Prince Gong's Mansion

INTRODUCTION:

The Forbidden City was formerly known as the Forbidden City, which covers an area of over 720,000 m², has more than 9,000 buildings and construction area of 150,000 square meters. Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, is the existing China's largest and most complete ancient buildings. It was first built in 1406 and finished in 1420. In its 500 years of history, there were 24 emperors living here. Experiencing several times renovation and expansion during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City is still remaining its original layout.

The Summer Palace, one of the finest examples Garden Architecture in China, is located in the northwest suburbs of Beijing. More than 100 examples of traditional architecture are to be found in the park, including pavilions, terraces, temples, pagodas, waterside gazebos, covered corridors, stone bridges and the famous marble boat. In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace an "outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese Landscape Garden Design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole."

Prince Gong's Mansion is the largest Siheyuan in the world, consisting of three parallel building groups along the eastern, middle and western axis. Gardens are laid in the most inner area of the mansion, varying from each other with peculiar views. And each part consists of several rows of siheyuan or "four-sided enclosed courtyards arranged in strict accordance with the north-south axes. Prince Kung’s Mansion as the official residence of the Prince of the Qing Dynasty is regular in layout, excellent in technology and interleaving in buildings and halls, fully representing the royal style of resplendence, wealth and honor and the private charm of elegance but simplicity.

The Great Wall stretches thousands of miles in northern China from the eastern sea coast (Shanghaiguan Pass) to Lop Lake in the west. Therefore, there is not one single site to visit the Great Wall, but various sites and sections of the Great Wall that visitors could choose to explore. A few sections further down, we discuss the “Current Notable Sites of the Great Wall of China” to help you decide which part of the Great Wall you may be most interested in exploring.

NOTICE:

THE DURATION AND FOUR DESTINATIONS JUST RECOMMENDED BY THE PRIVATE TOUR MARY, THE REAL SCHEDULING AND ROUTING CAN BE ARRANGED ACCORDING TO HER CLIENTS. ^^ ( On arrival in Beijing, you will be meet by our tour guide and transferred to your hotel in Beijing.Relax during the remainder of the afternoon and evening to recover from the jet lag)

THE STARTING PRICE AS 600 - 900 USD/PERSON DOES NOT INCLUDING THE VISA FEE, INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT TICKETS, HOTEL COST AND YOUR SHOPPING COST.(All Other Costs Included)

 YOU CAN BOOK THE FLIGHTS BY YOURSELF OR CONTACT FOR SERVICE.(We recommend you book them by yourself for it's relatively a big spending! It would be safer and more convenient for yourself. The real starting price depend on the food and transportation you choose)

THE PRIVATE TOUR FEE WOULD BE CHARGED AFTER THE FLIGHT PICKUP IN HOTEL ACCORDING TO THE CONTRACT.

BOTH  USD & RMB (Cash) ARE ACCEPTABLE.

COST ESTIMATION:

Round trip tickets: 2500 -- 15000 USD （Depend on the flight type）

HOTEL: 40 -- 200 per day

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME BY  EMAIL(RECOMMEND [email protected]), TELEPHONE OR SKYPE TO DESIGN YOUR TOUR TOGETHER!

Pick up from your hotel lobby at 9:00am.Transfer to Hutong area(1hour) by car, explore the most beautiful Hutong area in Beijing by walking. Sightseeing of inner Hutong by rickshaw. Then visit a local family and learn hands-on making Chinese dumplings(2hours), enjoy these with other Chinese dishes and this will be your lunch.

Making Chinese dumplings:

To make Chinese dumplings, first of all, chop the meat into pieces and mash them, then add salt, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, scallions, Chinese cabbage and MSG if you like. Mix thoroughly the ingredients; add two spoonful of water if necessary.In a big bowl, add water to flour gradually. Mix and knead by hand to form soft dough, then cover it with towel and put it aside for about an hour. Then scatter some dry flour on the board, knead and roll it into a sausage---like dough about 5 centimeters in diameter, then chop it into small pieces. Press each piece with your hand and get a pancake. Finally, to hold the pancake with your palm and put the filling in the center and wrap into half-moon shaped and seal the edges.

In the afternoon, visit the Bell tower and Drum tower(2hours), watch the fantastic drum beating performance, then transfer to Prince Gong's Garden(1hour) for a visit, return to hotel.

Prince Gong's Garden:

Prince Gong's Mansion is located on the north bank of Shichahai.It is the biggest quadrangle in the world and now it is the best preserved of the more than sixty princely mansions of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was once the residence of He Shen, a favorite court official during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. As soon as Emperor Qianlong died, He Shen was put into prison and sentenced to death for his corruption by Emperor Jiaqing, the successor of Emperor Qianlong. Thus, his residence was confiscated, and afterwards, in 1851, Emperor Xianfeng gifted it to his sixth young brother Yixin, Prince Gong. Therefore, the residence got its name Prince Gong's Mansion.

Get an impression of old Beijing, this tour features an area where traditional architectures are well preserved.    

Time: Pick up at hotel at 9am, return at 6pm

Transportation: private car(extra fee of 85USD)/public transportation    

Sites: Prince Gong's Mansion, HuTong Tour in the Back Lake area, the Drum Tower and Bell Tower

Prince Gong's Mansion, originally built in 1776, the residence witnessed the reign of 7 Qing Emperors.  The design of this traditional Chinese courtyard is ingenious. 

HuTong Tour:　See the typical traditional Chinese courtyard (四合院.  Even may have a chance to talk to the residents living for generations in these courtyard.  Back Lake area: a beautiful place enjoyed very much by scholars, literatis in old times.  Today, it is also famous for the bars.  And also has many restaurants selling traditional Chinese food.   

The Drum Tower and the Bell Tower:  Cultural Relics Under State Protection and symbol of old Beijing.  The Bell and the Drums were used for announcing time in antient times.  Expect to see the oldest and heaviest bell still in existence in China today.     

My service fee is 55USD/person, other fees such transportation, meals and tickets are not included.  Ticket price: Prince Gong's Mansion 70RMB/person, Drum Tower and Bell Tower 30RMB/person.

Pick you up from your hotel by my car.

First is the Prince Gong's Garden. The richest person in China, who corrupted  lots of money from hotel. During his life, he just want to get threes things.

Take rickshaw to go through the hutong area. Visit local quart yard family. 

Take a view of the bar street, local shopping street.

Clime on the bell tower or drum tower.

After tour, you will be transferred to your hotel.

If you like chinese food, you can choose to go to the hutong family, follow the local hutong lady to learn one dish, and learn how to make dumplings.  just need another $30 per person.

Your tour starts at the Capital Museum, one of the best places to acquaint yourself with the history and culture of this capital city. The museum is divided into two halls, each with six floors of exhibits.

You could learn about ancient Beijing through its hundreds of years of folk custom and culture, and furthermore have a glance of the history of Peking Man of Upper Age by the site model at Zhoukoudian which is only at a distance of near one hundred kilometers from Beijing.

You will be surely enjoying this study tour by visiting those extraordinary collections of exhibits in the form of ancient artifacts, statues, jade and bronze vessels and much more.

After lunch at a local restaurant, you will visit the magnificent gardens at the Prince Gong's Mansion, Beijing's largest and the best-preserved royal mansion of the Qing Dynasty. This tour will be highlighted by taking rickshaw, also known as pedicab to tour the streets of old Beijing.

At least 2 people are required for this tour.