The Temple of Heaven glowing at golden hour beside imperial walls, Beijing
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Beijing · North China

Imperial China

Six hundred years of empire, a wild stretch of the Wall to yourselves — and golf played in its shadow.

Ideal Length
4–5 nights
Golf
2–3 rounds
Best Season
Apr–Oct
Pairs With
Hangzhou · Shanghai
Where Beijing fits in a journey
The Journey

Begin where China began.

Every empire leaves a capital, and none left one like Beijing. The Forbidden City sits at the centre of the city's grid; the Great Wall rides the ridgelines an hour to the north. This is where a first journey through China should open.

Our Beijing is quieter than the one most visitors see: the Forbidden City brought to life by an expert English-speaking guide, the Wall on a stretch the tour buses never find, and the hutong lanes in between for courtyard cafés and the best roast duck of your life. The golf belongs to the same landscape — at Reignwood Pine Valley, Nicklaus fairways climb the Jundu Mountains with the Wall tracing the skyline above the back nine.

The Golf

Fairways in the shadow of the Wall.

Beijing's best golf hides in the mountains north of the city — private, immaculate and all but unknown to international golfers.

Golfers on a Reignwood Pine Valley fairway with the Great Wall snaking across the mountains behind Caddies and players walking a Reignwood fairway beneath the jagged Jundu peaks Bunkered fairways at Reignwood Pine Valley beneath the craggy Jundu Mountains The white château clubhouse of Reignwood Pine Valley beneath the Jundu Mountains
Signature round
Jundu Mountains · Changping

Reignwood Pine Valley

Set beneath the Great Wall near Badaling, Reignwood Pine Valley is one of China's most private and prestigious golf clubs — a Nicklaus mountain-parkland layout where elevated tees, sculpted bunkering and fast, guarded greens unfold below the Jundu Mountains, the Wall tracing the ridgeline above. Membership is closely held; we arrange guest play on your behalf, with caddies, forecaddies and a quiet clubhouse lunch to follow.

Designer
Jack Nicklaus / Nicklaus Design
Setting
Great Wall mountain parkland
Best season
Apr–Oct
Pair with
Great Wall, Forbidden City, private Beijing dining
Aerial view of Topwin's fairways along Yanqi Lake, with the lakeside pagoda and the Yanshan mountains beyond A bunkered lakeside green jutting into Yanqi Lake, framed by autumn leaves The Yanqi Lake pagoda mirrored in still water beside the course Rolling fairways and autumn grasses beneath the Yanshan range at Topwin A stone bridge arching over a still stream on the course, golden willows reflected in the water Autumn fairways at Topwin beneath the Yanqi Lake pagoda, the lake glinting beyond Yanqi Lake at dusk, Topwin's lakeside greens and the pagoda beneath the Yanshan range
A presidential round
Yanqi Lake · Huairou

Topwin Country Club

Lakeside fairways beneath the Yanshan range, beside the waters where the world's leaders gathered for the 2014 APEC summit — President Obama among those to have played a round here. In autumn the course turns gold and crimson, the pagoda rising over the back nine.

Designer
Ian Woosnam
Setting
Lakeside parkland, Yanqi Lake
Claim to fame
Obama's Beijing round, APEC 2014
Pair with
The Great Wall at Mutianyu, 20 minutes away

A third round is easily woven in — parkland and lakeside courses across the Jundu foothills and the city's north, chosen for your dates and the season. We'll recommend the right pairing when we design your journey.

Lacquered slices of Peking duck served in a tiered wooden presentation box, condiments in its drawers
After the Round

The day does not end at the 18th.

Beijing's best evenings are built around private tables: crisp-skinned Peking duck, quiet courtyard dining, old-city wine rooms, and seasonal northern Chinese menus arranged away from the obvious tourist circuit.

For golfers, it moves instead into the kind of dinner that makes Beijing feel personal — booked, briefed and waiting by the time you've putted out.

Signature Experiences

Beijing, arranged privately.

Built on relationships on the ground, set up for your party alone — never an excursion from a brochure.

The Great Wall snaking over ridgelines at golden hour
Beijing · The Wall

See the Great Wall without the crowds

Years on the ground have taught us exactly which stretch to climb, and at which hour — a private guide, and the ramparts all but to yourselves as the light goes gold.

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Grey-tiled hutong rooftops stretching toward the Drum Tower under a blue sky, Beijing
Beijing · Hutongs

The hutong neighborhoods of Old Beijing

Into the grey-brick lanes around the Drum and Bell Towers with the people who grew up in them — the capital as it actually lives.

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Lacquered slices of Peking duck served in a tiered wooden presentation box, condiments in its drawers
Beijing · Chef's Table

The Peking duck chef's table

Beijing's most famous dish done properly — lacquered over fruitwood and carved before you at a private courtyard table.

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The Forbidden City's courtyards in early light
Beijing · Forbidden City

Visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

Across the world's largest square and through the Meridian Gate with an expert historian — six centuries unlocked in a morning.

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These are a beginning, not a menu — tell us what your party loves and we'll find its Beijing equivalent.

Where You Stay

An address in the heart of the capital.

Not a tower by the ring road — a base a short walk from the Forbidden City, part of the journey itself.

Beijing · In the CityThe Peninsula Beijing

The Peninsula Beijing

Beijing, China

Prefer a hutong courtyard, a modern landmark on the central axis or a night in the mountains at the foot of the Wall? Alternatives, room categories and the level of comfort you choose are set out in your private proposal — every address booked entirely on your behalf.

Journeys Featuring Beijing

Where Beijing fits in a journey.

Beijing rarely travels alone — it opens a longer route. Two of our sample journeys begin here; the full day-by-day shape of each lives on its own page.

A palace-style clubhouse above bunkered fairways, misty hills behind

First-Time Golf China

9 Nights · 4 Rounds · All Private Clubs
Beijing · Shanghai · Hangzhou

Imperial China, Great Wall golf, Shanghai's wild links and a tea-plantation finale in Hangzhou — the natural first journey.

From $7,950 per golfer.View Full Itinerary
The Complete Route
An oceanfront golf hole on the cliffs of Shanqin Bay, Hainan

The Grand China Golf Journey

16 Nights · 7–9 Rounds
Beijing · Shanghai / Hangzhou · Yunnan · Hainan

Open in the capital, finish on a tropical coast — the most complete way to experience Golf China.

From $12,950 per person.View Full Itinerary

Or build Beijing into your own.

Add days, swap rounds for culture, bring non-golfers — every journey is designed from scratch. Tell us about your party and we'll shape the route around you.

Plan Your Journey
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Begin your journey in Imperial China.

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