Fact file

More information: flowertravel.com.au.

Exploring there:

The Forbidden City limits the daily number of visitors to 80,000. You can buy tickets online at various outlets. Don’t forget to bring your passport, an umbrella and a water bottle. Tickets are about NZ$17. You pay an extra fee to see the treasure gallery and an additional fee to see the clock and watch gallery. Foreign visitors are required to provide passport numbers and full names when booking tickets online.

If you don’t have an online reservation, go early as there are usually tickets available in the morning. See en.dpm.org.cn/visit/ticket. Getting there:

Air China flies Auckland to Beijing return, from about $900.

Touring there:

While it is possible to book visas and entry tickets yourself, transSiberian travel experts Flower Travel specialises in individual and group travel to China, Mongolia and Russia, including The Forbidden City, Beijing and Shanghai. It offers semi-independent touring where the essentials are all taken care of but you’re not ‘‘smothered’’. See transsiberian.com.au.