Private Beijing Night Tour with Hutong Family Dinner and Back Lakes Boat Cruise

As this is a private tour, you can choose to depart at any time from 4:30pm to 5:30pm – just specify your preferred time on booking in the 'special requirements' field.

Your private guide will meet you in your hotel lobby and transfer you by private, climate-controled minivan to the Drum and Bell Towers, where your Beijing night tour begins. You'll learn about the function and the history of these impressive edifices, for centuries the tallest structures in all Beijing, before you walk the short distance to Yandaixie Street.

Once a famous historic street, this is now a popular tourist attraction, with plenty of souvenir stalls and reproductions of classic architecture.

Enjoy a Chinese dinner with a local family and learn about Chinese family life. Your guide will also navigate you through the hutong, Beijing's famous low-rise alleyways, to a traditional siheyuan courtyard house: learn why this is the most expensive style of house in Beijing now and how wealthy Beijingers are spending millions of dollars refurbishing these vintage homes.

It's another short stroll to Back Lakes (Hou Hai), one of the most popular bar areas in Beijing. Local people love the beautiful lake, which attracted high-ranking officials to the area during the Ming and Qing dynasties because of its great feng shui.

Here you'll enjoy a private rowing boat cruise for an hour, just as officials might have done during imperial times. Sip tea and enjoy typical snacks as a traditional Chinese musician serenades you with either the guzheng (Chinese zither) or the pipa (Chinese lute).

From here, you'll drive back to your hotel, arriving between 9:00pm and 10:00pm depending on your choice of departure time.