Private Tour: Juyongguan Great Wall, Sacred Way, and Dingling

Begin the tour by meeting your guide in the lobby of your Beijing hotel. Drive for approximately one hour to reach Juyongguan, which is the closest section of the Great Wall to Beijing. Upon arrival, take a short 2-minute walk from the parking lot to reach the Wall. Juyongguan is located in the 11-mile long (18 kilometer) Guangou Valley where the Jundu Mountain and Yan Mountain meet; it was the only route between Beijing and Mongolia.Today, it is one of the three greatest mountain passes of the Great Wall and is roughly circular with a perimeter of over 2.5 miles (4 kilometers).

Continue by taking a 30-minute drive to the Sacred Way. Begin at the stone memorial archway and stroll along the Sacred Way while learning about the fascinating myths of ancient China. The 4.3-mile (7 kilometer) divine path was considered to be the distance between the secular and celestial worlds. Admire the magnificent statues in place to guard the Ming emperors' afterlife. The Ming emperor believed that after their coffin was carried through the Sacred Way, their soul could rise up to heaven.

Following your 40-minute walk along the Sacred Way, enjoy a traditional Chinese lunch in a local restaurant with quality food. Lunch will be served in a traditional fancy restaurant where performances like face-changing, acrobatics, and Peking opera are staged between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. daily.

After lunch, travel onward to Dingling, the only imperial tomb among the Thirteen Ming Tombs that has been excavated. Visit the tomb belonging to the 13th Ming Emperor Wanli, who had the longest ruling time out of all 16 Ming Emperors. About 3,000 pieces of artifacts have been found in the Underground Palace of Dingling; some of them are displayed in the museum of Dingling. Following the tour, you will be transferred back to your hotel in Beijing.