Trip Overview
When: February 2022 (winter with clear skies)
Duration: 2 days
Travelers: With friends (group travel)
Budget: ~200 RMB per person (~$28 USD)
Theme: World heritage sites, imperial history, academic prestige
Beijing isn't just China's capital—it's where emperors summered, scholars studied, and the Great Wall snakes across mountains like a dragon's spine. This trip traces three layers of Chinese history: the academic legacy of Peking and Tsinghua Universities, the tragic beauty of Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace), and the raw majesty of the Great Wall at Jiankou. Fair warning: we're going off the beaten path.
Essential Foreigner Info
Getting There: Fly into Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) or Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). From the airport, take the Airport Express train or Didi (China's Uber) to your hotel in Haidian District for the university and garden visits.
Money Matters: Cash is becoming obsolete in China—download WeChat Pay or Alipay before arrival. Most vendors don't accept foreign credit cards, so having mobile payment set up is essential. Carry some cash (200-300 RMB) for small vendors just in case.
Language: English proficiency is limited outside major hotels and tourist sites. Download Pleco (dictionary app) and Google Translate with offline Chinese packs. Key phrases: "Qingwen, zai nar?" (Excuse me, where is...?) and "Duoshao qian?" (How much?).
Getting Around: Beijing's subway is extensive and cheap (3-9 RMB per ride). Download the "Beijing Subway" app in English. For the Great Wall at Jiankou, you'll need to take a bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou, then local transport.
Day 1: Imperial Gardens and Academic Glory
Stop 1: Tsinghua University (清华大学)
We begin where China's brightest minds have studied for over a century. Tsinghua's campus was originally the imperial garden "Xichun Yuan" (熙春园), gifted by the Qing Emperor to his relatives. Today, it's synonymous with academic excellence—the "MIT of China."
Walking through the ornate Tsinghua Gate (清华园牌坊), I'm struck by the blend of traditional Chinese architecture and neoclassical Western buildings. The campus is massive—hire a bike at the gate for 20 RMB/hour or prepare for a lot of walking. Don't miss the iconic Old Library with its red brick facade and the serene lotus pond near the School of Architecture.
Foreigner tip: Campus entry requires advance registration through Tsinghua's official WeChat account (search: 清华大学). Bring your passport—the security checks are thorough but friendly. Weekends are less crowded.
Stop 2: Peking University (北京大学)
A 15-minute walk east brings us to PKU, China's oldest modern university and arguably its most prestigious. The campus centers on Weiming Lake (未名湖)—the "Nameless Lake"—which freezes solid in winter. Students skate here while the Boya Pagoda (博雅塔) looms overhead like a sentinel.
The lake was originally part of the "Changchun Yuan" (畅春园), Emperor Kangxi's summer palace. When you walk across the West Bridge (西勾桥), you're crossing a Ming Dynasty relic that predates the university by 300 years. History here isn't in a museum—it's where students text their friends and snap selfies.
Reality check: Both campuses require real-name registration. If you didn't book ahead, you might be turned away at the gate. The guards are strict but polite—"Meiyou yuyue" (no reservation) means no entry.
Stop 3: Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) - The Garden of Gardens
Here's where the mood shifts. Yuanmingyuan (圆明园) was the "Garden of Gardens"—a sprawling imperial complex of palaces, temples, and lakes that took 150 years to build across 600 acres. Five Qing emperors ruled from here more than from the Forbidden City.
The entrance fee is 20 RMB (~$2.80), but the Western Mansions section (西洋楼) requires a separate ticket—worth it. Walking through the restored sections of Qichun Yuan (绮春园), you can almost hear the imperial courts that once echoed here.
Then you reach the ruins.
The European-style marble palaces at the Western Mansions were looted and burned by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War. What remains are broken columns and toppled fountains—a haunting reminder of China's "century of humiliation." The black swans swimming in the nearby lake seem strangely appropriate, gliding past destruction with elegant indifference.
Historical context: The Qing emperors built Yuanmingyuan as a fusion of Chinese and Western styles—unprecedented in imperial garden design. The irony isn't lost on visitors: it was destroyed precisely because of that Western influence. What survived were the stone structures; the wooden palaces burned completely.
Pro hack: Visit at sunset. As the golden light hits the marble ruins, the scene transforms from historical tragedy to haunting beauty. The park closes at 7 PM—time your exit to avoid the crowds at the subway station.
Day 1 Dinner: After the emotional weight of Yuanmingyuan, we head to Wudaokou (五道口) near the universities—a neighborhood packed with affordable restaurants catering to students. Try the Peking duck at a local joint (not the touristy Quanjude) for 80-120 RMB per person. The meat is just as good, and the atmosphere is authentically chaotic.
Day 2: The Great Wall at Jiankou—Unfiltered and Dangerous
Stop: Jiankou Great Wall (箭扣长城)
If the restored sections at Badaling are China's Great Wall "greatest hits," then Jiankou is the underground mixtape—raw, dangerous, and unforgettable. This is the section you won't find in most guidebooks because officially, it's closed to tourists. Officially.
We depart Dongzhimen at 6 AM sharp on the first bus to Huairou District (怀柔). By 7:30 AM, we're transferring to a local minibus. By 9 AM, we're at Tianxianyu Village (田仙峪村), where a local farmer points us toward an "unofficial" trailhead. The path begins innocently enough—terraced orchards, roaming chickens, a grandmother selling bottled water.
Then the mountain starts.
The "trail" to the wall is actually a near-vertical rock face. We're not hiking—we're climbing. Hand over hand, finding footholds in crumbling earth, wondering if this is how it ends: a foreign news headline about tourists who fell off a mountain in China. My friend Fengjie and I take turns scouting ahead, calling back safe routes like we're summiting Everest (we're not—we're just out of shape).
Three hours later, we crest the ridge and—
Oh.
The Jiankou section sprawls before us in a perfect "W" shape, like a drawn bow ready to fire. This is the iconic "Arrow Nock" formation that gives Jiankou its name. The wall follows the mountain ridge as far as the eye can see, crumbling in sections, overgrown with brush, completely unrestored. No guardrails. No handholds. No safety nets.
We're standing on Zhengbei Tower (正北楼), the highest point of this section at 1,000 meters elevation. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Mutianyu. The bricks beneath our feet have seen 500 years of weather, war, and tourists. Every block tells a story—of Ming Dynasty soldiers patrolling these same ramparts, of isolation and duty, of the empire's northern defense.
Reality check: This is genuinely dangerous. The wall is crumbling. Some sections have 60-degree slopes with nothing to stop a fall. We scramble along the ridge, testing each foothold, staying low, moving deliberately. My heart pounds—not from exertion, but from the sheer drop inches from my sneakers.
And yet, there's majesty in the decay. Unlike Badaling's sanitized restoration, Jiankou feels authentic—the wall as it actually aged, weathered by centuries of wind and rain. The crumbling ramparts are more moving than any reconstructed parapet because they're real.
Critical safety warning: Jiankou is officially closed and unmaintained. People have died here. Don't attempt this unless you're experienced with scrambling/climbing, have proper footwear (hiking boots, not sneakers), and are prepared to turn back if conditions feel unsafe. The "path" down is as treacherous as the ascent.
Alternative option: If Jiankou feels too extreme, nearby Mutianyu (慕田峪) offers restored sections with cable cars and toboggan rides down. Entry is 40 RMB plus 120 RMB for the cable car. It's touristy but safe, with magnificent views and better preservation.
Final Thoughts: The Great Wall by the Numbers
In 2012, China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the total length of all Great Wall sections ever built: 21,196.18 kilometers—more than half the Earth's circumference. This includes 43,721 individual heritage sites: walls, trenches, towers, and passes.
What started as "lie cheng" (列城)—disconnected fortresses built by the Zhou Dynasty 3,000 years ago—evolved through the Qin, Han, and Ming into the unified defensive network we call the Great Wall. Each dynasty added their chapter to the story, each emperor expanded the narrative.
Standing on those broken bricks at Jiankou, watching the sun set over mountains that have witnessed millennia of history, I'm struck by the audacity of it all. The wall wasn't just defense—it was a statement. The Chinese empire was here to stay, spanning from the deserts of Central Asia to the forests of Manchuria.
The emperors are gone. The empire is history. But the wall remains—broken in places, overgrown in others, but still snaking across the ridgelines, stubbornly refusing to disappear.
That's Beijing's lesson: nothing lasts forever, but the traces remain. Whether it's the burned ruins of Yuanmingyuan, the Ming Dynasty bridges on a modern university campus, or the crumbling ramparts of the Great Wall, history isn't behind glass here. It's under your feet.
Practical Tips Summary
1. University Visits: Both Peking and Tsinghua Universities require advance online registration. Book at least 3-7 days ahead through their official WeChat accounts. Bring your passport.
2. Yuanmingyuan Tickets: 20 RMB for the main garden. The Western Mansions (西洋楼) require a separate 15 RMB ticket. Worth it for the ruins.
3. Great Wall Timing: Catch the first bus (6 AM from Dongzhimen) to avoid crowds and have enough daylight. The "unofficial" Jiankou trailhead has guards after 9 AM.
4. Jiankou Reality Check: This is genuine cliff scrambling, not hiking. Wear hiking boots with ankle support. Bring 2+ liters of water—no vendors on the mountain. If you doubt your physical ability, go to Mutianyu instead.
5. Grand Canal Bonus: The northern terminus of the Grand Canal (京杭大运河) is in Tongzhou District (通州区). Little remains of the original canal, but the new cultural park is worth a visit if you have extra time. Accessible via subway Line 6 to Beiyunhe East.
The Journey Continues
They say there's no such thing as goodbye in the travel world—only "see you later." After two days tracing Beijing's imperial and academic history, I'm left with sore legs, a camera full of crumbling walls, and a deeper understanding of how China sees itself.
The universities represent aspiration—the dream of knowledge and advancement. The ruined palace represents loss—the vulnerability of even the greatest empires. And the Great Wall represents endurance—the stubborn refusal to disappear, even when broken.
To every traveler who reads this: may your journeys be safe, your photos be stunning, and your stories be worth telling. The world is vast, time is short, and Beijing is waiting.