Tour

We have planned a one-day tour in Beijing City for all the attendees. On September 24th, we will visit the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City and Wangfujing Steet. The following diagram is the specific schedule for September 24th.

08:30AM	Departure to the Summer Palace
11:30AM	Lunch at the restaurant
13:00PM	Start the tour of the Forbidden City
16:00PM	Free time on Wangfujing Street
17:30PM	Finish the tour and back to Wenjin Hotel

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 RelITCS 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.

The Forbidden City known as the former imperial palace, is one of the world's largest and best-preserved groups of ancient buildings. The walled complex locates in the heart of metropolis, covering an area of 2350000 square feet and containing 9999 rooms. From 1421 to 1911 it served as the inner compound of China's imperial family, and ordinary citizens were prohibited from entering its gates. Today the museums within its walls draw many visitors.

Wangfujing Street is now considered the central heart of the city. Certainly from Wangfujing all areas of Beijing are easily accessible. Wangfujing is a fairly long street. A walk from end to end would take you about 30 minutes, and that's without looking at any shops. The street has two major shopping malls, one of which, Oriental Plaza, sprawls a further 2 blocks to the east (and another 15 minute walk). Wangfujing street is also home to a number of large department stores, souvenir stores, and whole side streets full of food stalls, Chinese painting stores and other goodies. It is also home to one of the biggest book stores in Beijing, (Wangfujing Bookstore) and probably the largest outdoor TV screen in Beijing.

At night, when Wangfujing street turns on its ever increasing number of neon advertising signs, even more crowds flock to soak up the atmosphere. The neons can now be compared to those of any major city in the world and are very popular with the tourists, especially those coming from less developed parts of China.