Imperial Life Exploration

Tiananmen Square - Forbidden City - Temple of Heaven - Summer Palace
  • Code
    BJ01-03
  • Tour Style
    Private
  • We Promise
    No Shopping
  • Free Cancellation
    24-hour Before
From $109 per person Free Inquiry
In the morning, your professional guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel at around 09:00. Then we will set off to start this 1 day Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven tour in a comfortable drive. The first stop will be the Tiananmen Square, where you could take great photos of the Tiananmen Tower, the Monument to People's Heroes, and the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao. Next, we will walk northward for a few minutes to enter the Forbidden City, where 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) lived and handled the national affairs. Lunch is not arranged today. According to your taste, your guide could suggest good restaurants nearby.

In the afternoon, we will continue to visit the Temple of Heaven - a place for national sacrificial rituals in old times and now becomes a large modern park for visiting, exercising and relaxing. Afterwards, we will go to visit the Summer Palace - a royal resort during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) with landscapes of both hill and lake. 

Finally, this 1-day Beijing tour package will draw to a close as your guide and driver deliver you back to your hotel.
Tiananmen Square
Summer Palace
Tour Highlights
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world, is seated in the center of the Beijing city. During the past hundreds of years, it has witnessed numerous historical events and assemblies. Nowadays, it becomes the venue for grand celebrations, military parades, and welcoming ceremonies for foreign leaders. Visitors can also admire the towering Monument to People's Heroes, the solemn Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao, the well-known Tiananmen Tower, Zhengyang Gate and Qianmen Arrow Tower in the square.
Forbidden City
Served as the imperial palace for more than 500 hundred years during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City is the largest and best-preserved old wooden complex in the world. The whole palace is divided into the outer court and the inner court by the Palace of Heavenly Purity, with the outer one for emperors to handle the national affairs and the inner one for imperial families to live. In addition to the splendid architecture, the complex is also a giant museum with more than one million national treasures exhibited.
Appreciate the imperial buildings at the Forbidden City
► Why does the Forbidden City close so early? 

Forbidden City closes at 17:00 in the peak season, and even earlier, at 16:30, in the slack season. Also, no entry is allowed since 50 minutes before it is closed. Why is it so earlier than other attractions? Back in 1959, a man hided himself in the Forbidden City until the midnight. He broke the showcase and stole a few valuable cultural relics. After that, the Forbidden City decided to close earlier when it is still light, to clear up the site and check the entire palace, so as to prevent theft as well as other problems. Besides, many people also believe that unexplained paranormal events happen at night in this ancient palace over 600 years old.

Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven was a holy place during the Ming and Qing dynasties, where emperors held national sacrificial ceremonies to pray for good weather for crops. In addition to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar inside, there are also exhibition rooms displaying various vessels, chimes, paintings and documents, which introduce the evolution of the ancient worshipping rituals and sacrificial dance. Surrounding the temple is a large park where you can see the real life scenes of the local people.
Temple of Heaven
Local retired people playing music
Summer Palace
Different from the mentioned imposing imperial buildings, the Summer Palace, as the recreational resort for the royal family, can offer you a relaxing experience. Following your guide, you will take a leisure walk around the Kunming Lake and visit surrounding elegant architecture, such as Long Gallery, Marble Boat, and Seventeen-Arch Bridge. Among them, the Long Gallery at the northern bank of the lake will highlight your trip with more than 14,000 painted stories on the beams.
Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace


Tour Prices
1 traveler2-3 travelers4-5 travelers
$279  
$159  
$109  
  • Prices are per person in US Dollars.
Price Includes
  • Private English-speaking guide
  • Private driver & air-conditioned vehicle
  • Entrance fees to tourist sites
Price Excludes
  • Hotel accommodation with breakfasts
  • Lunches and dinners
  • Tips or gratuities for guide and driver
Why Travel With Us
  • Customer Reviews
  • Questions & Answers
  •  
    4.715 Reviews
    Strecker
    UK
    Posted on August 17, 2020
    This 1-day Beijing imperial life exploration schedule was great. The guide's explanations were in place and the arrangements were all reasonable. Such a happy journey!
    Ricardo
    Brazil
    Posted on July 20, 2020
    Very good with detailed explanations and thoughtful attitude on one-day Beijing Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven tour!
    Harold
    USA
    Posted on June 15, 2020
    A fantastic Beijing day tour to Forbidden City. Thank our guide Sara for her excellent service. Sara was dedicated and tried her best to meet our needs and answer our questions patiently. She also organized the itinerary orderly. After explaining the scenic spots, she gave us enough time to explore on our own and take photos. We visited the most important attractions including the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace so we were not surprised to see so many tourists at these scenic spots. ... More
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