Beijing and Chengde, spring 2026

Hello. I want to share pictures from my recent trip to China. This time I have gone to Beijing and Chengde. Why would I go to Chengde? Some say they have palaces that look similar to Tibetan ones. I havent been to Tibet yet but palaces do look similair. Beijing is vast and has something for everybody: the Great Wall, the Forbidden city, the Heaven temple along with numerous others. People in my experience are quite friendly, only a bit rude when they are looking for empty seats in trains, but it is like this in every capital.

Alipay is much more convenient than prepraid transport cards that mostly can be topped up with cash. It is also faster than using a card.

Food in Beijing is dirt cheap in my experience. I could eat noodles with pork or Chinese burgers for like $1.5-2 and got full after spending inly $3-4 on the whole meal! Especially if you like spicy food. Once I have tried noodles with a "little bit numbing" taste like that had said. I couldnt even feel my mouth after eating it😆so be careful if you are not into spicy food like me.

Overall, I recommend everybody who is into history to visit Beijing and, of course, make a day trip to Chengde.

Pic 1 - Heaven temple, pic 2 - Confucius temple, pic 3 - forbidden city, pic 4 - CCTV headquarters, pic 5 - some old guys practicing calligraphy, pics 6-7 - Lama temple, pics 8-9 - Badaling Great wall, pic 10-13 - Chengde mountain resort, pics 14-16 - Beijinng art museum, pic 17 - view at the forbidden city from Chang'an park.