Spring Break & Golden Week - China for Jets

Spring Break & Golden Week - China for Jets

Spring Break,March 26 - April 4, 2005
Golden Week, April 30 - May 9, 2005
Rates at $1145.00 (spring Break) and $1200.00 (Golden Week). Rates will be $100.00 less if we have 16 or more participants.
In all cases, single room supplement is $190.00.
Rates exclude international airfare to China.

10 days/9 nights Beijing, Xian, Guilin, and Shanghai

Avia Travel is pleased to announce our China Escapade package exclusively for JET participants and friends. China is rich in history and culture. This is a wonderful opportunity to network with other JETS. We encourage you to invite your parents and family to join us for a truly memorable experience. Be sure to book early, especially for Golden Week.

We pack in a tremendous amount of activities in these 10 days. Our trip starts in the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai and continues on to Guilin with the beautiful Li River cruise. You will love the free day in Yangshuo. Not to missed is Xian, with the Terra Cotta Warriors. Onward to Beijing by an overnight train (great experience). We travel to the Simatai section (Lonely Planet describes it as "most beautiful") of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the alleys of the "hutongs" and the Summer Palace. I think the most satisfying aspect to us is the fact that many of you come away from the trip with great memories and a new bond with fellow JETS on this trip. Best of all is when parents/siblings are able to share this wonderful trip after visiting you in Japan before they head home.

Itinerary
Day 1	Shanghai	Arrival into Shanghai. Make own way to hotel.
Day 2	Shanghai	Half day tour of Jade Buddha & Yu Garden. Afternoon free. You may want to check out the wonderful museum in Shanghai on your own. (Breakfast / Lunch)
Day 3	Shanghai to Guilin (by flight)	A short flight to Guilin, and visits to Reed Flute Caves, Fubo Hill before hotel check in. (Breakfast / Lunch)
Day 4	Guilin - Yangshuo	A favorite day for everyone —a morning cruise on the Li River, and free after arrival into Yangshuo to explore on own. (Breakfast / Lunch)
Day 5	Yangshuo - Xian (by flight)	We will try to leave as late as flights permit from Guilin (one hour drive from Yangshuo). On arrival if time permits, visit New Provincial Musuem and Wild Goose Pagoda. (Breakfast / Dinner)
Day 6	Xian - Beijing (by train)	Visit the Terra Cotta Warriors and Banpo Museum in day, and later in day transfer to train station for ride to Beijing. (Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner)
Day 7	Beijing	Early morning arrival into Beijing. Check into hotel, and after breakfast, tour Tiananman Square and the Forbidden City. (Breakfast / Lunch )
Day 8	Beijing	A definite highlight of our trip—a tour of the Great Wall (the Simatai section—the most beautiful section, according to Lonely Planet). Please have good walking shoes today! (Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner)
Day 9	Beijing	Morning is free. After lunch, visit the hutongs (rapidly disappearing in Beijing) and the Temple of Heaven. (Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner)
Day 10	Depart for home.	Make own way to airport .

Rates include: Transportation within China, 3 star hotel accommodations, meals and sightseeing as specified. Tours are based on a minimum of 10 paid participants.

TOUR FARE DOES NOT INCLUDE: International airfares into China, airport taxes within China, tips, meals not specified in the itinerary, optional tours, charges for passports, visas, vaccinations and inoculations, laundry, liquor, excess baggage charges, accident and baggage insurance, telephone or cable charges, private non-group transfer, items of a personal nature, and any items not specifically listed as included.

Notes on the cities:

BEIJING
China's magnificent capital, and its political and cultural center for the past 700 years, Beijing is also the single greatest repository of architectural masterpieces from China's glorious imperial past.

Sightseeing features: The goldenroofed Imperial Palace complex, also known as the Forbidden City, with more than 9,000 ornate rooms; the Summer Palace along Kunming Lake, with Dowager Ci Xi's grandiose Marble Boat and Painted Gallery; the 15th century Temple of Heaven; the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian An Men) and its enormous public square, the largest in the worked; the 2,000-year-old Great Wall of China, built by the first Qin emperor and which once extended for 6,200 miles; the Sacred Way and Avenue of the Animals, leading to the Ming Tombs, grand burial sites of 13 emperors.

"Hutong" is an ancient city alley or lane, typical in Beijing where the number of hutongs may run into several thousand. They are around the Forbidden City, many of which were built during the dynasties of Yuan, Ming, and Qing. The city at that time was divided into Quadrangles, with each quadrangle functioning independently, with its own social groups. This tour helps you to understand the history and culture of Beijing and to plug into the 700 year old narrow streets, to visit old quadrangles by old fashioned rickshaws and to learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing residents.

GUILIN
Guilin nestles amid fantasy-like landscapes of unsurpassed beauty. In fact, the West's image of China is the landscape of Guilin. The scenery here has been the inspiration of poets and artists for centuries.

Sightseeing features: A cruise on the magical Li River, where gigantic karst (limestone) formations rise from serene banks, river bends and graceful bamboo groves.

YANGSHAO
Just one and half hrs by bus from Guilin, Yangshao is a great little town to explore other villages in the nearby countryside. It is set amid limestone pinnacles, offers great scenery and a laid back atmosphere. Biking to explore the surrounding village is a good option.

XI'AN
Served as the capital of 11 dynasties. Under the first Qin emperor, Shi Huangdi, who unified the warring kingdoms into one nation 2,000 years ago, Xi'an became China's first true capital. But it was only in 1974 that it came into worked prominence, when Shi Huangdi's incredible life-size terra army was excavated-- one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Sightseeing features: The Qin emperor's life-size army of more than 6,000 clay soldiers (no two statues are alike, giving credence to the speculation that the petrified army was modeled on individual warriors), their horses and chariots; Shaanxi Historical Museum, rich with some of the oldest artifacts in China; Ban Po Neolithic Village, for a glimpse of prehistoric life in China; Big Wild Goose Pagoda, erected in AD 622; the 141-ft. Small Wild Goose Pagoda; the Ming Dynasty City Wall, which overlooks the entire city.

SHANGHAI
China's most cosmopolitan and largest city, a major port since the arrival of the Europeans in the 1800s. It is now fast developing into China's most vital trading, industrial, and financial center for the world. The Jade Buddha Temple and Yu Garden are worth visiting, and Shanghai has a state of the art Museum.