Jingshan Hill, Beihai, and Hutongs with Imperial Lunch/Dinner
Description
This private day tour is designed for people who enjoy walking and a little bit hiking as you will walk around in two famous imperial parks plus the original part of Beijing. During this tour, you will visit beautiful Jingshan Hill, Beihai Park, Hutong, and Houhai. Lunch will be served in the famous Imperial Cuisine restaurant located inside of Beihai Park where you will unveil the emperor's secret dining preference.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your guide in the hotel lobby at your preferred time and begin by climbing Jingshan Hill in Jingshan Park, the highest point along the central axis of Beijing. Made from soil dug during the building of the moat at the Forbidden City, this artificial hill was located according to the dictates of Feng shui: to protect the imperial palace from the evil wind from the north. Today, the hill is best-known as a place to enjoy outstanding panoramic views over the walled palace and downtown Beijing.
Next, walk to Beihai Park, an imperial garden to the northwest of the Forbidden City. Visit some major sites, such as the White Dagoba, Nine Dragon Screen, and Tuancheng. Plus, if you’re here between April and November, see various old temples and small gardens, as well as the famous Five Dragon Pavilion, by boat. At lunchtime, savor a delicious meal of imperial-style cuisine at the Beihai Fangshan Restaurant, a famous establishment open since 1925.
In the afternoon, walk into the hutongs around Houhai area, one of the two most popular pub streets in Beijing. Admire the traditional buildings lined along the beautiful lake. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, many high ranking officials and even princes used to live here.
Continue to walk to Yandaixie Street, one of the oldest streets in Beijing which is named after a store selling giant smoking pipes in the Qing dyansty. Today it is a popular palce with locals and tourists full of shops, cafés, restaurants, local snacks and bars, in reconstructed Ming and Qing dynasty era buildings.
Finally, visit the Bell and Drum Towers and head inside to watch a traditional drum-beating ceremony in the Drum Tower. You will aslo go up the Bell Tower to have a panoramic view of the old Beijing neighbour, and where the old and modern combines.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Guide will contact you one night before departure, either by calling your room or leave a message, to confirm departure time. Guide will meet you in your Beijing hotel lobby.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This tour involves quite some walking in the old part of Beijing, please wear comfortable shoes
- Imperial Lunch/Dinner are set menu, please advise any special dietary requirements beforehand
- Depending on your departure time, guide would adjust sequence of itinerary to suit for lunch/dinner
Reviews(6)
This guided tour with Dana was the perfect introduction to historical Beijing. My husband and I spent many pleasant hours walking across the beautiful parks and charming hutongs of the city, learning about its history and customs. Dana is a wonderful guide: knowledgable, considerate, efficient, and personable. Her English is impeccable and her conversation is always interesting and insightful. Highly recommended!
Thank you for the detailed review, all the best to you!
We had a great time visiting the jingshan/beihai area which we highly recommended. It was an extremely scenic tour and the sites were great and not too crowded. Dana was knowledgeable and pleasant, and we were glad to have her with us :)
Thank you for the valuable review and we will contiune to offer top-notch service to future customers.
Highly recommend this lovely tour that I had the pleasure to experience with Angie, the personal tour guide assigned for my one day private tour. Angie arrived to pick me up right at my hotel with a private chauffeur. The car was as new and drove us from our destination to the other from 8am to about 4pm. Since it was February, Angie told me I needed to dress warmer and I am glad she did because we spent a lot of time outdoors, sightseeing, The tour delivered everything it promised, visit to the Forbidden Palace, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace and much more. A delicious lunch was shared in the middle of it all with the lunch menu to fit my preferences. The tour was personally tailored for me, I felt, with Angie understanding my interests and organizing the tour to fit my personality. She even organized a quick shopping trip when I voiced my desire to buy souvenir silk scarfs before leaving the city. I enjoyed my tour with Angie, immensely that I booked her again for another private tour, the next day. She was professional the whole time spent together even while we formed a 'girl friend' relationship. She was very informative in explaining Chinese history in a captivating way. I had a lot of fun. It was never boring. You can tell she loves what she does and that made all the diffrence. The second day, I wanted to take it easy and feel like I was a native from Beijing and that is exactly what she delivered. The day included a visit to Jingshan and Beihai Park with a delightful lunch to one of the hottest restaurant in town with a cheesecake treat towards the end of the day. It is truly an adventurous day when one is eating fried scorpion at a local Street Market. Angie was even able to swing a big discount for an awesome pair of workout leggings at Victoria Secret! What a wonderful experience. Ask for Angie. She went above an beyond and exceeded all expectations. She made my solo trip to Beijing worthwhile and became a true friend. Aura
We cannot say enough about the wonderful day we spent with Angie touring in Beijing. The day was paced so well with lots of time to see the sights, relax and have fun. Angie's English was excellent -- we will always smile when we think of the day we spent with her. Just a wonderful tour that everyone who visits Beijing should do - ask for Angie.
<p>Ok- this tour was just wonderful fun and the lunch was amazing. Our tour guide, Angie, made the day. Her English was perfect - her pace for the day just gave us time to enjoy our surroundings and relax. Would do the tour again -- provide Angie was the guide.</p>
<p>This was a wonderful tour by a fabulous tour guide. Colin is so knowledgeable about Beijing and his English is perfect. I booked this tour because I wanted to see some parts of Beijing I hadn't yet seen, and get some exercise while doing so. I liked the idea of a tour with lots of walking. The added bonus was everything I learned with Colin leading the way! Jingshan Hill and Beihai Park were both beautiful and the Imperial Lunch was plentiful and delicious. My favorite part of the tour was the Hutong. Seeing this hidden gem was the highlight of my trip!</p>
