Great trip to see the Great Wall of China - The trip was fantastic seeing the forbidden city and the most amazing part was the Great Wall of China. It was a long day but worth the travel. The trip was organised well as the flights and travel arrangements ran smoothly.

Tian'an men Square - The magnificent Tian'an men Square is giganticly big and yet one could hardly set a foot in front of the other without bumping into someone. The history is rich and tragic, military and police are presents is everywhere. We were told not to look them in the eye nor to take pictures of them.

Amazing! A VIP tour.</p> <p>Huge... - <p>Amazing! A VIP tour.</p> <p>Huge day but worth it if you are limited for time and want to see 3 key parts in and around Beijing. Very fast paced but there is some rest time when you are driving.</p> <p>Everything is taken care of for you. You are collected from your Shanghai hotel and taken to the airport and checked in and then greeted in Beijing.</p> <p>Just be prepared for a long day. Our day started at 6am and we were returned to the hotel in Shanghai at 1.30am the next morning.</p> <p>Our guide, Gale was awesome!!! Made the experience! Her knowledge, attention and care, not to mention her fun and friendly attitude will not be forgotten. Thanks for making our day fabulous Gale!.</p>

Worth the trip! - We had one free day on a group trip to Shanghai. Everyone said it wasn't possible, looking at us dubiously when we shared our plans going back and forth to Beijing. But it was, and a very long day, but very worth it. Picked up at 6:00a, returning after midnight (return flight was delayed). Saw a lot and it was very organized. Favorite part was seeing/walking The Great Wall. Drivers picking us up from Shanghai hotel and Beijing airport were very nice and helpful. Could have used a map/notes outlining airport procedure & terminal location, but we got there just fine. Our guide was a very cheerful, sweet young woman who wanted us to have a good time, but she hustled us right by Tianaman Square without noting it, redirecting our attention toward The Forbidden City (seemed on purpose). If we hadn't individually noticed what we were walking by, we would have missed it (even though it was promised on the itinerary & we wanted to see that part of history). We also spent a lot of time at The Forbidden City, which started looking the same--how many thrones did the Emperor really need! She offered a virtual reality upsell, which we took, that we didn't feel was worth it. It took time and the graphics were pretty unsophisticated. She also talked very quickly with a very strong accent and I had to ask her to slow down/repeat herself several times until I just surrendered, smiling and nodding, missing much of the information. Lunch was tasty and a nice, quick break from all the swift walking, followed by jade store. Beautiful offerings, but prices didn't seem favorable. Then to The Great Wall, which we were most looking forward to but were running out of time. I would have definitely swapped way more time from the Forbidden City to the Great Wall, for sure! It's beautiful and remarkable and worthy of admiration. Note, the bricks are very uneven--some 1-brick height, most 2-brick height & some 3-brick height, where I had to hoist myself up with hand on knee (we're both 5'8"). Also, guide was constantly trying to pose us in "sweetheart" photos, initially appreciated, ultimately distracting from what we were there to experience. Reminder: most restrooms did NOT have toilet paper, so bring your own & toilets are holes in the ground so for those with balance issues, bring your cane. I wondered how older people coped. All in all, we saw a lot, tour front-to-back was very organized and we felt as safe as one can feel in a foreign country without knowing the language.

Great 1 day option for Beijing highlands - My experience in this tour was very good, They picked me up at the hotel at 6 am and had no issues at the airport (I believe because it was December) tour was very good, the silk stop is not really that exciting I really did not waste much time over there, I just said I was interested buying anything and moved on to the forbidden city where I use the extra time to walk all over, it is a lot of walking all day so you better bring confortable shoes. Jade store was nice, good food and they gave you the option to buy jade souvenirs. Great wall was a lot of exercise, you can walk as much as you want and the guide will go with you, try to spend some time in the stores and temples around, you can buy good souvenirs there.

Very long day. Worth it. We saw... - <p>Very long day. Worth it. We saw Tianaman Square, The Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.Fabulous experience. Guide very good. However did not expect to go to a silk factory or a jade factory especially as there was a very hard sell.</p>

Was picked up by guide at hotel... - <p>Was picked up by guide at hotel lobby. Were driven to airport where he guided us through line to pick up boarding passes and got us to security.<br/> Met at other end by cheerful, friendly guide who took us to van. <br/> First stop was a government owned silk factory. Fairly interesting but the hard sell to buy a comforter was annoying. The scarf prices were better than Silk King and quality was good so grabbed one.<br/> Then on the Forbidden City. This MUST be experienced to be believed. Photos cannot convey the awesome scale of the place. Guide had good information and helped us find a calendar in one of the onsite shops.<br/> Then in the van to the jade factory for a really mediocre lunch bring your own snacks!<br/> The real hard sell came in the enormous but empty store where the manager could focus his whole attention on us. Nothing interested us but he REALLY wanted to sell us something. Sorry, no sale.<br/> Then a very short ride to the mountains outside the city to the wall.<br/> The wall is....steep. Breathtaking....literally. Wear comfy shoes and be ready for a workout. But worth every moment.<br/> The views are stunning and we had great luck to have clear air after a week earlier Red alert smog days don't know what would have happened if that was our tour day as airports and highways were closed<br/> From there we were dropped at the curb not taken to the gates<br/> There is no way we could have managed this day on our own.<br/> We have had the cousin-in-law tequila factory/souvenir stops in Mexico as well so that's the price one has to pay for the service.<br/> The language barrier makes China more challenging than other countries as well so a guide is almost a necessity. Went to Souzhou on our own and just buying train tickets was an adventure NO English signs in Souzhou station!<br/> Will continue to use Viator as tour company of choice!</p>

Highly recommended although seemed... - <p>Highly recommended although seemed quite expensive for a day. Both Maria the guide and the drivers were excellent, and I manages to see the Great Wall, a jade factory, the Olympic Park and the Forbidden City all in one day. I was taken to the airport far too early but I do understand that Beijing traffic can be very temperamental.</p>

Loved being able to see... - Loved being able to see The Great Wall in one day! Would have been better if I could have spent more time at the wall. They added in a tea ceremony and Jade viewing where they want you to buy things and it wasted time.

One day is certainly not enough for... - <p>One day is certainly not enough for this trip. Getting up early wasn't an issue and our driver to/from Shanghai was helpful in getting us all the way to the security point at the airport. When we arrived at Beijing our guide picked us and and drove us to our first destination. So far, so good. We stopped at a silk factory where they spent heaps of time selling us items. We then went to the Forbidden City, this was where the tour went down hill. The line to get through security was massive and our guide literally pulled us through the crowd knocking over people including children so that we could get through on time. Once we finally got through she then walked at such a pace that we didn't get to see or hear much about the city at all, only stopping for a photo or two. In total we were in there for an hour max. Next we drove to a Jade factory where they proceeded to take their time trying to get us too buy items we didn't want. Where are the priorities?? We came for the Forbidden City not to spend our money in factories built to sell to foreign tourists. Because of the time spend here we had to go to a smaller section of the Great Wall. Here our guide left us at the gate and just gave us a time to meet her. We paid for a tour guide to show us these places and tell us about them not dump us there. Lastly was a tea house, again designed for tourists. Should we have spend our time in these factories being pressured to buy or should we have spent more time at the attractions we paid to see?? We were then almost left at the airport with no information until we asked the guide to come in with us to help. I would not recommend this tour to anyone. I have done day trips of cities before in multiple countries but there is just not enough time in the day for this one! The guides are obviously getting commission on what we buy and have their priorities completely out of whack. If you wish to visit these places make them day trips each on your own.</p>