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Beijing highlights: around the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is so big that visiting it inside takes a whole day. This route suggests something different: walking around it from outside, where Beijingers stroll, to understand how the heart of the empire was laid out. It starts at Tiananmen, follows a canal hidden among willows, skirts the moat to a legendary corner tower, climbs the hill that guarded the palace and ends at Beihai lake.

  • 6 stops
  • 3.5 km
  • 2 h 30 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
The Forbidden City moat lined with willows, with the north-east corner tower on the right

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Tiananmen GateThe entrance to the Imperial City, from which edicts were announced and the People's Republic was proclaimed in 1949.
  2. 2 Changpu Canal ParkAn imperial canal that spent half a century buried, and a stone archive where the dynasty's secrets were kept.
  3. 3 Donghuamen, the East GateThe gate through which imperial coffins left, with one row of studs fewer than the others and a rebellion that reached its very doors.
  4. 4 The north-east corner towerNine beams, eighteen pillars and seventy-two ridges: the palace's most photographed tower and the legend of a cricket cage.
  5. 5 Jingshan hillA hill made by hand to protect the palace, the best view of the Forbidden City and the tree where the Ming dynasty ended.
  6. 6 Beihai lake and the White DagobaThe oldest imperial garden in the city, a jade island around which Kublai Khan built his capital.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Beijing highlights: around the Forbidden City

The palace gates

Tiananmen, where imperial edicts were proclaimed, and the East Gate, through which emperors' coffins left the palace.

The best view

From Jingshan hill you can see the yellow roofs of the Forbidden City from end to end.

Water and gardens

The willow-lined moat, the Changpu canal and Beihai lake, the oldest imperial garden in the city.

Keep exploring

More routes in Beijing

Back to Beijing
HistoryGates, legations and guilds: Beijing's southern city Mysteries & legendsLakes and bells: the secrets of Shichahai

Itineraries

How many days do you have in Beijing?

We’ve planned it day by day for you: which routes to walk and in what order, what else to see and where to eat.

1

Beijing in 1 day

All three routes in one full day: the highlights, the history and the legends at dusk.

See the itinerary 2

Beijing in 2 days

A gentler pace: the three routes over two days, plus extra sights and where to eat.

See the itinerary 3

Beijing in 3 days

The city in depth: one route a day, extra museums and neighbourhoods, and a day for good food.

See the itinerary