Beijing Private City Tour by Subway, Rickshaw, and Foot

Beijing, China

Discover the highlights of central Beijing on this 6-hour private city tour. Traveling by subway, rickshaw, foot, and taxi or tuk-tuk, you'll visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, traditional 'hutong' alleyways, Houhai Lake, and Shichahai Bar Street. Along the way you'll enjoy a delicious homemade Chinese lunch with a local family.

At 8am, your private guide will pick you up from your Beijing hotel. If you're near Tiananmen Square, you'll walk to your first stop; if you're further out, your guide will accompany you on the subway (own expense).

At Tiananmen Square, the world's largest city square, see landmark buildings like the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, the Great Hall of the People, and the towering Monument to the People's Heroes. Take time to capture pictures of the square with the Forbidden City in the background as your guide explains its history.

Next, you'll walk to the Forbidden City, the imperial palace complex that was the center of the Chinese government for almost 500 years. Your guide will lead you through its grand halls and the imperial garden, a wonderful introduction to the art of Chinese landscaping.

From here, it's into Jingshan Park, with its elaborate pavilions and colorful peony garden (in season): watch tourists and locals enjoying activities like the ribbon dance. On a clear day, climb to the top of the hill for spectacular views of the Forbidden City, Drum and Bell Towers, and even the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium.

It's your choice whether to ride a taxi or a tuk-tuk (own expense) to a Beijing hutong, a narrow alleyway lined by traditional courtyard residences. Take a trip back in time as you hop aboard a rickshaw (own expense) and ride through the ancient streets: your guide will explain traditional life in the hutong. Feast on a delicious home-cooked Chinese lunch at the home of a local family: your guide will be happy to translate as you ask questions about their life.

After lunch, ride a rickshaw for an hour (own expense) to the pretty Yinding (Silver Ingot) Bridge, which links two of Beijing's most scenic lakes. Stroll beside Houhai to admire the scenery, or enjoy the cool shade under the willow trees. Your guide will introduce you to two famous restaurant brands here: Kao Rou Ji, a restaurant selling roast meat, that dates back over 150 years, and Bao Du Zhang, which has sold mutton tripe for four generations. Feel free to sample the local flavors (own expense).

At the end of your tour, you'll have some free time to explore Shichahai Bar Street, before your guide escorts you to the subway at 2pm to catch a train back to your hotel.

Review by:   Matt,    December 2015
We enjoyed every minute of this very unique tour and highly recommend it to those who wants to experience Beijing intimately. It's quite a bargain for an exclusive and personalized tour. Grace, our tour-guide, was so hospitable, well-informed, and very professional. She arrived to pick us up from the Howard Johnson Paragon Hotel early and from that point on my wife and I felt as if our own favorite niece was showing us the city. She kept apologizing for her English but her English was well-understood. It's certainly better than our Chinese combined. Grace also knew the best photo spots and takes excellent pictures. Touring by public transport subway, taxi, and even a rickshaw and enjoying a home-cooked meal with a Chinese family provided an unbeatable cultural experience you won't gain from those large tour-bus groups. Again, Grace's personal touch made this tour our personal favorite. Mahalo Grace. Alooooha! - Matt and Mayi