IAAE2009 Cutural Tour Program

IAAE2009 Conference Tour Program

Beijing, Jing for short, is the nation's political, economic, cultural and educational center as well as China's most important center for international trade and communications. Together with Xian, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanjing and Hangzhou, Beijing is one of the six ancient cities in China. It has been the heart and soul of politics and society throughout its long history and consequently there is an unparalleled wealth of discovery to delight and intrigue travelers as they explore Beijing's ancient past and enjoy its exciting modern development.

As the capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing is located in northern China, close to Tianjin Municipality and partially surrounded by Hebei Province. The city covers an area of more than 16,410 square kilometers (6,336 square miles) and has a population of 14.93 million people.

Beijing is a city with four distinct seasons. Its best is late spring and autumn. But autumn is taken as the golden tourist season of the year since there is sometimes in the spring of recent years, a yellow wind. We suggest tourists visit Beijing during the months of May, September, and October when people can enjoy bright sunshine and blue skies. An abundance of international class performances are presented in May. If you like winter, you will have other chances to appreciate another landscape of Beijing. After skiing in Beihai and viewing the snowy sights on West Hill, enjoying the steaming hotpot is the best choice, which is really the fun of tour in Beijing. Please keep warm and remember to bring your down garments and sweaters when you visit Beijing in the winter.

Tour Operator

All pre-/mid-/post-conference tours are operated by China Dynasty Tours. Payment for all tours should be made to China Dynasty Tours. Please note that the tour operator also provides a tailor-made travel service for personalized travel itineraries. For inquiry and further information, please contact them at:

China Dynasty Tours Attention: Ms. Summer ZHAO and Mr. Tommy LI
A2306, A02-G03, Zhaowei Huadeng Plaza
No.14 Jiuxianqiao, Beijing 100016, China
Tel: +86-10-5823 7215 / 5823 7217
Fax: +86-10-5823 7201 / 5823 7202
Mobile: +86 13488690862 / +86 13910127393
E-mail: lwz@dynasty-tours.cn

Payment for All Tours

Wire Transfer: Name of Account: Bank of China, Beijing Jiang Tai Lu Sub-Branch
Name of Account: China Dynasty Tours
Account number: 802119125108091001
Address of Bank: 12 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China 100016
SWIFT Code: BKCH CN BJ110

Credit Card: Please download a tour payment form and copy the double face of your credit card. Fax to +86-10-5823 7201 / 5823 7202

Daytime Tour and Night Tour information

All the daytime and night tours will start in front of Crown Plaza Hotel Beijing Wuzhou; please meet with the guide 15 minutes before departure.

The costs for all tours include: English-speaking tour guides, admissions to the main entrance, air-conditioned coach and Chinese lunch (for daytime tour). Liability Insurance of travel agency.

The costs for all tours exclude: Entry or Exit China International Airfare or train tickets; Visa Fees; Tips for guide and driver and Personal Accident Insurance.

The daytime tour (tour D) will leave at 08:30 am and return approximately at 17:00 pm if traffic is normal and night tour (tour N) will leave at 18:00 pm.

All the tours are subject to a minimum of 10 participants.

Please download and read the Terms and Conditions for the Daytime Tours and Night Tours before you make the bookings.

Daytime Tours

D1: Badaling Great Wall - Ming Tombs - Scared Road
8:30-17:00; available on August 16, 18 and 21; Cost: CNY 330

Badaling Great Wall is situated in Yanqing County, over 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Beijing. It is the most well-preserved section of the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Ming Tombs 50 kilometers northwest from Beijing City lies the Ming Tombs - the general name given to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors.

D2: Forbidden City - Temple of Heaven - Summer Palace
8:30-17:00; available on August 19 and 21; Cost: CNY 310

Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares.

Temple of Heaven is much bigger than the Forbidden City and smaller than the Summer Palace with an area of about 2,700,000 square meters. The Temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven.

Situated in the western outskirts of Haidian District, the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from central Beijing. Having the largest royal park and being well preserved, it was designated, in 1960 by the State Council, as a Key Cultural Relics Protection Site of China.

D3: Shicha Hai Hutong area - Lunch at local habitant's home - Chinese Kite Making
9:00-14:00; available on August 16; Cost: CNY 280

Hutong is a typical lane or small street in Beijing that originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). "Hutong" is a Mongolian word, meaning "water well". During that time, water well is the settlement around which people lived. There are tens of thousands of hutongs surrounding the Forbidden City. In the past, Beijing was composed of countless courtyards. Hutongs were formed when people left a passageway between two courtyards to make entering them more convenient.

After visit, you will have lunch at a local habitant’s house. If you like, you can learn how to cook the Chinese Cuisine.

Making a kite is quite simple operations! One has only to tie together two sticks at right angles, cover them with paper or cloth, and add a tail! Of course, one must not forget a long piece of string, called the kite line. Having done these things, one has only to throw the kite up into the air on a suitably windy day and away it flies! Come with us!

Night Tours

N1: Beijing Opera Show
18:00-21:30; available on August 18; Cost: CNY 240

Beijing Opera is developed from absorbing many other dramatic forms, mostly from the local drama 'Huiban' which was popular in South China during the 18th century. It is a scenic art integrating music, performance, literature, aria, and face-painting. Certain rules are set up and regulations are standardized during many artists' long practice on stage. Different from regional plays, it is stricter on the variety of the workmanship. The combination of virtual and reality - a special technique of expression, keeps it largely free from the restriction of time and space on stage performance. Beijing Opera has had many interesting names since it came into being, such as Jinghuang, Daxi, Pingju, Jingxi.

N2: Kungfu Show
18:00-21:30; available on August 19; Cost: CNY 220;

Wushu (also known as kung-fu or martial arts) is one of the typical demonstrations of traditional Ch-inese culture. It is a sport which utilizes both brawn and brain.

Wushu is not only a sporting exercise but also an artistic form. It is used to cure illness as well as for self-defence and is a comprehensive form of culture of the human body.

Wushu enjoys a long history and great popularity in China. Thanks to its uniqueness and charisma or-iginating from traditional oriental culture, Wushu is captivating the attention of more and more people in other nations.

N3: Acrobatic Show
18:00-21:30; available on August 22; Cost: CNY 220;

Acrobatics is an interactive art form. Everyone, young or old, educated or not, can easily appreciate it while watching or seeing the acrobats perform. There is no language barrier and borders of culture do not limit it.

Chinese Acrobatics is one of the oldest performing arts. Its history can be traced back to Neolithic times. It is believed that acrobatics grew out of labor and self-defense skills, which people practiced and demonstrated during their leisure time. The early performance is "walking on three-meter-high stilts while juggling seven gaggers". Then it developed into an entire art form.

N4: Beijing Duck
18:00-21:00; available on August 16; Cost: CNY 260;

It is thought that Beijing roast duck, like the tradition of roast turkey in America, owes its origin to the roast goose that is still popular in Europe on festive occasions. Westerners like Marco Polo brought certain European customs to China and may have introduced the concept of roasting poultry to their Chinese hosts during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368). Ducks had long been domesticated in China and the plump ducks proved to be an excellent substitute for goose in much the same way as the American colonizers found the native turkey to be. However, there is another school of thought based upon certain records that show roast duck has a much longer history dating back as far as the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420 - 589). Up until the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279), ducks were roasted in the area around Jinling, today's Nanjing. However, the later Yuan Dynasty rulers moved their capital city to Beijing from Jinling and took with them their cuisine thus making roast duck popular in the city that was eventually to make it its very own specialty.

Post-Conference Tours

The costs for the Post-Conference tours include: domestic air/rail transportation (20 kg luggage allowance), regular Chinese meals as indicated, B = Breakfast; L = Lunch; D = Dinner. three-star or four-star hotel accommodation as indicated (with breakfast in hotel), air-conditioned coach, the main entrance tickets, an English-speaking local guide, Liability Insurance of travel agency.

They do not include: individual expenses, entrance fees for sites not listed in the program, tips to guides, drivers and porters, charges for excess luggage, and Personal Accident Insurance. The tour participants are advised to purchase their insurance beforehand and arrange their accommodation before and after the end of the tour.

There there are more than 16 tour particiopants for a tour route, we will arrange a National Guide for that tour.

All the post-conference tours are subject to a minimum of 10 participants. In case of insufficient bookings, we will inform you 30 days in advance. Then, you have two choices: 1) ask for full refund; 2) pay the balance and continue to do this trip.

Please download the terms and conditions before you make the bookings.

P1: Beijing - Xian - Beijing (2 Days/1 Night)
Cost: CNY 2400, Single room supplement: CNY 160
Departure date: 23 August, Departure time: 07:45

Day 1: Transfer to airport by yourself and take flight to Xian. Upon arrival, our local guide will meet you at the airport. Visit Great Mosque, Big Wild Goose Pagoda and City Wall. Overnight at the hotel. L+D

Day 2: Visit Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, City Wall and Shaanxi History Museum. Transfer to railway station and take night train to Beijing. B+L

Day 3: Arrive in Beijing. Service ends.

Download the details for post-conference tour P1 (82 kb) .

P2. Beijing - Xian - Shanghai - Suzhou – Shanghai (5 Days/4 Nights)
Cost: CNY 4900, Single room supplement: CNY 860
Departure date: 23 August, Departure time: 07:45

Day 2: Visit the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. Transfer to airport and take flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival, be met and transferred to hotel. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 3: Visit Yuyuan Garden, Jade Buddha Temple, The Bund, Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Shanghai Museum. B+L+D

Day 4: Drive to Suzhou. Visit the Tongli on the way. Upon arrival, visit the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Garden of the Master of the Nets. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 5: Have breakfast at the hotel, return to Shanghai. Transfer to airport and take flight to next destination. Service ends

Download the details for post-conference tour P2 (287 kb) .

P3: Beijing - Xian - Shanghai - Guilin - Canton - Hongkong (9 Days/8 Nights)
Cost: CNY 9600, Single room supplement: CNY 1760
Departure date: 23 August, Departure time: 07:45

Day 2: Visit Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, City Wall and Shaanxi History Museum. Transfer to airport and take flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival, be met and transferred to hotel. B+L+D

Day 3: Visit Yuyuan Garden, Jade Buddha Temple, The Bund, Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Shanghai Museum. B+L+D

Day 4: Drive to Suzhou. Visit the Tongli on the way. Upon arrival, visit the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Garden of the Master of the Nets. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 5: Return to Shanghai. Transfer to airport and take flight to Guilin. Upon arrival, be met by our local guide. Visit Reed Flute Cave and overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 6: Transfer to the pier and start your Li River Cruises. Arrive at Yangshuo in the afternoon. Transfer to the hotel and overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 7: Return to Guilin. Transfer to airport and take flight to Canton. Upon arrival, be met by our local guide. Visit Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 8: Transfer to pier and take boat to Hongkong. Arrive at Hongkong, be met by our local guide. Do a city tours in Hongkong. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 9: Free at leisure in the morning. Transfer to airport and take flight to next destination. Service ends. B

Download the details for post-conference tour P3 (309 kb) .

P4: Tours of Yunnan Province (7 Days/6 Nights)
Cost: CNY 9400, Single room supplement: CNY 1000
Departure date: 23 August, Departure time: 08：40

Day 1: Transfer to airport by yourself and take flight to Kunming. Upon arrival, be met by our local guide, visit the Stone Forest and overnight at the hotel. L+D

Day 2: Transfer to airport and take flight to Dali. Upon arrival, visit Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple and Dali Ancient City. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 3: Drive to Lijiang. Visit Xizhou, Zhoucheng on the way. Arrive at Lijiang, promenade at the Lijiang Old City. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 4: Full day visit to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Baisha Mural, Yufeng Temple, Longquan Village and Old Town of Shuhe. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 5: Drive to Zhongdian. Visit Stone Drum and the First Bend of the Yangtze River, Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Gorge) on the way. Arrive at Zhongdian, overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 6: Full day visit to the Dabao Temple, Pudacuo Scenic Spot(Shudu Lake-Bitahai Lake) and Zhongdian old city. Overnight at the hotel. B+L+D

Day 7: Transfer to airport and take flight to Beijing via Kunming. Service ends. B

Download the details for post-conference tour P4 (164 kb) .