Temple of Heaven
JULY 25-29, 2009
$799. per person, double occupancy. Add $299. for single supplement (if available).
July 25 (Saturday): SHANGHAI TO BEIJING
Fly from Shanghai to Beijing. Upon arrival in Beijing, transfer to Hong Kun International Hotel or similar (5 star). Lunch at local restaurant. Afternoon visit to Temple of Heaven - the imperial temple built for the emporers to worship the god of Heaven for good harvest. The main building has been chosen as the symbol of China tourism. The Temple of Heaven is a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design and is the grandest of four temples located in Beijing. It is larger than the Forbidden City and smaller than the Summer Palace with an area of about 2,700,000 square meters. In China the emporer was regarded as the son of Heaven who adminstered earthly matters. The temple grounds contains the Earthly Mount where the emporer prayed for favorable weather (he had to be an eclipse observer!), the House of Heavenly Lord, and the Hall of Annual Prayer built on three levels of marble stone base. The structures were built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 A.D. - 1911 A.D.), the emperors would offer sacrifices on the day of the Winter Solstice every year. Overnight Beijing. (B, L)
Temple of Heaven
July 26 (Sunday): TIANANMEN SQUARE, FORBIDDEN CITY, SUMMER PALACE
Full day tour of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. Lunch and dinner at a local
restaurant.
Tiananmen Square is the largest public plaza in the world which could have one million people on parade during
the Chinese National Day. The Tiananmen was built in 1417 in the Ming Dynasty. In 1699 (early Qing Dynasty), the
Tiananmen was renovated and renamed to its present form. During the Ming and Qing eras, there was no public
square at Tiananmen, and instead the area was filled with offices for imperial ministries. These were badly
damaged during the Boxer Rebellion and the area was cleared to produce the beginning of Tiananmen Square.
Tiananmen Square
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace
during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square.
Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty
and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. It contains the history of the imperial regime and residential
compounds with 9,999.5 rooms for the emporers and their concumbines.
The Forbidden City
Situated in the western outskirts of Haidian District, the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from
central Beijing. Having the largest royal park and being well preserved, it was designated, in 1960 by the
State Council, as a Key Cultural Relics Protection Site of China. Containing examples of the ancient arts,
it also has graceful landscapes and magnificent constructions. The Summer Palace is the archetypal Chinese
garden, and is ranked amongst the most noted and classical gardens of the world. In 1998, it was listed as
one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Of the many sites, the ones most critical to eclipse observers might
be the Hall of Dispelling Clouds and Gate of Dispelling Clouds located on the palace grounds.
Portion of the Summer Palace site
Around 50 km (31 miles) northwest from Beijing City lies the Ming Tombs - the general name given to the mausoleums
of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has
the necropolis of each of the many emperors. Only the Changling and Dingling tombs are open to the public.
Changling, the chief of the Ming Tombs, is the largest in scale and is completely preserved. Unlike
Changling, Dingling is under ground and about 27 meters (56 ft) deep. Dinner at a local restaurant.
Overnight Beijing (B,L,D).
Ming Tomb
July 27 (Monday): HUTONG TOUR
After breakfast depart on a morning tour with lunch at a local family home, afternoon visit to the Lama Temple
and at night, attend the Peking Opera. Dinner at a local restaurant.
The Hutong Tour is one of the most attractive tourist sites in Beijing. Once can see a true reprsentation of local
living here and the traditional old courtyard in the alleys of the city by riding a rickshaw. Another highlight is
to share lunch with a local family and there one can see how to wrap dumplings with a piece of flour slice and
fingers.
After lunch visit the Lama Temple, which used to be the imperial residence for Qing emporers before they enthroned.
In the late 19th century is turned out to be the imperial temple with lama monks coming from Mongolia.
The Lama Temple Beijing is also called Yonghegong, or Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple or Yonghegong Lamsery,
a renowned temple of the Yellow Hat Sect of Lamaism, and is situated in the northeast part of Beijing city.
It features five large halls and five courtyards with beautifully decorative archways, upturned eaves
and carved details. It houses a treasury of Buddhist art, including sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas,
as well as Tibetan-style murals.
Lama Temple
After dinner this evening, transfer to see a performance of the Peking opera of China--a national treasure with
a history of 200 years. Peking opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime, acrobatic
fighting and dancing to represent a story or depict different characters and their feelings of gladness,
anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear and sadness. In Peking opera there are four main types of roles:
sheng (male) dan (young female), jing (painted face,male), and chou (clown, male or female). The characters
may be loyal or treacherous, beautiful or ugly, good or bad, their images being vividly manifested.
The repertoire of Peking opera is mainly engaged in fairy tales of preceding dynasties, important historical
events, emperors, ministers and generals, geniuses and great beauties, from the ancient times to Yao, Shun,
Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song,
Yuan, Ming, Qing. Overnight Beijing (B, L, D)
Peking Opera peformer
July 28 (Tuesday): JINSHANLING GREAT WALL AND QING EMPORER'S TOMBS
The Jinshanling Great Wall is quite different from the normal Great Wall tourist spot at Badaling. It is among
the mountain ranges around 150km from Beijing. The picturesque scenery is only to be found there with the
Great Wall under protection by nature. It was initially built from 1368 to 1389 in the Ming Dynasty, and
in 1567 rebuilding of the Wall was mainly directed by General Qi Jiguang. Poems and tablet writings can be
found left from the time Qi Jiguang directed building of this section.
The total length of this section is about eleven kilometers (6.8 miles), and the scenic spot has an area of
32 square kilometers. The Wall is about seven to eight meters high and five to six
meters wide, which is made of brick and stone; the elevation is 700 meters. The Beijing Watch Tower
is on the highest position, from which you can see Beijing itself. The Jinshanling Great Wall is second only
to the Badaling Great Wall (where most tourists go) in its completeness. There are more than 100 enemy watch
towers along the its border. Built stably and elegantly, different towers have different structures and appearances.
Small portion of the Jinshanling Great Wall
The Qing emporer tombs near Jishanling were called the East Qing Tombs consisting of yellow glazed tile
buildings including the most powerful first Qing emporer Yong Zhen and Empress Cixi who presided over the throne
for 40 years. The empress took over the Summer Palace as her private gardens. Her tomb was built in a
typical structure in a very beautiful environment.
East Qing Tombs
Tonite enjoy a Peking Duck dinner which is the traditional farewell dinner in China. Celebrate your successful
trip with a delicious feast of roasted duck accompanied by wine and local beer. Overnight Beijing. (B, L, D)
Chef works to create a great tasting Peking Duck dinner.
July 29 (Wednesday): BEIJING TO HOMETOWN
After breakfast, transfer from your hotel to the Beijing airport where you will board you flight for home. End
of a wonderful tour. (B).
Night view of Beijing Capital Airport
BEIJING POST TOUR PRICE INCLUDES:
BEIJING POST TOUR PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Carlson Wagonlit Future Travel recommends that each client purchase adequate trip cancellation insurance, medical, baggage, accident and other personal effects insurance. Trip cancellation insurance must be purchased at time of initial deposit. Clients should be aware that we cannot guarantee the weather for this astronomical event or any other.