Temple of Heaven 天坛

The Temple of Heaven was where the emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties worshipped heaven and prayed for a good harvest. It covers an area of 273 hectares and was off limit to the common people.

The South Gate

We walked from the south entrance to the north which is about 1 km

Oriental Garden Hotel 东方花园

Our room has a living space and we managed to get the room next door for her. We chose this hotel because we thought we needed to be near a metro station. We then realised that with DiDi (China's Grab/Uber) it was not necessary. We will choose a hotel near Qianmen on our next trip

Beijing Capital International Airport

The airport started its operation in 1958. It is 32 km northeast of Beijing. It has 3 terminals. Terminal 3 was the largest airport terminal in the world when it first opened in 2008.

We took the train to the luggage claim

Our first DiDi to the hotel

Singapore to Beijing

The flight was about 6 hours. Only one meal was served in this medium-haul flight. We requested for our meal to be served once we reached cruising speed so that we can get some sleep thereafter.

Our flight path

Ready for take off

Lobster Thermidor

Beef Yakiniku

Selection of fruits

Time for bed

Rise and shine

Ready for landing

Singapore Changi Airport

Our flight to Beijing was at 1.10 am. We had our dinner at the SilverKris Lounge at the airport.

One for the road

Beijing Nihao! 北京你好!

This is our second visit to Beijing. Our first visit was in 2001. We went back to the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace again as we wanted to have a more in depth look at these two places and cover the parts that we missed during our first visit. We did an overnight trip to Datong and a day trip to Shanhaiguan. We also took the opportunity to try the Chinese cuisine. Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1 (30/8/25) Saturday                                                           
Arrived in BEIJING Capital International Airport 北京首都国际机场 at 0715   

DiDi to the hotel                                     

Temple of Heaven  天坛

Qianmen Street 前门

Lunch  Du Yi Chu 都一处                                 

Yonghe Gong 雍和宮

Temple of Confucius 孔廟

Guozijian 國子監

Qianmen Street again 前门

Dinner at Quanjude 全聚德

Beijing Oriental Garden Hotel 东方花园

                                                                  

Day 2 (31/8/25) Sunday

Eastern Qing Tombs 清東陵

Yuling 裕陵 (Tomb of Emperor Qianlong 乾隆)

Putuo Yu Ding Dong Ling 菩陀峪定東陵  

Tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后

Imperial Concubines' Tomb of Yuling 裕陵妃园寝

Tomb of Xiang Fei 香妃

Sacred Way 神道

Dinner at Bianyifang 便宜坊

Wangfujing 王府井

Beijing Oriental Garden Hotel 东方花园

Day 3  (1/9/25) Monday

Ming Tombs 明十三陵

Sacred Way 神道

Dingling 定陵 (Tomb of Emperor Wanli 萬曆) & Museum

Lunch at Floral Restaurant

Mutianyu Great Wall 慕田峪長城

Sanlitun 三里屯

Dinner at Beiping Three Brothers Hotpot 北平三兄弟涮肉

Beijing Oriental Garden Hotel 东方花园

Day 4 (2/9/25) Tuesday

High speed train to DATONG 大同

Xuankong Hanging Temple 悬空寺

Lunch at the visitors' centre

Wooden Pagoda of Fogong Temple 佛宮寺釋迦塔

Dinner at San Tao Cai Restaurant 大同三道菜 

Datong night market 大同夜市

Pipa Old Inn 琵琶老店客棧

Day 5 (3/9/25) Wednesday

Breakfast at Xi Jin Dao 喜晋道刀削面

Datong Grand Mosque 大同清真大寺

Yunggang Grottoes 云冈石窟

Lunch at Long Ju Xiang 龍聚祥

Huayan Temple 華嚴寺

Nine Dragons Screen 九龍壁

Datong City Wall 大同城墙

Back to BEIJING

Dinner at Huda 胡大

Beijing Oriental Garden Hotel 东方花园 

Day 6 (4/9/25) Thursday

Summer Palace 颐和园

Tea at Gong Shi Yu Ting Tea House in Summer Palace 宫事颐庭

Silk Street Market 秀水街

Dinner at Hua's Restaurant 花家怡园

Beijing Oriental Garden  Hotel 东方花园

Day 7 (5/9/25) Friday

High speed train to SHANHAIGUAN 山海关 

Jiumenkou Great Wall 九门口長城

Old Dradon's Head (Laolongtou) 老龍頭

Lunch at the visitors' centre

Shanhaiguan Fortress 山海关 

The First Pass Under Heaven 天下第一关

Wang Family Residence 王家大院

Back to BEIJING

Snack at Qianmen Street

Beijing Oriental Garden  Hotel 东方花园

Day 8 (6/9/25) Saturday

Forbidden City 紫禁城

Tea at the visitors' centre  

Wangfujing Xiyue Shopping Centre 王府井喜悦购物中心

Dinner at Da Dong Roast Duck 大董烤鸭

Heping Guoju 和平菓局

Nanluogu Xiang 南锣鼓巷

Beijing Oriental Garden Hotel 东方花园

Day 9 (7/9/25)  Sunday

Beihai Park 北海公园

Shichahai 什刹海

Lunch at Huda 胡大 again

Flight home at 1635

Places we have been (an update)

The following are the places that we have been together since 2001

2001
June Beijing, Chengde & Tianjin

2002
May Shanghai

2003
Sept France (Paris, Normandy & Brittany)

2004
June Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice & Pisa)
July Perth
Dec Kunming

2005
May Yangon
Oct Greece (Athens & Mainland)
Nov Bangkok

2006
March Siem Reap
May Tioman Island
June Japan (Tokyo & Osaka)
August Club Med, Bintan Island
Sept Melaka
Oct Russia (Moscow & St Petersburg)

2007
May Turkey
Oct Kuala Lumpur
Nov Egypt (Cairo, Luxor & Aswan)

2008
May Desaru
June Sentosa Island
Nov Prague & Budapest
Dec Hong Kong

2009
April Sedili
Sept Xian
Nov South Korea
Dec Taiwan

2010
Sept Kunming, Dali, Lijiang & Shangrila
Nov Gold Coast & Sydney

2011
August Solo & Jogjakarta
Sept Penang
Dec Hanoi

2012
April Jordan
August Silk Road, China
Nov London & Cambridge

2013
August London & Italy (Rome, Assisi, Orvieto, Pompeii, Naples & Sorrento)

2014
June Tokyo & Nikko

2015
June Athens, Mykonos & Santorini
September London & Exeter

2017
Jan London, Paris, Shrewsbury & Liverpool
August Osaka & Kyoto

2018
Feb  Delhi, Agra & Jaipur
July London, Belgium, Exeter & Cornwall
Nov Morocco

2019
April Spain
July London, Wales & York

2020

Covid-19

2021

Covid-19

2022

Oct London, Italy, Oxford & Cotswolds

2023

Jan Egypt (Cairo, Minya, Sohag & Luxor)

April Switzerland

Oct Bali

2024

Jan London, Paris, Holland & Provence

April Germany

July Sihanoukville

Sept Tibet

Nov Kansai Japan

2025

March Norway

June The Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland

Sept Beijing, Datong & Shanhaiguan