The World Heritage Sites' Trail in North China

- Tiananmen Square: The world's largest city square and enduring symbol of China's national pride, surrounded by many imposing buildings including the Heavenly Gate (entry to the Forbidden City), Museums, government buildings and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum.
- The Forbidden City: The Imperial Palace, home to 24 Emperors between 1420 and 1911. Great squares, halls and gates contrast with the intricate networks of side halls, gardens, courtyards and quarters for those who lived in this 'city within a city'. The exhibitions, both permanent and temporary, are also absolutely fascinating. Expect to spend at least 2-3 hours, wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.
- Treasure Houses: Treasure house has undergone 4 time renovations, the present one takes up almost 220 square metres, more than 440 treasures on display belonged to Qing dynasty royalty, half of which have not never been on display in the old one. It's worthy of visiting.
- Short Hutong Tour in Xicheng District: Hutong is a maze of historic alleyways with old single storey traditional courtyard houses, which are now fast disappearing. In this one hour tour, you can hop on a rickshaw to ride through the narrow alleys as well as visit a local family then walk on the Silver Ingot Bridge (Yinding Bridge) and find out about the different thresholds of the courtyards.
- Traditional Mongolia Restaurant: Traditional Mongolia Restaurant is located near the Forbidden City. It serves northern Chinese food based on Mongolia cuisine. It brings Mongolia's long and distinguished cultural and literary history. A traditional Mongolian yurt (tent) is available on the third floor but a reservation is needed and a surcharge applies. Live performances of Mongolian music are sometimes preformed in the restaurant.
- Lizexiang Pearl Store : China's freshwater pearls are celebrated throughout the world. See how they are produced including some of the latest technology, and learn how to spot a fake. The outlet also offers a range of items produced from pearls and pearl oysters which goes far wider than jewellery.
Tel: 13801387486
Address: No.7.Changqing Yuan,Congwen district,Beijign City.

- Temple of Heaven: Situated in the southern part of the city, the temple of heaven covers the total area of 2,700,000 square meters. The temple was built in 1420A.D. It is the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would offer sacrifice to heaven and pray for good harvests. The main buildings of the temple including the Circular Mound Altar, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.The surrounding gardens are full of interesting activities, particularly weekend mornings.
- Summer Palace: Much-loved summer retreat of the Imperial families, the lovely landscaped gardens, halls, pavilions and corridors are set around the lake and rivers in natural harmony. You can expect to spend 2-3 hours here. Renovations (complete in 2010) mean that an individual section or building may be closed at any one time, but this is a huge site. Wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.
- Beijing Ba guo bu yi Restaurant: Ba Guo Bu Yi is located in Xizhimen next to the Beijing Youth Palace at No. 68 Nanxiao Road. It serves some of the heartiest and most authentic Sichuan fare in town with its traditional Chinese style decorations. Favorite dishes include mapo dofu (tofu braised in chili oil with brown peppers), dandan noodles in spicy peanut-sesame-garlic sauce, lazi jiding (chicken smothered by chilies), steamed fish served with chili-oil sauce and huiguorou (twice-cooked pork).

- Chengde Summer Palace: Chengde Summer Palace, located in the north of Chengde city, was a place where emperors from the Qing dynasty spent their summers to escape the heat in Beijing. Occupying an area of 564,000 square meters, it is the largest royal garden in China, even bigger than the Summer Palace in Beijing. The historically important Chengdo Summer Palace is not only a tourist destination, but also a museum to explore the history and culture of the Qing Dynasty.
- Jinshanling Great Wall: Originally built in the period from 1368 to 1389 during the Ming Dynasty, the Jinshanling Great Wall section is 140 kilometers long and at the north-east end of Beijing. It has never been repaired, and provides a unique view of the Wall, watchtowers and magnificent scenery. As there are relatively few tourists at Jinshanling Great Wall, it is a good place to explore on foot. Also an 800-meter long cable was built to assist the tourists.
- Jin Shan Ling Restaurant : Jin Shan Ling Restaurant is located at the foot of Jin Shan Ling Great Wall. It serves a great variety of Chinese delicacies. The restaurant provides a wonderful view of mountains and Great Wall from the outdoor dining terrace.

- Putuozongcheng Temple: Putuozongcheng Temple is reminiscent of the Dala Lama’s Potala Palace in Tibet. It is considered as a great place to go if you cannot travel to Tibet. The temple was built to show the imperial family's respect for the minority groups and their beliefs. The temple is a marvelous sight with red walls that contrast against the green mountain backdrop. The top of the temple complex has a commanding view of the Chengde Summer Palace Resort.
- Pule Temple: Pule Temple was built in 1766 for visiting Mongolian and minority dignitaries. The temple combines the styles of traditional Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan buildings in a tranquil setting. At the rear of the temple is the Round Pavilion, a replica of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Although there are a lot of steep climbs, it is still exhilarating to come here and enjoy the natural scenery.
- Puning Temple: Punning Temple, also called Big Buddha Temple, has the world's largest wooden Buddha. This Buddha has thousands of hands and eyes. It is 22 meters high and 15 meters wide. The temple was built to commemorate Emperor Qianlong's victory over the Mongolian rebellion. The front of the temple was built in traditional Chinese style, but the temple complex features both Han and Tibetan style buildings. The temple has drum and bell towers, numerous pavilions and halls. It is still in use today.
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- Yungang Grottoes: Located near the city of Datong, Shanxi Province, the Yungang Grottoes are carved out of sandstone cliffs on Wuzhou Mountain. The Yungang Grottoes were dug over a span of forty years (CE 453-493). It stretches some 1000 meters continuously from east to west and it is one of the the famous grotto complexes throughout China. Of the 53 original grottoes of the Yungang Grotto complex, only 45 remain intact. These remaining 45 grottoes contain some 250 niches and 51,000 Buddhism statues and murals.
- Datong Nine-Dragon Screen Wall: In the east of Datong City.It is one of the four famous nine-dragon screen walls in China.
- The Shang Huayan Temple: In the west of Datong City.It is an art museum of the Liao and Jin dynasties.
- Shanhua Monastery : located in central Datong within the old city walls. It was first constructed during the Tang dynasty (618-907AD) though most of the present wooden building dates back to the 12th century. The temple houses some intricately carved Jin dynasty (265-420AD) statues and has a screen wall decorated with dragons.

- Hanging Monastery: The Hanging Monastery was magically built into a near vertical rock face, the whole structure being supported by nothing more than a few wooden beams.
- Yingxian Wooden Pagoda: Yingxian Wooden Pagoda is the oldest and tallest wooden pagoda in China. The pagoda was built over 900 years ago. It is a mystery to scientists and tourists alike that this pagoda withstood several natural disasters and still was able to maintain its original condition.
- HONGTAI RESTAURANT: The Hongtai Restaurant is one of the most famous restaurants in Datong. It specializes in Shanxi Cai (cuisine from north-western China). It is highly recommended by customers for its good food and reasonable prices.

- Wutai Mountain Scenic Area: The beautiful scenery of Mt. Wutaishan is a masterpiece, nature at its most exquisite. There are five glorious peaks: Wanghai Peak in the east, Guayue Peak in the west, Jinxiu Peak in the south, Yedou Peak in the north, and the central Cuiyan Peak. This mountain, one of the four holy Buddhist Mountains, is said to be the dwelling place of Manjusri Bodhisattva. 360 temples were built here dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and 47 of these still exist.
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- Chongshansi Temple: lies in the Wuyi Road of Taiyuan ，one of the famous Buddhism temples of Shanxi province. In 1983, it became a national key temple of the Hans.
- Kangzhuang Restaurant: The Kangzhuang Restaurant is one of the most famous restaurants in Taiyuan. It specializes in Shanxi Cai (cuisine from the north-western China). It is highly recommended by customers for its good food and reasonable prices.

- Pingyao Ancient Town: In the middle of Shanxi Province, this is the best-preserved of the four ancient towns in China. Inside the intact Ming Dynasty city wall this traditional town, whose buildings date from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, is exceptionally well-preserved, and just as it was centuries ago. Bikes can be rented for about 10 yuan/hour. You can also learn the traditional Chinese art of paper-cut, producing beautiful shapes and designs from paper in the Wentao Paper-cut shop, and lean how lacquerwork is done in Yonglong Shop.
- Qiao Family Compound: Built in 1755, this well-preserved and exquisite structure used to be the residence of Qiao Zhiyong, who was a famous businessman during the Qing Dynasty.

- The Rishengchang Draft Bank: It was established in 1823. It was the biggest draft bank at that time and had been famous for "Hui Tong Tian Xia" (Business Connecting the Whole World).
- The Mingqing Street: The downtown thoroughfare and reserved quite well of the styles in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
- Armed Escort Company Museum: Armed Escort Company once played a significant role in promoting comerce in Ming and Qing dynasties. The museum tells stories of the founder-members and introduce some famous wings of martial arts.
- Ancient City Wall: the ancient city wall of Pingyao with nearly 3,000 years of history, at present, basically keeps the original appearance of city wall constructed in early Ming Dynasty.

- Ancient City Wall: The walls, ramparts, gates and watchtowers form one of the oldest and most complete city defences still around. Built in the 13th century on the foundations of the original Tang Forbidden City surrounding the city centre. You can walk, rent a bike,rickshaw or take an electric cart around the full 14km circuit, with great views of the city on either side. If the weather is not good for biking on the city wall, we will substitute a visit to the Bell Tower. Your guide will be very glad to take you the Bell Tower after you have been to look at the city wall.
- Shaanxi Provincial Museum: The history of Shaanxi is said to be the history of China, and this museum is quite simply one of the nation's best. Four major galleries in large, Tang-style buildings house a vast and impressive collection, beautifully displayed. Most of the item labels are in English, although some other information on the exhibitions is not, but your guide can help here. Wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Little Conch Restaurant: Little Conch Restaurant is one of the most famous restaurants in Xi’an. The restaurant specializes in Cantonese cuisine with a variety of seafood and fish dishes. It is highly recommended by customers for its good food and reasonable prices.
- Chongde Handmade Pottery Factory: Chongde Handmade Pottery Factory manufactures the copies of terra-cotta warriors and horses of Jing De porcelain. It has become a popular spot for foreign tourists looking for special, quality souvenirs. For the clients coming from China Highlights, you will have the chance to see the making process and have a try on your own hands. This only happens in Xian with China Highlights. Do not miss it!
Tel: 029-83577031
Address: No.2 East Chanhe bridge, Hua Qing Rd., Xian.

- The Terracotta Warriors and Horses: Discovered accidentally in 1974, this incredible army of over 7000 soldiers, archers, horses and chariots in full battle array has guarded Emperor Qin's tomb since 210BC. Each figure is unique, and the painstaking repair and excavation continues in 3 pits which are protected inside huge hangars. 1.5 hours from Xian, there is also an excellent museum and film about the history of the vaults. Photos (no flash) are allowed. Wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Big Wild Goose Pagoda: A major Buddhist site, the simple, elegant brick Pagoda stands in the grounds of the attractive Da Ci'en Temple. The Pagoda was built in the 7th century to house the Buddhist materials that Xuanzang (Tripitaka) brought back from his epic journey to India. The Temple complex has several large halls with some great Buddhist statues and murals.
- A Wa Shan Zhai Restaurant(Qinling Branch): A Wa Village Restaurant was established in 2004, mainly specializes in Hunan and Sichuan cuisine. It provides delicacy by using the material from xancin, obtaining a nationwide reputation from customers. It would be a nice choice to dine while traveling the nearby Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses.