I’ve been wanting to post my secondary China travel guide since my Shanghai post went live this summer…and I am now just getting around to it! For those of you who haven’t yet seen my Shanghai guide, (linked here!) I’ll go ahead and give a little backstory before diving in to the second part of my trip, which took us to Beijing and Dalian.
Back in the spring of 2018, I had the privilege of traveling to China with my boyfriend, Wilson, who is originally from Shanghai. We spent 10 days in China, basing ourselves our of Shanghai and making smaller trips to cities such as Suzhou, Beijing, and Dalian. We visited in March, which was just on the cusp of spring in Shanghai, so the weather was pretty chilly throughout our trip. Although the air pollution didn’t affect me in Shanghai, we unfortunately ran into a giant dust storm in Beijing, which definitely put a damper on our sight-seeing. In spite of how poor the weather was in northern China, Wilson and I still made an effort to see quite a few different attractions while in Beijing, including the Great Wall of China!
We made reservations at the New World Hotel in Beijing and it was super comfortable and luxurious. This hotel is located just down the street from the Temple of Heaven, but is located outside of downtown Beijing. One plus of coming in the off-season to China is that we got incredible rates at the hotels that we stayed in.
The Temple of Heaven!
I could have spent hours longer at the Temple of Heaven, as the detail and architecture is just mind-blowing.
We woke up quite early one morning to meet one of Wilson’s friends who lives in Beijing, and who very kindly accompanied us to The Great Wall. We decided to tour Badaling, which is one of the most frequently visited sections of The Great Wall (if not the most heavily visited), and spent the day walking up and down the Wall and in the neighboring village. Although i wish that the weather had been better in Beijing, my time spent at the Great Wall remains as one of the best days of my life!
Something to keep in mind when visiting historical landmarks in China such as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, and Tiananmen Square is that many of these places only accept cash in exchange for tickets. Before visiting China, I made sure to download the app WeChat, which is the Chinese equivalent to Instagram/Facebook/Venmo. This app was great for purchasing food across Shanghai and Beijing, but rarely could I use WeChat when buying tickets to historical spaces. I would recommend bringing along some Chinese currency while touring in the case that WeChat or credit card is not accepted.
The chairlift that takes you to the Great Wall. You can also walk this trail, but keep in mind that it is about 1 mile long and is quite steep!
This is the first thing you see when getting off of the chair life and ascending the Great Wall. Mind-blowing.
I definitely put my fear of heights on hold during this trip!
The following day, we decided to visit Tiananmen Square, which was incredibly busy but so cool to see in person!
After 3 whirlwind days in Beijing, we made our way to Dalian, which is about a 6 hour train ride from Beijing. Wilson and I spent about 24 hours in Dalian, which is actually where he was born and raised until relocating to Shanghai as a toddler. After visiting Wilson’s extended family in Dalian, we flew back down to Shanghai and rounded out our 10-day adventure with a day trip to Suzhou.
Suzhou Gardens are a must-see!
All in all, I had an incredible trip to China and can’t wait to go back! I think the next time I go, I will want to spend more time exploring Shanghai, as we barely scratched the surface while there in terms of eating, seeing, and doing.
Do you have any favorites places or cities in China that I must see the next time I go? I would love to know!
Ms. Catherine Eve 