Visiting Beijing in Winter

January may be an odd time to visit Beijing because it’s very cold and dry, but the plus side is that the crowds are seriously reduced from the warmer months, when I’m told you can barely walk at the most popular sites. Since crowds are not my thing, I was happy to visit the city in January (even if my toes felt numb by the end of the day).

The best thing about Beijing is that the most famous sites in all of China are in the vicinity, including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Ming Tombs, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, and the famous pandas at the zoo.

The Great Wall is the only one of the above attractions that requires a short drive outside of the city. There are several different sections of the Great Wall, but the portion called Badaling is the easiest, especially if your time in Beijing is limited. It’s fairly close to central Beijing, and you can work in the Ming Tombs afterward.

If you’re with a tour, you’ll no doubt stop at one of several large buildings near tourist spots where you can have fantastic Chinese food or tea surrounded by enormous jade sculptures and aisle upon aisle of souvenirs so beautiful that it will make you dizzy.

I hired a private guide to take me around the city, but you can easily navigate it on your own using public transportation and taxis. Some taxi drivers don’t speak English, however, so you’ll need to get your concierge to write down the name of your destination in Chinese. Most young people in Beijing speak English very well, though, as they’re taught the language in school. So, for the most part, it isn’t difficult for English speakers to get around the city.

Even if you don’t hire a private guide, it helps to have a guide show you around the historical sites. You’ll miss a lot of the fascinating intrigue of Chinese history if you don’t have someone to tell you the details. No matter how much you’ve studied in books, you’ll get a lot more juicy information from a local guide.

For example, my guide showed me the passageway in the Forbidden City where the last emperor rode the bicycle he was given by his British tutor. I was also told how all of the construction of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven is free of nails. The intricate pieces were carved with such precision that they fit together without any connecting metal and have remained intact through all sorts of weather events.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that no restorations are done to the buildings. One of the Forbidden City buildings had scaffolding on it during my visit.

My favorite site was the Summer Palace. Located on the water, this was the Empress Dowager’s place, a very intriguing character in not so distant Chinese history who was the voice and true power behind several child emperors. For exercise, she walked one of the passageways every morning with her entourage behind her and then was transported by boat back to her starting point.

There is an exquisite marble boat in the water next to the palace that was built for the Navy but never allowed to sail.

Near the Temple of Heaven, considered to be one of the most sacred spots in the world, locals gather to play cards and checkers, sing, dance, and play music together. It really sunk in that I was in China as I watched this joyful community of people and listened to the traditional music and singing.

One night, I went to an acrobatic show. It’s primarily for tourists, but it’s well worth seeing. These performers do things that seem inhuman, such as balance on a cylinder while standing on the head of another guy who is balancing on a cylinder. The finale consisted of 15 girls riding a single bicycle around the stage. There are other shows in the city, such as the Peking Opera, if you’re so inclined.

Shopping in Beijing can make you crazy. Wangfujing Street is the main shopping area, and at night, it’s filled with outdoor stalls where you can buy all sorts of strange food (if you dare risk the dysentery.)

My guide took me to one of the large “silk district” buildings filled with one vendor after another. Each floor is devoted to something different – silk fabrics, jewelry, etc. I bought a painting on silk and a terra cotta teapot, but the sellers were too aggressive for my taste. A couple of them literally grabbed me and pulled me back toward them as I tried to walk by.

I stayed at two hotels located in different areas of the city. When I arrived at my first hotel, the Hilton Beijing, there were women in red Chinese silk dresses playing traditional instruments in the lobby. Fine Chinese hotels provide you with enormous feather pillows, and the Hilton’s linens were especially fine with a crisp white down comforter.

Breakfast buffets are usually spectacular in top Asian hotels, but the Hilton gets the prize as my favorite because the service provided by the staff was superb. My orange juice and tea were constantly topped off, and I was brought a special exotic juice concoction, different types of breads right out of the oven, and a selection of newspapers.

Of course, the hotel has an additional restaurant and two bars, as well as a health club and pool. One nice touch was a card that you’re given at check-in, which includes useful sentences in Chinese and a list of the main sites, which you can circle in order to show your taxi driver where you want to go.

While the Hilton is located in a tourist area not too far from the Forbidden City, my next hotel – the JW Marriott – was located in the Chaoyang District, which is part of the Central Business District or “CBD” area of the city. The hotel is part of a massive complex of upscale stores and office buildings called China Central Place. It’s an exceptional property located next door to the Ritz-Carlton.

I especially loved the smaller flat screen TV at the foot of the bathtub. After walking around cold Beijing all day, I thawed out in the tub while watching an American movie. Now, that’s luxury!