The Great Wall Tour: local tour operators offer trips to see the UNESCO World Heritage site that is the world-famous Great Wall of China. The nearest section of the wall, which covers thousands of miles of the country, is at Badaling and trips there come with English speaking guides and invariably include lunch and pick-ups and drop-offs. The Ming Tombs, where thirteen of the emperors of the Ming dynasty are buried, are also often included in these tours.

Fragrant Hills: situated over 28kms from the city and reachable by taxi, the Fragrant Hills are a popular visitor area with parkland that includes pine forests that were once used by Chinese emperors for hunting. Various traditional Chinese structures such as temples and pagodas are also available for viewing around the park. The highest peak of the hills can be reached via a chair lift for which a small charge is levied.

Ban Di Dian Forest Park: if it’s a day away from the urban jungle that you’re looking for then take a trip to Ban Di Dian Forest Park, a manmade forested landscape that covers a massive 200 hectares and is the largest area of its kind available to the city. The park, with it’s collection of willow, poplar, cedar and Japanese Pagoda trees, is the ideal place to relax, take a picnic or go for a stroll. An orchard with apple, pear and peach trees plus grapevines is open to the public and the picking of fruit is unrestricted during the harvest season.

Hutong tours: the Hutong are a network of alleyways and winding streets in which locals traditionally lived in small single-storey houses situated around courtyards. Many still live there today. Visitors can employ the services of an English speaking guide and head into the maze of small streets either on foot or by rickshaw to discover what traditional Beijing life was, and to some extent still is like.