10 Things to Do in Beijing in Winter

Beijing is a city that, in addition to having a large population, is visited by many travelers. If you go in winter you will enjoy an ideal time to visit tourist sites such as the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and even the Great Wall of China.

Winter is also ideal for ice skating, skiing or snowboarding; attend festivals of incredible ice sculptures; taste the most delicious hot dishes or have fun in the New Year celebrations. So, if you plan to visit Beijing in winter, you will certainly be surprised with all there is to discover in this city and its surroundings. Are you up for it?

The cold weather invites us to eat hot dishes that comfort us and charge us with energy. That's why winter is the best time for you to book a gastronomic tour in a tuk tuk and try the typical seasonal dishes.

Among the most popular Chinese dishes perfect for winter are:

• Hot pot, which consists of a spicy broth with different ingredients such as vegetables, tofu, dumplings, eggs, noodles, meat and even seafood. It is served in a large bowl that is shared by all diners. In many restaurants you can select the ingredients and watch them being cooked.
• Tangyuan, a sweet soup with rice flour balls that is prepared to celebrate the winter solstice, the New Year or the Lantern Festival. These balls are made by hand and can be filled with various ingredients such as dates, almonds, peanuts or walnuts. They can also be made with savory ingredients such as meat or vegetables.

Tiananmen Square is one of the largest in the world. It is also visited almost all year round, so it is ideal to visit it in winter, when there are fewer tourists.

There is a lot to see in Tiananmen Square, as it is where the People's Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, and where many events of historical importance have taken place. It is next to the Forbidden City, so it is usual to visit them together on one-day stays in Beijing. It is also guarded and you have to present your passport and show your bags to enter.

If you want to know it in detail I recommend you to book the Tiananmen Square tour. In the square you will be able to see emblematic buildings:

• The National Museum of China, one of the most important in the world.
• The Tiananmen Gate, where the People's Republic of China was proclaimed.
• The Monument to the People's Heroes, on the occasion of the revolutionary struggles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• The Great Palace of the People.
• The Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, where his embalmed body is found and people bring him offerings.

Winter is a good time to book a tour to the Great Wall, proclaimed one of the 7 wonders of the world, as the snow certainly gives a special charm to the surrounding landscape. Besides, it will not be as crowded as in spring or summer in Beijing.

There are different sections of the wall that you can visit, depending on your physical condition or how much you want to walk. In winter, low-difficulty tours such as Mutianyu or Badaling are more suitable, which are ideal for children and seniors. Intermediate difficulty routes are those of Simatai and Jinshanling (10 km), while Jiankou is for more trained people.

All sections of the Great Wall are interesting, that is, there is no one better than the other. Regarding how to get to the Great Wall of China, you can go by bus or subway in about 2 hours, book a bus transfer to the Great Wall of China or book a tour, which will be more convenient and comfortable for you at this time of year.

The Forbidden City is a palace complex made up of some 114 palaces and buildings, from where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled between the 15th and 20th centuries. Inside, in addition to the unique architecture of the palaces, you will see sculptures, reliefs, gardens, jewelry, paintings and ceramics that will leave you in awe.

In this complex everything has a symbolic meaning or is related to Feng Shui, which in a quick visit surely escapes you. That is why winter is one of the best times to visit Beijing and learn in detail the secrets of these sites. The site covers about 72 hectares, so it will take you several hours to tour it. My recommendation is to book a tour of the Forbidden City.

There are places to eat and buy drinks, although their prices may seem a little higher than outside the complex. Remember to bring your passport and book your entrance to the Forbidden City in advance. Some of the must-see attractions of this historic complex are:

• The moat with frozen water surrounding the City.
• The Tiananmen Gate, where the People's Republic of China was proclaimed.
• The carved marble staircase, on which are carved reliefs of dragons and other mythological motifs.
• The Imperial Yuhuyuan Garden, which covers about 7000 m2 with artificial hills, terraces, halls, temples and flowers.
• The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the most important of the Forbidden City, where important events such as the proclamation of the emperors or the New Year were held.
• The Treasure Gallery: there you can see jewels, crowns and other precious objects of the emperors.
• The Nine Dragons Wall, which is about 30 meters long.

Beijing is a city famous for its temples and palaces loaded with symbolism, which are undoubtedly among the best options to enjoy in winter, when you will find more locals than tourists and you can tour them at your leisure. Among the best temples in Beijing are:

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is one of the most important temples in China, which was a place of prayer for the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is located just 5 km from the center of Beijing. It is within a park of about 273 hectares, so it will take you a while to walk around it. Inside you can't miss the Circular Altar, the Hall of Harvest Prayer, the Emperor's Vault and the Fasting Palace, among others.

• Location: 4 Jingshan Front St, Dongcheng, Beijing, China.
• Hours: daily from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. from November to March. Attractions such as the Prayer Hall and the Echo Wall open at 8 am and close at 5 pm. Mondays are closed.
• Admission fee: general admission per person is around 2 € from November to March). The entrance to the attractions is around 1-2 € each attraction.
• Recommendations: carry your passport to enter.

Lama Temple or Yonghe Temple

The Lama Temple is one of the most famous Tibetan Buddhist temples outside Tibet, where you can see monks in robes and people lighting incense and praying, as it is an active Buddhist monastery. If you book the Lama Temple tour you will see the largest Buddha statue in the world, 18 meters high. Very close to this temple is an area of hutongs, traditional Chinese neighborhoods, where you can see how the locals live and browse some stores.

• Location: 4 Jingshan Front St, Dongcheng, Beijing, China.
• Hours: daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from November to March. Closed on Mondays.
• Admission fee: general admission per person is about 2 € from November to March.
• Recommendations: carry your passport to enter.

If you visit the city in winter, and after taking some of the best tours in Beijing, you will have the chance to attend different festivals, many of them related to ice and snow. Here is a selection of some of the most interesting ones, so you can choose the one you like the most.

• Lantern Festival, or Lantern Festival: it takes place in February, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. It takes place on the first full moon of the lunar year and kicks off spring. It is a tradition that began in 206 B.C., promoted by the Ming emperor of Han. During the festival, houses, businesses, parks, streets are decorated with colored lanterns that have a riddle written on them, and if a person solves them he or she can win a prize. There are also dance performances, parades, fairs, and there may be fireworks shows.
• Longqing Ice and Snow Lantern Festival: Held in January and February every year in Longqing, 85 km from Beijing. There you will see numerous colorful lanterns and ice sculptures that will amaze you, as well as trees decorated with lights. The entrance to the Ice Lantern Festival costs about 25 €. A very interesting option, but further away from Beijing (5 hours by car), is the Harbin Ice Festival, in which sculptors from all over the world participate, creating real works of art. It is held during the month of January.
• Bird's Nest Ice and Snow Festival: During the month of January, the Beijing National Stadium turns into a huge ice and snow rink and offers various activities such as ice skating, skiing on an artificial hill, ice hockey and snow park. The entrance to the Bird's Nest Festival costs around 15 €.

When temperatures drop below freezing, Beijing's lakes become perfect ice skating rinks for the whole family to enjoy. On these rinks you can not only skate with traditional skates, but also ride bicycles on rails or electric cars, and glide on chairs on rails.

One of the favorite places to skate is Kunming Lake, the largest lake in Beijing, which is surrounded by gardens and palaces, such as the unmissable Summer Palace. Also popular is Houhai Lake, located in the center of Beijing, in an area where princes and nobles built their mansions.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated on the first six days of the lunar calendar, which is usually during the month of January. The way you start determines how the rest of the year will be, so they perform cleansings and offerings to their ancestors. They also gather to eat traditional foods such as Chinese ravioli, fish or niangao, a rice flour cake. It is customary to give money in decorated red envelopes, especially to children.

In addition, many festivals are held in Beijing during these dates, such as the Lantern Festival, so you will see colorful lanterns all over the city; and fairs in the Temples, where people go to pray with incense. Among these are very popular the Ditan Temple, Changdian Temple and Dongyue Temple, which are held between 9 am and 4 pm approximately.

There are also street celebrations, such as the traditional dragon and lion dance, parades and art shows, and craft and food fairs, especially sweets. As for fireworks, they have been banned on several occasions, due to the environmental pollution they generate, but they can be seen around the city.

There are numerous ski resorts near Beijing with slopes of varying difficulty where you can practice snow sports and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The slopes were expanded for the 2022 Winter Olympics, so you will find options for all levels.

One of the main ski resorts is Beijing Huaibei, 80 km from Beijing, which is very close to the Great Wall of China, so the views are wonderful. In addition to its 4.5 km of slopes, this ski center has the highest cable car in the world, 1200 meters high.

Also in Chongli, 3 hours from Beijing, there are several modern ski centers such as Fulong Four Seasons Town, with 37 ski slopes, and the Wanlong, with 32 slopes.

As you can see, there are many things to see and do in Beijing. To finish this list, in Miyun County, about 100 km from Beijing, is Taoyuan Fairy Valley, a forest with ponds, lakes, fountains and a 50-meter high waterfall that freeze in winter and offer an unmissable ice landscape with caves and sculpted shapes that only low temperatures can create.

In addition to contemplating the winter landscape, many people visit this site to practice ice climbing in the Taoyuan waterfall, which offers different levels of difficulty. In this valley there is also the Longquan waterfall, more suitable for beginners, about 20 meters high.