Beijing Spring Family Trip on a Cheap Budget

BACKGROUND

Another free & easy holiday from around 6 to 12 April 2025, where we did all the famous sights and sounds in and around the capital. Price includes return Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights between Singapore and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). Highlights include:

PREPARATION, FLIGHTS & CAR RENTAL

Singapore has a visa-free agreement with China, but if you need to apply for your visa from your country, do so early.

Since our child was past 2 years, we had to pay full price for his flight. Also, road trips were a no-go as foreigners are not allowed to drive in China unless you submit a bunch of documents which would take a day, totally not worth it unless you are touring China for weeks or months.

Total Flight Cost: S$750 (US$570) per pax (splitting one child ticket cost between ourselves)

Temperatures can fluctuate plenty during this period, so prepare warm clothes, like a thick jacket and optionally thermal wear.

Download Alipay (with in-built Didi ride hailing app) and Wechat apps before you fly off. Remember to register and set up your accounts (by submitting ID documents) on the apps before you leave.

We got wifi from our local airport operator Changi Recommends (E-SIM with Unlimited Data, 500MB High-Speed per day) at S$10 (US$7.50).

Total Wifi Roaming Cost: S$10 (US$7.50) per pax for 10 days

Also recommended to book a travel insurance package, ours was Singsaver, a local company.

Travel Insurance: S$56 (US$43) for 2 adults and 1 child

FLYING OFF

We withdrew cash from the airport money exchange (S$100 each) — actually unnecessary as China is mostly cashless (everything can be transacted on Alipay) and set off on SIA, a 6 hour red eye flight. 

DAY 1: TOUCHDOWN

We landed in early morning, took a taxi to our hotel (100 RMB), and rested for 6 hours. In the evening, we took a Didi to Wangfujing, an upscale shopping belt, where we had a great hotpot dinner at Jingbeile in their signature copper hotpot.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATION & MOVING AROUND

We stayed in Holiday Inn Express Beijing Downtown (Lishihutong), which is a pretty central and great location, with breakfast included, for about S$110 (US$84) a large room a night. Only downside is it is located in a narrow street (hutong means alley).

How we got around? Only Didi rideshare (book via Alipay app) which was really cheap, abundant, and convenient. Just make sure they do not overcharge you a “park fee” of 30 RMB, and you carefully select your pick up and drop off locations.

DAY 2:

Our first whole day was Yuyuantan Park (10 RMB per pax), famed for its cherry blossoms. It did not disappoint! Also had some snacks within their park as a light lunch, egg pancakes and spicy fries (35 RMB).

Then another Didi to Siji Minfu aka Peking Chamber (Hepingli branch). This is a famed restaurant chain famous for Peking Duck at affordable prices. Came at 4 PM, but still required a 1 hour wait. However it was worth it!

DAY 3:

Next day we visited Chaoyang Hopson One Mall. This bustling mall had everything you wanted, even a whole range of China’s latest electric vehicles (mostly on the 5th floor). This was also when we booked a Hantang guided tour for Beijing’s attractions via hotel brochure for the next day.

Our dinner was at their basement food court called Block 21. Hangdianju Artisan restaurant had a great spread with scallion oil noodles, xiaolongbaos, and sesame chicken.

DAY 4:

Early in the morning, we woke up (remember your passports!) and had our usual hotel breakfast at 7 AM, before our tour guide picked us up for their Classic Beijing Tour (824 RMB per pax). The four attractions were beautiful and definitely worth a visit once in your lifetime:

The lunch was decent, tea tasting was interesting, and 15 min foot massage was also surprisingly good (30 RMB each). There is a bit of hard-selling for the latter two activities to buy their teas and herbal medicines but just stand firm and say no (they are overpriced to certain degrees).

You can visit all these attractions free and easy, which can save plenty of money. However, my hotel concierge (and some online chatter) states that Forbidden City tickets must be pre-booked, and foreign tourists without pre-booked tickets have been turned away at the entrance, so I am not sure. But going during a weekday (less traffic) should help.

We reached the Summer Palace kinda late (about 4 PM) and it was quite cloudy and dark. Wished we had skipped the tea and massage side-quests and gone earlier for brighter photos and videos.

For those travelling without kids, our tour guide recommended Beijing Opera or Kung Fu shows that are popular with tourists. Do check those out if you are into additional immersive cultural experiences.

After that, we dropped off near our hotel and went to nearby restaurant Dongsi Mingfang (Chaoyang flagship branch) for an excellent beef steak and sweet and sour pork dinner.

DAY 5:

Next day was a free and easy day-trip to the Great Wall of Mutianyu (206 RMB per pax). Many people have recommended Mutianyu over Badaling (the two choices for day trips from Beijing) as Mutianyu requires less climbing and is much less crowded. They weren’t wrong!

A Didi there costs 123 RMB (including 15 RMB toll charge) and takes about 1.5 hours. The entry free was 206 RMB per pax which includes a shuttle bus and cable car round trip. There are plenty of touristy shops and restaurants (you can bargain for souvenirs by ~70% lower).

Reaching the Great Wall itself took much time and plenty of uphill walking in spite of the bus and cable car. Not recommended if you have infants below 3 years old. But there was no crowd and the views were wonderful.

The Didi back cost 181 RMB and took 2 hours, since it was during peak period. We then went for another Peking duck dinner at Da Dong in Jinbao Place (Jin Bao Hui), a high end restaurant chain. The Peking duck here costs almost double of Siji Minfu but there is no queue (450) — Great if you are in a hurry!

DAY 6:

Final day, we went to the Beijing National Stadium, or Bird’s Nest stadium for a few photos. 

Then a quick walk to the nearby National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube. Wanted to enter the famous Water Park within the Water Cube, a fun family place with water slides, lazy rivers, and wave pools, but it was closed for maintenance. Do remember to check if it’s open in advance!

Dinner was again at Dongsi Mingfang in Chaoyang , this time we had the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish and eggplant dishes. The sweet and sour mandarin fish, originally a Jiangsu dish from Suzhou, is now available at many Beijing restaurants and is relatively cheap and delicious. A great meal to end the trip!

DAY 7 & FLY OFF:

Had hotel breakfast, final packing, and took a comfy Xpeng X9 MPV hired car to the airport for 300 RMB (we wanted to experience self-driving cars in China — it was amazing!). 

But if you book an ordinary Didi to the airport, it should only cost around 100 RMB.

Then back to Singapore!

COST BREAKDOWN

Costs include:

* Flight: S$750 (US$570) per pax (splitting our S$500 child ticket cost between us)

Hotel: S$330 (US$250) per pax for 6 Nights (including intercontinental breakfast)

** Food & Misc. Expenses: S$500 (US$380) per pax (Including e-sim, insurance, and souvenirs)

TOTAL: S$1,600 (US$1,200) per pax (for 2 adults, with 1 child in tow)

* Taking a Chinese airline to Beijing would be even cheaper, as low as S$330 (US$220) round trip from Singapore.

** If we did not do the Beijing guided day tour, and instead did it free and easy, we may have experienced some inconvenience but saved plenty of money. However, the Forbidden City may have restrictions on entering on the spot, so its is better to plan and make arrangements for that in advance.

Further COST SAVINGS from * and ** can bring the price down to S$1,230 (US$920) per pax (for 2 adults, with 1 child in tow).

IN CONCLUSION…

Beijing is a affordable and great getaway for families and couples alike, with a wide variety of attractions, shopping, dining, and activities to explore.

There are many day-trip (or 2-day trip) attractions from Beijing that you can also consider, for example: 

All photos are personally taken and unaltered.

Other photos have attributions (if any) listed on their respective page photoviewers.

Return to Articles main page; or Return to Home page.