Short Beijing Tour with Great Wall

Welcome to Beijing! After arrival, you will see your local tour guide waiting for you at the airport with a name sign. Then your guide will transfer you to the hotel. On your way to the hotel, your guide will introduce some basic information about this metropolis. Beijing, the capital of China, serves as the national political and cultural center as well as the hub of international communication. By 2020, the city has a total area of 16,410.54 square kilometers with more than 22 million permanent residents.  

The first attraction we will visit today is the Temple of Heaven. In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) Dynasties, the Temple of Heaven served as a sacred place for emperors to worship heaven and pray for a good harvest. There are many interesting designs in the Temple of Heaven, among which Echo Wall stands out. Echo Wall has a height of 3.72 meters, a thickness of 0.9 meters, a diameter of 61.5 meters and a circumference of 193.2 meters. As what its name implies, Echo Wall can produce the echo effect. If one person stands under the wall of the east side and talks softly towards the north, the other person stands under the wall of the west side can hear the first person’s voices clearly. From the perspective of science, the reason for this effect is that the wall is smooth and flat, which is conducive to the transmission of sound waves. When you come to the Temple of Heaven, you cannot miss the Echo Wall.

Then you will visit Wangfujing Street. Walking on Wangfujing Street, you can see that the main street is spacious and flat with a length of 810 meters. With a history of hundreds of years, it is located in the Dongcheng District in the city, serving as a shopping resort for tourists to enjoy and relax themselves in Beijing. With all kinds of international and domestic brands, the Wangfujing Street is a popular place for shopping. In this prosperous street, you can also buy some souvenirs as the gifts for your friends and relatives, such as specially-made chopsticks, fans and carvings. After visiting the Wangfujing Street, your first day in Beijing will come to an end.

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

After breakfast, you will go to Tian’anmen Square in the central axis of Beijing. As a symbol of this time-honored city, Tian’anmen Square is a must-visit place for visitors all over the world. You may see some photos of Tian’anmen Square from some online platforms, but when you stand on the granite-covered ground, you will be shocked by its beauty and grandness. With a width of 500 meters and a length of 880 meters, Tian’anmen Square, the largest city center square in the world, covers more than 440,000 square meters, which can accommodate 1 million people to gather here. What’s more, the national flag-raising ceremony in every early morning on the Tian’anmen Square attract numerous people.

Then you will go to the Forbidden City (closed each Monday), which is next to Tian’anmen Square. As an imperial palace in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Forbidden City covers about 720,000 square meters. There used to be 24 emperors lived here. Among them, the emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty reigned the country from 1661 to 1722, the longest reign in the history of China. The three main halls in the Forbidden City are Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Central Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony. Our guide will lead you to admire the three halls. In addition to these three main halls, some exquisite designs, like bronze lion statues and water vats are also the ones that you cannot miss.

After lunch, you will visit Hutong, an indispensable part of Beijing. Hutongs refer to the alleys or small streets among traditional Siheyuan. In Chinese, Siheyuan means the term “quadrangle”. It takes the courtyard as its nucleus, which is surrounded by four houses on four directions. When you visit the Hutongs, you will find large and small quadrangles stand closely on both sides of these Hutongs. We will arrange a calligraphy class for you in one quadrangle to feel the charm of Chinese culture. Chinese calligraphy is an ancient writing art of Chinese characters, which evolves from Oracle bones. Learning some Chinese characters will help you have a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture.

Then you will go to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace used to be the royal garden in the Qing Dynasty. Covering about 3 square kilometers, this imperial palace is also a must-visit attraction for tourists. The Summer Palace is built on the basis of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. Its water area accounts for three quarters (about 2.2 square kilometers). We will arrange for you to take a dragon boat on the Kunming Lake to admire the beauty of this garden. Besides, our guide will take you to visit several popular attractions, like Long Corridor, Seventeen-Arch Bridge and Marble Boat. 

Hutong

Summer Palace

After breakfast, you will visit the Confucius Temple(closed each Monday). It is a temple for worshiping Confucius(a Chinese philosopher and politician) from Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368) to Qing Dynasty. It faces south, with the ancient building area of about 7,400 square meters. The main buildings are located along the central axis of Confucius Temple. It is a good chance to get to know the earliest education system and contents in ancient China.

After lunch, you will drive north for about one hour to Badaling Great Wall, which is 70 kilometers from the Confucius Temple. The Badaling Great Wall was an important defense project in ancient China. Now, it has become a popular attraction. Every year, it attracts lots of visitors coming here to admire its beauty and feel its spectacularity. In addition to common visitors, many celebrities have visited the Badaling Great Wall. In 1957, Voroshilov, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (president) visited Badaling Great Wall. In the next 50 years, more than 400 heads of state such as Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Elizabeth II, and Putin had visited Badaling Great Wall.

Badaling Great Wall

Badaling Great Wall

Today your China student tour to Beijing will come to an end. After breakfast, you need to pack up your luggage, and then your local tour guide will transfer you to the airport to take a flight to your sweet home. Your China journey ends today, but the good memory you created during this tour will never end. China Tour Start looks forward to your next meaningful China tour with us!

Author: Liu Shujun

Proofreader: Yan Liu