Discover the best of Beijing in a 5 day journey to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, China's largest Summer Palace and the Ming dynasty's mausoleum. 

Minimum requirement: 2 persons

Trip schedule 2008:
Nov:  29 Nov - 3 Dec
Dec:  6-10, 13-17, 20-24, 27-31

Trip Schedule 2009:
Jan:   3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 31 Jan - 4 Feb
Feb:   7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28 Feb - 4 Mar
Mar:   7-11, 14-18, 21-25

• Package includes:
  • 4 night accommodation with buffet breakfast at Chang An Grand Hotel or similar 5 star hotel
  • 3 full day tours with lunch and dinner as listed including Peking Duck dinner and cultural show
  • Professional English speaking tour guide service
  • Round trip airport/hotel/airport transfers  

• Package excludes:
  • International flights & the international flight airport tax
  • Personal expenses
  • Entry visa to China
  • Gratuities to guide, driver & porters
  

  Note:

• A single traveler will be charged 37 US dollars for a round trip transfer from the airport to the hotel on an arrival flight.  

• Travelers who arrive and/or depart on a day other than the day stated in the schedule mentioned above will be charged 15 US dollars for a transfer (per person/ per way) from the airport to the hotel and vice versa. 

• The reservation of at least 14 days prior to your arrival date is required. An additional USD 30 per person will be charged for late booking.

• All visitors to China and Tibet, including those of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, need to apply for a visa at the Chinese Embassy or consulate in or near your country. Passports must be valid for at least six months before your travel to china. Visa application should be lodged at least 3 weeks before your entry.
  
  Hotel in Beijing:
  Chang An Grand Hotel or Kingwing Hot Spring International Hotel (5 Star)

The mind boggling Forbidden City is the quintessence of ancient Chinese architectural art. Other attractions in and around the city include Tian’anmen Square, The Tanzhe Temple, the Summer Palace and the emperors’ tombs. However, something from the past that is becoming less visible is Chinese people in Mao suits, bicycles rolling the streets and old residential areas of Hutong. Beijing is now a modern city and its modernity is expanding at rapid pace.

Forbidden City
Covering an area of 720,000 square metres with more than 9,000 rooms, this is the Palace Museum. It is also known as the Purple Forbidden City. It is the largest and most well preserved imperial residence in China today. Under Ming Emperor Yongle, construction began in 1406. It took 14 years to build the Forbidden City. The first ruler who actually lived here was Ming Emperor Zhudi. For five centuries thereafter, it continued to be the residence of 23 successive emperors until 1911 when Qing Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate the throne. In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized the Forbidden City as a world cultural legacy.

The Great Wall
The Great Wall, symbolizing China's ancient civilization, is one of the world's most renowned projects. It is a distance of 75 kilometres northwest of Beijing. Its highest point at Badaling is some 800 metres above sea level.

Construction of the Wall first began during the period of the Warring States (476 - 221 BC). Formerly, walls were built at strategic points by different kingdoms to protect their northern territories. In 221 BC after the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China, he decided to have the walls linked up and extended.

The Wall traverses mountains and gullies. It was extremely difficult to build along steep slopes under harsh conditions. Some of the slabs of rock were as long as two metres and weighed as much as one ton. All the rocks, bricks and lime had to be carried up the mountains at the cost of backbreaking labour. The earth and bricks were passed up from hand to hand or carried in baskets by donkeys and goats. The large slabs were moved up slopes by means of rolling rods and hoisting bars. According to rough calculation, the amount of bricks and rock used to build the Wall would have been enough to build a wall five metres high and one metre thick around the world.

The Summer Palace
Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty was aware that a peaceful northern frontier was of great importance to the Ming Palace, he chose this valley to build his tomb. All his successors followed his example and had their tombs built here, except one who was dethroned and buried in the western suburb. Out of the sixteen emperors, thirteen lie here with their empresses and concubines. The summer Palace, located approximately twelve kilometers to the northwest of Beijing's city proper, was first built in 1750 and rebuilt in 1886. An outstanding example of imperial gardens in classical Chinese style, the Summer Palace spreads on an area of 2.9 million square metres, three fourths of which are water surfaces. Its major attractions are the Wanshou (longevity) Hill and the Kunming (Jade Spring) Lake. The garden is a showcase of pavilions in diversified, exotic designs which are strung together by a corridor more than seven hundred metres in length and a seemingly unending chain of balustrades of snow-white marble.

The Ming Tombs
The site was chosen with the greatest care, with geomancy taken into account. The tombs are located about 50 kilometres to the north of Beijing. They are scattered over a basin approximately 40 square kilometres in area, screened by mountains on three sides and open to the Beijing Plain in the south. The road leading to the tombs is guarded by the Tiger Hill on the left and the Dragon Hill on the right. It was a forbidden ground except for those who were officially in charge of its upkeep. It was not allowed to cultivate land, cut wood or to take stones from here. No one could enter it on horseback, even the emperor himself had to dismount at the gate.