Beijing

Beijing is laid out on a grid of ring roads around the Forbidden City, and most of what you want sits inside the second ring. The hutong neighbourhoods north of the palace are where the city slows down: breakfast stalls, courtyard cafés, old men with birds.

It is a walking city in short bursts and a metro city in between. Distances that look small on the map are not, so plan one district per half day and stop feeling guilty about it.

The big sights need booking. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall sections with cable cars and most museums use real-name reservation systems that take your passport number, and popular days sell out. Sort this a week ahead and the rest of the trip can stay loose.

Two airports. Capital (PEK) is closer to the centre and has the Airport Express to Dongzhimen; Daxing (PKX) is newer, further south, and connected by the Daxing Airport Express and a high-speed rail link. Both have taxi ranks with meters; ignore anyone approaching you in the hall.

High-speed trains from Shanghai take around four and a half hours and arrive at Beijing South, which is on the metro. Trains from Xi'an take four to five hours to Beijing West.

Peking duck is the obvious one, and worth doing properly once. Beyond that, look for jianbing (a savoury crêpe) at breakfast stalls, zhajiangmian (noodles with fermented bean sauce), and the Muslim-run lamb skewer places around Niujie. Hutong courtyard restaurants in Dongcheng are pleasant but pricier than the neighbourhood places a street away.