Beijing 5-Day Muslim Private Tour without Accommodation

Key Details
• Tour Duration: 5 days
• Live Guide: English & Chinese
• Transportation: Air-conditioned car/van/coach with experienced driver
• Hotel accommodation: on your own

What's Included
• Transportation in an air-conditioned coach
• Services of an English-speaking guide
• Entrance tickets to mentioned attractions
• Halal Meals as specified in the itinerary
• Prayer at local Masjid (Mosque)
• Personal accident travel insurance
• All government taxes

What's Not Included
• Hotel accommodation
• Optional activity costs
• Gratuities to guide & driver (optional)
• Any other personal expenses

Day by Day Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Beijing
Meals Included: No meals
Hotel: Your own arrangement
Activities: Pick up at Beijing airport, transfer to hotel

Day 2: Beijing, City Tours
Meals included: Lunch at local Halal restaurant
Salat: Prayer at local Masjid (Mosque)
Hotel: Your own arrangement
Activities: Pick up at hotel, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Silk Store, Temple of Heaven, Hutong Tours, Transfer to hotel

Tiananmen Square
Located in the center of Beijing, Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world with a capacity of holding one million people. Named after the Tiananmen gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square has great cultural significance as it was the site of many important events in Chinese history such Chairman Mao's declaration of the establishment of the People's Republic of China on Oct, 01, 1949. As a result of a major expansion of Tiananmen Square in 1958, in its southern edge, the Monument to the People's Heroes has been erected, the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum of China were erected on the western and eastern sides of the square. After Chairman Mao's death in 1976, a Mausoleum was built to the south of Monument to the People's Heroes, on the main north-south axis of the square.

Forbidden City
As the royal residences of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties from the 15th to 20th century, the Forbidden City was the centre of state power in late feudal China. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420 by the Ming emperor Zhudi and witnessed the enthronement of 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors over the following 505 years. The Forbidden City is the supreme model in the development of ancient Chinese palaces, providing insight into the social development of late dynastic China, especially the ritual and court culture. The layout and spatial arrangement inherits and embodies the traditional characteristic of urban planning and palace construction in ancient China, featuring a central axis, symmetrical design and layout of outer court at the front and inner court at the rear and the inclusion of additional landscaped courtyards. Meanwhile, more than a million precious royal collections, articles used by the royal family and a large number of archival materials on ancient engineering techniques, including written records, drawings and models, are evidence of the court culture and law and regulations of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven was completed in 1420. The area that it occupies is almost square, the two southern corners being right-angled and those on the north rounded. This symbolizes the ancient Chinese belief that heaven is round and the earth square. The central building is a large rectangular sacrificial hall, where sacrifices were offered to heaven, with the Fasting Palace to the south-west. Pines were planted in the precinct of the Temple to emphasize the relationship between humankind and nature. The siting, planning, and architectural design of the Temple Heaven, and also the sacrificial ceremony and the associate music and dance, are based on the yin-yan and five-element theory of the ancient Book of Changes. This explains the understanding of the ancient Chinese people of heaven and of the relationship between human beings and heaven, as well as their wish to go to heaven.

Hutong Tour (Pedicab Ride)
The term hutong appeared first during the Yuan Dynasty. It is a term of Mongolian origin meaning water well. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of Siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one Siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. Hutongs represent an important cultural element of Beijing because almost every hutong has its anecdotes, and some are even associated with historic events. You will enjoy an authentic Beijing experience in a pedicab as you tour the hutongs in the city's Shichahai neighborhood. Watch culture come alive through the stone drums located in front of each gate, and see the layout of traditional Beijing courtyards. You will even have the unique opportunity to meet a local family to see how they live their daily lives; interact with this family and form a connection between your cultures.

Day 3: Beijing, City Tour
Meals included: Lunch at local Halal restaurant
Salat: Prayer at local Masjid (Mosque)
Hotel: Your own arrangement
Activities: Pick up at hotel, Great Wall of China, Jade Museum, Ming Tombs (Dingling Tomb), Transfer to hotel

Great Wall of China (Badaling Section)
The Great Wall was continuously built from the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD on the northern border of China as the great military defence project of successive Chinese Empires, with a total length of more than 20,000 kilometers. The Great Wall begins in the east at Shanhaiguan in Hebei province and ends at Jiayuguan in Gansu province to the west. Its main body consists of walls, horse tracks, watch towers, and shelters on the wall, and includes fortresses and passes along the Wall. The Great Wall reflects collision and exchanges between agricultural civilizations and nomadic civilizations in ancient China. It provides significant physical evidence of the far-sighted political strategic thinking and mighty military and national defence forces of central empires in ancient China, and is an outstanding example of the superb military architecture, technology and art of ancient China. The Great Wall embodies unparalleled significance as the national symbol for safeguarding the security of the country and its people.

Ming Tombs (Dingling Tomb)
The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty. The majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing and collectively known as the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty. The site, on the southern slope of Tianshou Mountain, was chosen based on the principles of geomancy (Fengshui) by the third Ming emperor, the Yongle Emperor. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum. The subsequent emperors placed their tombs in the same valley. From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming dynasty emperors were buried in the same area. Dingling is the tomb of the Wanli Emperor. It is the only Ming tomb to have been excavated. It also remains the only intact imperial tomb, of any era, to have been excavated in China.

Day 4: Beijing, City Tour
Meals included: Lunch at local Halal restaurant
Salat: Prayer at local Masjid (Mosque)
Hotel: Your own arrangement
Activities: Pick up from hotel, Summer Palace, Fresh Water Pearl, Photo Stop at Olympic Venues of Bird Nest & Cube, Panda Garden, Transfer to hotel

Summer Palace
The Summer Palace integrates numerous traditional halls and pavilions into the Imperial Garden conceived by the Qing emperor Qianlong between 1750 and 1764 as the Garden of Clear Ripples. Using Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill as the basic framework, the Summer Palace combined political and administrative, residential, spiritual, and recreational functions within a landscape of lakes and mountains, in accordance with the Chinese philosophy of balancing the works of man with nature. Destroyed during the Second Opium War of the 1850s, it was reconstructed by Emperor Guangxu for use by Empress Dowager Cixi and renamed the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace in Beijing is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.

Bird Nest Stadium
Bird Nest Stadium is considered to be one of the top 10 new architectural miracles in China. Located at the Olympic Green, the stadium cost US428 million. The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance of a bird's nest. The Bird Nest Stadium hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, athletic events, and football final of the 2008 Summer Olympics from 8 to 24 August 2008.

Water Cube
The Water Cube is the Beijing’s National Stadium in the Olympic Green designed for water sports during 2008 Olympics. The shape of the building is not as the name suggests, it is in cuboid shape (rectangular shape) enhancing the beauty of Beijing. It is the great structure from the outside and inside equipped with four slides, a wave pool and a meandering stream. At the night time, this place is totally different as they enlighten the Water Cube with colors lights, which gives different and wonderful look to the structure.

Panda Garden
Panda is easily recognized by the large, distinctive black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in neighbouring provinces, namely Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived. Being a conservation reliant endangered species, it is estimated that there are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild. The panda's diet is over 99% bamboo. Wild pandas will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food. This trip to Beijing Zoo's Panda Garden will bring a smile to your face for sure.

Day 5: Departure from Beijing
Meals included: No meals
Activities: Transfer to Beijing airport.