Explore CHINA in Spring 2010

Co-Hosts – Becky Roberts and Yen Tan.

• Get the travel experience of Becky Roberts.

o Becky – a worldwide traveler known for her lavish tours of Hawaii and trips on the newest and best cruise ships. Most of you are already familiar with Becky’s skill in making sure that everyone has a most enjoyable time in any tour that she hosts.

• Plus the Chinese cultural knowledge and familiarity of Yen Tan.

o Yen – born in Hong Kong, educated in the US, comes from a family that founded the Lingnan School of Art. Yen has made many trips to Hong Kong and China in recent years for art exhibitions and discussions with museum directors.

Pre-Tour

Hong Kong (English spoken here, good transition city) is a former British Crown Colony that became a part of China (as a Special Administrative Region – SAR) in an elaborate turn-over ceremony led by Prince Charles in 1997. This city continues to prosper under Chinese SAR administration. With modern skyscrapers rival that of New York City, Hong Kong puts a Chinese perspective onto a modern metropolis.

TOUR (Approx 2+ weeks) – possible sights may include:

Beijing

· The Great Wall

· The Hall of the People

· Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

· Summer Palace

· Buddist Temple

· Restaurant for Peking Duck

Shanghai and Outskirts

· Downtown and communications tower

· Restaurant for soup dumplings.

· Shanghai Acrobat Troupe.

· Silk factory and tea tasting ceremony.

Other sights

· Xian –Over 9000 Terra Cotta Soldiers that stand guard over the emperor’s tomb.

· Guilin (click)– scenic mountains that rise out of the water. (The subject of many famous Chinese paintings.)

· Han Tsau and the beautiful area around West Lake - a picturesque resort.

Optional extensions

· Panda Bear research station in Chengdu (Sichuan province) where heroic efforts are being made to save this lovable species. (You can experience a close interaction with the Pandas that you see on the Travel Channel with Samantha Brown.)

· Chinese art museums and expos (where Chinese goods are sold) in Guangzhou. (China’s 3^rd largest city, Guangzhou is not on the usual route for tours.)

yttan, 9/16/08