5 Days Beijing Hutong Tour - From Ancient Beijing to Modern Beijing

Nihao! Welcome to Beijing, the capital city of China! Upon your arrival at the airport/train station in Beijing, the tour guide and driver will meet and greet you at the exit, and then escort you to the well-selected hotel in downtown Beijing. The rest of the day is free on your own so you can have a good rest for the jet lag or explore by yourself around your hotel.

Arrival Ideas:
Beijing is well connected by air and high speed rail. There are two airports - Beijing Daxing International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport operating many international and domestic airlines. Travelers can go to Beijing by air from most cities of China, like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xian, Guilin, Hangzhou, Kunming, Wuhan, Xiamen, Guiyang, Chongqing, and Lanzhou. In addition, travelers can take the high speed train to Beijing from Xian (4-5 hours), Shanghai (4.5-6 hours), Zhengzhou (2.5-3 hours), Wuhan (4-5 hours), Harbin (5-5.5 hours), etc.

Free Time Ideas:
You are welcome to ask your tour guide for some useful tips to spend your free time based on your time and interest.

Today you will spend the whole day exploring the ancient citadel Beijing through China’s famous landmarks, epic imperial grandeur and royal gardens.

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up at your hotel and then head to Tian’anmen Square, which is the world’s largest public square and also the symbol of China. It has witnessed many big events in China over the past decades and from here you can take good pictures of Tiananmen Gate showing on CCTV News every day.

Walk across the square and you will visit the might and splendor of the awe-inspiring Forbidden City (World Heritage), the world’s largest palace complex and one-time home to 24 emperors of China. With about 500 years’ history, Forbidden City served as the political and ritual center of China during the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. With 9,999 rooms, the Forbidden City is not only China’s largest and best-preserved collection of ancient buildings, but also a city within the city, like the Vatican in Rome. Enter through Meridian Gate and visit along the central axis to ensure you won’t miss any highlighted palaces. You can admire its brilliant architecture and numerous ancient art treasures while listening to your guide and learning more about the emperors’ stories hidden inside the Imperial Palace. Later, take another 15-minute walk up to Jingshan Park, where you can have a magnificent panorama of modern Beijing and princely views over the russet roofs of the Forbidden City.

In this afternoon, drive to the “Museum of Royal Garden” - Summer Palace (World Heritage), which used to be the resort for royal families to flee summer heat. The grounds, temples, gardens, pavilions, lakes, bridges, gate-towers, and corridors are a marvel of landscaping. Enjoy the leisure walk and take your time to appreciate the imperial architectures, hilltop views, and beautiful lakes, which offer a pastoral escape into the landscapes of traditional Chinese painting. Don’t forget to try Beijing duck for dinner tonight.

Recommended Optional Activity: You can try the famous Peking Roasted Duck at Quanjude this evening.

This morning you will head to Temple of Heaven (World Heritage). The Temple of Heaven is much bigger than the Forbidden City and smaller than the Summer Palace. As a Taoist temple, it is also known for its rigorous symbolic layout, peculiar structure, and magnificent decoration. It used to be a place to offer sacrifice to Heaven by 22 Chinese emperors twice a year for good harvests. You can learn more about the grand praying ceremony there, as well as observe the amazing designs such as the Echo Wall and the Triple Sound Stones. Nowadays, it is also a park for local people to do morning exercise and you are welcome to join them.

Then, you will head to the Mutianyu Great Wall (World Heritage), about 1.5-2 hours’ drive, 73km. The Great Wall boasts a history over 2,000 years and stretches more than 3,000 miles across several provinces of northern China, making it one of the most impressive ancient masterpieces on the planet. The Great Wall at Mutianyu is connected with the Jiankou Great Wall in the west and the Gubeikou Great Wall in the east. Mutianyu is the longest and best fully-restored Great Wall with fewer tourists and is also famed for its 23 Ming-era watchtowers and stunning views. Take the cable car up to the 14th watchtower and then enjoy the memorable hiking time on the wall while visiting its western route. With the green pines and cypresses covering the surrounding area, and the winding wall standing majestically on the vast land, you will capture the most stunning natural scenery in this section. Challenge yourselves while climbing up to the 20th watchtower where you could fulfill your Great Wall dream. Cherish the chance and take photos as many as you like!

After the once-in-lifetime experience, head back to downtown Beijing and have the chance to take photos with the exterior of the Bird's Nest (Beijing National Stadium) and Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatics Center). They were both designed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and used for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

In the morning, you will visit Lama Temple (Yonghe Palace). The Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple), is also known as the "Palace of Peace and Harmony". It was the birthplace of both the Yongzheng Emperor (1678-1735) and the Qianlong Emperor (1736-1796) of the Qing Dynasty. As the biggest temple of Tibetan Buddhism is located in the heart of Beijing, there are three treasures for you to explore: the largest sandalwood Buddha in the world, the bronze Buddhas of past, present, and future, and the 500-Arhat-Hill.

Then you will visit the Beijing Confucius Temple and Imperial College Museum that is next to the Lama Temple. The museum is consisting of two parts: Confucius Temple (Kongmiao) and Imperial College Museum (Guozijian). Kongmiao is the place where people paid homage to Confucius during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Confucius is the greatest thinker and educationalist in ancient China. Guozijian (Imperial academy) is a kind of university/college in ancient China that can be traced back to the Sui Dynasty (581–618). Guozijian is also the place where the Emperor personally lectures. The college was constructed right next to the temple in accordance with Chinese tradition where a temple is always to the left of a school. This museum is a good place for you to learn more about ancient China's education system and ancient buildings.

During the lunch time, you can also enjoy a relaxing time exploring the ordinary local life through the Wudaoying Hutong which is near the museum. It is the coolest non-touristy hutong alleyway street in all of Beijing. Travel through the narrow alleys with many featured shops standing on both sides. You can try Old Beijing yogurt and dumpling for lunch here before the exciting Hutong Family Visit. It is a great experience to communicate with the Beijingers who grow up in the Hutongs by listening to their stories about Hutong and typical lifestyle in the Hutong.

In the afternoon, you can have a bird's eyes view of the hutong area from the Drum Tower, and you will have the chance to view the drum performance there. After that, you can hike in the Yandaixiejie Steet, the oldest commercial street (about 800 years) and one of the oldest and top 10 popular hutongs in Beijing. Yandaixie Street, which means Skewed Tobacco Pouch Street in Chinese, is a 232-meter-long Hutong. During the Qing Dynasty, people were fond of smoking and carried tobacco pouches (Yandai) with them wherever they went. As a result, many tobacco shops (selling smoking sets) opened on this skewed (xie) street, giving rise to its name. Now you can still purchase tobacco pouches of various sizes and shapes there, including porcelain ones, jade ones, wooden ones, and bronze ones. Located close to the Shichahai Park and Nanluoguxiang Hutong, Yandaixiejie is also a cultural street, where many quadrangle dwellings (Si He Yuan) are dotted, attracting millions of visitors each year. Don't forget to try the Hutong food and take a Rickshaw Tour around the Hutongs and the Shichahai Area.

After that, you will be transferred back to your hotel with a quick stop at Beijing's CBD for a glimpse of modern Beijing. You can even take a photo of the radical-shaped building of the CCTV Headquarters (locally known as "big pants"). Have a good rest tonight.

It is time to end your 5-day China Beijing Hutong tour. You will have some free time in Beijing and explore more on your own till your guide escorts you to the airport/train station for your flight or high speed train to your next destination.

Thank you for choosing Asia Odyssey Travel for your China tour, and we are always here working for you and hope to see you again for your next trip to China/Asia.