Beijing City Center Walking Tour, Beijing

Beijing City Center Walking Tour (Self Guided), Beijing

A political, cultural, and economic center of China for the past eight centuries, Beijing is the newest of the country's Four Ancient Capitals.

The city boasts the grandest and best preserved imperial palaces, gardens and temples, including seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian, and parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal, all of which are popular tourist attractions.

Beijing is also renowned for its traditional housing style, known as Siheyuan, and the narrow alleys, known as Hutong, found in the old sections of the city. Beside visiting the historical landmarks, exploring Siheyuan and Hutong is a favorite activity among visitors.

Replete with numerous attractions, downtown Beijing is best known primarily as the home of Tiananmen Square and the adjacent Forbidden City. The latter, built in the early 15th century, served as residence to 24 emperors, from 1420 to 1912. Consisting of 980 buildings, it is the largest wooden complex in the world.

Right in front of its main entrance lies Tiananmen Square, the political nerve center of China. Historically this has been the place of public gatherings, parades and anti-government protests. A bit further south is one of the main gates of the old Beijing city wall.

On this self-guided walking tour you will start from the main city gate on the south side of the old city and make way north to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, ending up at the former imperial garden, now a public park. Along the way, you will witness some of the grand monuments, the most opulent royal palace in the country, and a traditional Chinese garden in the heart of the capital city.

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Charlie fong.

How it works: Download the app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store to your mobile phone or tablet. The app turns your mobile device into a personal tour guide and its built-in GPS navigation functions guide you from one tour stop to next. The app works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Create Your Own Self-Guided Walks in Beijing

Map Instructions: (1) Click the "Nearby Sights" button to view the nearby attractions; (2) click a map pin to see sight information.

Guide Name: Beijing City Center Walking Tour
Guide Location: China » Beijing (See other walking tours in Beijing)
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Sightseeing)
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.7 Km or 2.3 Miles

Sights Featured in This Walk

WalkBuilder (customize this walk)

Use the WalkBuilder tool below to customize this walk to suit your interests. Instructions: click

at the upper right corner in the map above to view other sights in the city. To learn more about a sight, click a map pin. Click the “+” or “–” to add or remove a sight from the walk. To reorder the selected sights, simply drag and move them up or down the list in the left column.

Click here to view route map

Enter a name for your custom walk, along with your email address, in the fields below. You will receive the instructions for retrieving your custom walk in the GPSmyCity app by email. The GPSmyCity app offers turn-by-turn travel directions to guide you from one attraction to the next.
Walk Name*:
Email*:

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I access my walking tour in Beijing?
Save your walking tour on the website. Then download the GPSmyCity app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and sign in to your GPSmyCity account. Next, download “Beijing Map and Walking Tours” within the app. Your walk will appear on the Walks screen.

2. How do I view other attractions in Beijing?
At the upper-right corner of the map above, click the “Nearby Sights” button to show or hide other sights in the city. Click a map pin to view details about a sight. To add a sight to your walk, find it in the right column of the WalkBuilder tool above and click the “+” button next to it.

3. How do I re-arrange the sight order?
In the left column of the WalkBuilder tool, drag a sight to move it up or down the list. Then click “Click here to view route map”. Repeat this process until the route meets your needs.

4. Can I add my hotel to a walking tour?
Yes. You can add your hotel as the starting point, the ending point, or both (creating a loop route). This feature is currently available only in the GPSmyCity app.

5. Can I add my own sights to a walking tour?
Yes. You can add sightss that are not in our database and include them in your walk. To do so, sign in to your GPSmyCity account on the website or use the GPSmyCity app.

6. How many sights can be included in a walking tour?
For technical reasons, the number of sights in a walking tour is currently capped at 20. This limit may be increased over time.

Walking Tours in Beijing, China

Create Your Own Walk in Beijing

Creating your own self-guided walk in Beijing is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Beijing's Historical Temples Tour I

Chinese temples are of unique beauty and have withstood many dynasties. However because the temples have always been connected to the imperial families, many of them were destroyed when the last dynasty ended in 1911. Nevertheless, a great number of beautiful temples with great history still stand in Beijing. Take this self-guided walking tour to discover a few famous temples in the northern part... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.9 Km or 0.6 Miles

Beijing's Historical Temples Tour II

The places of worship are some of the best links to the city's history. The unique churches, Buddhist and Taoist Temples, and beautiful Muslim Mosques all tell great tales of the history of Beijing. Despite that many of them have been partially or completely destroyed over the years either by wars or by the changes of political power, a good number of them still remain. You can visit a few... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles

Olympic Park Walking Tour

The Olympic Park in Beijing was built for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2008. This modern complex represents a contemporary architectural approach as compared to the more traditional buildings that dominate the city. Among its signature items are the iconic Bird's Nest, otherwise known as the main Olympic stadium, and the beautiful Water Cube – the Aquatics Center for water sports.
... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 5.6 Km or 3.5 Miles

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