Explore Beijing City Off the Beaten Path with a Private Guide

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing. It was an imperial garden in the Qing dynasty. Inside includes Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake and Seventeen Hole Bridge. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three-quarters of which is water. The Summer Palace used to be a summer retreat for the Chinese royal family. During the hot Beijing summers, the imperial family preferred the beautiful gardens and airy pavilions of the Summer Palace to the walled-in Forbidden City. Dowager Empress Cixi took up permanent residence there for a time, giving rise to some wonderful tales of extravagance and excess.

   2 h

2. Just north of the Imperial Palace, Jingshan Park occupied by Prospect Hill was a private park reserved for the use of the emperor in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), an artificial hill with five peaks was made, utilizing earth excavated when the moat of the Imperial Palace was dug. A pavilion was erected on each peak, and five bronze Buddhas given pride of place in them; four of these statues were removed by the troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force when they came to Beijing to relieve the Siege of the Legations in 1900. Prospect Hill was opened to the public in 1928. The artificial hill in Jingshan Park used to be the highest point in the city. The park is nice to walk around, but what really makes it worthwhile is that the temple at the top of the hill, the Pavilion of Everlasting Spring (Wanchunting), affords stunning, panoramic views over Beijing and the Forbidden City.

   1.5 hAdmission included

3. In ancient times, people could not scientifically understand and explain a variety of natural phenomena, such as the movement of the sun and the moon, the cycle of the four seasons, thunder, wind, rain, earthquakes, and tsunamis. They believed that these phenomena were governed by "Heaven", so they worshiped the "Emperor of Heaven". To better earn the respect of the people that was needed to govern and regulate them, Chinese emperors call themselves the "sons of Heaven". They also claimed that Heaven authorized them to govern the Earth (China). So, emperors in each dynasty regarded offering sacrifices to Heaven and Earth as very important political activities. The Temple of Heaven was the outcome of the combination of the dynastic regime and Confucian theocracy.

   1 hAdmission included

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 2 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Beijing

• Its from-price is 46% above the median of the 3624 experiences we list in Beijing.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 1156 of 3624.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Beijing

Beijing, China's capital for centuries, holds imperial palaces, sacred temples and stretches of the Great Wall within reach of its modern boulevards.

At the city's heart, the Forbidden City spreads behind vermilion walls, a labyrinth of halls and courtyards that housed the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Tiananmen Square lies to its south, and the hill of Jingshan Park to its north gives the finest view over its golden roofs. The Temple of Heaven, set in a park where locals practise tai chi and dance, is a masterpiece of imperial design.

Top-ranked sights in Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall, Forbidden City (Palace Museum), Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang).

See all 3624 experiences in Beijing