history

Beijing’s history as a city spans over 3,000 years. One important early settlement was Ji (蓟), which became the capital of Yan (燕), one of the major powers of the Warring States period. For much of the next millennium, the area remained an important northern outpost, albeit far from imperial courts based in cities such as Luoyang and Chang’an (modern Xi’an).

The story of Beijing as an imperial capital begins with the southward expansion of northern tribes. The Khitan-led Liao (辽) made the city Nanjing (南京) in 938, and the Jurchen-led Jin (金) then expanded it into Zhongdu (中都) in 1153. Later, Kublai Khan began building a new capital nearby in 1267. Named Dadu (大都) in 1272, it became the imperial seat of the Yuan (元).

The Ming (明) captured Dadu in 1368 and renamed it Beiping (北平), while ruling from Nanjing in the south. That changed with Zhu Di (朱棣), whose father, the founding Ming emperor, had made him Prince of Yan with his base here. After seizing the throne in 1402, he rebuilt the city as his imperial seat. The Forbidden City was completed in 1420, and the capital formally moved to Beijing in 1421. This brought the court closer to both his own power base and the northern frontier.

The Qing (清) moved their court from Shenyang to Beijing in 1644 upon seizing the city, keeping it as their capital and adding many of the palaces, gardens, and temples you can visit today as a tourist. Beijing remained the seat of the early Republic, before the Nationalist government shifted the capital south to Nanjing in 1928. In 1949, as Communist forces advanced south and consolidated control over the mainland, the PRC was proclaimed in Beijing, and the city became the capital again. The resulting concentration of political, economic, and scientific power has no direct analogue in the US, in my opinion.

food

Perhaps nothing is more reflective of this storied history than Beijing’s food. Beijing cuisine is a bit odd as a concept because it exists in two layers: a cosmopolitan capital-city tradition on top of a North Chinese base. Traditional everyday food is quite similar to that of surrounding Hebei and Tianjin, with wheat, dumplings, mantou, cabbage, daikon, and scallions making up relatively hearty dishes. On top of this, Shandong cuisine became perhaps the most important technical influence (as in much of North China), bringing braising techniques and savory flavors, among other things. Zhajiangmian is a good example of this influence. Overall, pretty different from the Cantonese, Min/Tai, or Huaiyang food that many people in the US might be more familiar with.

Beijing’s role as an imperial capital then layered several other traditions onto this northern base. Mongol, Hui Muslim, and Manchu communities strengthened the city’s culture of lamb, beef, and sesame. In particular, some of my favorite Beijing dishes are lamb: shuanyangrou (涮羊肉), lamb grilled on an iron grate (炙子烤肉), and lamb skewers (串儿). Officials and cooks arriving from Jiangnan, roughly the region around present-day Shanghai, brought southern culinary influences and refined banquet techniques to kitchens serving the imperial court. Peking duck is probably the most famous example of this opulence.

Of course, nowadays there is food from all over China in Beijing, perhaps to the detriment of foreign food, which I honestly wouldn’t recommend coming here for. I’ve left recommendations for Beijing dishes and other Chinese cuisines throughout the blog, which I hope will show you how varied the category of “Chinese cuisine” is.

The three most touristy spots are definitely those in the very core of the city, in order of how terrible it is to book tickets:

• The Forbidden Palace (故宫): The imperial seat of power for the Ming and Qing dynasties. You definitely know about this place. One note: you may see references to how hard booking a ticket on the WeChat miniapp is. True, but for foreigners, you actually get tickets through a separate website that is much easier (https://bookingticket.dpm.org.cn/). Tickets are available at 8PM one week before the date.

• The National Museum (国博): Has exhibits with artifacts documenting the mainline development of Chinese civilization through its major dynasties. Would go here if you are a big China history buff, but otherwise it’s quite long. Book on the mini-app.

• Tiananmen Square (天安门广场): so busy. Book on the mini-app. Has the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (毛主席纪念堂) and the Monument to the People's Heroes (人民英雄纪念碑).

Outside of the three above, I would say most tickets can be purchased at the door or with a mini-app. Would err on the latter for language reasons. In general, you will need your passport for all tickets as most Chinese attractions are coupled to an ID.

• Qianmen (前门): Quite a touristy shopping area. Has some very famous Peking duck locations like Bianyifang (便宜坊) and Quanjude (全聚德). Beijing’s center is dominated by hutongs, which are neighborhoods with alleyways and siheyuan (courtyard houses), and the ones east of here are quite fun to walk around. The MUJI hotel (北京无印良品酒店) here looks gorgeous.

• Temple of Heaven (天坛): A massive park around a set of religious buildings where the Emperor would perform rituals for good harvests. The most famous building is the Hall for Prayer of Good Harvests (祈年殿), but it’s also just a place where uncs are playing chess. Next to here is a really cute cafe, CABO Coffee. If you hear about Hongqiao Pearl Market (红桥市场), I’d say not worth going.

• Wangfujing (王府井): OG shopping center. There’s a mall for luxury goods, a mall for regular goods, a mall for literally only anime/manga/二次元 stuff. Songmont (山下有松) is a popular Chinese bag brand with a store in WF Central (one of the malls here). The Donglaishun (东来顺) here for shuanyangrou (sesame paste only) is a good choice for dinner and a very good representation of Chinese halal food that is common in Northern cities. There is a Luckin Coffee (瑞幸咖啡) in Oriental Plaza for a coffee stop.

• The Ming Dynasty City Wall Relics (北京明城墙遗址公园): Remember how the 2nd Ring Road was built over the city walls? Most were taken down in the 50s and 60s in the name of city planning after having been in a somewhat dilapidated state, but this section was preserved as it lines one side of the Beijing Railway station (北京站). Fun place to see the different trains pass.

• Chongwenmen (崇文门): Where I stay lol. Like three Heyteas. Taohua Yin Alley (桃花印巷) and Cuihualou (萃华楼) are pretty tasty.

• National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆) (have yet to go)

• Miscellaneous hutongs. I enjoy Keneng Youshu (可能有书), a bookstore/cafe, for co-working. Shifter is a great bar.

• Jingshan Park (景山公园): Mountain built from construction of the moats around the Forbidden Palace (故宫). Hike to the top for a spectacular view of the city. The last Ming emperor hanged himself here!

• Beihai (北海公园): Beautiful park around a lake, with a White Dagoba (白塔) constructed to honor the 5th Dalai Lama’s visit in 1651. Have a vivid memory of hiking up here and seeing a security guard watching proto brainrot on max volume. Peak China.

• Shichahai (什刹海): Mostly the area around Qianhai (前海) and Houhai (后海)—insanely crowded, with a lot of bars with live music. You will see that these places are also streaming their performers on social media, a really Chinese thing. Kaorouji (烤肉季) here has one of my favorite dishes in the world: thinly sliced lamb with onion and spices. Another great example of Chinese Muslim food (noticing a trend here?). Drink Yinsan Douzhi (尹三豆汁). Prince Kung’s Mansion (恭王府) is interesting for seeing a luxurious traditional Chinese house that is not the Palace.

• Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷): One of the most touristy hutongs in Beijing. Has the No. 69 Fangzhuanchang Noodles (方砖厂69号炸酱面) where Jensen Huang ate zhajiangmian; this dish is elite here and clears anything that San Tung is slopping out. Next to this are the Bell tower (钟楼) and Drum tower (鼓楼) if you wanna climb stairs for a great view. Hella good place to take a picture along the red walls; better than the Pink Wall in LA even. Modernista is a great speakeasy!

• Lama Temple (雍和宫): Center of Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing. Spectacular art/statues and a working temple where you’ll see folks praying! Near this is Kaorouwan (烤肉宛) for lamb yum.

• Confucius Temple (北京孔庙): LARP being an imperial bureaucrat and imagine yourself grinding for the forerunner of the Gaokao/SAT. Really cool exhibit of steles from past successful candidates of the Imperial Examination.

• Wudaoying (五道营胡同): Another hutong with fun little shops. Fuding Coffee (福顶咖啡) has a rooftop with a nice view of the skyline. To Summer (观夏) is a Chinese fragrance brand with a cute courtyard store here. Love their triple tea (茶茶茶) and void (空) scents.

• Temple of Earth (地坛公园): Park with a central altar. Jindingxuan (金鼎轩) for Cantonese food nearby if you crave it.

• Miaoying Temple (妙应寺): built in 1279 in the Yuan Dynasty, the oldest and largest pagoda. For a sick picture, look along the alleyway next to the % Arabica here. There’s also a cat cafe and a bookstore here.

• Temple of Ancient Monarchs (历代帝王庙): Where the Emperors would pray to their predecessors from all previous dynasties.

• Guangji Temple (广济寺): Pretty Buddhist temple, HQ of the Buddhist Association of China.

• Zhongnanhai (中南海): Where the central government/party is housed. You are not getting in but you can bike along Changan Street (长安街) to pass it (no stopping!).

• Sanlitun (三里屯): The mall is SOHO. Bougie. Gentle monster. Food. d.lounge in this area is a great bar!

• Gongti/Workers’ Stadium (工体): Many of the nightclubs in Beijing are along a row here. Fair warning that Chinese clubbing is very table based and definitely more for the study-abroaders and fuerdai than the average person, which is quite different from what you might call a club in the US. PH is my favorite on the basis of music. Bar Dada is good for techno.

• Chaoyang Park (朝阳公园): Big park. They have the Labubu theme park (泡泡玛特城市乐园)! If you want a meme meal Slowboat (悠航鲜啤) is a burger and beer pub that’s actually quite gas. Oasis Lounge is quite good and overlooks the Liangma River canal (亮马河).

• world trade center / guomao (国贸): Mall with luxury brands (all you can imagine) and some bangers like ROCK&RIDE (Chrome adjacent, where I got a few of my pieces). The CCTV building (中央电视台总部) is sick.

• chaoyang joy city (朝阳大悦城) is an insanely large 10-story mall. The Tree (大树餐厅) here is pretty good LARP, probably one of the more aesthetic places I’ve been to!

• Wangjing SOHO (望京SOHO) is an interesting architectural achievement.

• 798 Art Zone (798艺术区): a decommissioned military factory complex that now hosts a contemporary artist community. Many folks here are pushing the margins of social discourse, away from the orthodoxy. There are many galleries for domestic and foreign artists, and the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA尤伦斯当代艺术中心) is an anchor.

• Summer Palace (颐和园): Sprawling palace complex. Highlights for me are Wanshoushan (万寿山) and the Long Corridor (长廊), but you could roam here forever. You have also probably heard of this. Do your research!

• Old Summer Palace (圆明园): Formerly one of the greatest palaces, it was burned by Lord Elgin as retaliation for the execution of a British and French delegation. Haiyantang (海晏堂) is the main spot, as the ruins of a Western style palace with a famous fountain with the twelve Chinese Zodiac animals.

• Peking University (北大) and Tsinghua University (清华): You can’t get inside without an invite from an affiliate. Your best bet is to try to make a friend! I think that foreign students here can invite an unlimited number of guests, but domestic students can’t (as everyone and their mom is trying to get inside). From this, you can understand why Chinese tourists visit Stanford (斯坦福大学), Harvard (哈佛大学), and the like.

• zhongguancun (中关村) is techbro central in Beijing. TikTok, Moonshot AI, Zhipu AI, and Baidu all have a presence here. There is a bar here called AGI Bar (知识蒸馏) where all the drinks are AI themed, which is something that somehow SF has not even done.

• wudaokou (五道口) is a fun gathering place for students in the universities in the area. Catail Backyard (Catail小后院) is a sick bar. Laohuihui (老回回小吃) has yummy beef and lamb dumplings. Long Time Ago (很久以前羊肉串) for amazing cumin lamb skewers and the viral forehead cold pack. Bistro Na (那家小馆) features imperial cuisine (has a branch here).

• Great Wall (长城): You’ve definitely heard of this. Mutianyu (慕田峪) is more lowkey but harder to get to, Badaling (八达岭) is an easy high-speed rail ride away but busy!

• Beijing Zoo (北京动物园): good place to see pandas if you are lucky, although the zoo may not be at American standards.

• Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution (中国人民革命军事博物馆): fascinating to see China’s perspective on its many armed engagements. Includes domestic vehicles and quite a few captured from the US/USSR/Japan.

• I think if you want a good decent meal, a good bet is to go to any large mall and hit their food courts.

• Mizhong Shan (芈重山老火锅) in Haidian (海淀) for Chongqing Hotpot is great. Yunnan Guoqiao mian is delicious. I dream of Hainan style coconut chicken hotpot. Xi’an food is 10/10. Hunanese food is also 10/10.

• In Beijing there are so many tea and coffee chain places. Heytea (喜茶), Chagee (霸王茶姬), Auntea Jenny (沪上阿姨), Naixue (奈雪的茶), Cotti (库迪咖啡), Manner (MANNER咖啡), and Chabaidao (茶百道) are all everywhere!