Tour AT01 - Beijing

Day 1: Beijing
We arrive in Beijing, the political and cultural capital of China. We are greeted at the airport by our local tour guide and make our way to the hotel. We enjoy a hearty meal and get a good night’s sleep and prepare for our first day of touring in this land of wonder and mystery.

Day 2: Beijing Today, we tour Beijing, the capital of China for five dynasties and over 800 years. We start our day with a visit to the Forbidden City, the Imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. This beautiful complex is the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world, featuring more than 800 buildings, 720,000 square metres of building space, 9,999 rooms, resplendent golden-glazed roofs, red lacquered pillars, vermilion walls, and mind-boggling opulence. We make our next stop at the famous Temple of Heaven. Built during the Ming Dynasty, the beautiful temple was used to offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for good harvests. We then tour the Summer Palace, a dominion of palace temples, gardens, pavilions, and lakes that was once a playground for the imperial court. It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi diverted 30 million taels of silver originally designated for the Chinese navy to the reconstruction of the Summer Palace when the original site was destroyed by two major wars during the nineteenth century. Today, Summer Palace is viewed as a symbol of Chinese landscape garden design, for its creative incorporation of the works of mankind and nature in a harmonious whole. In the evening, we are entertained by an amazing acrobatic show before retiring to our hotel.

Day 3: Beijing
No visit to China is complete without a walk on the remarkable Great Wall at Juyongguan. The Great Wall is the first image that comes to mind when most people think of China, and seeing it in person is truly something else. It is one of the non-classical Wonders of the World, a symbol of China's rich and storied past, and the pride of the Chinese nation. The Juyongguan Pass, with its northern Badaling portion, is the most well-known and visited section of the Great Wall. Later, we visit the Sacred Road and the Ming Dynasty Tombs, the site of the tombs of 13 Ming Emperors. This scenic area blends natural beauty and masterful architecture in a tranquil serenity. In the evening, we visit a traditional cloisonné factory before enjoying a traditional Peking Duck banquet.

Day 4-5: Beijing (Optional)
On these two optional days, our tour visits some of the lesser-known, but just as fascinating, destinations of Beijing. These sites include the Lama Temple, Beijing's traditional Hutongs, Prince Gong's Residence, Beihai Park, the Grand View Garden, the Imperial College, and the Confucian Temple. Each one offers a different view of Beijing.

Day 6: Beijing
Today, our local tour guide sees us off at the airport, and we fly home to Canada. Have a wonderful trip!