Beijing Ancient & Modern Family Tour

Welcome to Beijing! On the first day of our Beijing family tour, you will be picked up at the airport and then transferred to the hotel in Beijing by our tour guide.

After breakfast, we will visit Tian’anmen Square. Occupying an area of about 440,000 square meters, Tian’anmen Square is seated in the center of Beijing. There are many magnificent buildings around Tian’anmen Square, such as the Tian’anmen Gate Tower, the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the National Museum of China, and so on. You can see the Monument to the People’s Heroes in the middle of this square. With a height of about 38 meters, it is the largest monument in Chinese history. At the same time, it honors the people's heroes who died in the past in the struggle for China's national independence and the people's freedom and happiness. If you are interested, you can listen to our guide’s further explanation about this monument.

As we continue north along Tiananmen Square, we will come to Forbidden City (Closed on Mondays). It is a large-scale and well-preserved ancient Chinese architectural complex, covering an area of 720,000 square meters. There are mainly 41 palaces and halls in Forbidden City. If you want to ask which is the largest hall here, it must be the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which is 27 meters high. In addition, you can go to the Hall of Union and Peace to see an ancient chime clock. This chime clock is more than 5 meters high, and its dial is about 1 meter in diameter. You will admire that it still can accurately give the correct time after 300 years.

After lunch, we will come to Hutongs, small streets in Beijing. Countless Hutongs serve as not only the arteries of Beijing's traffic but also the daily route of some old Beijingers. Almost all the buildings in Hutongs are quadrangles where the people of Beijing live. Besides, you can experience the rickshaw tour here. Sitting on a rickshaw (usually a tricycle), you can feel that Hutongs here are endowed with life atmospheres. Maybe you can see that some elderly men are playing chess and chatting, or children are rushing to school.

Then, we will visit Qianmen Street, the busiest street in old Beijing, with a total length of 840 meters. From the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), rich merchants in southern China moved and settled in Qianmen Street for business. Stalls and fairs appeared one after another, eventually forming the prosperity of Qianmen Street. Here, you and your family can visit the Sheng Xifu Hat Shop, a Chinese time-honored brand that sells hats with fashionable style and meticulous workmanship. You can buy a new hat in this shop with the help of your guide during this China family tour.

After that, we will return to the hotel in Beijing to rest.

Forbidden City

Hutongs

After breakfast, we will drive northwest from downtown Beijing to Ming Tombs – Chang Tomb for about one hour and forty minutes (50KM). With a history of 600 years, the Ming Tombs boast the characteristics of grand scale and complete architectural system. Among 13 emperors’ tombs in the Ming Tombs, Chang Tomb is the earliest, the largest, and the most magnificent mausoleum. You can follow our guide to the Ling’en Palace of Chang Tomb. In the middle of this palace, you can see a masterpiece of art in the world: the bronze statue of Zhu Di, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You can also find more information about this emperor in Chang Tomb.

After lunch, we will go to see the Badaling Great Wall, an outstanding representative section of the Great Wall. At present, the length of the Badaling Great Wall is 3,741 meters. When spring approaches, the Badaling Great Wall is full of greenery, with peach blossom, camellia flower, and all kinds of unknown wildflowers surrounding the ancient walls. It is worth reminding that some parts of the Badaling Great Wall are precipitous, so it is strongly recommended that you and your family wear antiskid sneakers and comfortable, casual clothes.

After visiting the Badaling Great Wall, we can go back to the hotel in Beijing.

Ming Tombs

Badaling Great Wall

Today, after breakfast, we will visit the Temple of Heaven. It is a place for emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1637-1912) Dynasties to worship heaven and pray for a good harvest. When you travel here, you will see that the drainage outlets of some buildings are in the shape of a lifelike divine beast, named Chi. According to legend, it has a big mouth and a stomach that can contain lots of water. The story has it that one year, it rained continuously for seven days near the Temple of Heaven. The rainwater was about to submerge the whole Temple of Heaven, which was in danger. At this time, the emperor hurried to pray for heaven’s help. Soon, Chi came from heaven to rescue the Temple of Heaven. When the rainwater receded, it told people to build drainage outlets according to its image, so that rainwater would never flood the Temple of Heaven again. Therefore, Chi’s image is often used as the drainage outlet of ancient buildings. You can follow our guide to explore more about the Temple of Heaven.

Then, we will visit the Lama Temple in the northeast corner of Beijing. In 1744, it became the center in charge of national Buddhist affairs. Today, the Lama Temple has formed its unique Buddhist culture. It integrates religious venues, museums, with tourist attractions, attracting many tourists and believers from all over the world every day. You can come here to experience its Buddhist culture while listening to our guide’s introduction.

After lunch, we will go to see the Confucius Temple. It was the place where emperors offered sacrifices to Confucius, a great thinker, politician, and educator in ancient China. Occupying an area of 22,000 square meters, it has three rows of houses and courtyards. After a few steps, you will come to Da Cheng Gate (the Gate of Great Success), the second gate of Confucius Temple. In front of this gate, there is a vivid stone statue of Confucius. You can listen to our guide introduce this great man who has had a far-reaching impact on China and the rest countries of the world.

Later, we will arrive at the 798 Art Zone. This art zone covers an area of 184,000 square meters for the art and cultural industry. It also gathers 409 institutions focusing on art and design, including 38 international art institutions.

After that, we will move back to the hotel in Beijing.

798 Art Zone

Lama Temple

After today’s breakfast, you and your family will say goodbye to Beijing, China. You will be transferred to the airport in Beijing to take the return flight to your home country.

Authro：Yan Weiran

Proofreader: Lexie