Beijing Architecture Tour

Be met at your hotel lobby at 08:30 am by English speaking tour guide.

Visit Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world. Surrounded by many well-known cultural and political institutions, the square is the final resting place of Chairman Mao Zedong. The square has witnessed the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Then go to visit the Forbidden City. Forbidden City, also called the Palace Museum, is a treasure house of Chinese cultural and historical relics. The palace was the exclusive domain of the imperial court for almost 500 years. As one of the World Cultural Relics, the palace consists of 90 palaces and courtyards, 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms.

Drive to a restaurant to have lunch and a short rest.

After lunch, go to visit Beijing Hutong. Hutongs are lanes or alleys formed by lines of Siheyuan (a compound with houses around a courtyard). Most of them were built during the Yuan (1206-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1908) dynasties surrounding the Forbidden City. Many famous operas and dramas are based on the themes of hutong life. Man-power rickshaw is arranged for you to feel the Hutong of Beijing.

Taste Chinese tea, enjoy Chinese tea ceremony and have a rest in a local tea house.
China is the hometown and birthplace of Chinese tea.
Being the national drinks of China, tea has a history of four to five thousand years.
Tea culture is one of the specific representative of Chinese culture.

Transfer back to your hotel after the whole day tour.

Meet you from hotel lobby at 08:30 am.

Drive 1.5 hours to Ming Tomb. Ming Tombs is the final resting place of 13 Ming Dynasty emperors, along with 23 empresses and a number of concubines. It has a history of over 600 years. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the Ming Tombs features splendid landscape. Chang Ling (the Tomb of Chang) was built by the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1409 AD. Chang Ling is the largest tomb in architectural scale. The hall of Chang Ling is the largest structure of nanmu wood in China.
Visit Changling for 1 hour.

Proceed to a restaurant to have lunch and a short rest.

After lunch, we will drive to Mutianyu Great Wall. The Great Wall was built and maintained between the 7th century BC and 17th century BC. It was originally built to protect the empire from northern invaders. The Great Wall stretches through the countryside over deserts, hills and plains for 8,851.8 kilometers.
Mutianyu was first built in the mid-6th century. It is the longest fully-restored Great Wall with 22 original style watchtowers. Mutianyu Great Wall features picturesque landscape with 90% forest coverage rate. The scenery in spring and autumn is excellent. Mutianyu Great Wall is not so crowded as Badaling section. Take sightseeing on the wall for about 2 hours.

Be transferred back to your hotel after the whole day tour.

Pick up from your hotel at 08:30 am.

First go to visit the Summer Palace. Summer Palace was first built in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong in Qing Dynasty. It covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers, including 70,000 square meters of building space. Summer Palace perfectly combines the natural landscape of hills and open water with humankind works such as pavilions, halls, palaces and bridges. In 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List.

Drive to a restaurant to have lunch and a short rest.

Proceed to visit the Olympic Park. As the major venue of the 2008 Olympic Games, the Olympic Park contains three areas including the Forest Park in the north, major venue and supporting facilities area in the center and the completed stadiums and the reserved area. The completed stadiums contains the National Stadium (Bird's Nest), National Swimming Center (Water Cube) and the National Indoor Stadium (Folding Fans).

Go to visit Capital Museum. The construction style of the Capital Museum is an integration between classical culture and modern features. The Museum contains three independent constructions, including the rectangular exhibition hall, the circular exhibition hall and the quadrate office and scientific research building. The exhibition items are divided into three categories: permanent exhibitions, exhibitions of fine artistic collections and temporary exhibitions.

Transfer back to your hotel after the whole day tour.