Beijing, China
- Beihai park (nice park, close to Forbidden City!)
- Houhai (nice lake, will likely be frozen over at that time of year, markets around the area where you can get tanghulu - caramel covered strawberries). You'll need to get the metro up here from Forbidden City/Beihai but everything else is then walking distance
- Drum Tower
- Confucius Temple
- Lama Temple (Yonghegong - Buddhist temple)
- Mr Shi's Dumplings
- Modernista bar
So Beijing was strange haha so many police everywhere who wouldn’t let us in Tiananmen Square, you need a booking apparently which you have to do through We Chat (their WhatsApp?)
And it’s FREEZING so make sure you have layers in your hand luggage, it felt like -4
We didn’t need a tour company, the train was really easy and if you have a vpn then google works, I have an eSIM so could still get online but James downloaded maps me
If your layover is longer than 9 hours apparently you can apply for a free hotel room or lounge pass if you’re flying with air china but have to do 24 hours before
We found a nice vegan buffet near the square which I’d recommend too but there’s not that much else in the area
And download Ali Pay before you go as cafes etc don’t accept a lot of foreign cards x