Castles · Tour
Everything Counted in Nines, and 193 Metres of Wall That Carries a Whisper
A private day with an English-speaking guide and a car at your disposal from morning to evening: the Temple of Heaven park, the giant pandas at the Beijing Panda House, and the Summer Palace. Lunch is at a restaurant Beijingers actually use, and it is part of the price. Everything is included, with nothing to pay on the day: all the entrance fees, the private guide, the car and driver both ways, and the meal.
What's included
- Professional guide
- Lunch
- Entrance fee
- Transport by private vehicle
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- Hotel pickup and drop-off(For hotels within the 4th ring road of Beijing city)
Itinerary
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Summer Palace
The private guide and driver collect you from your hotel in the morning, and the first stop is the pandas. Mornings are when to see them: after a night's sleep they are awake and moving, working through bamboo, climbing, and shoving each other about. The guide covers what they eat, how difficult they are to breed, and what they mean in China.
Hall of Benevolence and Longevity
Then a 20-minute drive to the Summer Palace, entering by the East Palace Gate, the main entrance. On foot to the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, which was the court where the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Emperor Guangxu dealt with state business and received officials. The furniture and the decoration are still there, and the guide tells you what was decided in this room.
Hall of Happiness and Longevity
Next the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, where Cixi lived when she was at the Summer Palace, with gardens around it. She spent a great deal of time here, and the guide covers her daily life in the Leshou Tang and how she ran her power from it. The furniture, the carving and the building itself have survived.
Long Corridor at the Summer Palace
Then the Long Corridor: a covered walkway more than 700 metres long, with thousands of painted panels along its beams and ceiling. The guide picks out particular paintings and the stories in them, and explains how the corridor is built.
Qingyan Stone Boat
At the end of the corridor stands the Marble Boat, built entirely of stone under the Qing, and meant as an image of permanence.
Seventeen Arches Bridge
In summer you can pay for a boat ride across the lake if you want one, which takes you close to the Seventeen-Arch Bridge running from the southern shore to South Island.
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake is the centre of the Summer Palace. It began as a natural lake and was enlarged and shaped under the Emperor Qianlong, modelled on the West Lake at Hangzhou, with three islands standing for the three fairy mountains of Chinese myth. Pavilions, willows and palaces run round the shore, and the guide covers what the Qing court did on the water: the imperial boat parades among them.
Temple of Heaven
After the Summer Palace, lunch at a local restaurant known for Beijing cooking, then a 30-minute drive to the Temple of Heaven. This is where the Ming and Qing emperors held the great sacrificial rituals and prayed for the harvest of the whole country.
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest
First the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests: circular, triple-eaved, blue-tiled, standing on a three-tiered white marble terrace. Inside, the wooden columns are arranged to stand for the seasons, the months and the days of the lunar year. The guide covers the religious meaning, how it was built, and what happened here.
Echo Wall
Then the Imperial Vault of Heaven, circular under a conical blue roof, where the tablets of the imperial ancestors and of the gods of heaven and earth were kept between sacrifices. The stonework and the woodwork repay a close look. The wall enclosing it is the Echo Wall, about 193 metres round. Whisper at one end and someone at the other hears you clearly: the curve was built to reflect sound, and it has been doing it for centuries.
Yuanqiutan
Last, the Circular Mound Altar, three tiers of stone, with the top tier reserved for the most sacred of the sacrifices to heaven. The numbers are the point. The steps, the balustrades and the stone slabs are all multiples of nine, the most auspicious number in ancient China and the one that stood for the authority of heaven.
Hongqiao Market
After the Temple of Heaven, Hongqiao Market: handicrafts, pearls, silk and much else, with bargaining expected. One to two hours here, then the transfer back to your hotel.
Not included
- Gratuities
- Additional entrance fee to the museums inside the Summer Palace
- Dragon Boat Cruise Ticket at the Summer Palace
Good to know
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
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- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Up to 15 travelers per booking.
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Guiding available in: zh-TW, cmn, en.
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