Small-Group Tour: UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Beijing

After pickup from your central Beijing hotel, set off by comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle with your group of eight travelers or fewer. Travel through the buzzing streets and along Changan Avenue, one of Beijing’s main thoroughfares, to Tiananmen Square, the world’s biggest public square. Learn about its history, and stroll around to see its landmark buildings, including the National Museum, Great Hall of the People, and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, the last resting place of Mao, the founder of communist China. Admire the elaborate Tiananmen Gate, and then head inside the UNESCO-listed Forbidden Palace (Palace Museum). This walled ensemble of nearly 1,000 buildings forms the world’s largest imperial palace, and was home to 24 of China’s Ming and Qing emperors. Enjoy a 2-hour tour of the courtyards, halls, and temples; and learn how the palace functioned as a city within a city, reserved only for the emperors and their imperial entourages. Then, climb the hillside of nearby Jingshan Park to admire the magnificent views over the complex — a fitting finale to your visit. After lunch at a Chinese restaurant, continue to the Temple of Heaven, another of Beijing’s UNESCO World Heritage treasures. Explore this ornate complex where the emperors prayed and gave thanks for fruitful crops. See the 15th-century Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and admire other highlights as you learn about the ceremonies and sacrifices held here. Stroll through the surrounding park past the groups of older Beijing residents who come here to chat, sing, and enjoy slow-moving tai chi (taiji) exercises, and then travel to the popular Hongqiao Pearl Market, a mall with several floors dedicated to beautiful Chinese pearls. Enjoy free time to browse the pearls and wares here, including porcelain, jewelry, and electronics, before a hotel drop-off brings your tour to an end.

• Professional guide

• Hotel pickup and drop-off

• Lunch

• Driver with car

• Entrance ticket

• Gasline, Parking & Toll fees

• Entry/Admission - Forbidden City-The Palace Museum

• Entry/Admission - Jingshan Park (Jingshan Gongyuan)

• Entry/Admission - Temple of Heaven

• Gratuities

• Souvenirs