6 Days Essential Beijing & Pingyao Ancient City Tour

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, the world’s largest palace complex and one-time home to 24 emperors of China. Listed as a world heritage site, Forbidden City has about 500 years’ history, and served as the political and ritual center of China during the Ming (1368-1644) and the Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. With over 8,728 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, 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.

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

In this morning, you will head northwest of Beijing (about 1.5-2 hours’ drive, 73km) to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. 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. Mutianyu Great Wall 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. After that, transfer back to your hotel and have a good rest tonight.

This morning you will head to Temple of Heaven. Located in Beijing's Tiantan Park, the Temple of Heaven is much bigger than the Forbidden City and smaller than the Summer Palace. As a World Heritage, the Temple of Heaven (Taoist temple) is also known for its rigorous symbolic layout, peculiar structure, and magnificent decoration. The Temple of Heaven 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.

If there is more time, you can also enjoy the relaxing time exploring the ordinary local life through the old Hutongs. Take a rickshaw tour to travel through the narrow alleys with many featured shops standing on both sides.

After the tour, you will be taken to the train station for a high speed train to Pingyao Ancient City (about 3.5-4 hours). Welcome to Pingyao, the best-preserved ancient walled city in China listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site. Upon arrival, the local guide and driver will pick you up at Pingyao Gucheng Railway Station and escort you to your hotel in Pingyao Ancient City.

After breakfast, your guide and driver will take you to to spend one full day exploring Pingyao Ancient City. Known as one of the “Four Best Preserved Ancient Cities”, the ancient town of Pingyao, with a history over 2700 years, is an outstanding example of a Han Chinese city of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. First, pay a visit to Rishengchang Former Bank which is the first draft bank in China, and you can have basic understanding the original bank system in the past. Later, walk leisurely to the Armed Escort Company Museum to know the protection of the tangible currency and top 10 escort companies and top 10 guards. After that, have a nice stroll on the most prosperous traditional Ming and Qing Dynasties Street, taking you back to the former bustle bazaar in the old days. Then, visit the Temple of City God to appreciate the wonderful wood carvings, paintings and sculptures in the old temple. Last, get atop on the Ancient City Wall and have a glimpse of the roofs of the ancient buildings. If you come at dusk, you can capture the sunset view of the Ancient City Wall.

In this morning, you will be transferred to the Shuanglin Temple (about 9km from the ancient city), which is reputed as the “ancient painted sculptures museum” and it has more than 2000 existing painted sculptures made in Ming and Qing dynasties. Visit its Heavenly Kings’ Hall, Arhats Hall, One-thousand Buddha Hall, Sakyamuni Hall, etc. You will get shocked by its exquisite design and elegant carvings.

Then, drive about an hour (about 46km) from Shuanglin Temple to Wang Family Compound. It is the former residence of the Wang Family and it was the biggest and most classic residential family compound in Shanxi province for over 300 years. It is a huge complex at the layout of “three alleys, four castles and five ancestral halls”, with 123 courtyards and 1,118 rooms. The structure of the compound embodied the different status of men and women, masters and servants. Walk into this architectural art museum and fully explore Gaojiaya Dwelling Area and Hongmenbao Dwelling Area.

After the tour, it is time to end your 6 days China tour. You will have some free time in Pingyao and explore more on your own till your guide escorts you to the airport in Taiyuan/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!