Forbidden City-The Palace Museum, Beijing, China

4Eleanor 5:00 PM Feb 18, 2020

Forbidden City From A Different Angle
We visited during the 70th anniversary month and all the tickets sold out before 9am! We were fortunate enough to bump into an amazing tour guide called Tony. He suggested we'd get more out of walking around the outside and go through the Forbidden City gardens for a better view. When we looked down onto the city we realised why it was better. We really would've been shoulder to shoulder and not seen much, especially as most of the city is closed off to the public. From the garden hill we saw spectacular views and Tony gave us incredible cultural and historical stories and information. He also took us to places the general tourist wouldn't have known about and we ended up booking him for a 2nd day to take us to the Hutongs, silk factory, Summer palace, Temple of Heaven, and eat Peking duck,. Tony picked us up from the hotel, it was raining and he had umbrellas on the ready, he looked after us so well! I'd completely recommend him, he was so flexible and knowledgeable, friendly and good humoured. I'd done a ton of research and was ready to be the tour guide to my family, but our trip wouldn't have been as good without him by far. He'll customise the day around what you want to do and make it a day you won't forget. Here's his details: Tony Niu - [email protected] +8613911825633

4Paolo 5:00 PM Mar 14, 2020

Definitely a place to visit
I visited the Forbidden city on an early morning at the end of October 2019 and we have been blessed with a sunny day (really shining which I was told is unusual in Beijing) and a limited crowd of tourists. The place is huge but with a tour guide it took us a couple of hours to have a quite detailed visit, also because it consists mainly in strolling around from one building to the next. No possibilities to enter places. The initial part with the classic palaces is breath-taking for the vastness of the empty spaces (to hold the people in the past time) that indeed we had the privilege to see quite empty, though usually are full of tourists. I preferred the more cosy and secluded areas and houses where the Emperor's concubines were living including a garden on the opposite side of the main gate right before the exit. Overall a must-see experience that can be done efficiently even in a couple of hours.