Hey, I’m starting a new travelogue, detailing my 2 Weeks China itinerary travelling from Beijing to Xi’An, mostly via high-speed train. Stops we would made in between include many small cities that you may not have heard of, such as Pingyao Ancient City, Jie Xiu, Mianshan, Linfen and Hejin.
What’s there to do in these county-level cities in China? Well, if you’re a lover of nature and beautiful scenery, you’ll enjoy this China travelogue as the activities range from visiting ice caves to ascending scenic cliffs and mountains.
And of course, not forgetting historical sights and villages dating back to a few thousand years ago. Here’s the map to show you our China travel route.
Without any further ado, let me begin our China travelogue (Beijing to Xi’An).
>> MUST-READ: 12 must-know China Travel Tips for hassle-free travel
Our Travelling Profile: China Itinerary
We travelled as a couple via free and easy. While we typically prefer self-drive on such road trips, renting a car in China isn’t easy (as shared in my China must-know travel tips).
>> MUST-READ: 12 China Travel Tips you must know for hassle-free travel as a foreigner
So, you’ll see us travelling across and within this big country using mainly high-speed train, subway, buses and ride-hailing service.
In case you think this travelogue would focus a lot on Beijing, well we only used China’s capital as a launching pad before making our way deeper into the lesser known places in China. Our thought is that big and connected cities like Beijing can be easily visited another time, but not the smaller and less accessible ones.
In fact, we only spent 2 days in Beijing. Check out this map that summarises our travel routes for the next 2 weeks.
Without any further ado, let’s start our travel in Beijing (Day 1 China Itinerary)!
Getting from Beijing Airport to City
(7.3oam)
After landing at Beijing Airport in the morning from a red eye flight, it took us 40 minutes to clear the immigration and another 40 minute to have our luggage collected.
The good thing about Beijing Airport is the connectivity to the city, via subway. Located at Terminal 3, there are clear signages leading you to the subway platform.
Another good thing about travelling in China is how affordable public transport is. The 1.5 hours comfortable ride costs less than ¥30 (about USD4).
TRANSPORT TIP: I’ve shared in this post – China Travel Tips – on how you can use Alipay app to board subway in Beijing. However, if you prefer a physical transport card (which I admit is more convenient), you can get one here. Then you don’t have to fumble with your phone and can preserve the battery a little more.
Checked in at Home Inn Hotel in Beijing
(10.20am)
Our first hotel of the trip – Home Inn Beijing (Qianmen Street Hotel) – is located near tourist attractions, such as Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. See hotel location here.
TIP: We booked our hotels and most attraction tickets using Trip.com. Originated in China, it has more accommodation and attraction options as compared to other travel booking platforms.
The hotel was ok for a short layover, but do note that it doesn’t have a lift. So, consider this hotel only if you are ok to carry luggage up the stairs. Luckily I have a strong man to help carry the luggage up 4 flights of stairs. :)
Exhausted from the red-eye flight from Singapore, we contemplated having a short nap first, but eventually decided to “Just do it”. So, we freshened up a bit and set off for lunch.
“Xian Yu Kou” Food Street (鲜鱼口美食街)
(12pm)
Near our hotel is 鲜鱼口老字号美食街 (loosely translated as Xian Yu Kou “Fresh Fish” Food Street).
Love the clean and wide street, but was surprised that the place wasn’t bustling during lunch hours. Many restaurants were sparsely occupied and we wondered if we were there at the wrong time.
Also, somehow the street food didn’t trigger our interest.
Lunch at Michelin Star Restaurant: Zha Jiang Noodle
After walking through the entire street and looking at the food options available, we decided to dine at a restaurant that seemed better-patronised. And that’s Michelin Star Restaurant 69 (方砖厂69号炸酱面), serving Zha Jiang Mian (Fried sauce noodle).
Food presentation was nice – two platters of veggies were served together with the noodle. We had fun putting all the ingredients together. As a lover of salad, I enjoyed the refreshing meal.
Other items we ordered such as mutton skewer and Peking duck wrap tasted great too. All in all, the damage at this Michelin restaurant came up to just ¥110.
Lots of Food Stalls
After a satisfying first lunch in Beijing, we continued strolling along the food street, admiring its blend of old-world charm and modern upkeep.
There were a few food stalls. Seeing one with a long queue at Wuyutai Matcha Ice Cream (吴裕泰), we decided to follow the crowd and got ourselves a matcha cone (¥10).
It was not bad, not too sweet. But nothing out of the ordinary. Luckily the queue moved fast, so no regrets in getting our post-lunch dessert.
Beijing Tourist Attractions: China Itinerary
China-style Starbucks near Tiananmen Square
Next on our itinerary was Tiananmen Square. Unfortunately, after a long walk, we discovered that it was closed to public for a special event. That’s alright, we thought as we could always visit it on our return leg to Beijing.
TIP: You need to pre-book ticket (at least one day in advance) in order to enter Tiananmen Square. You can either book it via Wechat, Alipay or via trip.com. It’s free entrance unless you like to have a guide – then check out this English tour that combines another popular attraction (The Forbidden City).
Consolation is perhaps spotting this nice Starbucks housed in a Chinese-style architecture.
Temple of Heaven: China Itinerary (14 Days)
(2pm)
A short subway ride bought us to a station north of Temple of Heaven. On our way into the garden, we stopped by a bakery store (宫门口馒头) and bought some unique breads, which I’ll show you in a bit.
At the Temple of Heaven ticketing counter, you can choose to enter the garden only or go for bundle admission that included entries to three places (¥34 admission), namely:
- Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
- The Echo Wall
- The Circular Mound Altar.
We chose the bundle – let me show you these places one by one.
TIP: You can also skip the queue and buy the Temple of Heaven admission tickets online.
1. Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
A circular building originally built in 1420 with pretty royal colours, this is the key place to visit if you are here at the Temple of Heaven. The Hall of Prayer used to be a place for the emperor to pray for good harvests.
Next to the Hall of Prayer is a building that housed a small and non-airconditioned museum. As everything was in Chinese and it was pretty hot, I didn’t stay for long.
Let’s move on to the next location within the expansive park spanning close to 3 square km. Warning here – this park was really too big even for healthy folks like us to manage. Also, there weren’t many seats to take a breather.
We were lucky to find a rare bench by the garden, and didn’t mind sitting directly under the sun. :) Now, this is the perfect setting – nature, scenic view and all – to enjoy the bread we’d bought earlier.
Look at this – the bread packed to the brim with whole walnuts. No wonder the bread was so heavy! LOL!
2. The Echo Wall
After the rest, we continued a long walk to the next attraction – The Echo Wall (回音壁). This place is also known as The Whispering Wall and surrounds the Imperial Vault of Heaven (皇穹宇) – a place that holds the tablet of God of Heaven.
We had read that one could stand by the Echo Wall to whisper and someone standing at a far end would be able to hear via wireless communication.
But at the time of our visit, the wall was barricaded off. So there wasn’t much we could do there.
3. Circular Mound Altar
By the time we walked further south to the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘), our legs were jelly. As this is an open area without any shelter, it was too hot for us to enjoy the impressive 3-tier round marble terraces.
We didn’t hang around for long, but I read that the levels (starting from lowest tier) represent Hell, Mortal World and Heaven respectively. If one stands at the middle of the upper terrace (aka Heaven) and speaks, he will hear echo of his voice.
Afterthought: Temple of Heaven
The temple of Heaven is an expansive area with little areas to rest. And very hot if you visit during summer or even autumn. So do take note of the walking required, especially if you are travelling with the elderly.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the site as much as I thought I would, perhaps due to the lack of English descriptions. You would probably appreciate the attractions more if you hire a guide.
TIP: Temple of Heaven is one of the places you would need a guide to truly appreciate the place. Here’s a day tour that comes with English guide.
First Night in Beijing: Shopping at Hopson One Mall
(7.30pm)
After a good hour-long nap at Home Inn Beijing hotel, we made our way to Hopson One Mall – a popular and modern mall with a lot to offer.
Dinner was at Yun Nans, and everything we ordered was great. Sour and Spicy Mi Xian (Vermicelli) was smooth, beef slices with mushroom were tasty, and chicken appetizer and potato slices were all so yummy. “Darn appetizing” was what I wrote in my diary.
And yes, we do have Yun Nans in Singapore too (which is also good). But I think what we have here in Beijing was even better (and more generous in quantity). Total damage was about ¥150.
After the sumptuous Chinese cuisine, we shopped a bit and ended the day with Da Hong Pao and Tie Guan Yin milk tea at a popular bubble tea chain store – Chagee.
By the end of the day, we’d logged 30,000 steps despite our sleep-deprived state. Bye for Day 1 in China. Tomorrow, we would leave Beijing for Pingyao Ancient City. Stay tuned to the next post!
>> RELATED: Exploring Pingyao Ancient City on Day 2 in China
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