I’ve stopped doing tourist stuff here. I think I’ve hit all of the major sites, and I need to rest my feet. In order of must see to less so, I think the sights here have to go in this order:
Forbidden city
Great wall
Lama Temple
Temple of heaven
summer palace
Ming tombs
I feel like the Lama Temple in particular is underrated by many people, do try to go see it if you can. If authenticity is important to you, I would place this above the Great Wall since the Lama temple is the actual thing and the wall that you’ll see is mostly a reproduction. Ideally, you’ll get to see all of these things, but if you have to prioritize, that’s how I’d do it.
In addition to the sights, make sure you get to go to some of the state run stores/factories that sell silk, silk carpets, pearls, jade, and cloisonné. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s interesting to see how the stuff is made and learn how to detect the real stuff from the fakes. Also make sure you go to a reflexology place, an even better idea is to get a full body massage. It’s cheap and they know what they’re doing.
I think I’ve stayed here in Beijing just the right amount of time, maybe even a little longer than necessary. If you’re coming from a developed place like the US, a week would probably be all you would need. For people like myself coming from a third world country, 10 days is nice. I’ll post about general thoughts about the place a little later.