Beijing Private Tour: Tiananmen, Summer Palace, Hutong

Experience the best of Beijing with a private tour guide. Visit Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Hutong, and the Temple of Heaven. Enjoy personalized attention, prebooked tickets, and hotel pickup and drop-off.

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) - Your friendly private tour guide will meet you in your hotel lobby and transfer you to the Summer Palace. Spend the afternoon exploring this imperial retreat, learning about Empress Dowager CiXi, often referred to as the Dragon Lady. Stroll along Kunming Lake and the Long Corridor, and visit the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity and the Tower of Buddhist Incense.

  • Hall of Benevolence and Longevity - Discover the story of the penultimate emperor, Guanxu, with personalized attention from your guide.

  • Tower of Buddhist Incense (Summer Palace) - This Buddhist temple, dedicated to the emperor’s mother, also served as a birthday celebration site for Empress Dowager CiXi. Enjoy breathtaking views of Kunming Lake from the top.

  • Long Corridor at the Summer Palace - Walk through the world’s longest corridor, adorned with 140,000 beautiful paintings, and admire the serene Kunming Lake.

  • Qingyan Stone Boat - Once a teahouse for the royal family, this stone boat symbolizes the stability of the Qing Dynasty.

  • Back Lakes (Hou Hai) - Enjoy a delightful Beijing-style lunch in the historic Hutong area, known for its extensive old neighborhoods and the three lakes: Xihai, Houhai, and Qianhai. This is a popular area for nightlife.

  • Yandai Xie Street - Stroll along Yandai Xie Street, Back Lakes (Houhai), Shichahai Scenic Resort, Hou Lake, Yinding Bridge (Money Bridge), and Jinding Bridge. Admire the newly renovated courtyards along the Jade River.

  • Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang) - View Tiananmen Square from your car and learn about its revolutionary history.

  • National Museum Of China - One of the world’s top museums, featuring exhibits on political themes such as the Opium Wars, the founding of the Communist Party, and the Sino-French and Sino-Japanese Wars. The basement floor houses stunning ancient Chinese relics, including bronze ware, porcelain, and jade.

  • Temple of Heaven - Visit the Temple of Heaven in the afternoon, where emperors once worshipped the God of Heaven for blessings. In the morning, locals gather here for activities like Tai Chi, yoga, dancing, poker, and gymnastics. Stroll through the park and experience local life.

  • Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest - Admire this circular, blue-colored building where emperors prayed for good harvests. Follow with a visit to the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Circular Mound Altar. At the end of the tour, your guide will transfer you back to your hotel.

What's Included
  • Entrance Fees
  • Private Tour
  • Taxi fare within 4th Ring Road
  • Excellent English Speaking Tour Guide
  • Lunch
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities (Recommended)
  • Taxi fare at your own expenses outside 4th Ring Road
  • Any other expenses that not listed as included
Additional Information

Particularly for first-time visitors who don’t speak Chinese, a private guide can transform the Beijing experience. Say no to hustlers and discover the city with your personal tour guide on this door-to-door private tour. Check off Four of Beijing’s biggest attractions—Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Hutong and the Temple of Heaven— and stroll through the longest corridor in the world. Enjoy A comprehensive ALL Inclusive package with private guide, entrance fees and lunch.

1: Prebook your tickets prior to your visit
2: Check off two World UNESCO Heritages: Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven
3: Stroll through old Beijing Hutong with a private guide
4: Take it easy with pick-up and drop-off direct from your hotel

  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Please wear comfortable walking shoes
  • Dietary restriction and food allergy need to be noticed ahead of the booking.
Location
Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
No.19 Xinjian Gongmen Road, Haidian District,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(26 Ratings)
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U3007otfranciscos
May 4, 2024
Excellent - We were very happy with the experience. The tour started at 8:30am, it was a suitable time to be able to do all the activities of the day, we got to know each other and had a lot of fun.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pmastroianni
Jun 16, 2023
Walking tour Beijing - Highly recommend the tour. Miss Lina was excellent filled the day and provided a lot of exploration along the way. I recommend your walking shoes and be prepared for a long day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Footprints60975
Apr 20, 2023
The best of Beijing - Be prepared for long but very fulfilling day. Miss Lina met us bright and early in the lobby of our hotel. She had all of the transportation and tickets for admssion lined up for the day, we didn't have to worry about a thing. We started at Tianamen square, and made our way to the Forbidden City. The amount of knowledge and history Lina was able to share with us throughout the day was invaluable. She told us so many stories and was able to describe the meaning behind so much of the architecture - we never would have been able to learn that on our own. Lina was so patient, and she took so many picutres for us! Next we walked around some of the old streets around the forbidden city and enjoyed a nice lunch. Miss Lina ordered for us, and it was one of the best meals we had during our entire time in China. We finished the day at the temple of heaven, which is a spectacular place with so much history. Again, the knowlege and stories Miss Lina shares makes the experience so much better. It was a long day, with a lot of walking but it was worth every penny. Having a private tour guide in China is a must and I would highly recommend Sunflower Tours. They make it so easy - you don't have to worry about transportation, where to get tickets...etc. It's just the best, and Miss Lina is just fabulous!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gaelle_talla
Mar 2, 2020
Smile and professionalism - Sunflower is charming and professional, always smiling! We shared a wonderful day with her. We had very little time during a professional trip and her services with driver and private car allowed us to optimize the day and discover some of Beijing's flagship sites in excellent conditions: No loss of time, while taking full advantage of the sites visited (Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, Hutong district). Anectodes on local customs, some china history insights, everything was there to enjoy the stress-free sites in sites very busy with tourists ... (Summer Palace). Good advice also on the negotiation of “souvenir”, she clearly plays the game of tourists and not locals. In short, we recommend Sunflower services without hesitation!
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321u
Mar 1, 2020
A very interesting and amusing day - A friend and I spent a day in April with Sunflower in Beijing. Sunflower was extremely efficient beforehand and kindly came out to our hotel to collect us. She was very good fun, knowledgeable about the history of the city and flexible about what we wanted to do. Her suggestion for a dumpling lunch place was ideal and she was a great help with handbag shopping know-how. We enjoyed all her suggestions, especially watching people exercise in the park and mingle in the hutongs. Sunflower is an amusing, creative and admirable person who looks great in her new yellow sunglasses. Thank you again Sunflower for a very happy and interesting day; from the 2 Janes.
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Happytravellermaz
Mar 1, 2020
Amazing guide! - Please do yourselves a favour and book a daytrip with the absolutely wonderful Sunflower, I guarantee you will not regret it! We had such a great time exploring the Forbidden city, Temple of Heaven, eating at this fab little restaurant Sunflower revealed to us and then cycling around Houhai lake and the hutongs. It was great to be able to have a hasslefree day, Sunflower took care of everything from arranging entry tickets, navigating throughout the city and ordering at the restaurant. She also took great photos for us :-) Sunflower is worldly, well travelled and extremely knowledgable- she spent much of the day revealing interesting bits of historical info, along with providing a fascinating insight into Chinese culture.. I can't properly put into words how much of a great time we had with her! Beijing is quite a tricky city to see as English isn't widely spoken and scams are quite prevalent so we felt we had to be a bit on guard when we were on our own, even though we would consider ourselves to be quite young savvy travelers. Sunflower provided a fun, relaxing, interesting and authentic tour.. Enjoy your time with her!! :)
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Frequentcruisers
Mar 1, 2020
Fabulous Day in Beijing - My group of 8 had the pleasure of touring with Sunflower a few years ago. We had agreed on an itinerary via emails. She always replied promptly and was able to accommodate all our requirements. She was very energetic and fun to be with. Having a private guide plus van and driver gave us the flexibility to see a great deal of Beijing. I would not hesitate to tour with her again. Jules C.
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Barca10
Feb 29, 2020
A memorable day in Beijing - Sunflower was extremely helpful in getting me to see the main attractions of Beijing while also informing me on the history of the city, good places to eat in Beijing, etc. She met me at my hotel right on time and took me to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and a charming Hutong neighborhood. She carried my camera during the day and took numerous pictures, allowing me to just experience the moment in full. After 8 hours of sightseeing she was still willing to take me to other attractions. I was tired/jet-lagged and had to call it a day but this just shows she is enthusiastic about her job.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Your_sydney_guide
Feb 27, 2020
Wonderful service and customised tour in Beijing - Myself, my wife and family spent a wonderful day in Beijing with Maggie as our host. We were picked up on time and in a clean, comfortable vehicle to be shown all of the amazing historic sights around Beijing. We gained local insights, heard stories of today and from history and enjoyed a great stop for lunch. We felt very cared for at every turn and were very thankful we chose to tour with Sunflower Tours. Thank you Maggie :) Scott and Family.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Johnna4855ra
Feb 26, 2020
Amazing tour of Beijing - I had the opportunity to visit Beijing after a long business trip in Japan and China. After the extended time away from my family I was ready to get home but not before a Beijing city tour with Sunflower. All I can say is Sunflower was an amazing tour guide and restored my enthusiasm for the trip and showed me all the reasons she loves Beijing. Her knowledge of the city and history of China was impressive and made for a great day. Sunflower went out of her way to show me where I could mail postcards near my hotel as well as where to find an awesome dim sum dinner before I left Beijing. Thanks again for a great time Sunflower.
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September 2024
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