China Kung Fu Tour with Tai Chi class

This morning, your private tour guide will pick you up from the hotel. And then you will be driven to the Temple of Heaven. Every year, the emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) Dynasties came here to pray for a good harvest in spring and worship heaven in winter. In the Temple of Heaven, you will see a grand circular hall covered with blue glazed tiles standing on a high platform. It is 38 meters high with a diameter of 32 meters. That is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the largest and most magnificent building in the Temple of Heaven. You are going to be amazed by its gorgeous appearance.

In the Temple of Heaven, you will see a lot of people who are practicing Tai Chi, a kind of Chinese Kung Fu. Do you want to have a try? A Tai Chi class will be arranged for you to experience. In the class, you will be taught by a professional Tai Chi teacher. Your teacher will demonstrate the movements step by step and teach you to acquire each movement. The gentle and soft movements of Tai Chi will benefit your health if you keep practicing when you go back home.

Out of the Temple of Heaven, you will go to Tian’anmen Square in the city center of Beijing. With the reputation of the largest city center square in the world, it can accommodate 1 million people for grand gatherings. It is also the site of several major political and historical events, witnessing the historical changes from an ancient feudal kingdom to modern rising sovereignty. The most exciting moment that Tian’anmen Square has witnessed so far was the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st, 1949. It is also the most memorable and significant moment that every Chinese people should cherish for his or her whole life.

Then you will go to see the Forbidden City (closed each Monday). It was the imperial palace for the ancient emperors from the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912). It is the world’s largest and most complete wooden-structure palace complex. Located in the very center of Beijing, it covers an area of about 720,000 square meters, 961 meters long from north to south and 753 meters wide from east to west. It boasts more than 70 large and small palaces and over 9,000 rooms, surrounded by a 10-meter high city wall. There are also countless priceless treasures collected in the Forbidden City. It is estimated that the Forbidden City has a market value of over 70 billion dollars, which makes it the most valuable palace in the world.

Your lunch will be served at a local authentic restaurant. After lunch, you are going to visit the Summer Palace. It was a vast imperial garden for the emperors of the Qing Dynasty to escape the heat in summer. With a total area of 3 square kilometers, it is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. The natural landscapes of hills and water are combined with ancient Chinese traditional architectures, such as pavilions, palaces, corridors, and bridges. It is the best-preserved imperial garden, known as the “Imperial Garden Museum”. You can appreciate the beauty of the Summer Palace by taking a boat on Kunming Lake, just like the emperors in the Qing Dynasty.

In the evening, you will go to the Red Theater to watch a theatric Kung Fu show – Legend of Kung Fu. It is a stage play that focuses on Chinese Kung Fu and incorporates various art forms such as modern dance, music, and acrobatics, which shows the tortuous growth of the monk Chunyi. It is performed by a group of the best Kung Fu practitioners in China. They all have studied Chinese Kung Fu for many years. Since it was first performed on July 15th, 2004, it has become the most popular Kung Fu show in Beijing and one of the must-sees for tourists and Kung Fu lovers. The performance lasts from 19:00 to 20:10 every day. To offer the audience better service, English subtitles will be shown above the stage. Therefore, you will have a better understanding of the whole story.

After finishing the Kung Fu show, you will be transferred to your hotel. Your one-day Kung Fu tour comes to an end.

Forbidden City

Tian’anmen Square

Author: Lingyun Zhou
Proofreader: Carrie Zhang