Beijing Ancient Sites Private Tour
About this activity
Highlights
- Explore Peking Man Site
- Marvel at Stone Flower Cave
- Visit historic Marco Polo Bridge
- Private tour with expert guide
- Flexible departure times
Full description
Included / Excluded
- Private transportation
- English-speaking guide
- Entrance fees to all sites
- Meals and beverages
Itinerary
Around 8:00am, your tour guide and private car driver will meet you at your hotel lobby. You will start heading to Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. The Chinese ape-man, also known as Peking Man, lived some 690,000 years ago, in mid-period of Pleistovene epoch. The first complete skull of Peking Man was discovered in December 1929. Peking Man's age is estimated to be between 500,000 and 300,000 years old.
After your Chinese ape-man visiting, your next stop is the Stone Flower Cave, one of the biggest caves in China (formerly named Qianzhen Cave or Shifo Cave). It is located in Fangshan district, Beijing, 50km away from downtown. It was first discovered in 1446, Ming Dynasty by a Buddhist monk, Yuanguang. The structure of the cave is multi-level and multi-branch. It contains a superb collection of beautiful sights. You will be amazed at nature's creativity. All of the features are made of stone: fantastic stalactites, stalagmites, curtains and, flowers. Everywhere is full of the sound of water dripping "Di Di Da" which is composed into delightful music. Stalactites and stalagmites are growing until one day they meet. The milk white stone "Yue Nai Shi" is a wonder in it and a national treasure. It comes in many shapes such as stone lotus and mushroom.
Your last stop of the tour is Lugou Bridge (Lugouqiao) or "Marco Polo Bridge" as it's more popularly know. It is about 15km southwest away from the Beijing city center. First built over 800 years ago in the Jin dynasty, the bridge is now the oldest in Beijing. You will see a lot of stone lions on the bridge. Marco Polo Bridge is being famed for its aesthetic features, and it is considered to be an architectural masterpiece. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) started from this point, and it's the famous Marco Polo Bridge Incident in the Chinese history. After this wonderful and unique tour, your tour guide will send you back to your hotel in Beijing by your private transport service.
Pass by: A scenic spot at Lugou Bridge.
Important information
Know before you book
- Tour is not wheelchair accessible.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking.
Know before you go
- Wear comfortable walking shoes for uneven terrain.
- Bring a camera to capture the stunning landscapes.
- Carry a bottle of water to stay hydrated.
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Accessibility
- Infants Required On Laps
- Infant Seats Available
Good to know
- Age under 3 is free to join
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Please wear comfortable walking shoes
Traveler reviews
Iconic tour of Peking Man cave site, 500 million year old cave system and Marco Polo bridge
Iconic tour of Peking Man cave site, 500 million year old cave system and Lugou bridge. This is a chance to bring to life what you learn in high school history books on human evolution and second world war history. Smooth, comfortable and organized tour with Mr Marco Zhang (guide) and Mr Wang (driver). Highly recommended with family.
Peking Man, Stone Flower Cave and Marco Polo Bridge
Great itinerary, Jeffrey was very accommodating and everything went smoothly. Lovely lunch as well, would definitely recommend
A day visiting wonderful sites and nature, close to Beijing, fantastic!
We had a fantastic with our guide Jeffrey and driver. It was a nice trip out of the city into the fresh mountain air and beautiful scenery. The Stone Flower Cave was spectacular, nice and cool too. Make sure you have good shoes and a jacket. Lunch at a local restaurant and souvenir shopping then we went to Peking Man site. Again beautiful nature and interesting dig sites and models of animals and humans who had lived in that area. The museum was not huge but well worth a visit, very well laid out displays. Last stop on the way home was to the Marco Polo Bridge. Jeffrey was very knowledgeable and interesting and just a really nice person to visit these amazing sites with. Would highly recommend for anyone wanting to see a bit more than the usual tourist spots in Beijing. The drive was very comfortable. This has been a highlight of our visit to Beijing.
Underrated sites that should be visited
We really enjoyed our day trip out to the Stone Flower Cave and Peking Man site. Both UNESCO sites that were almost empty when we visited. Sally, our tour guide, was very personable and did a good job helping us around the sites. I'd suggest you read up on these sites before visiting. We had a delicious local lunch that was probably one of the best we had on our two week trip to China.
Flexible and friendly tour guide
I wanted to go somewhere that wasn't thronged with tourists, and would be interesting to my preteen and teenager, and this was the perfect day trip. The cave has over 2K of paths and stairs, so be ready and take good shoes since parts were slippery. Well worth it. Great for a rainy, hot, or cold day, since the cave maintains a steady temperature all year long. Pro tip: Don’t lag too far behind the guide, or the lights go off automatically! The Peking Man museum was also just our speed--quite small, just 30 to 40 minutes, but with lots of evocative statues and paintings to bring to life the significance of the bone shards found there. When traveling with kids, I like museums like that, that tell an interesting story, and are not too huge and overwhelming! The lunch was local and delicious. After, we passed a glass-bottomed bridge over a deep valley and asked Lisa if we could stop there instead of the historical Marco Polo bridge, and she happily agreed. The kids liked the rush of adrenaline from looking down and seeing 60 meters of air below their feet!