Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple & Summer Palace Day Tour Beijing

Temple of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Built in 1420, the same year the Forbidden City was completed, the Temple of Heaven was where Ming and Qing emperors performed the most important rites of the year, praying for good harvests and offering sacrifices to heaven. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the masterpieces of Chinese architecture. Its northern walls are round and its southern walls square, symbolising heaven and earth.

The star is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a round timber hall with three tiers of deep-blue glazed roofs standing on a triple marble terrace. It was rebuilt in the 1890s after a lightning fire, following the original design and traditional joinery. Your guide explains the symbolism of its columns, which stand for the seasons, months and hours of the day.

Echo Wall, Circular Mound and park life

A raised walkway leads south to the Imperial Vault of Heaven, a smaller round hall encircled by the Echo Wall, whose curved surface carries whispers from one side to the other. Beyond it lies the Circular Mound Altar, three open marble terraces where the winter solstice ceremony took place, built entirely in multiples of nine, the number of heaven.

The surrounding park is shaded by ancient cypresses and is famous for its morning life: locals practise tai chi, sing, play traditional instruments, dance and play cards in the long corridor. Temple of Heaven opening hours begin early, with the park open from about 06:00 and the historic halls from about 08:00, so our 09:10 visit catches the park at its liveliest. Allow about two hours.

Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple)

The Lama Temple began in 1694 as the residence of a prince and was converted in 1744 into a lamasery, Beijing's most important monastery of Tibetan Buddhism, still active today. Its courtyards rise in a sequence of halls, each taller than the last, filled with incense smoke, prayer wheels, bronze statues and colourful Tibetan-style paintings, with monks and worshippers moving among them.

The highlight is the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses, home to a statue of the Maitreya Buddha some 18 metres tall, carved from a single trunk of white sandalwood. How to get to the Lama Temple on your own? It sits next to Yonghegong metro station (Lines 2 and 5); on this tour the coach takes you there directly after lunch. Visitors should dress modestly and avoid photographing inside the halls. Allow about one hour.

The Summer Palace: lake, hill and corridor

The afternoon belongs to the Summer Palace, a UNESCO-listed imperial garden often called the museum of royal gardens. Spread around Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill in north-west Beijing, it was the Qing court's summer retreat; burned in 1860, it was rebuilt in the 1880s. Halls, temples, bridges and pavilions are arranged to frame views of water and hills, in the finest tradition of Chinese landscape design.

Your guide leads you along the lakeshore and through the Long Corridor, whose painted beams show landscapes, birds and classic tales, towards the stone Marble Boat. Is the Summer Palace worth visiting after a busy day? Yes: its open spaces and breezes off the lake are the perfect way to end. The optional imperial waterway cruise, paid on the spot, lets you arrive or explore by boat.

Peking duck lunch and practical tips

Lunch is Peking roast duck at a local restaurant, Beijing's signature dish: crisp-skinned duck roasted in a special oven, carved and wrapped in thin pancakes with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce, served with side dishes. The lunch is not certified halal; if you eat halal, tell us when booking. Beijing has many halal (qingzhen) restaurants run by Hui Muslim families, some famous for their own roast duck.

The day covers a lot of ground on foot across three large sites, so good shoes, water and sun protection are essential; suitcases are not practical on the coach. The best time to take this Beijing day tour is spring or autumn, when the gardens are at their finest and the air is clear. Schedules may shift slightly with traffic and queues.