Day 2 (B, L, D) Full day trip to Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, silk store and the Temple of Heaven. In the evening (7:15~8:30PM), enjoy the Peking Opera Show(or Chinese Acrobat, or Chinese Kongfu show, choose one show from these three options, depending on your interest) - Tian'anmen Square: The largest city square in the world. - Forbidden City: The largest imperial palace in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years. Visit scenic spots: 1. The hall and the courtyard of supreme harmony, 2. The meridian gate, 3. the hall of supreme harmony, 4. the hall of complete harmony, 5. the hall of preserving harmony, 6. the huge of stone carving, 7. the hall of union, 8. the palace of earthly tranquility, 9. the imperial garden, etc. - Temple of Heaven: The place where the ancient emperors used to pray for the God's blessings on the whole nation. Visit scenic spots: 1. the hall of prayer for good harvest, 2. red stairway bridge, 3. the imperial vault of heaven, 4. echo wall, 5. triple sound stone, 6. the circular mound altar, etc.
Day 3 (B, L, D) Full day trip to the Great Wall, jade market and Ming Tomb. Enjoy a famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner in the most famous Quanjude Restaurant.. - Great Wall: One of the seven wonders in the world and the symbol of China. (about 60 miles away from downtown, one and half hour's drive) Visit scenic spots: Badaling Geat Wall, Badaling fortress, beacon-towers, "looking-toward beijing stone", etc. - Ming Tomb: The only underground tomb of the thirteen tombs of the emperors in the Ming Dynasty. Visit scenic spots: 1.ling en gate, 2.ling en palace, 3.soul tower, 4.the great red gate, 5.the stele pavilion, etc.
Day 4 (B, L) We will drive to visit Hutong, the old Beijing lanes, nearby Rear Lake area (Shi Cha Lake) and the typical Chinese quadrangles by rickshaws bicycle ride, where you can experience the real life of ordinary people in Beijing while across many narrow streets, which lasts for about 2 hours, led by local guide and pass many famous old building, like the drum tower, silver bridge, etc. Have lunch in local family, home cooked Chinese dumpling, everyone loves it. After that, there will be a tea ceremony in local tea house to show you. Then visit Summer Palace in the afternoon. - Summer Palace: The largest and best-preserved royal garden in China with a history of over 800 years. Visit scenic spots: 1. East palace gate, 2. the hall of benevolence and longevity, 3. hall of jade billows, 4. the hall of joyful longevity, 5. the covered walkway, 6. the marble boat, etc.
Day 5 (B) Tranfer from hotel to airport or railway station, see off. Hotel Options: Five Star Hotel: Beijing International Hotel , Beijing Asia Hotel ????? Four Star Hotel: Howard Johnson Paragon Hotel ???? Three Star Hotel: Golden Palace Silver Street Hotel, Beijing Xuanwemen Hotel, Shatan Hotel ??? Economy Hotel: GreenTree Inn Beijing or New Dragon Hotel ?? Single Room Supplement: 5-star: 1500RMB; 4-star: 1000RMB; 3-star: 720RMB; Economy Hotel: 450RMB
China Travel
The first civilizations in China arose in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys at about the same time as Mesopotamia, Egypt and India developed their first civilizations.
For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. Paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing (both block and movable type) for example, are Chinese inventions. Chinese developments in astronomy, medicine, and other fields were extensive. A Chinese tomb contains a heliocentric model of the solar system, about 1,700 years before Copernicus. In mathematics, "Pythagoras' theorem" and "Pascal's triangle" were known in China centuries before their Western discoverers even lived.
China was also the first civilization to implement a meritocracy. Unlike other ancient cultures, official posts were not hereditary but had to be earned through a series of examinations. Based on mastery of the Confucian Classics and the literary arts (calligraphy, essay writing, poetry, painting), a prototype the exams were first conducted during the Han Dynasty. The system was further refined into the formal Imperial Examination System and opened to all regardless of family background during the Tang Dynasty. The Imperial Examination proved very successful, and save for a brief period during the Yuan Dynasty, continued to be used by all subsequent Chinese dynasties until the beginning of the 20th century, and till this day education is still taken very seriously by Chinese parents.
Everything Comes With A Price
Historically, East Asia existed in a China-centric order very different from the nation-state system which emerged in Europe. China is "Zhong Guo," the "Middle Kingdom." Foreigners of all nationalities are "Wai Guo Ren," literally "outside land people." Rather than sovereign states, the Emperor was sovereign over all "under heaven" and thus rulers seeking to be "civilized" would need to enter the tributary system. As the Middle Kingdom, China was surrounded by states which paid tribute to the Emperor. The Emperor did not receive ambassadors from these outlanders, only tribute bearers.
New kings in these surrounding countries were invested by the Emperor and granted seals of authority, thus giving them the "right" to rule. Many areas which are now considered part of China — Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Manchuria — were once tributary kingdoms. Other places not considered part of China — Malacca, Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Mongolia, Okinawa, Japan — were also tributaries at various times in history (Okinawa's Shuri Castle has an interesting exhibit on the tributary system). Of course at times the "tributary" states were actually more militarily powerful than the Chinese dynasty at the time but the idealized image of a harmonious order with China and the emperor at the center endured for centuries.
Tributary relations were complemented by academic, religious, political and cultural exchanges. Tributary rulers received protection, trade benefits, and advisers (academic, political, scientific, etc). In a sense, China really is the "center land." Chinese influence is quite apparent in the traditional culture of many of its neighbors, most notably Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Each of these countries adopted the Chinese writing system at some point, and it is still in use, to varying degrees and with certain modifications, in the latter two today. Confucian philosophy and social theory deeply influenced their societies. Indeed, Japan's ancient capital of Nara was modeled after the Tang dynasty capital of Chang'An (now Xi'an).
http://wikitravel.org/en/China
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