Day Tour: Badaling Great Wall, Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square (Join-In Coach Tour)

Forbidden City

Feature: The Palace Museum, known as the Forbidden City, was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In early 15th century, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. Twenty-four emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled from the Forbidden City. The last dynasty fell in 1911, but emperor Puyi still lived in the inner court. It was not until 1925 that the complex was converted into a museum. Since then the palace has been opened to the public.

Description: This magnificent, palatial architectural complex covers an area of over 2,350,000 square feet and contains 9,999 rooms. The largest complex of its kind in the world, it is surrounded by ten-foot-high walls that are crowned by four observation towers and flanked by a deep moat. The walls are pierced by four large gates, each with three openings and a broad crowning pavilion.

The layout of the Forbidden City is based on a Chinese cosmic diagram of the universe that clearly defines the north-south and east-west axes. The buildings represent the largest and best-preserved examples of Chinese traditional architecture found today. The overall layout is centred on the three primary Halls of State: The Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihedian), The Hall of Middle Harmony (Zhonghedian) and The Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian). State ceremonies were held in the Outer Court (Wai Chao) of the Forbidden City. Here the emperors governed from their thrones, holding court sessions with their ministers, issuing imperial edicts and initiating military expeditions. The Outer Court was also the site for important ceremonies: the accession of a new emperor to the throne, birthdays, and weddings. The Inner Court (Nei Ting) was the residential area of the emperor and the imperial household, as well as the place where the emperor dealt with routine state affairs.

The Forbidden City was the scene of many significant events affecting the course of Chinese history. Today, the Forbidden City is one of the world's foremost museums of Chinese art. Its palaces and halls are filled with innumerable works of art and cultural artefacts, including gifts of state, military campaign loot and furnishings and possessions of members of the imperial households. A great number of these treasures represent the peak of artistic and inventive genius exhibited by the countless artisans who worked exclusively for the imperial court.

Badaling Great Wall

Feature: Located 11km away from Juyongguan Pass and 60km north of Beijing, Badaling, which means, "giving access to every direction," is the best-preserved section of the Great Wall. Restored in 1957, it has an elevation of 600 meters. The wall averages 7.5 meters high, 4 meters thick, 6.5 meters wide on the base and 5.8 meters at the top.

Description: Stretching for 4,770m among the rolling mountains, Badaling section of Great Wall is dotted with 19 strategically located watchtowers, which were used to protect the capital against attack in ancient times, bringing Badaling the name of "key to the north gate."

On the top of the wall is a road paved with square bricks, wide enough for six horses or ten soldiers to march side by side. On both sides of the road, outer parapet and inner parapet were set. The outer parapet is crenellated with merlons almost two meters high. The crenels were used as peepholes and the embrasure below each crenel was used as a loophole. The inner parapet, which is 1 meter high, was used to prevent the horses and gharries from overturning on the mountains.

In 1987, Badaling, the essence of the Great Wall, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site by the UN. In recent years, this section of Great Wall was repaired and the Great Wall Museum, Badaling Great Wall Cableway, and other tourism facilities were built near the wall. So far, about 80 million visitors from all over the world, including 300 heads of state and other celebrities have visited there. The wall, as the witness of history, today serves as the friendship bridge between the Chinese people and people from other countries.

Only the Changling and Dingling tombs are open to the public. Changling, the chief of the Ming Tombs, is the largest in scale and is completely preserved. The total internal area of the main building is 1956 square meters. There are 32 huge posts, and the largest measures about 14 meters in height. It inhumes Emperor Zhuli, the fourth son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. The Lingsi Palace in its second yard really deserves a visit. This is unique as it is the only huge palace made of camphor wood. It covers about 1956 square meters. The ceiling is colourfully painted and supported by sixteen solid camphor posts. The floor was decorated with gold bricks.

Day Itinerary

Pick the guests up from hotel on departure time, then drive to the famous Badaling Great Wall, which is 60 miles away from downtown about one and a half hour driving. Sightseeing on Great Wall Badaling section for about 2.5 hours. After lunch, visit Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, the imperial palace of Ming and Qing dynasty. Escort back to the hotel around 17:30pm. (L)

Coach-tour Price Includes

Chinese Lunch; Round trip transfer to your hotel; Air-conditioned Coach; Entrance Tickets; Professional English-speaking tour guide.

Coach-tour Price Does Not Include

Gratuities, Tips to Guides and Drivers

Warm Reminder: Please input the name of the hotel you will be staying at in Beijing or its exact address in the column "Special Request" when submitting orders or just write to info@beijinghotel-link.cn with that info.