Meet your guide in the lobby and start the tour from visiting the City Planning Hall. You will watch a 3D movie and walk around the exhibitions to learn more about the evolution and future planning of the city. Then enter the Square to see some of the iconic buildings in Beijing like: Great Hall of the People, Monument to the People's heros and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Next, visit the Forbidden City, which was built in 1420 and served as the imperial residence for 24 emperors of China.
After lunch, walk around Houhai, one of the few old and original parts of Beijing with many hutongs and traditional buildings. It is now the most popular pub street in Beijing. Continue to visit Yandaixie Street, one of the oldest walking streets in Beijing named after a store selling giant smoking pipes in the Qing dynasty. It is now a popular place with many boutique stores, cafes, restaurants, and local snacks.
Visit Mutianyu Great Wall in the morning, and you can choose to take the cable car both ways, or take the chairlift up and ride the toboggan down. After lunch, drive back Beijing to have an exterior look of the main stadiums in the Olympic Park including Bird's Nest and Water Cube.
Your tour today will start by visiting the Temple of Heaven in the morning, the best time to know what the Beijing senior do in the morning. It used to be the place where the Ming and Qing emperors performed their ritual ceremonies. Then go to Liulichang Street, which is known throughout China for its traditional Chinese handicrafts. You will see a series of Qing style buildings, as well as watching painters and calligraphers working their craft.
Enjoy lunch in Jindingxuan (optional), a popular Dim Sum restaurant frequented by superstars in Beijing. Then visit the Lama Temple, originally a palatial residence built in 1694 by Qing Emperor Kangxi for his fourth son, Prince Yongzheng. Drive half an hour to visit Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China. Inside, you will take a small boat to the Suzhou Street, which was used by the emperor to enjoy shopping as a commoner. The street is an imitation of the famous water towns in the south of China.
