Morning - Temple of Heaven park before the crowds (start 08:00 AM)
The Temple of Heaven was completed in 1420 as the place where emperors asked heaven for a good harvest, and it joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998. Come early and the park belongs to the city: groups practising tai chi, ballroom dancing and the flute, and retired men writing calligraphy on the paving with water and a long brush. You then walk the north-south axis that puts the Circular Mound Altar, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in a single line. The hall is 38 metres high and is built on a three-tiered marble terrace, its blue roof tiles standing for the sky.
Lunch
Noodles or dumplings in a neighbourhood restaurant south of the park.
Afternoon - Qianmen, Dashilan and Liulichang
Walk out of the park and along Qianmen, the old commercial street that leads to the Tiananmen gate, rebuilt in its 1920s style in 2008. Behind it lie the lanes of Dashilan, trading for about 600 years and once known for silk, tobacco and medicine shops, and Liulichang, the street of calligraphy brushes, inkstones, seals and antique books that served the imperial bureaucracy.
Evening - Snack street and free time
The walk ends near Qianmen, where you can stay for grilled snacks and Beijing yoghurt or be returned to your hotel.
Meals
Lunch
Accommodation
Day tour - no hotel night included.
