2 Days Private Beijing Imperial Tour Excluding Hotel

In the morning, your private guide and driver will greet you at your own booked hotel, and then accompany you on a full-day cultural tour in the central area of Beijing. 

Let’s first step onto Tiananmen Square, which has witnessed some of the most massive national ceremonies throughout its 600-year-plus history. Before you will be a large open ground that can hold a million people all at once, with the opulent Great Hall of the People in the west, the highest organ of state power, and the National Museum in the east, the supreme national-level treasure house of history and art. Take your time to pose before some classic backgrounds, like Tiananmen Tower, for photographs with your guide’s help. 

Walk until the northern end of the square, pass through the underground passage, and you’ll arrive at the Forbidden City, the world’s largest and best-preserved wooden imperial palace complex where 24 emperors of the last two feudal periods of China (1368 – 1911 AD) once lived. After entering through the Meridian Gate, ready to be welcomed by 9,999 rooms, which would take around 27 years to sleep through one by one, if put in a more intuitive way. When exploring those essential golden-tiled, red-walled palaces that are symmetrically built along its meridian with your guide, you might wonder why the Forbidden City has remained stable and complete until now. This is attributed to the strict control of construction quality by ancient artisans for fear of having their heads chopped off if there were any problems. Look inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the grandest hall where important ceremonies like the emperor's ascension to the throne and wedding were held, you’ll find the brick-paved floor is as shiny as new, thanks to a specially coated layer of tung oil that makes it more resistant to corrosion, moisture, and seepage.

► Note:
1. The Treasure Gallery, Gallery of Timepieces, and other temporary exhibitions in the Forbidden City are not included in the tour.
2. Your exact passport information is required to purchase the entrance tickets of the Forbidden City. The tickets are released online 7 days in advance and could easily sell out in seconds, so we kindly advise you to book the tour at least 8 days before. Otherwise, an hour or more of your sightseeing time will be wasted waiting in long lines at the manual ticket counter.In the afternoon, let’s head to visit the Temple of Heaven. Since it’s where the emperors held the heaven worship ceremony back in days, one of its main features is that most of the structures inside are circular, built so as to echo the Chinese philosophy of “heaven is round and earth square”, symbolizing the harmonious relationship between heaven and human. Marvel at the circular blue-roofed Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, the very hallmark here, which sits majestically on a three-story white marble base. Surprisingly, the whole building was constructed without a single iron nail but relied entirely on mortise and tenon joints, remaining as strong as ever after hundreds of years of wind, rain, and earthquakes. Also, from your guide’s explanation, you’ll learn that the number of its pillars symbolizes the four seasons, the twelve months, and the twelve hours.

Afterward, let’s make our way to the Hutong alleys area, where typical narrow lanes crisscross between rows of quadrangle courtyard houses, representing the ordinary side of this city. Here, a delightful rickshaw ride and a visit to a local family will be arranged for you to feel more engaged in the traditional Beijing lifestyle - locals talking, laughing, or even dancing or playing Chinese chess at the elaborately carved doorways. As today’s trip reaches its end, the guide will escort you back to the hotel.

► Recommended Free-time Activities (at your own expense):
Since there are many well-received restaurants hidden in the Hutong alleys, offering traditional Beijing flavors, like Roast Duck and Noodles with Soybean Paste, you can bid farewell to the guide here after the tour and have dinner by yourself. The guide will be sure to provide you with some genuine recommendations. After that, relax with a stroll by the nearby Back Lake at sunset, indulge in the dynamic nightscape around after dark, and finally have a drink in an exotic pub.