Exploring Beijing in 4 days

The Summer Palace in a northwestern suburb of Beijing is one of the largest and best-preserved royal parks in China. Bao Xinguo / for China Daily

A hike on the Great Wall is a must for firsttime visitors to Beijing.WEN BAO / FOR CHINA DAILY

There are many ways to tour the Chinese capital. A better approach is to savor it like a stick of candied haws, one haw at a time and with long intervals to relish the flavor, rather than like a big apple that you bite off simply because it's good for you and will keep the doctor away.

Like any great city in the world, a four-day tour is possible to cover the greatest sites, enough to make you fall in love with it, but not enough to turn you into an expert. You can adjust your pace by having meal or coffee breaks of variable lengths so that you don't feel rushed and will enjoy the moments at a tempo you find comfortable.

Day 1

Given the unpredictability of the weather, you should be ready to swap the days on this calendar. Unless visibility is very low, this detour out of town should be placed early in the schedule because there's a lot of climbing to do.

Any visit to Beijing is incomplete without a hike on the Great Wall. However, the Wall is thousands of miles long and the Beijing section constitutes only a small part, albeit the most touristy part. The default choice is Badaling, but I recommend Juyong Pass, which is less crowded but no less spectacular. Depending on your health and preference, you can climb very steep steps or have a ramble on the relatively flat areas. There are numerous locations for great photo opportunities. (Did I say you should pick a clear day to go when your eyes can reach the most remote beacon tower?)

A side trip to the Ming Tombs will take you into the underground palaces where 13 of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) emperors were laid to rest. Of course, you don't need to see them all. (Only two of them are open to the public anyway.) A sampling of Dingling, which is the mausoleum of the 10th emperor and his two empresses, should be enough.

In case you wonder about the strenuous work undertaken to construct these mammoth edifices, you may want to take in a show of acrobatics upon your return to downtown Beijing. It is a demonstration of making the impossible possible in terms of the capability of the human body.

Day 2

You can call this the axis tour as all sites designed for this day are located along the invisible line that runs vertically through the center of Beijing. If possible, do this on a weekend and mingle with other tourists. It's a small price to pay for the experience of being among Chinese, many of whom are not tourists.

Start at the Temple of Heaven at the southern point of the axis. Where emperors used to hold ceremonies to pray to heaven, from which their power was presumably derived, ordinary Chinese derive their enjoyment from group singing, dancing, tai chi and all kinds of recreation on a weekend morning. Against the backdrop of imperial grandeur is a slice of Chinese life at its most heartfelt and spirited.

Stop at the Echo Wall and discover the wonder of voices bouncing back and forth, somewhat like an echoing chamber where opinions with strong similarity form an impression of diversity.

A short taxi ride north will take you to Qianmen Street. This retail hub, renovated for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, recreates the hustle and bustle of the early 20th century when traditional elements and Western influence converged. Here are some of the oldest businesses of the city, including the famed Peking Duck. (Peking is the old spelling of Beijing and is now preserved for a few brand names only.)