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Three-day Excursion in Beijing

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Day 1: Badaling Great Wall — Ming Tombs (round trip: 226 km)

8am: Wake up and eat, get ready and head to Tian'anmen Square. Take the official tour bus to Badaling Great Wall.

11am: Arrive at the Great Wall. Put your hiking boots on and explore this must-see wonder of the world for about 2 hours. For those with mobility issues, a cable car can be ridden up onto the wall. You will need to purchase a ticket for the ride up and/or the ride down.

The Great Wall of Badaling.

1pm: Eat lunch with your tour group, which is included in the price of the tour.

1.45pm: Make your way back to where the bus dropped you off and head to the Ming Tombs.

2.50pm: Arrive at the Ming Tombs. Follow the guide and explore this resting place for 13 Ming emperors (70 minutes).

4pm: Time to end the day and head back to town. After all that walking, you might just want a nice foot massage.

Expenses: Take official Day-trip tour bus Line 'World Cultural Heritage Tour A': 160 yuan (including bus fare, admissions to the Badaling Great Wall, Ming Tombs and lunch); Departure Time: 6:30-10:30 Departure Point: Southwest and southeast of Tian'anmen Square Destination: Badaling Great Wall and Dingling

Day 2: Temple of Pool and Wild Mulberry 潭柘寺 —Cuandixia Village爨底下村(round trip: 300km)

8am: Get up and get ready. Take Subway Line 1 to Pingguoyuan (苹果园) and then change to Bus 931 to the Temple of Pool and Wild Mulberry.

10.30am: Arrive at the temple. This temple is said to be older than Beijing. Learn the history and explore the amazing stupa grove nearby for about 1 hour.

11.30am: Lunch at any surrounding restaurant and our next stop is Cuandixia Village.

12.15pm: With your hunger satisfied, head back to the same stop where you arrived and then take Bus 931 to the Hetan Lukoudong (河滩路口东) stop. Get off and head westward to the Chengzi Dajie (城子大街) intersection, turn right at the intersection and walk north for about 400m and you'll see the Chengzi Dajie Nankou (城子大街南口) bus stop on the right side of the street. Take Bus 929支(7.30am-10.10am and 12.40pm-3.30pm) to Zhaitang (斋堂), then take a taxi (RMB10-15) to Cuandixia Village's front gate.

3pm: Arrive at Cuandixia Village. Stroll around this mysterious Ming-and-Qing-era town for about 2hours.

5pm: End of the tour, time to head back to the city.

Expenses: Temple of Pool and Wild Mulberry: 35 yuan Lunch: 20 yuan Cuandixia Village: 20 yuan Transport: 64 yuan

Day3: Museum of Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian-Shidu National Geological Park (round trip: 220km)

8am: Prepare everything including your lunch. Arrive at the Tian'anmen Square. Take the official tour bus to Zhoukoudian and Shidu. (This official tour bus only operates between 6.30am-8.30am on weekends and official holidays from July to August; and for any less than 15 people the bus does not leave.)

9.30am: Arrive at Zhoukoudian. Spend about 1.5 hours here and learn about this significant archaeological find.

11am: Time to be back to the tour bus, and be off to Shidu. Eat lunch on the bus.

11.45am: Arrive at Shidu. Take a bamboo raft and enjoy the beautiful natural scenery for about 2hours. The truly brave may want to try bungee jumping at their designated spot; the rest will no doubt enjoy watching.

2.45pm: Time to head back to the tour bus for the trip back into town.

Official tour bus: 80 yuan (including bus fare, admissions to Zhoukoudian and Cuandixia Village) Bungee jumping: 175 yuan Total: 554 yuan (US$ 72)