Private Day Tour to Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven plus Acrobatic Show and Pekin

Beijing, China

This full-day private tour will show you the most impressive sights that make Beijing what it is. Start your day off with history at the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace, and end it off with an acrobatics show in Chaoyang Theater. You’ll also have the chance to taste Beijing’s most famous dish: Beijing Roast Duck, for dinner.

Meet your guide at the lobby of your hotel at 9am in Beijing's city center to start your tour.

First you will visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to experience one of the world’s most amazing historical sites that was of great importance to the ancient empires of China. These sites will give you an insight on China’s fascinating history and our tour guide’s explanation will supplement the incredible sights. In the Forbidden City, you will pass through the central meridian gate and its intricate stone carved statues and walkways that was once only reserved for the “son of heaven,” the emperor and ruler of imperial China. You will be awed at the size of the “city” and its stunning designs and palaces for an experience you will never forget.    

After the Forbidden City, you will be taken to a famous silk factory where professionals will guide you through the process of making silk; from “milking” the silkworms to beautiful silk cloths. You will also learn about the different qualities and tiers of silk. There will be opportunities to purchase unique souvenirs for friends and family back home at this stop.  

Next, visit the Temple of Heaven, a notable icon of Beijing. The Temple of Heaven was built as a sacrificial complex for annual harvesting ceremonies during the Ming and Qing dynasties. You can learn more about this temple in the accompanying museum. Following the Temple of Heaven, your tour guide will take you to have a traditional Chinese cuisine lunch at a local restaurant (own expense) where he or she will assist in explaining the various dishes available on the menu.

After lunch, you will head to the Summer Palace, another one of Beijing’s popular landmarks and one of the best examples of an imperial garden. The royal garden covers a total of 2.9 kilometers and includes a big lake that was enlarged during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi, who was the last imperial empress, who ruled China for 47 years (1861-1908).

Your day will end with dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant where you will be able to enjoy Beijing’s most famous entrée, Peking Roast Duck. It is a marinated duck with roasted, crispy skin and served with tiny pancakes and various side dishes (plum sauce, pickled vegetables, spring onions, fruits) to wrap the meat and skin in. Your guide can help in the proper way of eating Peking Duck and to explain the other dishes.

After your dinner, stop at the Beijing Worker’s Club to enjoy the Legend of Jinsha Beijing Acrobatic Show between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. The Beijing acrobatic show is world renowned and is a popular performance bound to entertain all ages. The young acrobats will perform tricks and feats of dexterity that you will have to see to believe. When the tour ends, you will be taken back to your hotel.

USD $101.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by:   Pamela b,    March 2018
This was a great day. I like to be busy and see and do a lot in a short amount of time. So this tour was great for us.

Review by:   Rosalyn R,    June 2017
An amazing day! James was wonderful, and I highly recommend him. He was able to readjust things on the fly, as traffic conditions can be unpredictable. He knew so much about the history, and his English was very good. Forbidden City was much larger than we thought, and it was super hot nearly 100 degrees. James was very patient with us, and allowed us to go at a pace that was comfortable. The Acrobatic Show was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Really a lot of fun. The silk factory was interesting, and had more than silk available to buy. Peking Duck dinner was a great way to end a long day.

Review by:   Seth H,    June 2017
As you can tell by reading the description of this tour, there is a lot to do! However, one of the great benefits of doing the private tour is that you can pick and choose where to spend your time. For example, my family decided to spend a lot of time at the Summer Palace and cut the tea ceremony entirely. We also cut down on the amount of time we spent at the Peking duck dinner.

Review by:   Rebecca O,    March 2016
This tour was worth every penny. My husband and I wanted to find a tour that encompassed a lot of the different things we wanted to see, so I figured we should give this one a shot. Our guide called the night before to confirm that she would be picking us up promptly at 830 the next morning. I cannot for the life of me remember her name but she was AMAZING. Her english was very clear and her help with translating was ridiculously helpful. Because of some local political things happening, we did have to switch up which place we were going to first but it wasn't a big deal at all. She took us to the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, a lunch buffet, an amazing acrobatic show, and then to a dinner after the show where she selected a few different things for us to eat that she thought we would enjoy, as well as the famous peking duck. Any time that we had questions she was able to answer them and would tell us different facts about each site we went to. I'm very glad that we chose this tour because it was nice having the one on one experience instead of being in such a large crowd of other tourists. I would highly recommend this to anyone thinking of booking!

Review by:   Lisa G,    November 2015
Our guide was just the sweetest ever. We had a fantastic day wondering around and she knew so much info. And they were so helpful and accommodating when my husband got sick. We couldn't have asked for a better guide

All Traveler Reviews...