Beijing in 3 days

The Great Wall of China at Mutianyu (慕田峪长城 — the most beautiful and best-preserved section of the Wall accessible from Beijing: 70km northeast (1.5 hrs by organized tour or private car/taxi (¥400–600 return) or public bus (Bus 916 to Huairou then local minibus): 2.2km of restored wall with 22 watchtowers, originally built in the 7th century Northern Qi dynasty and rebuilt in the 14th century Ming dynasty. The wall at Mutianyu is less crowded than Badaling (the most famous but most overrun section) and has the added attraction of a toboggan slide from the wall back to the base station.

The Great Wall (长城 — the Wall at Mutianyu stretches between Tower 4 and Tower 23: the western end (Tower 4–6) is unrestored and overgrown — the most atmospheric but requiring care on the crumbling stones. The central section (Tower 14–19) is the most dramatic: the Wall drops down into a valley and rises again to an impossibly steep section. The eastern end (Tower 20–23) is the quietest and gives the best view of the Wall disappearing into the mountains in both directions. The Wall here was rebuilt 1569–1572 under Ming general Qi Jiguang — the drainage holes on the outer battlement are his engineering innovation).

The Temple of Heaven (天坛 — the imperial ritual complex where the Ming and Qing emperors performed the Ceremony of Prayer for Good Harvests at the winter solstice (moving from the Forbidden City in a procession of 100,000 attendants across the city): the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (祈年殿 — the triple-roofed circular wooden hall (1420), no nails used in its construction, rebuilt identically after lightning strike in 1889) and the Circular Mound Altar (圜丘坛 — the open-air altar where the emperor communicated with Heaven). The park surrounding it is filled at dawn and dusk with Beijingers doing tai chi, playing erhu and practicing calligraphy with water on the stone slabs.

Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷 — the most famous hutong alley in Beijing: 787m long, 8 named side hutongs branching left and right into the courtyard house network that dates from the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), now a mix of traditional courtyard restaurants and trendy cafés. For dinner: Siji Minfu (四季民福 — the courtyard restaurant serving the finest home-style Beijing cuisine: zhajiang mian (炸酱面 — hand-pulled noodles with fermented soybean paste, pork and julienned vegetables, the defining Beijing home dish), douzhi (豆汁 — the fermented mung bean drink beloved by Beijingers (an acquired taste), and the Beijing-style braised aubergine).

Yiheyuan (颐和园 — the Summer Palace, the final and most complete Chinese imperial garden (1750, rebuilt 1888 by Empress Dowager Cixi after Anglo-French forces destroyed the original in the Second Opium War in 1860): 294 hectares (75% water — Kunming Lake, an artificial lake created by deepening a natural wetland), the Long Corridor (长廊 — 728m, the longest painted corridor in the world, with 14,000 paintings on the ceiling beams depicting Chinese landscapes, myths and history), and the Marble Boat (a lake pavilion commissioned by Cixi using funds meant for the modernization of the Qing navy — one of history's most egregious misappropriations of military budget).

Jiānbing (煎饼 — the Beijing street crepe: mung bean batter poured thin on a circular iron griddle, an egg cracked and spread over the top, then flipped, spread with chilli paste and fermented tofu sauce, scattered with scallion and coriander, a crispy wonton cracker placed in the center and the whole thing folded into a paper packet — ¥10–15, the finest fast breakfast in the world). Available from street carts 6am–noon and many all-day shops.

798 Art Zone (798艺术区 — Dashanzi, Chaoyang District: the Bauhaus-style factory complex built in the 1950s with East German technical assistance (the building style is the architectural giveaway: sawtooth north-facing skylights for even light, designed for precision manufacturing) converted from 2003 to Beijing's leading contemporary art district: 100+ galleries and studios, with the Pace Gallery Beijing (one of the world's leading contemporary art galleries), the Today Art Museum, the UCCA (one of China's premier contemporary art institutions), and the best café culture in Beijing.

Wangfujing (王府井大街 — Beijing's main pedestrian shopping street, with the Donghuamen Night Market at its northern end: the most photographed food market in Beijing, famous for skewered scorpions, starfish, silkworm chrysalises and seahorses on sticks (largely theatrical — the genuine Beijing street food is the surrounding hutong's dumplings and noodles). The Wangfujing Snack Street has the genuine local snacks: jian dumplings, candied hawthorn on sticks (冰糖葫芦, the Beijing winter classic), sugar-fried chestnuts in November.