The Best Place to View the Beijing skyline

Plan your Beijing tour? While visiting a new city, many people would ascend a higher place to have a good view of the unfamiliar place for a clear picture.  Beijing is not a city of skyscrapers though recently a few high-rises have sprung up in and around city. But these are hard to get in if you are a  tourist.  Here is my suggested top place to see through the city layout and skyline  of Beijing.

The top place is Jingshan Hill ( also known as Jingshan Park), just north of Forbidden City.  Jingshan Hill sits on the centre of the traditional north-south axis of Beijing.

Jingshan Hill is 45.7 m at relative height and 94.2m at sea level, where you can have a panoramic view of the city of Beijing with good skyline – East Skyline: Beijing Central Business District ( New CCTV Oficce and high rises; South skyline: Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and south beyond; West skyline : the Beihai Park, CCTV Tower and the west city of Beijing and the North Skyline: Drum Tower and Bell Tower and Olympic Sites on the north-south axis of Beijing.

It is quite easy to climb up the hill and view the most magnificent Beijing skylines. The different time of a day presents unique colours of a particular skyline. So Jingshan Hill is also the best area to view Beijing’s sunrise and sunset.

Standing on the platform at Wanchun Pavilion on the hilltop of Jingshan, you can have four major skylines of Beijing.  Below is the south skyline of Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

South Skyline of Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square
South Skyline of Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square

North Skyline of Drum Tower,  Bell Tower and Olympic sites.

North Skyline of DrumTower, Bell Tower and Olympic sites.
North Skyline of DrumTower, Bell Tower and Olympic sites.

East Skyline of the Central Business District ( high rises – CCTV Head Office ….)

East Skyline of the Central Business District ( highrises - CCTV Head Offie....)
East Skyline of the Central Business District ( highrises – CCTV Head Offie….)

West Skyline of Beihai Park, CCTV Tower and more)

West Skyline of Beihai Park, CCTV Tower and more)
West Skyline of Beihai Park, CCTV Tower and more)

The Southeast skyline of Beijing viewed from Jingshan Hill

The Southeast skyline of Beijing viewed from Jingshan Hill
The Southeast skyline of Beijing viewed from Jingshan Hill

The Southwest skyline of Beijing viewed from Jingshan Hill

The Southwest skyline of Beijing viewed from Jingshan Hill
The Southwest skyline of Beijing viewed from Jingshan Hill

Add-on

Best Spot for Night Photography Beijing
See the sunrise from the hilltop of Jingshan Park
See the sunset from the hilltop of Jingshan Park
How to visit Jingshan Park

Tip: Hassle-free Beijing Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours,  here are some options for Beijing guided tours:

Beijing Day Tour
Beijing Tour Packages
Beijing Winter Tour
Beijing Autumn Tour
Great Wall Tour
Car Rental in Beijing
Beijing Tours
China City Tours
China Tour

Further Readings


Best Time to Visit Beijing
How to plan a trip to Beijing

Top 10 Attractions in Beijing
How to Visit Forbidden City
How to Visit Temple of Heaven
How to Visit Summer Palace
How to Visit Ming Tombs
How to Visit the Great Wall of China
How to Visit Tiananmen Square
How to Visit Hutongs
How to Visit Olympic Sites

Top 10 Markets in Beijing
Top 10 Shopping Malls in Beijing
Beijing Shopping

Wangfujing Walking Street
Qianmen Commercial Street
Gui Jie ( Ghost Street) Food Street

Any questions, just drop a line.

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