How many days should you spend in Beijing?
Give Beijing real time. The Great Wall, Forbidden City, hutongs, parks, food and huge city distances all punish a rushed plan, and the best version is not built from back-to-back ticketed sights.
Answer
Beijing is not a city to skim between arrivals and trains. It has the big-name sights, but it also has long cross-city movement, large security-and-entry moments, deep food traditions and parks where the city feels less monumental. Three days gives a compressed introduction; four or five is usually kinder if the Great Wall and major imperial sites are part of the plan. The mistake is scheduling every famous place into one breathless run. Beijing works better when one heavy sight is balanced with a neighbourhood, a meal and space to get lost without panic.