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About this activity

Your day starts with pickup from your centrally located Beijing hotel by air-conditioned coach and a short drive to Lama Temple, one of Beijing’s most famous monasteries.

Lama Temple boasts five large halls that are decorated with colorful carvings, murals, ceremonial objects and statues of the Buddha in various incarnations. Your guide takes you through the stunning complex, explaining the significance of the items that you see. Admire one of the temple’s highlights, a towering statue of Maitreya Buddha that stands 59 feet high (18 meters) and was carved from a single piece of white sandalwood.

Next up, visit the Beijing Zoo to see its beloved residents, the giant pandas. The endangered panda bears are native to China and considered a national treasure. Watch the pandas munch on bamboo, play and lounge in their large enclosures, which resemble their natural habitat.

After enjoying the panda antics, relax while eating a Chinese-style lunch. Then head to the Summer Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site.

Originally built in 1750 as a summer retreat for the emperor, the UNESCO heritage-listed Summer Palace was razed twice by foreign armies and completely rebuilt. Enjoy great photo ops as you follow your guide around the grounds, which boast ornately decorated temples, pavilions, gardens, bridges and covered walkways. Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake take up most of the 1.1 square mile (2.9 square kilometer) site. Your guide points out highlights such as the Marble Boat, a lakeside pavilion that was restored in 1893 for Empress Cixi.

Wrap up your day with a stop at pearl store where you have the option to shop for high quality pearl, as well as a tea cenemony before your guide returns you to your hotel to end your tour.

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Included

Transport by deluxe air-conditioned coach/mini-van
Pick-up and drop-off services from the hotels located within 4th ring circle highway
If your hotel is located out of 4th Ring Circle Highway, please go to Prime Hotel to join the tour at 07:30AM. (Add: No. 2, Wangfujing Ave. Tel: +86-10-65136666)
Professional English-speaking tour guide
Chinese style lunch
Entry/Admission - Summer Palace (Yiheyuan)
Entry/Admission - Lama Temple (Yonghegong)
Entry/Admission - Beijing Zoo

Not included

Gratuities

Additional

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Confirmation tour will be received at time of booking
Infants aged 2 years and under travel free of charge, providing they are not occupying a seat.

Features

Tourism

90%

Cultural

90%

Reviews

4.3

158

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Jonathan M. M

3 | 2018-09-12

Mr. Lee took us to the Summer Palace and Panda Garden, that was all good. After that he took us to a silk showroom. At the showroom Mr. Lee encourages us to buy things obviously because he gets a cut of whatever we buy. This was followed by a pearl showroom, where again he is encouraging us to buy things. When you don't buy something he comes up to you and encourages you to go look more closely at all the things they sell. After this we were supposed to go to the Lama Temple, but he then suggested that we instead should go to the Temple of Heaven. The reason for this is that he has an arrangement with a tea store right outside of the Temple of Heaven. There they will make you tea and show you how tea should be drank and prepared. After this he encourages you to buy things. After this he took us to a foot massage place for $3 foot massages, they also offer medications they you "need" based on a pulse reading. These medications cost $120. During the tour he tells you about how sick his mother is and how expensive is to care for her and that he watches after her when he is not working. This we felt was done on his part as to not make us upset that he tries to make extra money off of us. We felt that it was unprofessional for him to include and exclude things that were not on the agenda. In addition, we didn't like the pressure he put on us to buy things.

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Corey J

4 | 2018-08-29

We enjoyed this tour a lot. Summer Palace is beautiful and the Lama Temple is fascinating. We paid extra to do the boat entry and I thought it added something. But advised that the title is misleading. You tour through the grounds of the Summer Palace. You don't go into anything. If you are looking to really get into the Summer Palace, this isn't your tour. But all and all it was fun and our guide did a very nice job. I enjoyed it.

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Jeffrey S

5 | 2018-03-18

This was a very good tour to get a feel for a Beijing first visit. Great guide, very well organized. The Panda's were awesome. Great value for the price.

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Clive D

5 | 2017-12-25

Great day out

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Carla W

5 | 2017-10-30

This tour was amazing!

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Sherri Z

4 | 2017-10-28

Great day! Marie was a good tour guide. I would suggest the tour company change the lunch location as it was sub par and a bit gross as compared to the lunch for the Forbidden City/Great Wall tour.

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