3 Days Private Beijing City Tour

According to your flight schedule, your guide and driver will pick you up at the airport arrival hall today. You’ll easily spot us as we’ll be holding a welcome board with your name on it. After the greeting, we will drive to hotel in about one hour, check in, and have a break.

If time permits, we will arrange for you a Hutong tour by rickshaw to explore the old, local alleys of Beijing. There’ll be workshops, distinctive boutiques, bars and restaurants along your way, chances for you to experience Hutong culture for yourself. Aside from this jolly ride, we’ll also pay a visit to a local family in one of the old style folk yards. Curious about how actually people live here? Come with us! This is a place for you to learn about real Chinese folk customs.

► Dinner Suggestion:
Every hutong in Beijing has its own story and culinary delights. One notable dining spot is Ju Er Ren Jia, located in Xiaoju’er Hutong that belongs to the Nanluoguxiang Hutong complex. Xiaoju’er Hutong, dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), is just one of those centuries-old hutongs still home to native Beijingers. And the restaurant we recommend is run by one of them, an aunt that grew up in this area. Try its most famous dish Braised Pork Rice (Lu Rou Fan). By the way, here you can find a good collection of nostalgic items. The hall features a large pit covered with a glass lid, under which are displayed antique artifacts used in past times like porcelain vases, teapots, and glass candy jars, evoking memories of traditional Beijing life. Average cost per person: CNY 50 / USD 6.

After breakfast, we will pick you up at the hotel on time. The first stop of today is the Tiananmen Square, the very center of Beijing, representing the city or even China. The enormous area of the square has made it the witness to many grandest events that ever happened in China. Here, you’ll get past Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, where preserves the remains of Chairman Mao, admire the symmetrical aesthetic of the square, as well as the grandeur of all buildings it encompasses as a whole.

Walking north across the square, we will come to the Forbidden City, a pearl set on the central axis of Beijing and China’s historical crown. The world's largest and most complete ancient wooden palace complex, it served as the home and office of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 – 1911 AD), with over 70 palaces and 9,000 rooms included – a magnificent architectural feat indeed in the history of mankind. Follow your guide to relive the glory of the past for yourself! Come to climb dozens of steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the grandest palace among others for emperors to hold court, and see if you can get the solemn feelings of officials walking up to face their emperor.

As today's lunch is on your own, try whatever that may grab your attention! If you want recommended restaurants or foods, ask your guide and they will be very glad to help.

After lunch, we will continue to visit the Mutianyu Great Wall, which is one of the most famous and best-preserved Great Wall segments. It takes us about 1.5 hours to drive to the Great Wall. Upon arrival, be ready to be captivated by its green vibrancy and dense watchtowers that you won’t find on any other parts of the Great Wall. Take a round-trip cable car ride we’ve arranged for you to revel in its landscape. Late into the afternoon, we will return to the downtown Beijing.

On the way back, we will drive by the Bird's Nest, also known as the Olympic National Stadium. We will make a brief stop there for you to take some pictures of this magnificent modern structure. Afterwards, we’ll get back to hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Today we will begin with a visit to the Temple of Heaven, where Ming and Qing emperors spoke directly to the God of Heaven as interlocutors to pray for bumper harvests. As the world’s largest sacrificial building complex, it will surely mesmerize you with the mysterious ambiance created by the distinctive circular and square shapes seen from its buildings, symbolizing Heaven and Earth. Stroll along the zigzagging Long Corridor where treated sacrifices were transferred for the ceremony, and see if you can get the spiritual feel. Now, with its tree and flower beautified landscape, it has gone beyond a historical site and changed into a large park, a hallowed ground for locals to exercise and relax.

Then, your guide will accompany you to visit the Summer Palace, originally a birthday gift from a Qing emperor to his mother and the largest and best-preserved imperial garden that survived some 270 years. Here, you’ll not only be impressed by how the wooden structures and luring scenery merge into a perfect whole, but get to experience the atmosphere where infamous Dowager Cixi put her nephew emperor under house arrest in order to take his place - a noteworthy slice of China’s history you can share with others! Ranking amongst the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, it deserves your visit for its intoxicating landscape, traditional Chinese architecture, and cultural significance.

At the end of the city tour, we will escort you to the airport according to the flight schedule of your onward journey. Hope you enjoyed travelling with us!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast