China'S Present, Past And Future

Welcome to Beijing! Upon your arrival at the Beijing Airport, you will be transferred to the hotel where you will meet your local guide. Take the opportunity to rest and recover after the flight or head out into the city for your first glimpse of life in China’s sprawling capital city. Alternatively, you can book our optional Summer Palace and Kunming Lake excursion. Summer Palace and Kunming Lake excursion The Summer Palace and Kunming Lake excursion is a four-hour visit of the spellbinding complex, the summer retreat of China´s emperors and their families, where they used to relax in the lavish pavilions of Longevity Hill, meditate in the temples and stroll through the landscaped gardens around Kunming Lake. The whole complex is real architectural experience, boasted with beautifully decorated buildings and courtyards, and striking views from the sumptuous Summer Palace. Take a walk between ancient walls of the Temple of Buddhist Virtue, the Hall of Jade Ripples, the Cloud-Dispelling Hall and the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, and discover the tranquillity of the peaceful Kunming Lake. Tour starts at 14:00 from the hotel´s lobby. Overnight in Beijing.

Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel and then get ready for a drive to Badaling section of the Great Wall. This stretch was built in 1505 in the strategically important Guan Valley in order to keep out the Mongol hordes coming from the North. Nowadays, tourists flock from all over the world and the Badaling section is the most visited part of the Great Wall. Afterwards, our exploration continues further into China’s past, and we´ll go to visit the Imperial Tombs of the Ming Dynasty and the Great Wall. The Ming Tombs are located in the harmonious landscape of Jundu Mountains and the entrance is accessed through the imposing Great Red Gate, followed by the 7km-long Sacred Way, which is lined with statues of guardians such as camels, elephants, lions, soldiers and imperial chamberlains. Explore the Changling Tomb, the final resting of China’s greatest rulers, Yongle Emperor. To wrap up todays ‘tour we´ll visit a pearl factory and we´ll stop to take photos at Beijing Olympic Park on the way back to the hotel. Overnight in Beijing.

Start the day with breakfast at the hotel then prepare for a full-day tour of Beijing’s most famous landmarks. Start in the enormous Tiananmen Square, one of the world’s largest urban plazas. Stroll from Tiananmen Gate to Meridian Gate, which leads to the Forbidden City. Enter the Forbidden City and take in the sheer majesty of this incomparable treasure which was closed to commoners for centuries. Construction began under the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century and it was meticulously designed to be in harmony with philosophical, religious and hierarchical principles. All the roof tiles were yellow, the emperor’s colour, and no other building in Beijing could be taller than the Forbidden City. Explore this beguiling UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and marvel at the magnificent temples, halls, pavilions, palaces and courtyards. Enjoy a local lunch after the visit. Then head on to Jingshan Park, the highest point in Beijing that stretches out over the manmade 45-metre-high hill of the same name and that was built on the Feng shui basis as a private garden for emperors and their families. The views over the Forbidden City and the rest of the capital are breath-taking. To wrap up our sightseeing tour we´ll visit the Temple of Heaven and the pearl market. You will be back in the hotel in the late afternoon. Overnight in Beijing.