Beijing is a well-travelled city in China, and many tours cost an arm and a leg. If you’re searching for an alternative tour of China’s capital – read on to learn about the only free walking tour of Beijing – plus why you need to take It!

Not only does your guide take you to some of the best sights in Beijing, but you’re also getting to experience the lesser-travelled sights, more local gems of China’s capital city. On top of that, every point of interest is explained and there are some really interesting stories to hear about Beijing and China in general. There’s no better way to hear these tales than with Beijing’s free walking tour.

Plus, come on, there’s nothing better than free! This, of course, does not include the tip for your charismatic, knowledgeable English guide.

Ever had an interaction with a professional cricket fighter? Yeah, the little insect that hops around the garden. It’s something I’ve never dreamt of! Trust me, this is one tour not to miss.

Please Note: Currently, beijingwalking.com is not offering the free walking tour of Beijing right now. They do still provide other tours but are not free. If anyone has another recommendation for a free walking tour of Beijing, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

 

How to book a spot in Beijing’s Free Walking tour

It’s super simple to book a spot on Beijing’s only free walking tour. You can message the guides – my guide for the day was Leo, and he was perfect as he led the small group around the ancient and modern streets of Beijing.

This is a good way to confirm the tour is going ahead, and any changes on the where to meet up. It’s a good idea to get in contact with them beforehand, so they can gauge how many they will have on the tour.

My tour left just outside Nanluoguxiang Train Station. You should take Exit E, and head outside. The tour is usually scheduled for roughly the same time of the day throughout the year.  Making it so the walk goes through the afternoon and into the early night – perfect for sunset views.

I suggest showing up a little early, 4:45 pm was a perfect amount of time to find “Exit E”, make our way outside and introduce ourselves to our guide, Leo. This free-thinking Beijing local was amazing. He had an informative answer for every question he was asked and made the entire tour memorable and extremely enjoyable.

I’m not sure exactly the cut-off number for each tour, but I’d put an estimate around 30 or so people for each guide. It makes the whole experience more fun anyway. My tour group consisted of around 20 tourists.

 

Who organizes this free walking tour of Beijing?

The only free walking tour through Beijing is run by Beijing Walking Tours. At my time of visiting, there were only 3 guys taking groups. Leo was a very knowledgeable guide, and so funny. He made the experience unforgettable.

All tours they offer are listed on their website, along with up-to-date information, maps, itineraries and everything else you need to know.

These guys also offer a wide range of paid tours throughout Beijing and other parts of China – including the Great Wall. If you’re looking for an alternative guided tour, I highly suggest Beijing Walking Tours.

 

How long does Beijing’s Walking Tour last?

My partner and I joined this tour from Nanluoguxiang Train Station at 5 pm (try to be a little early). Once the walking tour begins, it goes for a few hours. My partner and I left the group a little early as we had already visited the final stop of the tour, Jinshan Park.

By the time the tour finishes, it is well into the night around 8 pm. Make sure you bring your walking shoes, this is a ‘walking tour’, after all.

 

Where will I visit on Beijing’s Walking Tour?

The itinerary for this free walking tour of Beijing teaches you a lot about both the city’s most notable sites and the lesser known places to visit. While there are some busy and touristic sites, you explore also quite a few amazing Hutongs and less visited sites.

It’s a great blend of the common and uncommon sights in Beijing.

If you would like to find out more information about each of these sights, I give a more detailed rundown below in the sections “what I learned from Beijing walking tour”, but here’s a shortlist to get you started:

• Visit a number of Hutong’s, including Mao’er Hutong, Lindang Hutong, and Gongijan Hutong.
• Beijing’s Drum Tower
• Qianhai Lake at sunset
• Spend some time at a professional “cricket fighter’s” home
• Beijing’s Bell Tower
• Jinshan Park

Not only are all these stops memorable, but there are also plenty of smaller stops along the way. Leo used these off-the-beaten stops to give a wonderful insight into the history and culture of China. This created a full and interesting tour for the roughly three hours we spent walking and learning.

Learning lesser-known facts about Beijing and it’s history, definitely helped ease some culture shock in China for me.

For more of an in-depth guide to what you will learn during Beijing’s free walking tour, read on below!

 

How much to tip after the only free Walking tour of Beijing?

Free walking tours are fantastic. While they boast a huge amount of information for “free”, tipping is the best way to show gratitude for the guide’s time and effort. While you’re not obligated to tip, the wealth of information Leo provided in just a few short hours is well worth it!

Many free walking tours I’ve been on, the guides make jokes about slipping them a $50 note, but mostly, it’s fine to pay what you feel the tour is worth. While they are technically volunteering their time, these guides sometimes have no other job or are students looking to make a few extra bucks.

 

Highlights from Beijing’s Free Walking Tour

• There were so many unique places visited on this tour, that it was hard not to learn interesting facts about the city of Beijing. I’ll give you a rundown of exactly what I experienced and was taught by our amazing guide Leo. So even if you don’t take this free walking tour (I highly suggest you make time for it, though), you can still learn some pretty cool things about Beijing and China in general.
• China has ancient neighborhoods called Hutongs. These little communities are full of narrow, winding streets are easy to get lost in and so fun to explore. Leo, who has lived in a Hutong himself, told us how family was the epicenter of Mongolian culture, they built courtyard houses for their families to be together, centered around a well. Hutong actually means well.
• There are few hutongs left, which are now protected as cultural relics because before this designation, the government would tear them down to build high-rises.
• The elderly “cricket fighter man” is world-renowned in his profession. As he passed his giant crickets around, he enthusiastically told us in Mandarin more about himself and what he does (with the help of Leo as a translator). He would start every sentence with an excited, tooth-less smile “Hello!” then continue on in Mandarin.   His largest fighters, currently the giant “Mike Tyson” spend only a third of their 100-day lifespan fighting. When they lose, they are fed to a large lizard – which was also passed around to anyone game enough. With that said, he did not view these crickets as disposable, they were his very pride and joy.

• Ancient China had “matchmakers”. As girls were not allowed to leave the house’s second inner gate until married, these matchmakers would visit and report back to their prospective future husbands. You may have heard of the banned practice of binding of feet  – one of the ways that a woman’s beauty was determined by the prospective husband would be to ask the size of her feet. Back then, 3 inches was considered the perfect size. Fortunately, this has been banned for many decades. Part of the matchmaking process was also to match couples of the same stature – i.e. 4 beams with 4 beams. (More on that below)
• Just by looking at the front of many houses in Beijing can tell you a lot about the families who live there – or at least historically. Stone carvings either side of the doorway depict the family’s profession, while the number of beams above the door and the number of steps indicated their ranking. For example, the emperor is known to have 25 steps.
• Owning a car in Beijing is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. There is a lottery. Every year, around 30,000 people are chosen at random for the right to buy a car. Leo had been waiting for the past 3.5 years for his lucky number to be drawn. The point is to try to reduce or limit the amount of traffic on the already busy streets or Beijing. This also combats the smog issue Beijing is known to have. Leo joked, “In the meantime, people use their BMWs to get around – bike metro walk!”
• The tour was perfectly timed to enter Jinshan Park just as the sun began to set. The group entered the park grounds with blue skies and sunshine, and as the sun set and light faded, lights began to spring up around Jinshan Park.

 

Beijing Free Walking Tour highlights

• Spending time with Leo was educational and enjoyable
• Beijing’s Hutong’s are fascinating to explore
• Seeing a lesser-traveled side of the busy Beijing

 

Further Reading for China Travel

• Some amazing things to do in all of China
• A quiet and relaxed way to visit the Great Wall of China
• Tianmen Mountain, in Zhangjiajie, is a stunning scenic mountain

 

If you have taken part in Beijing’s free walking tour, I’d love to hear what you thought- leave me a comment below!

Also, if you enjoyed this post, I’d love it if you would share it to social media – just use the buttons over to the left (down the bottom if you’re on mobile) so more people can learn about Beijing’s best and only free walking tour!

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!

Happy and safe travels,

Ben – Horizon Unknown