Beijing’s rapid modernisation since the 1950s has seen the city gradually encircled by six ring roads at ever greater distances from the centre, like the ripples in water created from a dropped stone. Beijing’s Daxing International Airport, sitting far south of the city, beyond the furthest ring, seems at first an unlikely location for sight-seeing.
But while the airport is well-connected by high-speed rail and metro to the city’s world-famous palaces, temples and monuments, the outlying Beijing districts such as Daxing, Fengtai and Fangshan also contain much to explore. These sights are within two hours’ ride-share or taxi journey from the airport, but few Beijing visitors venture far enough out to see them. Here are some experiences you won’t want to miss.
1. Experience local pastimes at Shilihe Tianjiao Market
A forty-minute drive from Daxing International Airport, at the labyrinthine market of Shilihe Tianjiao on the edge of the city’s third ring, you’ll find flowers, fish, birds and insects – everything needed for the four great traditional pastimes of Beijing. Mynahs compete for your attention, schooled to call out: “Come in. Come in. Come in.” Smaller birds such as the black-capped wutong spring skywards to collect blowpipe-blown beads, returning to their trainer’s hand for a reward in flax seed.
Meanwhile, brilliant slivers of orange – lionhead and celestial eye goldfish, bred for their bulbous heads and skyward gaze respectively – dart around in coloured buckets, and singing crickets pose on the hands of potential buyers. It’s a rousing atmosphere that provides plenty of photo opportunities. Those seeking a souvenir that’ll survive the flight home can also find colourful, handmade ‘sand swallow’ kites and other local crafts.
2. Spot deer in their native habitat at Milu Yuan
At 60 hectares, this remaining fragment of the walled southern hunting ground of the Qing emperors is modest in scale, but one of the best-run animal exhibits in China. Milu Yuan in Daxing district, just 40 minutes away from the airport, is home to endangered Père David’s deer, reintroduced from England in 1985 after the herd here, the last in China, had all been poached. It also functions as an ecological research centre, and plays an important role in conserving this species.
Colloquially named sibuxiang, or ‘four dissimilarities’, these creatures have the horns of a deer, the face of a horse, the hooves of a cow and the tail of a donkey – according to a traditional saying. Conservation-minded signage introduces other deer, too, and identifies owls, crows, kingfishers and more, while making it clear that you’re only a guest in what is the deer’s space.
3. Visit imperial burial sites at the Western Qing Tombs
The Ming Tombs, much closer to Beijing, are on most tourist itineraries. But the Western Qing Tombs in Yi County, Hebei province, almost two hours’ drive from the airport, offer a more extravagant imperial burial site with far more to see and a more tranquil experience. The 18th-century Yongzheng emperor first ordered his tomb to be built here, rather than with his immediate Qing forefathers about 300km to the east. There are multi-courtyard complexes here for four emperors, four empresses, four princes, two princesses and 57 concubines, many with a charmingly timeworn air, along with ornate memorial arches and a semi-circular wall with curious sonic effects – see if you can locate the right spot to stand in where anything you say echoes back to you multi-fold.
Those buried here include the Pearl Concubine, who was thrown down a well and drowned in 1900, and the very last emperor of China, Puyi, whose remains were moved to a small modern shrine in 1995.
4. Ask the question, “Did Marco Polo really come to this bridge?”
The Luguo Qiao, meaning “reed ditch bridge”, gets its English name from Marco Polo’s account of his travels. Originally built in the late 12th century, the bridge lies about 45 minutes north of Daxing International Airport in Fengtai district and remains little changed since a 1698 restoration.
Its 11 balustraded arches are studded with carved stone lions, and counting these is supposed to make you go mad. Even modern guidebooks give the number as anything between 140 and 501 – so be careful.
5. Walk upon historic battlements at Wanping Ancient City
The walls that once surrounded even China’s smaller settlements were torn down in the 20th century, and little Wanping’s charm lies in being one of the few to retain them. This was not due to their 17th-century construction, but rather to their 20th-century significance. Located near the militarily important Fengtai railway junction, about 45 minutes from the airport, this town witnessed the opening battles in the 1937–45 Sino-Japanese war. A half-hour stroll around the battlement walls offers views of the tracks in one direction and of city alleys in the other.
These battlements are unusual in having no north or south gate, and no central drum and bell towers, but the west gate is right by the Marco Polo Bridge, and it is here that the walls may be mounted.
6. Read what’s written in stone at Yunju Temple
This Buddhist temple in the Fangshan district, 70km southwest of Beijing and about an hour’s drive west of Daxing International Airport, was founded in the 7th century. Although its current buildings are much more modern, it is home to more than 10,000 stone tablets on which Buddhist sutras were carved, which date back to the temple’s founding. Known as the Stone Canon of Fangshan, these were discovered inside nearby walled-up caves in 1957, and famed for being the authoritative versions of key Buddhist texts.
Some of them are translations by the 7th century expeditionary scholar-monk Xuanzang whose journey to India to obtain authoritative scriptures was mythologised in the classic Chinese Novel, Journey to the West. The temple is full of the sound of people tamping colour onto wetted pieces of paper stuck to the front of these stones in order to take impressions of the scriptures.
7. Admire Daxing Airport’s sleek design even if you don’t have a flight to catch
Recently Beijing has become a major showcase for the most remarkable creations of fashionable foreign architects, and despite the other nearby attractions described here, the airport itself, designed by the late Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, should not be overlooked.
A Pritzker Prize winner, Hadid left several notable buildings in the city, including the world’s tallest atrium between the sinuous twin towers of Leeza SOHO and the Galaxy SOHO office, residential and retail complex, copied elsewhere in China even before it was completed.
But the 700,000m² terminal at Daxing, the largest in the world, is her greatest achievement. Inside, the easy-to-navigate, starfish-shaped building seems more liquid than solid, pouring itself from one floor to another beneath a dizzying gridwork roof that allows natural light into its vast halls.
From 11 November 2024, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will operate new daily services to Beijing Daxing International Airport, in addition to existing services to Beijing Capital International Airport. Flights between Singapore and Beijing Capital International Airport will also increase from 18 to 21 weekly services from 5 August 2024. For more information on Singapore Airlines flights to Beijing, visit the official website.
For our full list of things to try and places to see in Beijing, check out our Beijing City Guide.
