Stretch-a-leg Tour

Full-day Tour Program

SL1 - Wild Wall Hiking Trip

This is a full day tour to the rugged, undeveloped side of the Great Wall. The drive is about 1.5 hours. The hike itself takes about 4 hours of strenuous walking. Usually you will see no other people during your tour, it is a way to experience the Great Wall in peace and tranquility.

SL2 - Mutianyu Great Wall

Mutianyu is a developed section of the Great Wall with a cable car for easy access, but can also be climbed at a moderate pace. You'll hear about the history and construction process of the Wall in ancient China and how the it was used for protection against the Mongols invaders.

Visit the stone sculptures carved early 13th Century on the Secret Way leading to the imperial burial site called the Ming Tombs. Learn why those animal statues are chosen to guard the tomb as well as the imperial burial customs in ancient China.

SL3 - From Tiananmen square to Jingshan Park

Morning: Tiananmen Square: Being the largest city square in the world, Tiananmen Square is a place where countless campaigns have launched and historical events have happened. We will introduce you the history and development of the square and explain what the main buildings there are for.
Forbidden Palace: From 1420 to 1911, emperors ruled and lived here. Visit the main sights in the Forbidden City as well as the less visited areas with an introduction that covers how the Palace was constructed and how it was used.

Afternoon: Historical Hutong walking tour: We will show you some of the neighborhood where both locals and noble people used to live, and learn about Hutong's history.
Jingshan Park: Jingshan was the former royal garden since 13th Century but was turned to a park for Beijing citizens. Walk to the top of the hill in the park to get a birds-eye view of the Forbidden City. We will help you to build a mental image on the grand design of the city (1404) from the top of the hill.

SL4 - Of Temples and Academies

Morning: The Temple of Heaven, build in the early 13th Century, it is a complex of Taoist buildings that was visited by Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer for good harvest.
A private visit to a traditional Beijing-style courtyard home to meet the original family who lived there for more than a century and learn their family stories.

Afternoon: Confucius Temple: The Temple of Confucius is the second largest Confucian Temple in China. The temple was built in 1302, and officials used it to pay their respect to Confucius until 1911.
Imperial Academy: The Imperial Academy was the highest institute of learning in China's traditional educational system.

Half-day Tour Program

SL5 - Off the Hutong path

Off the beaten path Hutong Tours in another area and visit one of the Old Temple in Beijing as well as the hutong neighborhood around it.

SL6 - Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. Commissioned by Emperor Qianlong as a summer retreat for the Qing Court in the middle of the 18th Century, it's a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design.

SL7 - Old Summer Palace

It was built in the early Qing Dynasty in the 15th century, then was burned to the ground in the year 1860. It was used as a summer retreat for the Qing emperors.

SL8 - Drum, Bell and Lama

Drum and Bell Tower: The ancient timekeeping towers on the traditional axis of Imperial power where you can have a birds-eye view of the old city.
Lama Temple: Lama Temple was first built in 1694 as residential building (Yonghe Palace) but then turned into a Temple. Lama Temple now is a temple and monastery of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism in Beijing. The building and the artworks of the temple combine Han Chinese and Tibetan styles.