Beijing rewards a thin wallet: the National Museum is free, most park gates cost ¥10-15, the subway starts at ¥3 and a bowl of zhajiangmian runs ¥15. These three days trade the palace ticket queues for hutong lanes, wholesale markets and hilltop views.
Arrive between 06:30 and 09:00, when retirees fill the Long Corridor with erhu players, kite flyers and ballroom dancers. The park-only ticket is ¥15 in summer and ¥10 from November to March; the ¥34 through-ticket is skippable.
The Ming Altar of the Sun, built in 1530 and free every day from 06:00 to 21:00. Locals kick jianzi shuttlecocks under 400-year-old cypresses, and the sunken circular altar and stone chess tables cost nothing to sit at.
One of the world's largest museums and completely free. Reserve on the official WeChat mini-program up to seven days ahead, bring your passport, and enter through the west security gate. Open 09:00-17:00, closed Mondays.
A slanting Qing-era lane off Dashilan, restored with 1900s shopfronts, tiny design galleries and courtyard bookshops. Nothing here charges admission, and the crowds thin dramatically two blocks in from the Qianmen tourist strip.
Beijing's Hui quarter, anchored by Niujie Mosque (founded 996 AD, ¥10, free for Muslims). The street outside is the real draw: beef pies, sesame sanzi coils, lamb skewers and yoghurt in clay pots run ¥3 to ¥12 apiece.
A short Xicheng lane where Huguosi Xiaochi has served old-Beijing snacks since 1956. Douzhi fermented mung-bean drink, aiwowo rice cakes and rolled lvdagunr cost ¥4-¥10 each; order at the counter and carry a numbered tray.
Entry is free to roughly 3,000 stalls spread over 48,500 m²: Cultural Revolution posters, Mao badges, jade offcuts, Tibetan beads and stacks of old porcelain. Weekend mornings from 04:30 are when the out-of-town dealers unpack.
A 1.5 km stretch of Dongzhimen Inner Street strung with red lanterns, holding around 100 restaurants that stay open past midnight. Huda's mala crayfish is the famous order, but noodle and skewer shops keep dinner near ¥30.
Take the Xijiao tram line to Xiangshan station, then walk ten minutes to the gate. Entry is ¥10 (¥5 November to March). The Guijianchou stone stairway climbs 557 m to Xianglu Peak for a full view over the Western Hills.
The blocks around Peking and Tsinghua universities feed tens of thousands of students daily, and prices reflect it: Lanzhou hand-pulled beef noodles ¥16, Korean bibimbap ¥25, jianbing from a morning cart ¥8.
A 1950s East German-designed electronics factory turned gallery district. Wandering the sawtooth-roofed halls, sculpture yards and 1968 slogans painted on the beams is free; only the larger institutions like UCCA charge admission.
Walk the west shore of Houhai lake from Yinding Bridge at dusk, away from the bar strip: fishermen, swimmers in summer, skaters in January, and no charge. The square between the Drum and Bell Towers catches the last light.