The 12 Best China Walking Tours

1.Beijing: Forbidden City Tour(Group/Private)-Tickets Included

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 7,974 reviews · 3 - 8 hours · from $4Our pick

Choose a small-group or private visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, led by guides such as Mina, Miko, Maria, or Jay. Expect palace courtyards, imperial stories, strict security, and optional museums, lunch, or Coal Hill Park.

“Cassie my guida and the driver mr Wang Wenkuan were really nice and welcoming. Cassie explain me the history very well, guide me to see the most important part of the beautiful forbidden city and made me enjoy the visit even if it was really cold. The car was clean and comfortable and the drive really safe.”

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2.Beijing Hutong Walking Food and Beer Tour at Hidden Restaurants

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 1,132 reviews · from $80Top rated

Follow an English-speaking guide such as Yoyo, Winnie, Janice, or Haitao through Beijing’s hutongs for four generous food stops, local beer, and a final craft pint. Expect hotpot, noodles, beef buns, spring pancakes, and a walk of roughly 2 to 2.5 kilometers.

“Great foodie tour even in the rain . Guide looks after us very well. Food was excellent and plenty of refreshments to go with it . Thank you.”

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3.Beijing: Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square Waking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 1,002 reviews · 8 hours · from $2Best value

Meet your English-speaking guide for Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City, with optional Temple of Heaven or Jingshan Park visits. Guides such as Huang and Alice add clear stories, photo help, and practical care. Expect identity checks, long walks, and a flexible choice of tour lengths.

“Wonderful, Huang did an amazing job and the calligraphy momentous are such a delight!”

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4.Private Beijing Walking Tour of the Forbidden City with 7 Options

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 675 reviews · from $75

Meet a private guide such as Lily, Cindy, Jason, or Moko for a tailored walk through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Choose a basic palace visit, private transfers, a hutong meal, or a combo tour. Expect security checks, long walks, and useful help with Beijing logistics.

“A hotel transfer made the morning easy as security and check in at Tiananmen Square took longer than anticipated. Lucy hit the highlights of both sites enabling us to explore more on our own.”

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5.Forbidden City Private Walking Tour with Optional Sights

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 400 reviews · from $90

Spend four to six hours with a private guide at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, with an optional Temple of Heaven add-on. Guides such as Peter, Jenny, Michael, and May are praised for clear explanations and flexibility. Expect lots of walking, passport checks, and transport costs unless your option includes them.

“Our guide, Lena, was excellent, kind, knowledgeable and fun to be with. We would strongly recommend this tour!”

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6.Beijing Private Hutong Food Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 299 reviews · from $82

Spend four hours with a private guide such as Allen, Lucy, Jay, Miko, or Anson, tasting 20-plus Beijing foods in Dongsi Hutong and around LongFuSi Jie. Expect small local eateries, market stops, old courtyard architecture, generous portions, and help with dietary needs when arranged ahead.

“We thoroughly enjoyed this local food tour! Our guide, Kassie, was very knowledgeable and her joyful personality made it such a great experience. We tried many local foods we would not have tried otherwise. Kassie made great selections and was always thoughtful to ask about our preferences. We enjoyed this tour and highly recommend it! Kassie will deliver an amazing local experience that will leave you full of great food and memories.”

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7.Beijing: Hutong Culinary Walking Tour with 15+ Tastings

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 162 reviews · 3 - 4 hours · from $76

Meet at Dongsi Subway Station for a three to four hour private food walk through Beijing hutongs. Guides such as Jimmy, Lucy, Anson, Mike, and Andy adjust stops to your tastes, from dumplings and hot pot to lamb skewers and adventurous offal dishes.

“Our Guide Jay was wonderful, he showed us unique food spots and dishes we would’ve not tried on our own! We really recommend this food tour to other ppl who want to get to know the local Chinese cuisine!”

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8.Shanghai Highlights Walking Tour With A Real Local

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 153 reviews · 2.5 hours · from $34

Meet local guide Bill at East Nanjing Road and walk through the Bund, Shanghai Old Town, Yuyuan Bazaar, Nanjing Road, and People’s Park. Expect clear English, personal stories about Shanghai’s changes, photo stops, and advice on fried dumplings, tea, shopping, and dining.

“The walking tour with Bill was excellent. He was an interesting and enthusiastic guide. We found out so much about the city. It was a great tour to do on our first day. Bill shared lots of history with many personal insights as he had grown up in Shanghai. We would highly recommend this tour.”

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9.Beijing City Walk: Explore Hutongs Life and Old Beijing

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 146 reviews · from $15

Spend about 2.5 hours walking through old Beijing with an English-speaking guide such as Kevin, Yang, Eevee, or Summer Wang. See Qianmen, Dashilan, hutongs, Nanluoguxiang, and the Drum and Bell Towers, with local snacks, calligraphy, shops, and neighborhood stories along the way.

“Very interesting walk through the vibrant part of the city. Tons of small shops and kiosks with traditional Chinese pastries, foods, drinks and souvenirs, Winter time it’s cold though. Better ware warm clothes.”

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10.Shanghai: Evening Walking Food Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 115 reviews · 3.5 hours · from $69

Spend 3.5 hours eating through Shanghai’s French Concession, from soup dumplings and pan-fried buns to pork belly, mango sago dessert, and local beer. English-speaking guides such as Emma, Max, Cathy, and Joy add food know-how, neighborhood stories, and practical Shanghai tips.

“We had a group of 10 which is a good size for this event. Emma was a superb guide, knowledgeable and friendly. A good range of different food was on offer and we went into a couple of restaurants that as a tourist you might not come across or think if going into. Very enjoyable. I would recommend.”

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11.Beijing: Highlights of Forbidden City Private Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 104 reviews · 4 - 8 hours · from $67

You’ll follow the Forbidden City’s central axis with a private English, French, or Spanish-speaking guide. Choose a focused palace visit, add Tiananmen Square, or extend the day to the Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Hutongs, or Mutianyu Great Wall.

“We had an exceptional private tour of the Forbidden City with our guide, Hannah. She was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so many interesting stories, details, and hidden facts that made the entire experience come alive. Hannah also took us to corners of the palace complex we’d never have found ourselves, giving us a much deeper appreciation of the history and architecture. She was warm, engaging, and paced the tour perfectly. This was truly one of the highlights of our trip — highly recommend her!”

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12.Beijing Walking Food Tour with a Local Friend

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 73 reviews · from $60

Spend about two hours with Jenny or another local guide in Beijing’s Dongsi hutongs. Taste a meal’s worth of noodles, dumplings, pastries, snacks, drinks, and dessert, with vegetarian, vegan, halal, and spice preferences handled with advance notice.

“The tour was brilliant - Jenny tailored it to my dietary preferences and offered her choices and recommendations throughout the tour. Her recommendations were guided purely by how good the food is - a true foodie!! Each dish was dRead more”

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