TOURS & ACTIVITIES Print E-mail
Ritan Park
 
Touring the must see sites in Beijing, and even wandering the hutongs or exploring the Great Wall are all easily done without a tour company or guide.  But for those of you who desire a little extra guidance or local insight, here are a number of organizations in Beijing that can both provide this support and offer additional activities and opportunities to engage the local culture and community:
 
 
Tony Chen gets consistently rave reviews for organizing custom city walks and hikes out  of Beijing which helping visitors engage and see Beijing on a more personal level.  Even if you aren’t lucky enough to get Tony himself for your tour, Stretchaleg’s policy is to provide guides trained to be flexible and responsive to your needs (a rare trait in most Chinese tours/guides).
 
Check this well-established organization’s calendar (link) offering a wide range of tours, classes and cultural activities focused on many facets of Chinese history and culture.  Although CCC does not offer customized activities, if you have a few extra days in Beijing, you will still have interesting choices ranging from visits to requisite sites and hutong tours, to classes or workshops on Chinese arts and crafts, traditional Chinese medicine, cooking classic dishes, or music and mahjong. CCC also leads half day and full day trips outside of Beijing to surrounding temples, monasteries and villages.
 
Hiking the Wild Wall
 
 
 
If you can spare a whole day and would like a respite from the usual site seeing and the chance to breathe some cleaner air, Beijing Hikers leads hikes every Saturday and Sunday into the mountains around Beijing. Many of these hikes are on remote “wild” sections of the Great Wall, so this can be a great alternative oraddition to a typical Great Wall excursion. 
 
 
 
 Art District
  
 
 
If you are interested in Beijing’s booming contemporary art scene, artWALK Beijing organizes seasonal events and activities that explore different artists or art venues across the city.