Tours
Beijing Highlights
The venerated Chinese history has strewn the land of Beijing with sites of cultural and historical interest. Some of them, such as the Great Wall, former Imperial Palace, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, and the ruins of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, are UNESCO-endorsed world cultural heritage sites. Imperial palaces, mansions, gardens and tombs are epitomes of classical Chinese architecture. Among the massive number of ancient buildings that have remained to this day are quite a few Buddhist monasteries, Taoist temples and Catholic churches, such as Yonghegong Lamasery and Big Bell Temple. There are 120 museums, including Museum of Chinese History and China Art Gallery. Over 100 gardens are open to the public. As behooves an international metropolis, Beijing's skyline looks splendid with a jungle of tall buildings in varied and distinct styles.
How to Book and Pay for a Tour
All local tours can be booked together with your online registration. Payment can be made together with your registration fee or hotel deposit.
Local Tours and Evening Entertainment
All tours and the evening program start in front of Beijing International Convention Center. Please meet with the guide 15 minutes before departure.
The costs for all local tours include an English-speaking tour guide, admissions to the main entrance, air-conditioned coach, and Chinese lunch. These tours will leave at 8:30 am and return approximately at 5:00 pm if traffic is normal.
The cost of the evening program include an English-speaking tour guide, admission tickets, and the air-conditioned coach. The coach will leave at 6:00 pm.
The local tours and the evening program are subject to a minimum of 10 participants. Insufficient bookings will cause cancellation. If this happens, full refund will be made.
LT1 Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven
8:30-17:00, Wednesday September 1. Cost: CNY 400
Large enough to hold 1 million people, the 440,000-square-metre Tian'anmen Square in the center of Beijing is the world's largest city square. Tian'anmen Gate on the northern edge of the square used to be the front gate of the Ming and Qing Imperial Palace. The rostrum atop the gate, where national leaders review mass rallies or gala celebrations on important occasions, is open to tourists. The night scene of Tian'anmen Square is definitely a MUST for any visitor to Beijing.
The 720,000-square-metre Palace Museum, better known as "Forbidden City", was the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing. Built during the 1406-1420 period, it is the largest royal palatial complex in existence in China; ranging from the majestic to the exquisite, they bear witness to a nation in transition. Other tourist attractions on the premises include a huge stone ramp carved with intricate dragon and cloud patterns, Imperial Garden and Nine-Dragon Screen Wall. An immense trove of cultural artifacts and treasures of various dynasties, some of them on display in the Treasure Hall and the ceramics, painting, bronze ware galleries, are reason enough for UNESCO to adopt the Former Imperial Palace as a world cultural heritage site.
China's largest temple and altar are found in Temple of Heaven, part of a 273 hectare park in Chongwen District today. Built in 1420, it was where Ming and Qing monarchs prayed for good harvests. Major structures are Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Imperial Vault of Heaven, Circular Altar, and Abstinence Palace. UNESCO endorsed Temple of Heaven as a world cultural heritage site in December 1998.
LT2 Great Wall at Juyongguan Pass and Ming Tomb
8:30-17:00, Thursday September 2. Cost: CNY 400
As an emblem of Chinese civilization, a cultural phenomenon of world caliber, and another UNESCO-endorsed world cultural heritage site, the 6350 km Great Wall was in China's feudal years a mammoth defense bulwark that serpentines its way across mountains and valleys in the northern part of the country. The Great Wall came under construction in the 7th century BC. But it was Qinshihuang, the founding emperor of the Qin, who brought it to completion. Repeated extensions were done in later dynasties until the Ming. The 600-year-old Badaling Fortification in Yanqing County in northwest Beijing is representative of Ming sections of the Great Wall. The Great Wall looks equally breathtaking at such sections as Jinshanling, Mutianyu and Simatai.
50 kilometers northwest from Beijing lay the Ming Tombs - the general name to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors. Because of its long history, palatial and integrated architecture, the site has a high cultural and historic value.
LT3 Summer Palace and Lama Temple
8:30-17:00, Friday September 3. Cost: CNY 360
The Summer Palace was so named because it served as the summer residence of the imperial households. It consists of the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake with a total area of 290 hectares. It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "An outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole."
The Lama Temple is a magnificent Tibetan Buddhist complex built around 1700. It is one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. There are five main buildings lying on the north-south axis in the temple. The temple is best known for its amazingly tall standing statue of Maitreya Buddha of the Future carved out of a single trunk of white sandalwood tree presented by the Seventh Dalai Lama. It is 26 meters high 18 meters above the ground and 8 meters under the ground and 8 meters in diameter.
LT4 Hutong (Lane) Tour, Beihai Park and the City Wall Relics Park
8:30-17:00, Saturday September 4. Cost: CNY 380
The hutong tour is to let you know more about the city. You will visit the backyards of Beijing, on a pedicab, across the small zig-zag lanes in the old residential areas. The tour also includes a visit to the Prince Gong's Mansion and the Drum Tower.
Beihai Park was built according to a traditional Chinese legend and served as a pleasure garden for imperial families in the imperial times. It is an excellent living example of the ancient Chinese art of landscaped gardens with artificial hills, pavilions, halls, temples and covered corridors blended with trees, hills and the lake in a harmony of man and nature. Indeed, Beihai Park is like a mini Summer Palace in the heart of Beijing.
The City Wall Park is one of the top-quality parks in Beijing. It is located 3 kilometers from the center of the city, between the southeast turret and Chongwen Gate in the west. Ming City Wall, first built over 580 years ago in 1419 in the Ming Dynasty, used to run about 40 kilometers. The remaining section, which is about 1.5 kilometers long, used to be part of the inner city wall, and is the longest section of the city wall remaining.
EP1 Acrobatic Show
18:00-21:30, Thursday September 2. Cost: CNY 250
Acrobatics is a pearl in the treasure house of the traditional Chinese performing arts. There is little emphasis on set, or music, and no plot. Chinese acrobatics form their unique artistic characteristics: much attention to the training of waist, leg and head feats; stability in dangerous movements, quietness in actions; producing something strange out of something plain; attention to both heavy and light, hard and soft skills; combination of much strength and spry and light somersault skills; and good adaptability. The program usually includes plate-spinning, contortionists, jugglers, bicycles, tight rope walking, and balancing on tubes, etc. Many Chinese acrobatic programs have won awards at international acrobatic competition.
EP2 Beijing Opera
18:00-21:30, Friday September 3. Cost: CNY 280
Peking Opera has entertained Beijingers for over 200 years with its elaborate costumes, dazzling martial arts and musical dialogue. They are usually based on folk tales, famous novels, and fairy tales. The theater has a subtitle message board of English and Chinese.
Post-Conference Tour
The costs for the pre-conference tour include: inter-city air transportation (20 kg luggage allowance), regular Chinese meals as indicated, four-star hotel accommodation (with breakfast in hotel), air-conditioned motorcoach, the main entrance tickets, and an English-speaking local guide. They do not include: individual expenses, entrance fees for sites not listed in the program, tips to guides, drivers and porters, charges for excess luggage, and travel insurance. The tour participants are advised to purchase their insurance beforehand and arrange their accommodation before and after the end of the tour.
The tour is subject to a minimum of ten participants. In case of insufficient bookings, either the cost will be raised, or the tour will be cancelled and full refund will be made.
B = Breakfast; L = Lunch; D = Dinner. The itinerary is tentative and subject to change.
PT1 Beijing - Shanghai
September 5-7. Cost: Twin Occupancy: CNY 3410; Single Occupancy CNY 3930
Sunday September 5 (L,D): Early morning flight to Shanghai. Visit the Yu Garden, the bund and the Jade Buddha Temple. Check in at Shanghai Everbright International Hotel.
Monday September 6 (B,L,D): Bus transfer to Expo 2010 Shanghai for a whole day guided tour at major sites. Yangtze River cruise after dinner. Overnight at Shanghai.
Tuesday September 7 (B): Tour ends after breakfast. Individual arrangement for airport departure.