Unique Way to Appreciate the Wild Sections of Great Wall
This tour will not only offer you a taste of traditional Chinese culture, but also escape the crowds to hike the less touristy Jinshanling and Simatai sections of Great Wall in a moderate pace with your expertise English speaking hiking guide. You will stay a night out of the town, perfectly at the foot of the Great Wall. A leisure night walking on the Great Wall is the best highlight. This tour can also be tailor-made to meet your fitness condition, themes of interests as well as budgets of time and money.
Highlights of this tour
Ni Hao, welcome to Beijing, the iconic city as well as the capital of China!
You will be met by your local tour guide at the arrival hall of Beijing Capital Airport, or railway station, then be escorted to check in your hotel in downtown by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of today is on your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.
Arrival Ideas: At present, there are many international and domestic flights to Beijing. Besides, you can take a high speed train to this capital city from Shanghai (5-6 hrs), Xian (5.5 hrs), Guangzhou (8-9.5 hrs), etc.
After breakfast, start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square, now the largest city plaza in the world. Tiananmen Gate on the northern side of the square was the site where Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Stepping into the Tiananmen, you will see one of the world’s five most important palaces – the Forbidden City, a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived. Pass through various doorways in this magnificent structure to admire the beautiful and well preserved buildings decorated with yellow-glazed tile roofs, white marble bases and splendid colorful paintings.
After lunch, you will go to visit the imperial site – Temple of Heaven. It was originally used to pay homage to Heaven and pray for harvest, now becomes a bustling place for locals to take part in traditional activities, such as Tai Chi, dancing, kite flying, water calligraphy, etc. After the Temple of Heaven visit, your tour guide will take you to hop on a rickshaw to experience the Beijing Hutongs – small alleys made by neighboring quadrangle dwellings. Shuttle among different Hutongs to get a feel of the old Beijing life style, visit various antique shops and small boutiques, and truly feel the historical changes of Beijing, also pay a visit to a local family's home in the traditional Hutongs.
Optional night activities: 1) You can watch a wonderful Kungfu Show in the Red Theater (Hong Ju Chang) which usually starts at 19:30; 2) Enjoy the classic Chinese art performance of Beijing Opera at Liyuan Theater between 19:30-21:00.
After breakfast, it's free for you to have fun until your tour guide and driver pick up you at your hotel at around 10:30am. It's not necessary to depart very early because you will visit Simatai Great Wall at around 7pm in the evening, then stay a night at the foot of the Great Wall instead of returning back to the city.
After about 130km's (2h and 15 mins) driving, you will arrive at the foot of Jinshanling Great Wall. This section of Great Wall is believed as the best essence of all sections of Great Wall, also the paradise for great wall hiking lovers. It is one of the best preserved sections of Great Wall which is featured in steep mountains, ornate and dense towers. After entering the check-in office, you will walk about 20 minutes to the western section of Jinshanling Great Wall, near to Gubeikou Great Wall. Your hiking starts at Zhuanduo Tower, walk eastward with the up walls snaking on the hills to the eastern edge. On route, you have chance to see some featured towers, such as General Tower, Large Jinshan Tower, Flower Tower, Corner Tower, etc. You’re hiking takes about 4~5 hours, and stops at East Tower with Five Holes where you will get off the wall.
After dinner around 7pm when the Simatai Great Wall is lit up all along the ridge of the mountain, your guide will accompany you to take the cable car up to the wall to enjoy the magnificent night views. Currently only the section between towers No.5 and No.6 is open to tourists for the night tour. You will stay around 1 hour on the wall, then take cable car down the wall and go to check in your hotel at Gubei Water Town. The evening time is free for you to wonder leisurely in the town.
This morning is free for you to explore more areas in the Gubei Watertown until your tour guide and driver take you to catch your flight/train to next destination. It takes about 2 hours to get from the watertown to Beijing Capital International Airport, and 2.5 hours to get to Beijing West Train Station and Beijing South Train Station. Tour ends!
Beijing Extenstion Travel Ideas
Beijing is well connected with most of popular destinations in China by direct flights and high speed trains, including Xian, Guilin, Zhangjiajie, Lhasa, Chengdu, Huangshan, Hangzhou, Pingyao, etc. Please contact us to tailor-make your idea China tour to make fully use of your stay in China.
Xian, as the capital of 13 ancient China dynasties, is filled with amazing historic and cultural wonders.
With only 2 days, you can travel the best highlights of ancient capital Xian at an enjoyable pace. The Day 1 is a full day visit to the famous Terracotta Warriors, Ancient City Wall, Local Snack Street - Muslim Quarter. In the Day 2, you have a half day for visiting to the symbol of Xian - Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and having an educational learning in Shanxi History Museum. The rest time is free for departure.
Shanghai, regarded as the Oriental Paris, is the best place to see East-meet-West Culture, find hidden tradition within modernity.
Generally speaking, you can spend Day 1 exploring the popular landmarks of Shanghai, such as the Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, Nanjing Road, the Bund, and Shanghai World Financial Center Tower. The Day 2 is for you to explore deep into the city of Shanghai (such as Old French Concession, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center or Jade Buddha Temple) and departure.
“Very good experience”
“WONDERFUL 25 DAYS IN CHINA - PRIVATE TOUR”
“Awesome China tour from north east to south west”
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