Beijing

Beijing Explorica tour
Visit the capital of the China and unravel the country’s complex political history with visits to the landmarks of rulers past. Soak in the centuries-old sites of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven, following the history of the ruling class of China from the Qin dynasty to Mao Zedong. Then throw in a dash of contemporary Beijing with visits to the Great Hall of the People and the Beijing Zoo, maybe even catching a Kung Fu show between historical sites. Round out your experience with a taste of Chinese culture, participating in a traditional tea ceremony and tantalizing your taste buds with the regional dish of Peking duck.
Learn more
-
Day 1 Overnight Flight to China
Day 2 Ni hao Beijing
Details: Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll also have a private coach and driver while touring .
Day 3 Beijing landmarks
Lunch
Participate in a traditional tea ceremony
Details: Tai chi exercise
Discover the history of the Chinese martial art, Tai Chi. Learn the moves from an experienced instructor, then practice what you've been taught.
Details: Beijing guided sightseeing tour
Explore the landmark sights of ancient and modern China with a licensed local guide. Covering the area of 90 football fields, Tiananmen Square can hold over 300,000 people and has always been the site for public proclamations and demonstrations. It has been China’s historic heart of celebration and also turbulence for almost a century. The gate at the southern end of the square marks the old city walls, not removed until 1958. See the nerve center of modern China in the adjoining People's Hall, the legislative building, where each of the 32 reception rooms is lavishly decorated in the style of a different province or city. In the main hall, 500 light bulbs illuminate the enormous red star on the ceiling. Move into ancient China in the Forbidden City, the formidable 9,000-room palace complex -- protected by a 170ft.-wide moat -- that housed China's emperors from 1421 until 1923. Think that's grand? The 700 acres of the Summer Palace, a seasonal retreat for the emperors, include a half-mile hallway painted with scenes from China's history, the most beautiful gardens in the country, and a 118ft. carved marble boat decked out with stained-glass windows so that the empress could enjoy her palace lakes in private.
Details: Tiananmen Square visit
Explore Tiananmen Square, the world's largest public square and equivalent to the size of 90 American football fields. In the centre of the square stands the Monument to the People's Heroes (Renmin Yingxiong Jinian Bei), a 38m granite obelisk erected in 1958 and engraved with scenes from famous popular Chinese uprisings.
Details: Forbidden City visit
Discover the Forbidden City, a massive complex of red-walled buildings and pavilions topped by a sea of glazed vermilion tile. Visit the Inner Court, where only the emperor, his family, his concubines, and the palace eunuchs were allowed; the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where emperors lived after Yongzheng moved out of the Qianqing Gong and the Nine Dragon Screen, an 11½ft high wall covered in glazed tile dragons frolicking above a frothing sea, built to protect the Qianlong emperor from prying eyes and malevolent spirits.
Details: National Stadium (Bird's Nest)
View the sites created for the 2008 Olympic Games, including the Beijing National Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletic track and field events took place. The Stadium is a stunning landmark building located at the south of the centrepiece Olympic Green. It is considered to be the world's biggest enclosed space, and is also the world's largest steel structure.
Details: National Aquatic Center (Water Cube)
View the Beijing National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube. The Aquatics Center was built alongside the Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Day 4 Great Wall
Chinese doctor visit
Lunch
Optional  Kung fu show  $55
Details: Great Wall of China visit
The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, it winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 21,196 kilometers (13,170 miles) from east to west of China. With a history of about 2,700 years, some of the Great Wall sections are now in ruins or have disappeared. However, the Great Wall of China is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.
Details: Ming Tombs visit
An emperor with a home as elaborate as the Imperial Palace needs an equally elaborate final resting place, and the Ming Tombs fit the bill quite nicely. Overseen by the same emperor, Yongle, who constructed the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs are an enormous complex of pavilions, gardens, hallways, and tombs designed to provide everything an emperor, empress, or favored concubine would need in the afterlife. Check out the Avenue of Stone Animals, where a dozen pairs of carved animals, some dating back to the 1400s, and half a dozen pairs of carved officials and soldiers wait to escort their leaders to heaven.
Details: Peking duck dinner
A favorite dish of the emperors during the Ming Dynasty, Peking duck became available to the masses when a later dynasty collapsed and court chefs took their recipes to the streets. Indulge in spiced, crispy duck carved into strips and eaten on thin pancakes with cucumber, shallot, and plum sauce.
Day 5 Beijing
Beijing Zoo pandas visit
Lunch
Enjoy a traditional Chinese meal with Hutong families
Details: Temple of Heaven visit
Visit the Temple of Heaven, an enormous park and altar directly to the south of the Forbidden City. Each winter solstice, the Ming and Qing emperors would lead a procession here to perform rites and make sacrifices designed to promote the next year’s crops and curry favor with Heaven for the general health of the empire.
Details: Rickshaw tour of the Hutongs
A hutong is a unique form of traditional Beijing living quarters with a small street or a lane between two courtyards. Get a first-hand look as you cruise down the narrow alleys in a rickshaw.
Day 6 Beijing
Lunch
798 Art Zone (Dashanzi Art District) visit
Optional  acrobatic show  $55
Details: Yonghe Lamasery visit
It is the largest Buddhist temple of the Yellow-sect in Beijing and has been completely preserved. Built in 1694 as the residence of Count Yin Zhen, the fourth son of the Emperor Kangxi, it was called "the Palace of Count Yong." After Yin Zhen became the Emperor, he continued to use it as an imperial palace for short stays away from the capital. In 1744, it was converted into a lamasery. Yonghegong is the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple in China outside Tibet and holds treasures of both the Han and Tibetan cultures.
Day 7 Beijing
Local school visit
Jade and pearl factory visit
Lunch
Free time
-
Day 8 End tour

  • Or
  • -
    Day 8 Start extension to Hong Kong
    Fly to Hong Kong
    Lunch
    Day 9 Hong Kong landmarks
    Hong Kong guided sightseeing tour
    Star Ferry ride across Victoria HarbourKowloonVictoria PeakTai Po Man Mo Temple visitRepulse BayStanley Market
    Lunch
    Details: Hong Kong guided sightseeing tour
    Shopping, shopping, shopping. Hong Kong's history as Britain's Asian economic centre means that the city has always buzzed with sellers and buyers. Get a taste of the action at Stanley Market, where clothing and souvenirs are offered, and Kowloon, a district jam-packed with shops, restaurants, and apartment buildings that offers an amazing view across the harbour to the islands of Hong Kong. Take a spiritual break at the Tai Po Man Mo Temple. Named after the Taoist gods of literature ("Man") and martial arts ("Mo"), the small 150-year-old temple is noted for the coils of incense that hang from the ceiling, perfuming the entire building. Find even more sanctuary, and a better view, on Victoria Peak, once the enclave of wealthy Westerners and now a refreshing break from the energetic pace of the city below.
    Day 10 End tour
    Map of Beijing Educational Tour
    Tour Includes:
    • Round-trip airfare
    • 6 overnight stays (8 with extension) in hotels with private bathrooms
    • Breakfast daily
    • Lunch daily
    • Dinner daily
    • Full-time services of a professional tour director
    • Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
    • Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
    • Flight from Beijing to Hong Kong on extension
    • Tour Diary™
    • Local Guide and Local Bus Driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
    • Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
    • Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.
    We are better able to assist you with a quote for your selected departure date and city over the phone. Please call 1.888.310.7120 to price this tour with your requested options.
    Please select a postal code
    3688.00 total fee
    Basic Options


    Estimate total number in your group, including yourself and any chaperones
    Private Tour
    Please wait while we process your request...

    This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; others help us improve the user experience. By using the site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Read our privacy-policy to learn more.