12 posts · Curated China travel tips
Harbin Ice Festival, Beijing's snow-covered Forbidden City, Yunnan's mild winters — and the surprising places where winter is actually the best time to visit.
I get this question at least twice a week: "Peng, how many days do I need in Beijing?" The honest answer: 4 days minimum. 5 if you want to breathe. Day 1: Forbidden City + Jingshan Park (book tickets a week ahead) Day 2: Great Wall — leave by 6:30am, Mutianyu is closest Day 3: Temple of Heaven in the morning, Summer Palace after lunch Day 4: Hutong walking tour + 798 Art District Day 5 (optional): Xi'an — take the 4.5hr high-speed train, see the Terracotta Warriors This isn't a rushed itinerary. It's what I've refined over 15 years of bringing clients here. You could do it in 3 days but you'd hate yourself by day 2. Want a full day-by-day plan? That's what I do. Just ask.
Client tip I give everyone: book the Great Wall for a Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Arrive before 8am. Why? I took a family from Melbourne to Mutianyu last Thursday. We got there at 7:45. Had the entire section to ourselves for a full hour. No crowds, no noise, just the wall stretching into the mist. By 9:30 the tour buses started arriving. By 10 it was shoulder-to-shoulder. We were already heading down on the toboggan run laughing our heads off. Timing is everything in China travel. I've been doing this 15 years — I know which spots to hit early and which to skip entirely. If you want my honest itinerary tips, just ask. I don't gatekeep.
Tickets sell out in minutes. Here's exactly how to book the Forbidden City — with the booking window, the WeChat mini-program setup, and what to do if they're sold out.
Two weeks in China is enough to fall in love with the country. This route covers 5 cities with the perfect balance of history, food, and scenery — the ultimate **China Custom Tour** for time-rich travellers.
A client once asked me: "Should I spend more time in Beijing or Shanghai?" After 15 years of visiting both cities, here's my honest comparison to help you decide.
I've hiked every section of the Great Wall — from the crumbling wild sections to the restored tourist routes. Here's my honest guide to hiking the Wall, with everything a beginner needs to know.
The best time to visit the Great Wall? 7:30 AM on a Tuesday. Seriously. Most tourists show up between 10 AM and 2 PM, and by noon the wall is a human river. I always tell my clients: book a driver the night before, leave your hotel at 6 AM, be on the wall by 7:30. You will have whole sections to yourself. The light is gorgeous at that hour too. I did this with a French couple last month and the husband said it was the only time in China he felt like he had the country to himself. Worth the early alarm.
Badaling vs Mutianyu vs Jiankou vs Simatai — which Great Wall section is right for your trip? Honest comparison from someone who's been to all of them.
After 15 years of dragging hungry clients around Beijing, I've built a mental map of exactly where to eat — from the hole-in-the-wall jianbing stall that beats any hotel breakfast, to the Peking duck restaurants locals actually queue for.
I've walked the Great Wall more than a hundred times with clients. Every single time, I tell them the same thing before we start: "Don't look at your phone. Just stand there for one minute and let it hit you." The look on their faces when they finally look up — that never gets old. Most tourists go to Badaling because that's what the tour buses advertise. I take my clients to Mutianyu. Same wall, better experience — way fewer people, a cable car up, and a toboggan ride down that adults enjoy more than kids (don't tell my children I said that). Pro tip from hundreds of trips: arrive before 8am. The ticket queue at 10am can be 40 minutes. At 8am you walk straight through. And bring water — the vendors on the wall charge triple. If you really want to escape crowds, Jinshanling is where I go when I have a free weekend. It's unrestored, crumbling, and absolutely stunning. Pack a picnic and you can walk for hours without seeing another tourist.
Beijing isn't a city you visit — it's a city you experience. A 15-year insider's guide to the capital, packed with the local knowledge that makes a **China Custom Tour** unforgettable.
