Beijing Cultural Tour with Tai Chi Class Experience

The Temple of Heaven was used several times annually when the emperor, bearing the sins of the Chinese people, humbled himself before heaven and performed rituals calculated to insure good harvests. From an aerial view, the temple's architectural style mimics the Chinese concepts of heaven and earth – the round edifice symbolizing heaven, rests upon the square base meant to symbolize earth.

In the Temple of Heaven our Tai Chi master will explain the principles of Tai Chi, a martial art known for both its defense techniques and its health benefits. Once your spiritual energy is full, you will visit a silk factory to see how the silk products are made. A traditional Chinese cuisine lunch on your own expense will follow.

The tour will continue to Tiananmen square and the Imperial Palace, also called the Forbidden City. Commissioned by Emperor Yongle of the Ming dynasty, the Forbidden City was completed in 1420 and was home to 24 emperors until the last Qing emperor, Puyi, left in 1924. Today, the gates of the Forbidden City lead to a fascinating display of Chinese history in what is probably the best-preserved site of Classical Chinese architecture.