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TicketMobile or paper ticket accepted
LanguagesEnglish
Private tourOnly your group will participate
Overview
Special Lunch: Dumpling Making during Family Visit.
A private certified English Tour Guide
Gathered at East Gate of Forbidden City at 8:30, and then walk another 10 minutes to Meridian Gate (entrance). Stay about 3 hours there, focusing on central axis buildings.
Then go for family visit at around 12:00. To make dumplings for lunch. Step into a Beijing family's home. Flour on the table, filling in the bowl, hands in dough. You roll, fold, and boil dumplings side by side with people who actually live there — then sit down and eat what you made, with tea and conversation.
After lunch, at around 15:00, it's the Temple of Heaven: the Echo Wall, the nine-everywhere altar, and the blue-roofed prayer hall that defines Beijing's skyline.
Two UNESCO landmarks, one kitchen table, zero long bus seats — all in one private day.
What's included
Dumpling
Gratuities
Entrance fee of Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven
What to expect
Forbidden City Tour
3h · Admission ticket not included
1. Meridian Gate (Wu Men) – the only entrance, ceremony & architecture
2. Gate of Supreme Harmony & Inner Golden Water River
3. Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe Dian) – the Golden Throne Hall, 10 roof beasts
4. Hall of Central Harmony & Hall of Preserving Harmony – exam hall & stone carving
5. Gate of Heavenly Purity – the line between office and bedroom
6. Palace of Heavenly Purity – “Rectitude and Brightness” plaque, secret heir box
7. Hall of Union & Palace of Earthly Tranquility – empress rituals, Qing wedding room
8. Imperial Garden – old cypresses, rockery, pavilions
9. Gate of Divine Prowess – exit, free to explore Jingshan after. Or exit from Donghua Gate
Temple of Heaven
2h · Admission ticket not included
• Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests – the icon of Beijing. A 38-meter circular wooden hall with three blue-tile roofs, built entirely with mortise-and-tenon joints and not a single nail. Emperors came here every spring to ask for a fruitful year.
• Imperial Vault of Heaven – a smaller circular pavilion once used to store the ceremonial tablets of Heaven and ancestors. It sits inside the famous Echo Wall: whisper on one side, and someone 60 meters away on the curve hears you clearly. Great photo and "wait, how?" moment.
• Circular Mound Altar (Huanqiu) – a three-tier open-air white-marble platform where the emperor held the grand Winter Solstice sacrifice. Count the slabs and rails: everything is nine or a multiple of nine, because nine was the highest yang number and belonged to Heaven. Stand on the central "Heart of Heaven" stone and say something — your own voice comes back louder.
Meeting and pickup
Meeting point
East gate of Forbidden City (also called Donghua Gate)
End point
East Gate
Additional information
Public transportation options are available nearby
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
