Direct Flights from San Francisco to Beijing
Beijing · China
Nonstop service from SFO to PEK on CA, United. Here's the schedule at a glance — plus what to do once you land.
How rare is this nonstop?
Only 4 cities have a nonstop to Beijing, so this is a route worth knowing about — most travelers connect to get there.
How long to go to Beijing for, from San Francisco
12h 20m in the air, 5,899 miles. Give Beijing a week: the first day goes to the journey and the jet lag, whatever you intend.
About Beijing
Beijing is China's capital and its second-largest city after Shanghai, with a population of around 22 million. With a rich history as the capital of Imperial China for much of its past, Beijing became the political and cultural heart of the People's Republic of China following the Chinese revolutions.
Summary from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA).
Top things to do in Beijing
- The Forbidden City is the imperial palace complex in the center of the Imperial City in Beijing, China.
- The Temple of Heaven is a complex of imperial religious Confucian buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing.
- Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site (周口店北京人遗址), also romanized as Choukoutien, is a cave system in suburban Fangshan District, Beijing.
- The National Museum of China is an art and history museum located on the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
- The Tiananmen, also Tian'anmen, is the entrance gate of the Forbidden City imperial palace complex and Imperial City in the center of Beijing, China. It is widely used as a national symbol.
- The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, who was the Founding Father of the People's Republic of China and chairman of the Chinese Communist Par…
- The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens, and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District…
- Jingshan Park is an imperial park covering 23 hectares immediately north of the Forbidden City in the Imperial City area of Beijing, China. The focal point is the artificial hill Jingshan.
- Dadu or Khanbaliq was the winter capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in what is now Beijing, the capital of China today.
- Beijing Zoo is a zoological park in Xizhimen, Xicheng District, Beijing. Founded in 1906 during the late Qing dynasty, it is the oldest zoo in China and oldest public park in northern China.
- Beihai Park is a public park and former imperial garden immediately northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.
- The Monument to the People's Heroes is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Attraction descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); place data from Wikidata (CC0).
Beijing weather, compared with San Francisco
Within 1° of San Francisco on the annual average, so pack much as you would at home — but the two cities do not track each other month to month:
- January
- Beijing 36°F · San Francisco 57°F · 21° colder
- April
- Beijing 70°F · San Francisco 65°F · 5° warmer
- July
- Beijing 89°F · San Francisco 72°F · 17° warmer
- October
- Beijing 67°F · San Francisco 71°F · 5° colder
January bottoms out near 36°F — a real coat, not a layer. Beijing also swings harder through the year than San Francisco does — 53° between its coldest and warmest months against 17°.
Average daily highs, 1991–2020 station normals from Meteostat (CC BY 4.0), measured at the nearest weather station to each city.
Planning a trip to Beijing
- Best time to visit
- The best time to visit Beijing is April–May and September–October, when daytime highs are a comfortable 67–81°F.
- How long to stay
- Beijing rewards a longer visit — a full week lets you explore its many sights, from Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a direct flight from San Francisco to Beijing?
- Yes — you can fly nonstop from San Francisco (SFO) to Beijing (PEK) on CA, United.
- Which airlines fly nonstop from San Francisco to Beijing?
- CA, United fly nonstop between San Francisco (SFO) and Beijing (PEK).
- How many nonstop flights are there from San Francisco to Beijing?
- There is about 1 nonstop departure per day (roughly 7 per week) from San Francisco to Beijing.
- How far is Beijing from San Francisco?
- Beijing is about 5,899 miles from San Francisco by air.
- Is there a direct flight from San Francisco to China?
- Yes — Beijing (PEK) has nonstop service from San Francisco on CA, United, making it a nonstop gateway to China.
- What is there to do in Beijing?
- Popular things to do include Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site, National Museum of China, and more.
More nonstop destinations from San Francisco near Beijing
Airports near San Francisco
The closest other departure airports to San Francisco — each opens up more nonstop destinations.