Discover China

September 14 to October 1, 2009

Cost: $2859 land only; 4-day extension $710

Contact Teresa Wilkin: teresawilkin@gmail.com.

Help Friendship Force in China
Friendship Force International invites you to join in reaching out to the citizens of China to create a new bond for our two countries. With the help of International Board member Jack Cang, we will experience a one-night homestay with families in Nanjing, China, following which we will have opportunity to tour all the exciting scenic highpoints of the country,. These will include the Yangtze River Cruise, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, culminating in Beijing on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

FFD Vice President, Teresa Wilkin, has been selected by FFI to be the Exchange Director for a Discover China trip next fall. Dates for the trip are September 14 to October 1, 2009. There will be an optional 4-day extension to the trip for those interested in seeing the National Day celebrations in Beijing on the PRC’s 60th anniversary and to participate in the Mid-Autumn Festival, a colorful celebration of the Harvest moon in Hangzhou.

The cost of the trip is $2859 [land only]. The trip will begin in Shanghai, include a 4-night home stay in Nanjing organized by FFI Board Member Jack Cang, the Yangtze River cruise, the Terra Cotta Warriors site in Xi’an, and will finish in Beijing.

PROGRAM FEE: $2859 (LAND ONLY). Deposit: $500 per person. Deadline: March 14, 2009. 
The fee is based on a minimum of 15 fully paid ambassadors, double occupancy and includes all sightseeing tours, hotels and cruise accommodations, Nanjing homestay program, domestic airfare and taxes, meals, and local guides. Optional Extension (see below) is $710 per person. Deposits are refundable until June 15, 2009

Independence Day Extension

If you missed seeing China during the Olympics, you can still experience Chinese spectacle by joining our four-day extension to observe the celebrations surrounding the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. We will join festivities in Tiananmen Square during China’s National Day on October 1st. The following day we fly to Hangzhou to experience the Mid-Autumn traditional holiday festival, to view the harvest moon and eat moon cake. We transfer to Shanghai on October 4 for one final night before our flights home on October 5.

The cost of the 4-day extension is $612 and includes an extra night in Beijing on October 1, China’s Independence Day, two nights in Hangzhou, the garden city of China, and a final night in Shanghai before departure from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport. Departure for those making the extension will be on October 5, 2009.

Itinerary includes:

SHANGHAI
We will fly from the U.S. to Shanghai on September 14, 2009, arriving the next day. A group flight is available from San Francisco on United Airlines for those interested. Otherwise, Ambassadors are responsible for their own airfare.

Our first two nights in China, will be at the Hua Ting Hotel & Towers, 1200 Cao Xi Bei Lu, Shanghai. A full day of sightseeing in this vibrant city includes the Bund, the old Quarter, Yu Gardens and the Jade Buddha Temple as well as the Shanghai Museum.

NANJING HOMESTAY
En route to Nanjing by motorcoach we will visit Suzhou to see the incredible gardens, cruise on the Grand Canal and learn about the silk embroidery industry. 

In Nanjing, we will stay our first two nights in a hotel and tour the city by day. Sightseeing in Nanjing will include Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum, the Ming Tombs, and a Confucian Temple. Also we will visit a local high school, call at a senior citizen center, and then meet our host families with whom we will spend our third night. Early the next afternoon, we will reunite at the Nanjing hotel for our final night to pack and prepare for the rest of our journey.

There will be a traditional Chinese Folk Music Concert during one of our evenings in Nanjing. Our partner host in Nanjing is the Jiangsu International Cultural Exchange Center, Jack Cang, Director.

YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE
We fly from Nanjing to Wuhan and then by motorcoach to Yichang where we will board the Victoria Empress for a four-day cruise on the Yangtze River. We will see the famed Three Gorges and the dam. At Wushan, we take a cruiser up the Daning River to see its scenic Small Three Gorges.

TERRA COTTA WARRIORS
We disembark our cruise in Chongqing and fly to Xi’an where we stay at the New World Hotel Xian. During our two days in this ancient capital of China, we visit the Terra Cotta Museum and enjoy a Tang Dynasty dinner theater show.