Cluster · Beijing
Tiananmen & the Forbidden City
Morning cluster: security and passport checks at the square, then the palace from its timed entry; long open axes with little shade, so go in the first slot.
Key facts
- 28″ bags
- forbidden
- Time budget
- half
- Rescue coverage
- 95% ≤7′
- max p90 6.9′
- Places
- 3
- 1 sleep area in reach
Rules in force · 10Hutong lanes are too narrow for cars and often unpaved or…
- East Asia ↗Every border in East Asia is a full international border, Hong Kong and Macau included: an entry permission for one never covers the next.
- East Asia ↗Ferries between Korea, Japan and China cancel in rough seas and typhoons; keep a flight or a spare day behind every sea leg.
- China ↗Most nationalities need a visa, a unilateral visa-free entry (the list and end dates change) or the transit exemption below. Confirm your route on the official sites before you buy a ticket.
- China ↗Transit stay without a visa: up to 240 hours (10 days) for citizens of about 55 listed countries who pass through China to a third country or region, with a confirmed onward ticket and a stay inside the permitted area (Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei count as one area). It replaced the 144-hour rule in December 2024, which some older pages still quote. Use the transit lane at immigration, show the onward ticket, and check the current nationality list. Hong Kong and Macau count as separate regions; check whether your ticket qualifies.
- China ↗Foreign visitors must register their address with the police within 24 hours; hotels do it at check-in with your passport. Carry the original passport at all times: hotels, trains, museums, Tiananmen Square and police checks ask for it.
- China ↗Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with a foreign card before you fly. QR payment is the default in shops, taxis and many stalls, and some places refuse cash or a foreign card. Carry cash as a backup.
- China ↗Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and many news sites are blocked. Use an eSIM with roaming (it routes through your home network) or install and test a VPN before you fly; VPN sites and app stores are hard to reach inside China, and only government-approved VPNs are officially permitted.
- North China ↗Great Wall sections are exposed and steep: wind, ice and midday heat change the day. Go early and pick the section by the weather, not the brochure.
- Beijing ↗Hutong lanes are too narrow for cars and often unpaved or uneven: large suitcases go from the car to the door, never on a walk.
- Beijing ↗Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and many sights check the passport against the ticket at the gate; bring the original, not a photo.
More
Map to the centre
Add your hotel to get directions from it. · stays in this browser; shared with the pocket card.
Walking weather, next 5 days
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Forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), model data for this point.
Plan
How the ground walks, and what is here
Bound and physics
Tiananmen Gate and the south of the square through the palace's first courtyards; not the palace's northern half.
- Slope
- flat
- Stairs
- Few, at hall terraces
- Shade
- low
- Surface
- paved courts and stone
- Sleep here or visit
- visit
Eat and drink here
Peking duck in a small courtyard in the hutongs south of Tiananmen; book ahead through your hotel or a booking agent, because seating is small.
On the ground
Where to rest, how to leave, where to sleep nearby
Rescue anchors
A rescue anchor is a spot where you can stop and recover if the walk goes wrong: a bench, a café, a toilet. Every letter on the map is one anchor, and each has a card below. We check that any point in the cluster is within about 7 minutes’ walk of one, so you are never far from somewhere to sit down.
Lettered circles: rescue anchors (green works in any conditions, amber only on hot days). Dashed outline: the cluster. Red dots: spots more than 7 min from any anchor. Drag to move; click the map, then scroll to zoom.
Tiananmen Gate square benches (security zone)
Place to sit · works in any conditions
Tiananmen East Station exit (WC)
Toilet · Place to sit · works in any conditions
Meridian Gate benches
Place to sit · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions
Taihe Gate first courtyard shade
Place to sit · Shelter from rain · Toilet · works in any conditions
Ancestral Temple side café
Place to sit · Food & drink · works in any conditions
Zhongshan Park east gate café
Place to sit · Food & drink · works in any conditions
Chang'an Avenue south-west toilets
Toilet · works in any conditions
West wall lane benches
Place to sit · works in any conditions
95% of the cluster is within 7 min of an anchor in any conditions (slowest walker, worst cell 10.5 min) · 95% on hot days
Nodes in this cluster
Forbidden City (Palace Museum)
Book a timed ticket with your passport before you fly and take the first slot; 3 hours through the central axis; closed on Mondays outside holidays and summer.- The world's largest public square, and the security gateway to the Forbidden City: bring your passport, expect airport-style screening, and go early before tour groups and the day's heat build.
- A man-made hill built from the Forbidden City's moat spoil, right at the palace's north gate: climb to the central pavilion for the best rooftop view over the palace, 30–45 minutes.
Edges out
| To | How | p50 | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wangfujing & Dongdan | Walk or subway east | ~20 min | flat |
| Nanluoguxiang & Gulou hutongs | Taxi north | ~20 min | flat |
Sleep within reach
- Wangfujing — 25–34 min
Red lines here
- No flags, banners or umbrellas as signs in the security zone; follow police instructions.
- Passport is checked against the ticket at the palace gate.
Deep dive
Around this cluster
Straight-line distance; walk time adds 30% for streets.