If you have spare time and would like to see some sites of Beijing, we have organised the following tours for your convenience.
These tours will be operated by China Culture Center a professional tourism company based in Beijing. Please indicate on your Conference Registration Form if you would like to join one of these tours.
Included in Prices:
Experienced China Culture Center guide
Private shuttle bus
Entrance tickets
Meals listed as per the itinerary
Wireless Audio Headset
Tour handouts
Summer Palace
Thursday, 5 November 2009 (one day before the conference starts)
Morning: Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City tour (3 hours)
Lunch: Beijing local food at Lao She Tea House
Afternoon: Xuanwu Hutong and Courtyard Houses Pedicab Tour & Liulichang
Cultural Street (2.5 hours)
Price: RMB 960 per person
Forbidden City Tour – 3 hours
The three hour guided walk will provide informative and real explanation of the Forbidden City, not only covering the history, architecture, fengshui and life in the Forbidden City but also the planning of the imperial walled capital (gates, wall, etc) and present-day development. The walk will start from Tian’anmen Square and end at the north gate of the Forbidden City.
Xuanwu Hutong and Courtyard Houses Pedicab Tour & Liulichang Cultural Street – 2-2.5 hours
Your guide will lead you around the hutongs and courtyards where you will see more authentic alleys and courtyard houses. Visit some local homes in the neighbourhood for a chat with residents, see a small vegetable market and visit a kindergarten to meet the children. Finish up with strolling and shopping along the famous Liulichang Cultural Street.
The walk and ride along the old alleyways in the neighbourhood provide an opportunity to see that in this rapidly changing city some Beijing residents’ lifestyle and living environment have not changed too much.
Architecture, fengshui, lifestyle, Chinese people’s ideology as well as change of life in the alley will be narrated. The government’s policy on the preservation of hutongs and compensation for moving out will be explained.
Monday, 9 November 2009 (one day after the conference finishes)
Morning: Mutianyu Great Wall tour
Lunch: The Schoolhouse, near Mutianyu
Afternoon: Summer Palace tour
Dinner: Peking Duck @ Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant
Price RMB 1440 per person
Mutianyu Great Wall Tour – 5-6 hours
Mutianyu is a famous and moderate section of the Great Wall, compared to Simatai and Jinshanling which are more physically challenging and Badaling which is too crowded and commercial.
Mutianyu has been preserved intact. Vegetation and fruit trees are abundant. The scenic beauty in spring and autumn is excellent. This 3km stretch has 25 towers.
It is approximately a 40 minute hike from the foot of the mountain to the top, however a cable car service (optional) is available to take you to the top and also an optional exhilarating toboggan ride down. Upon the wall there is some hiking up and down between the towers.
Summer Palace Tour – 2.5 hours
The Summer Palace or ‘Yiheyuan’ is an imperial garden and palace. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three quarters of which is water. In its compact 70,000 square metres of building space one finds a variety of palaces, gardens and other classical-style architectural structures.
In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace as “outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole”.
