70 km from Beijing lies Badaling, the place closest to the capital where you can get a glimpse of the Great Wall of China. The wall here is 6 m wide and has Ming era watchtowers at regular intervals along its length. This part of the wall is restored, so it’s not really completely original. Unfortunately, being so close to Beijing, Badaling is extremely touristy and you’ll almost certainly find yourself surrounded by hordes by fellow travellers. It usually makes sense to strike out on your own and walk past the main bulk of the wall, to the ruins further off, where it’s quieter and you can actually see the wall as it originally was. There is a cable car too, for those who prefer an overview. Most Beijing hotels run tours to Badaling, but these are invariably exorbitant, and you’re better off taking a tourist bus or a train instead.

The most beautiful, least crowded and unspoilt section of the Great Wall lies at Simatai, 110 km from Beijing. The wall at Simatai has some interesting military innovations- spaces for cannons, and such, but is otherwise almost totally untouched from Ming times. It’s a lovely area, with the wall contoured around purple hills, with distant blue mountains, and some of the most picturesque views near Beijing. Currently, Simatai is uninundated by tourists, but it won’t be long before people discover the place- it’s already becoming popular. The walk can be taxing, as the wall is precipitous at places. There is a newly installed cable car, so you need not miss out the sublime views.

40 km from Beijing, enroute to Badaling, lies the Shisan Ling Valley, where are buried thirteen of the sixteen emperors of the Ming dynasty. Of these, two of the tombs were restored in the 1950s. The entire area is very scenic and the tombs are quiet, peaceful mausoleums in marble and stone. Among the most impressive tombs is that of the Emperor Wanli, the Ding Ling. It was discovered with many of its treasures- royal robes, jewellery and so on- intact (many of these are still on display at the tomb). The approach road to the tombs, the 7km long Spirit Way, is lined with colossal stone statues of men and animals; dating back to the Ming era, they are the best surviving examples of Ming sculptures.

Zhoukoudian Village is for those interested in anthropology; the village, 50 kms from Beijing, is the place where the relics of ‘Peking Man’ (homo erectus Pekinensis) were first discovered in 1921. The Peking man lived here 500,000 to 230,000 years ago; excavations revealed the remains of more than 40 people, their tools and ornaments. The village has a museum with an impressive display of artefacts relating to Peking man and to other ancient creatures- there are skeletons of a number of extinct animals, as well as the teeth of a sabre-toothed tiger. It’s a treat for those keen on natural history.

One of the most beautiful- and oldest- temples near the capital, the Tanzhe Si lies amidst trees, 40 km from Beijing. Once the site of a thriving community of monks, it has an extensive complex of terraced stupas. There’s a particularly large- and venerable- gingko tree within the precincts of the temple (the tree is more than a thousand years old, but the temple is closer to two thousand years old). A smaller tree, known as ‘The Emperor’s Wife’, it is reputed to sprout a new branch on the birth of an emperor. The garden of the Tanzhe Si has zhe trees and bamboos, supposedly the panacea for all ailments.

Coming back from Tanzhe Si to Beijing, you might like to stop over at the Jietai Si, another temple, but very different from Tanzhe Si. It’s surrounded by forbiddingly high red walls, looks more like a fortress than a temple and is known for its gnarled old pine trees. It consists of an intricately carved Liao era, marble platform on which monks were ordained. A smaller hall has a beautifully carved wooden altar, teeming with dragons.

Lying amidst the Western Hills, 20 km from Beijing, the Xiangshan Park and the Botanical Gardens are very popular with tourists as well as locals wanting to `get away’ from Beijing. The Botanical Gardens have many species of trees and shrubs, and the hall of the Wofo Si, housing a massive, 5m long reclining copper Buddha; while Xiangshan Park, beautifully landscaped, is known for the breathtakingly lovely scene it presents in autumn, when all the foliage in the park turns red and gold. Close to the two gardens lie the Zhao Miao (Temple of Brilliance), built in Tibetan genre in 1780; and the Biyun Si (Azure Clouds Temple), its Indian style dagoba with unusual conical stupas, contains the tomb of Sun Yatsen.

Other than these, there are scenic spots around Beijing, which comprise a convenient day’s expedition, and are perfect for picnics; these include Longqing Gorge (which hosts an unusual ice festival- with fabulous ice sculptures- during March), and Miyun, with parkland and a lake just made for boating.