See the famous Mao’s portrait at the Tiananmen Square, skip the lines and touch the hidden imperial history at the Forbidden City, feel the “greatness” first hand at the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu, walking at the beautiful willow path of the imperial garden – the Summer Palace, discover the belief and worship of Chinese emperors at the Temple of Heaven. In this two-day tour you’ll get deep touch with this amazing city – Beijing.
- Look Mao’s portrait at the world largest urban square – Tiananmen Square.
- Skip the lines at the world largest imperial palace – the Forbidden City.
- Two-hour hiking to the eighth world wonders – the Great Wall at Mutianyu Section.
- Walk along the willow path, feeling the elegance of Chinese top imperial garden – the Summer Palace.
- Hike the Great Wall at Mutianyu in the afternoon, after the crowds leave.
- Discover the beliefs and worship of Chinese emperors at the Temple of Heaven.
- No shops, no factories, no time-wasting, no hidden costs!
Highlights
- Guide: better than a normal licensed tour guide; friendly and helpful with fluent English
- Driver: reliable licensed local driver with at least 5 years' driving experience
- Vehicle: Air-conditioned business car with GPS facilities, big windows, and ample space
7:00 AM -8:00 AM Hotel Pickup
Your guide will be waiting for you in your hotel lobby in the morning at an appointed time around 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM, with holding your name sign or Trippest Logo. The service is provided by Trippest which is a sub-brand of China Highlights.
8:00 AM - 10:30 AM Visit Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City
The tour will be began from Tian'anmen Square where the famous Chairman Mao's portrait is hang on the wall of the Gate of Heavenly Peace. It is hardly to say that you have ever been to Beijing if you don't visit the square! Like the Times Square in New York, Red Square in Moscow and St. Peter's Square, Tiananmen Square is a must-visit place for traveler to Beijing and is the largest public square in the world. Your guide will provide you commentary to the history, architecture, and anecdotes of the square, you will have around 20 minutes there for taking photos.
NOTE: Tian'anmen Square could be enforced martial law due to government activities temporarily, which we can NOT be informed in advance. So the tour guide may adjust the itinerary according to the situation.
Walk north, and after going through the middle gate of Tian'anmen rostrum, there will be a huge red gate awaiting you. Start to enjoy the highlight of the day - the Forbidden City, the world's largest imperial palace with 9,999½ forbidden imperial chambers, home to 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1420–1911). You'll be marvelled by the gorgeous Chinese ancient style architectures and interesting history and lives of those Chinese emperors.
10:30 AM – 12:30 PM Drive to the Great Wall at Mutianyu.
1½ - 2 hours car riding from downtown Beijing to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. There could be other participants join in the tour to visit the Great Wall. But the group would be no more than 10 people.
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Lunch Time.
Lunch is not included. You can have a simple set menu lunch at a local restaurant. Most of travelers prefer a packed lunch and have a picnic on the Great Wall when the weather is good.
1:30 PM – 3:30 PM Visit the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu
In the afternoon you'll hike the Great Wall at Mutianyu. The section is ranked top among all parts of the Great Wall on TripAdvisor for its picturesque scenery, fewer tourists, and beautifully-restored architecture.
In order to save your time, we suggest you to choose round-way cable car or round-way chairlift and toboggan ascend to and descend from the Great Wall, instead of spending about 40 minutes climbing steps.
At the wall, it is free time to walk around after your guide does some introduction. Cable car ascends to and descends from tower 14. Hike "the most beautiful and interesting part of the Great Wall" - between the 14th and 23rd watch towers - acknowledged by hikers as "the golden route". And chairlift ascends to tower 6 and toboggan descends from tower 6 too. It would be a high challenge hiking from tower 6 to tower 23. According to your physical condition, most of our customers who take the chairlift up and down, hike from tower 6 to tower 14 and turn back. It normally takes about 2 hours to complete the route. Then descend and back to our vehicle.
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM Transfer back to your hotel.
Going back to your hotel in Beijing will normally take about 2 hours. Likewise for Beijing train stations. Going to Beijing Capital Airport directly normally takes about 2 hours from Mutianyu.
We will transfer you to your hotel at the end of the tour.
8:00 AM – 9:00 AMHotel pick-up
Your guide will await you at your hotel lobby at an appointed time between 8 am and 9 am . A moderate amount of walking is also involved in this day. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.
9:00 AM – 11:00 AMVisit the Summer Palace
Heading to the Northwest of Beijing city. Approx. 50-miniute driving. You'll visit the world-famous the world famous imperial garden called the Summer Palace. The imperial building was constructed by the emperor in celebration of his mother's birthday. It is 273 hectares in size and is composed of three main scenic areas: the palace area, lake area, and mountain area. The best way to enjoy sightseeing at the Summer Palace is by taking a dragon boat on the lake (the boat trip is not available in winter as the lake would be frozen) and, on the way, you will have a chance to view all of the beautiful palaces at the side of the lake.
After the boat trip, you will stroll along the long corridor with your guide; this is regarded as being the longest art gallery in the world and has 14,000 traditional paintings painted on the beams.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PMVisit Dongjiaominxiang
As the longest hutong in Beijing, Dongjiaominxiang Alley was designated as an embassy zone, also called "Beijing Legation Quarter", it was known as "a kingdom inside a kingdom", housing the embassies of France, Japan, the United States, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Austria. Many foreign banks, hospitals and post offices also operated here, which explains the various Western-style structures scattered on both sides of the alley.
1:00 PM – 2:00 PMLunch Time
Lunch is not included in the pricing. We would like to recommend you the Da Wan Ju restaurant which serves traditional Chinese food.
2:30 PM – 4:00 PMVisit the Temple of Heaven
In the afternoon, your guide and driver will take you to the Temple of Heaven — this is one sight not to miss when touring Beijing. The Altar, Echo Wall, and spectacular Imperial Vault are the highlights of most tour packages, but we would recommend you spend some time to discover that this was a fasting palace for the emperor. The emperor would fast at the palace before he held a ceremony to pray for a good harvest, and would abstain from meat and wine.
The Hall of Abstinence is actually a small palace. The Emperor of Heaven needed to go to the palace three days in advance, with no drinking, no entertainment, no mourning, and paying no attention to any crimes being committed. All these acts showed his piousness to his god. You will also get a chance to glimpse at the pictures of all the emperors who ever worshipped in the Temple of Heaven, as well as a 600-year-old copper statue of a high ranking official who supervised the fasting process of the emperor.
4:30 PM – 5:00 PMTransfer back to hotel
Your guide and driver will transfer you back to the hotel
Price Includes:
- Entrance fees to attractions listed in the itinerary.
- Transport between hotel and attractions in the itinerary.
- English-speaking professional tour guide service.
- Bottled water.
Price Excludes:
- Personal expenses.
- Round-way cable car at Mutianyu (RMB100/US$15 per person for single-way, RMB140/US$22 per person for round-way).
- Lunch fee (RMB60 per capita, depending on appetite).
- Tipping of guide & driver recommended on good service on a 2:1 ratio separately (usually RMB50-100 per person).