15 Wonderful Places to See Snow in Beijing

Located to the north of Tian’anmen Square in city center, Forbidden City, also called Palace Museum, is the one of must-sees in Beijing. 24 emperors and their royal families from Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644 - 1911) Dynasties once lived here. The snowy Forbidden City is less crowded and more peaceful and quieter than usual days. You can fully feel the charm of Forbidden City after Beijing snow, when the white snow makes the red-and-yellow imperial palace more magnificent and solemn. The best sites to see Beijing snowfall in the Forbidden City are Gate of Supreme Harmony, Southeast & Southwest Corner Towers outside the moat.

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Jingshan Park faces Forbidden City in the south from Divine Prowess (Shenwumen). Inside this royal landscape garden, Qiwang Pavilion and five pavilions on five summits are major attractions. Among them, Wanchun Pavilion on the highest summit is a perfect place to obtain a full view of Forbidden City and its surroundings covered by white snow, hence a good place to go in Beijing snow season. If you don’t have enough time to tour around Forbidden City, you can go there to appreciate the snow-covered Forbidden City.

As one of the best-preserved and best-known sections, Mutianyu Great Wall has an unforgettable scene during Beijing snow season. Located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) away from Beijing center, it is easy and safe to climb. Also it is equipped with cable car, toboggan and chairlift, which help tourists find different beautiful views of Mutianyu. During Beijing snow weather, Mutianyu totally turns white with thick snow lying on the walls and surrounding mountain slopes, particularly spectacular than ordinary days.

Beihai Park is adjacent to Forbidden City and Jingshan Park in the east. As one of the most completed and oldest royal gardens in China, it displays a unique garden style, consisting of lakes, islet, hills, and traditional Chinese architecture. The landmark here is the white Dagoba on the summit of Qionghua Islet. It looks even more sacred on Beijing snow weather. To visit it closely, you need to take a boat to go across the lake, during which you can appreciate the snow covered trees reflected on the water, like a white-and-black Chinese ink painting, simple but beautiful as well.

Summer Palace is the largest and best preserved royal garden in China and is also known as the ‘The Museum of Royal Gardens’. Summer Palace is built based on south China Suzhou classical gardens with the history of almost 270 years. It mainly consists of the Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, and ancient buildings skillfully dotted here and there. After Beijing snow, the garden is just like a fairyland coming out of the painting. The best place to enjoy snow is the Pavilion of Heralding Spring where you can not only see the glimmer of the lazy winter sun reflecting on the ice surface of Kunming Lake, but also appreciate the snow-covered Longevity Hill. 

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Temple of Heaven is regarded as China’s largest preserved ancient sacrificial building complex. It was the place where emperors and royal families of the Ming and Qing Dynasties held Heaven Worship Ceremony. The whole temple is divided by two encircling walls into Inner Part and Outer Part. Main buildings and attractions are located inside Inner Part, such as Circular Mound Altar (Huanqiutan), and Imperial Vault of Heaven (Huangqiongyu). In Beijing snow days, the Inner Part becomes more stateliness and quieter that visitors even dare not to speak too loudly to disturb the God of Heaven. In the Outer Part, plant many ancient trees, where visitors can also appreciate natural scenery covered by snow.

Referring to the places where you can see snow in Beijing, Tanzhe Temple should be on the list. The location of this temple is Mentougou District, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Beijing downtown. As one of the earliest Buddhist Temple in China, it has a kind of tranquility atmosphere in Beijing weather of snowing. It seems that people can ease their mind off troubles and get some relaxation here in the white snow world with ancient mulberry trees, halls, courtyards and pavilions. 

Longqing Gorge is a recommended place where you can visit with children during Beijing snow season. During the daytime, you can walk along the gorge to watch beautiful natural snow scene on both sides of the mountain slopes. Longqing Dam Ice Waterfall is also a must see in daytime, which is about 70-meter-high (230-foot-high). At night, it is advised to see the various ice lanterns. Decorated by colorful lights, they are so beautiful and favored especially by kids. Ice Lantern Festival is usually held from mid-January to the end of February. 

‘What a spectacular scene of the Great Wall in snow!’ Most tourists will have this feeling after touring around Gubeikou Great Wall in Beijing weather of snow. The snow and frost congealed on the Gubeikou make people fully gain the original beauty of the Great Wall. This section is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, which is suitable for experienced hikers and photography enthusiasts.

At the places mentioned before, snow only plays a supporting role. However, snow becomes the well-deserved leading part in the Nanshan Ski Resort. During Beijing snow season, you can not only enjoy the snow scenery here, but also play with snow, such as skiing, making snowmen and playing snowball fights. Of course, skiing is the highlight of Nanshan Ski Resort. Nowadays, it totally has 26 ski slopes to meet tourists’ different needs. After arriving, tourists can easily rent ski boots, ski suit, ski pole, snowboards, glasses and other equipment at visitor service center. People can also taste rich delicacies. Local flavored foods, western foods, snacks, barbecue and coffee can be found here. Nanshan Ski Resort is located about 75 kilometers (47 miles) away from downtown Beijing. 

Badaling Great Wall is one of beautiful places to see snow during Beijing snow season. As the best-preserved and most complete section of the Great Wall of China, Badaling still receives lots of tourists in winter, especially when it is like a sliver dragon zigzagging on white mountain ridges. 

Badaling Ski Resort is about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to the west of Badaling Great Wall. After appreciating snow, you can go there to play with snow freely. It contains 2 elementary slopes, 1 intermediate slope and 1 advanced slope. In order to meet the demands’ of skiers, it is also equipped with double chairlifts and several conveyor belts. 

Surrounded by Great Wall on three sides, the Huaibei Ski Resort has very unique snow scenery and reputed as the ski resort with the most beautiful natural scenery. Huaibei Ski Resorts is composed by 1 difficult skiing slope, 7 middle slopes, and 3 beginners slopes. Besides skiing, a variety of entertainment projects in the Snow Playing Area such as snow tubing, snowmobile racing, ice cars, snow archery, horse-drawn sleigh rides and ice climbing are also prepared. Huaibei Ski Resort is equipped with rest areas, book bars and coffee shops, which provide business and leisure services for customers. It is situated 70 kilometers (45 miles) away from downtown Beijing.

Located about 43 kilometers (27 miles) to the northwest of Beijing center, Snow World Ski Resort is the nearest ski resort to downtown, which only needs 30-min-drive. In addition to ski slopes of different kinds, it is worth mentioning that lots of entertainment projects can be found here, such as snowman making, snowball fights, ice cars, snowmobile racing, dog sledding and large-scale ice sculpture exhibition, making it one of wonderful places to see snow in Beijing as well as play with snow. Elegant cafes, nice Chinese and Western restaurants here can bring lots of convenience for people after having fun. 

Taoyuan Immortals’ Valley, an ecological tourism scenic area, is about 90 kilometers (56 miles) away from Beijing center. The highlight of Taoyuan Immortals’ Valley is that tourists can have a close encounter with ice & snow and join in many fun ice activities. This is one of the best-equipped and most professional ice-climbing sites in the city, having a huge ice wall for climbing. Compared to other ice projects during Beijing snow season, ice-climbing is much easier for beginners, which brings very exciting and stimulating feelings. You don’t need to worry about the safety problem. There are advanced equipment and professional coaches for you to choose. You can also taste delicious foods and take some rest in a farmhouse to experience folk customs. The villa resort inside Taoyuan Immortals’ Valley can accommodate more than 400 tourists at the same time, providing perfect facilities and warm service. 

Having the highest summit of Beijing, Lingshan Mountain is about 122 kilometers (76 miles) away from downtown area. It is reputed as the first place to welcome snow fall in Beijing every year. So it is a good place for people who are eager to watch Beijing snowfall. If there is a snowfall in Beijing, the snow in Lingshan Mountain is usually the biggest. Although the scenic area are closed from October to April next year, tourists can still appreciate the charming snow scenery from a distance.