Beijing + China in 7 Days on a Budget

Seven days: do the transit-clock math first

If you’re entering on the 240-hour visa-free transit rule (roughly 55 nationalities qualify, provided you hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country), seven days eats a serious chunk of that ten-day window. The clock starts at midnight the day after you land, so do the arithmetic against your onward flight before you commit to a full week, not after. Seven days is also enough to do Xi’an properly rather than rushing it, using the rule that lets Beijing-to-Xi’an travel count as one transit, not two entries. Want Beijing itself in full instead? See the 7-day Beijing itinerary , which spends the whole week inside the capital, second Great Wall day included.

Day Focus Rough spend pp
Day 1 Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Tiananmen Square ¥230-330
Day 2 Great Wall at Mutianyu ¥350-550
Day 3 Tianjin day trip by high-speed rail ¥120-200
Day 4 Ming Tombs, Olympic Green ¥210-310
Day 5 Train to Xi’an ¥250-350
Day 6 Terracotta Army, train back to Beijing ¥300-450
Day 7 A last easy day in Beijing, then departure ¥60-100

Book these before you go:

Set up and test a VPN before departure, since it can’t be installed once you’re behind the Great Firewall, and link a foreign Visa or Mastercard to Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly, or plan to tap a foreign contactless card straight at the metro turnstile instead.

Day 1: Forbidden City, Jingshan, Tiananmen

Forbidden City tickets need real-name booking tied to your passport, released online at 8pm Beijing time exactly seven days ahead, and weekend slots sell out in minutes. Entry is ¥60 peak (April-October) or ¥40 low season, closed Mondays except holiday Mondays; budget three to four hours. Climb Jingshan Park (¥2) after for the best rooftop view of the palace in the city. Book a separate WeChat mini-program slot for Tiananmen Square in the afternoon, passport required again, with airport-style security at the gate. Dinner at Siji Minfu for Peking duck, ¥154-259 a bird, better value than the tour-group prices at Quanjude.

Day 2: the Great Wall, on its own

Mutianyu , about 90 minutes out, is the better call for most first-timers: well restored, a cable car (¥100 one-way/¥140 return), a toboggan down, fewer tour buses than Badaling, the closer but far more crowded alternative. Arrive at opening and bring your own food.

Day 3: Tianjin, a genuine second city

A high-speed train covers the distance in about 30 minutes for ¥55-70 each way. Colonial-era European architecture along the Hai River and goubuli baozi (steamed buns, ¥20-40 for a set) for lunch, back in Beijing well before dark.

Day 4: Ming Tombs and Olympic Green

Morning: the Ming Tombs, ¥60 peak/¥20 low general admission with individual tombs extra (Changling ¥30-45, Dingling ¥40-60, roughly ¥95 combined), no reservation needed, buy on-site. Afternoon: Olympic Green, free to walk and photograph the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube from outside.

Day 5: the train to Xi’an

Take a morning high-speed train, 4-6.5 hours depending on the service, and use the afternoon to settle in and see the Muslim Quarter and the Bell Tower before the main event tomorrow. Unlike the rushed one-day version some itineraries try, giving Xi’an a genuine two days means you’re not touring the Terracotta Army on four hours of train-legs.

Day 6: the Terracotta Army, then back to Beijing

Spend the morning at the Terracotta Army site, easily three to four hours for the three main pits and the museum, then take an afternoon or evening high-speed train back to Beijing. Because cross-province travel is allowed within one 240-hour transit, this whole Xi’an leg still counts as a single visa-free stay, not a second entry, as long as your final onward ticket out of China is still confirmed and dated inside that window.

Day 7: a last easy day in Beijing

Keep this one light. A relaxed walk through a hutong you haven’t seen yet, a last Peking duck lunch, and time built in for the airport, since PEK and PKX security lines run long during peak travel periods. This is the buffer day the rest of the week’s train transfers make worth having.

Is 2 days in Xi’an worth cutting from Beijing’s week?

Yes, if the Terracotta Army is on your list at all. A rushed single-day Xi’an attempt burns 8-13 hours on trains alone; giving it two days here means you actually see the site rested instead of running through it between train transfers, for the cost of one extra day away from the capital.

Getting around on this 7-day plan

The metro covers Days 1, 2, 4, and 7’s in-city sights, English-signed, ¥3-10 a ride by distance. Tap a foreign contactless card at the turnstile or use the Alipay/WeChat transport QR code. Beijing South Railway Station connects directly to the metro for the Tianjin and Xi’an trains on Days 3, 5, and 6.

Carry your actual passport the entire trip, not a photo of it; it’s checked at gates in both cities, and the National Immigration Administration enforces the transit-visa clock strictly at your final boarding.