From scalding Gobi Desert summers to Harbin’s ice sculpture festival, Datong’s UNESCO World Heritage–listed grottoes to Pingyao’s ancient city walls, Northern China majors on diversity. Many travelers begin and end their journeys amid Beijing’s imperial splendor, visiting the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, and Tiananmen Square. But if time allows, the list of things to do in Northern China expands to food tours and cooking classes, acrobatics, kung fu shows, hiking, and snow adventures.
Never knowingly understated, the Northern China climate tends to extremes: Generally speaking, icy winters serve up bone-chilling winds, while Beijing summer temperatures can nudge a steamy 90°F (32°C). Unless you’re keen to discover Harbin’s spectacular ice festival, which usually runs from late December until late February, or witness the Lunar New Year celebrations, shoulder seasons (May, June, and September) should hit the sweet spot. Avoid traveling during the first weeks of May and October, when most locals are on vacation.
High-speed rail makes getting around most of Northern China a breeze: It’s greener than flying, much less prone to delays, and often faster once you factor in travel times to the airport and the inevitable wait before boarding. Larger cities have fast, cheap metro systems with signage in both English and Mandarin. Buses are hard to use if you don’t speak or read Chinese. As elsewhere in China, there are harsh penalties for driving without a valid Chinese driving license.
While many Chinese cities have a rich roast duck tradition, sampling Beijing duck is a Northern China rite of passage—and the succulent meat, crispy skin, and delicate slices are well worth traveling for. Make the pilgrimage to Beijing's Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant in Qianmen district, about a 30-minute walk from Tiananmen Square, for flavor-packed fowl prepared in an oven stoked with fruitwood.
