Guide de ville
Beijing PEK: 6 Hours, 20 Min to the City
Temple of Heaven in 4 hours: morning tai chi, marble altar, imperial scale.
Getting from the airport
PEK to city center: 20 minutes by rail (Airport Express). Fare is $4. Trains run every 10 minutes. Service runs 06:22 to 22:22. Skip the taxi unless your connection is under 5 hours.
What to do in Beijing
The stops worth making: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Hutong alleys. Rated above 4.4: Forbidden City (4.6), Tiananmen Square (4.4), Temple of Heaven (4.6), The Palace Museum (4.6), Lama Temple (4.7). You do not need the full tourist circuit. Pick two and commit.
Visa and entry
Beijing is visa-free for US passports. No application, no fee. The border process at PEK is standard. Budget 30 minutes.
How long do you need
The minimum useful layover is 6 hours. That gives you 20 minutes in each direction plus about 230 minutes on the ground. Up to 24 hours is a proper overnight.
PEK airport
PEK has 10 lounges. For short connections under 4 hours, the terminal is the destination: food options, showers, and enough space to reset before the next leg.