Some Beijing travel tips
travel
Earlier this year I went to Beijing. Here are some miscellaneous travel tips. What I am writing here is probably not unique or original, treat this just as my personal emphasis / endorsement.
- Apps: download amap (or baidu), didi, Wechat (including linking a foreign credit card), letsvpn, pleco translation app. Download before going. If you feel paranoid about data security, do this on a separate phone.
- Get SIM card ASAP. You often need a SIM card to connect to wifi.
- Advance bookings for places which have long queues for tourists:
- national museum
- forbidden city
- Maybe summer palace and great wall (depending on season)
- Food to try:
- malatang
- peking duck
- zhajiangmian
- roubing (meat cakes)
- Vegetarian options can be a bit hard to find, maybe search this in advance.
- Look up how to use a squat toilet if necessary
- Carry some toilet paper with you (not all toilets provide it)
Citation
BibTeX citation:
@online{tripp2025,
author = {Tripp, Austin},
title = {Some {Beijing} Travel Tips},
date = {2025-04-28},
url = {https://austintripp.ca/blog/2025-04-28-beijing-travel/},
langid = {en}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Tripp, Austin. 2025. “Some Beijing Travel Tips.” April 28.
https://austintripp.ca/blog/2025-04-28-beijing-travel/.