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• 1. Arrival
• 2. Mutianyu
• 3. Xi'an
• 4. Xi'an
• 5. Leshan
• 6. Chengdu
• 7. Chongqing
• 8. Fenghuang
• 9. Furong
• 10. Zhangjiajie
• 11. Tianmen
• 12. Beijing
• 13. Return

 Day 1 (May 10, 2026) Arrival in Beijing

Before      After two long flights with a layover in Doha, which we will start the day before, our arrival in Beijing is scheduled for noon.   The plan is, after settling into the hotel, to check that the apps we need for this trip are working properly and to ask the hotel staff for help in case any issues arise with them.   We could dedicate the afternoon to visiting the Summer Palace.   The spots marked on the map are: 0- Hotel Nostalgia Prince Gong's Mansion 1- Temple of Heaven 2- Tiananmen Square 3- Forbidden City 4- Lama Temple 5- Summer Palace 6- Olympic Park

After   After a flight to Doha and boarding another one to our final destination in Beijing, we had our first views of the Chinese capital and be ready for arrival.   We arrive right on time and had already booked the transfer to the hotel a few days earlier through Trip.com for €23.50. We identify our driver by the sign with my name on it that he's holding and he take us to the parking lot, where he have his vehicle.   Upon arriving at the hotel we check in and, as I had planned, I have them charge one yuan from my Alipay to check if it works. It does, and although I say it isn't necessary, they insist on giving it back to me. The Alipay App also has a transportation section where we get a QR code that will allow us to use the Beijing metro.   But before that, we go out to choose one of the many food places we have seen from the car when entering the hutong we are staying in. Here they call "hutong" the multiple alleys that form a labyrinth in the old areas of Beijing and that are usually bursting with food stalls.   We see a place full of people, which is usually a good sign, and we also choose it because of the big picture of a clam dish at the entrance. Thanks to that poster, it is easy for us to order one for each of us simply by pointing at it. The rest is more complicated even though they give us special treatment by writing down what we want, which, although normal for us, is not standard here. The usual procedure here is to scan the QR code on our table and choose what we want from the options that appear there. Using the translation app, we manag to point out the rest of our order to the waitress.   We love the clams, which are quite spicy and, along with some chicken skewers, a portion of oysters, and a dish of baked sweet potato and red beans with cheese, completed our lunch for 120 yuan. At this moment, the exchange rate is 10 yuan for €1.25, so we pay a total of €15.   Having eaten, we go back to the hotel to get ready for the visit to the Summer Palace and, following the same path to the restaurant where we ate and continuing a bit further to where the alley ends, we see the entrance to the metro, which we access with our mobile phones.   This station is called Ping'anli and is on the same Line 4 that drops us off at the North entrance of the Summer Palace: Beigongmen station.   Already at the ticket office next to the entrance of the Summer Palace, I see that the price is 30 yuan, but they asks me if I want the package that allows access to all paid areas. I do not know which ones they are but I still end up paying for that package, which costs 60 yuan.   We pass through the North gate to reach a bridge with a beautiful blue gate on the other side. From the bridge, we can see what is called Suzhou Street: beautiful buildings on both banks of the river. We could go down to explore it because the entry is part of the package we bought, but we are good enough with seeing it from the bridge.   Behind the blue gate, there is an open space with trees like a park where we find the entrance to "The Four Great Regions": some buildings, mostly red, which are accessed from a longflight of stairs. Instead of climbing the stairs, we buy a beautiful map at the stall located before them. I ask for the best itinerary, and they point to the path that goes to the right, which is supposed to take us to the lake and the port located there.   We follow that path through lush areas that make us feel like we are walking through a forest. The arrival at the port is announced by a gate-tower. It is a very lively area, with the pier for some red boats that go to the East Gate and several shops. We buy some gifts and an ice cream to counteract the heat.   Once here, following the lake shore, you reach the main buildings of the palace, but we choose to cross the bridge in front of us towards a small island to have better views of the famous marble boat.   We leave the island via the beautiful Plantain Bridge, without losing sight of the marble boat, which seems hard to believe it is not actually a boat but a sculpture.   Here begins a covered walkway with a painted ceiling that leads to the main building, although it is not necessary since you can walk perfectly well on both sides of it.   The walkway continues beyond the entrance, called the Cloud Dispelling Gate, which is immediately noticeable on its own, although the crowd of people or the decorative Cloud Dispelling Archway on the opposite side, which leads to a pier on the lake, also helps.   This part is also paid separately and it is the main reason for purchasing the full package. At the other side of the gate we directly access a space with a bridge over a pond with floating lotus that leads to the Second Palace Gate,   Behind this, we find the Hall of Dispelling Clouds, which is closed. On the sides, we can see roofed stairs, like the same corridor that brought us here, going up diagonally next to both walls.   The path leads to a wall with diagonal stairs that lead to the Tower of Buddhist Incense, which is the summit of this entire complex. The way up in the right because left is for the way down. Despite the heat, we start climbing them.   At the top of these stairs, there is a building we can walk through to find another wall of stairs on the other side, just like the one we just climbed. This one does lead to the Tower where, besides being able to see the golden Buddha inside, it offers fantastic views of the lake and the buildings in the southern part of the complex.   Back down we follow the corridor until it ends and continue along the path toward the exit, at the East Gate, passing by beautiful corners here and there.   We buy two frozen fruit smoothies to fight the heat. When we see the signs pointing to the Garden of Harmonious Interests, we follow them, leaving our way to the exit for now.   We cross the Purple Cloud Gate-tower until we reach the entrance to the garden in an area full of people, probably because of the shade there.   We walk to explore this beautiful garden around a pond with the surface covered in lotus flowers and surrounded by weeping willows among small reddish buildings, like all those at the Summer Palace. One of them is a coffee shop.   Once the visit is finished, we retrace our steps to resume our route toward the exit, passing through beautiful places by the lake.   When we leave through the East Gate, since there is no subway here, we use the Didi app for the first time to get a vehicle to take us back to the hotel. We find out that the first restricted traffic zone is only for taxis, and we have to walk toward the public road where our vehicle was waiting for us.   Back at the hotel, we rest for a bit and go out for a moment to try some of the food we had seen in the shops, like dehydrated fruit or manjus of different flavors. We bring two boxes of manjus, one chestnut and one mango.