temple of Heaven is, but if you want to buy one at the location it is a shop placed near the exit.
Not only here, but many other places, you will see professional photographers taking photos. Many of these are actually there taking pictures of a bride and a groom or you can book it as a package deal with a traditional clothing rental store for amazing pictures. Me however, was happy just strolling around and taking a few selfies.

Between the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, I spent about 5 hours including traveling and getting distracted. When I felt ready to leave Temple of Heaven the moon had risen, if you look closely at the picture below you will be able to see it.
That left me to get dinner and a short stroll around where my hotel was as the next day I would head out of Beijing and would have to be up early. I am also not a breakfast person and I knew I had to figure out how to get to the meeting spot for the Great Wall of China tour on an empty stomach.

The Great Wall of China

The amount of research I poured into this before booking a trip, is a bit too much. I had my eyes set on another part of the wall, but it was currently closed, so I picked the next best: Jinshanling (金山岭).
Why: I wanted to walk a part of the Great Wall that had not been restored, I wanted some of the wild section. Badaling (八达岭) and Mutianyu (慕田峪) is however the closest to Beijing. It is also the easiest to access if you want to go by bus and wish to spend half a day instead of a full day at the Great Wall. Because I did not know when I would be able to return to China and I wanted less crowds while on the Great Wall, this became my deciding factor on Jinshanling with also a bit of the Simatai (司马台) section. It was a group tour with a private guide and car to take you to the starting point. So here is how it went:

Meeting point
First time riding the underground in Beijing and to be honest the ticketing was the hardest part as the machines wanted authorization from the workers there. Also I had a bit of a culture shock as my bag had to be x-rayed, just like at the airport. This is 7 AM and my brain is still kinda asleep, but the initial culture shock woke me up.
To get to the meeting point I had to make one transfer, but it was a smooth ride. The guide was already there when I arrived and he seemed very nice.
When we arrived at the car it was the driver and two ladies from the UK there. I figured it would be a bigger group, but it would only be us three. These two ladies were like me, wanting to see one of the wild sections of the Great Wall, even though they were there with a guided tour throughout China which included another section of the Great Wall. As their tour was visiting a more touristy section than they were looking for they signed up the day before when they found the one they liked. Meaning, I almost ended up on a private tour. They were so sweet, so I was very happy they joined. Also, less awkward for me.

The start
We moved out of Beijing and it took around two hours, but time went fast as we all chatted and got to know each other. The guide provided us snacks, which I saved as I am not a breakfast person, while he explained what to expect. When we got to a tunnel he informed us it would play music and I figured it would not be proper music, but more of a mimic. However it played music making for an interesting ride through the tunnel. It only does so on one side of the road, so when we drove through it on the way back, it was silent. What a shame.
Throughout the drive we saw pieces of the Great Wall here and there, but before starting the hike there were facilities to go to the bathroom. Had to use it since that option was soon gone.
The hike up is not the most difficult, but if you do not like stairs or find it difficult, I suggest to visit the sections that will take you up by a lift closer to Beijing.

5 km on the wall
After the hike up you are met with a stunning view next to the wall. It was amazing and something young me could only have dreamt of. There are shops on the top, inside the towers, even cafe´s. People hike up there evey day just to sell products, which is amazing when you have to think how they carry everything up. The two british ladies got souvenirs from the first tower, I just went with a Gatorade which costed more than twice of what it was in Beijing.
When we got to the first tower there was also another group leaving, but after that we were alone on the Great Wall for almost an hour. We met a few other groups from time to time, but in the start it was just us. Which was such an amazing experience. Our guide who had walked all of the wall said this was his favorite part, which I had to tell him he probably says about all the parts depending on which one he walks. He refuted that, but who knows.

The guide often went ahead or talked us through details of the wall and it´s history. When we got to the steeper part he told us how we could proceed safely, which is good as the sneakers I wore were not really made for hiking.

The amazing part about walking Jinshanling, besides barely any other people, is that you get a variety of towers. The tour I went with took you through 15 different towers where some has two storeys, others has 3, while some were in ruins. There was also a lot of different roofs which makes for a large variety and a photographers dream if you want to showcase the difference.

The walk covered 5 km on the wall, 15 towers and the second steepest part of the Great Wall. Of course you will have to hike down from the wall, but that is a much nicer walk and instead of just stairs we ended on a road. When we reached the car it took us to a restaurant for lunch or dinner. For me this was breakfast, as I accidentally only ate an apple and a cup of tea besides my water and Gatorade while on the wall. It was so much to eat, making it a small feast with amazing local Chinese food, so much so that I did not need dinner later in the day.
It was supposed to be lunch, but it became all three meals for me.

The sun had set by the time we arrived back in Beijing and my second day ended with a bucket list item crossed off.

The Summer Palace

The third day and my last full day had been noted down for The summer Palace. When you apply for the visa you have to register an itinerary, but I was in a kind of “wing it” mood. My hotel were the ones that gave me directions to it as I had not looked it up. It took me 45 minutes to get there and then a ten minutes walk, if not more.
Another place that was very crowded. It had a lot of Chinese tour groups and you could see by their caps which group they belonged to.
If you do book tickets in advance you will be able to just get in line and enter, if not the ticket office is right next to it with a very short line.

When traveling in China, bring your passport with you everywhere, a photocopy or picture will not help you as they will register it and need to confirm it is you. If you do not have it on you, you are risking being turned away at the various sights or if you leave Beijing you might not be able to re-enter.

At the Summer Palace I had to register it twice. Once when I bought the tickets and once when I bought the second ticket to enter the part of the Summer Palace which is pictured above, Longevity Hill (万寿山).

It is a lot to see while walking around the Summer Palace, but I highly recommend taking a ferry across the Kunming Lake for an amazing view and it also cuts down on the walking part.

If you have the time, I higly recommend entering the Longevity Hill in the Summer Palace. Not only does it give you a great view of Kunming Lake, but you get to see the Sea of Wisdom Temple (智慧海), which lays at the top.

The rest of my third day was spent getting lost among Hutongs, where my core memory ended up becoming that I saw a firestation in a Hutong.
Had a small rest at my hotel before heading to Jianguo Road for some shopping and dinner. Not far from there is China Central Television Headquarters an odd building, but absolutely worth passing it.

After an evening stroll my last day came to an end.

Bad luck through and through

The last day was not my day, it was Sunday and I decided to head to Tiananmen Square, but it was something going on there. A large crowd and police. I tried to ask, but all I got back was in Chinese and as a foreigner traveling alone, I decided the safest was to turn around. Went for an early dinner instead.

Making my way to the Lama temple which was next on my list proved to be a mistake. The que was long when I arrived, so I did consider not doing it. After a short thinking session, I moved to get in line when the heaven decided to open up and it started to pour. After finally getting under a roof I was drained and my shoes were soaked. This made me return to the hotel where I no longer had a room. Luckily they had a bathroom I could change in, but it felt like a waste to go back to the Lama temple again as it might start raining again. So I spent the last few hours just relaxing and wandering around the Hutong where my hotel was.
If your flight is late out of Beijing, be aware that no stores or restaurants are open so make sure to eat before you go there. There was exactly one store open, a souvenir shop.

So, my last day was a bit of a disaster, but the whole trip was just simply amazing. Maybe I should say it was just three days since I did not do much the last day, but it is okay. Bad weather can happen and the most important is that it did not happen when I was on the Chinese Wall.