_ Kiwifruit Growers' Tour to China
18th September to 4th October 2005

Day 1 Auckland/HongKong
Depart Auckland this afternoon arriving in Hong Kong in the evening.
Overnight Hong Kong

Day 2 Hong Kong
The exciting city of Hong Kong. A chance to relax, try the shopping and soak up the sights. Visit markets to look at kiwifruit and discuss the Hong Kong and China markets with Zespri representatives.
Overnight Hong Kong

Day 3 Hong Kong Beijing
This morning we fly to Beijing. 8.00am depart Hong Kong on Dragonair arriving Beijing at 11.05am Sightseeing in the city and check in to hotel.
Overnight Beijing

Day 4 Beijing
No visit to China would be complete without seeing the Great Wall. Today we visit this incredible structure which is 6350 km long. We stop for lunch on our way back to Beijing and this afternoon we go to Xiadan Street and look for bargains in the shops. After dinner walk through the night food markets where you can buy just about anything you can think of to eat.
Overnight Beijing

Day 5 Beijing - Xian
We also enjoy many of the famous sights of Beijing including Tiananmen Square - the world's largest square and the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) home of the Ming and Qing dynasty emperors. Sited on 72 hectares of land with 9000 rooms covering a floor space of 150,000 square metres. This afternoon we fly to Xian a city of great historical and cultural interest and the capital of China for 1087 years (11 dynasties). WH2128 departs Beijing at 4.40pm and arrives Xian at 6.05pm.
Overnight Xian

Day 6 Xian
One of the highlights of our tour is the visit to the buried army of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang. This 2180 year old terracotta army of more than 8000 soldiers was discovered in 1974. We also see the tomb of the emperor who lived from 259 to 210 BC. Other visits include BanPo Museum (the archaeological site of a 6000 year old neolithic village) the City Wall (12 metres high) which follows the boundaries of the Tang Imperial City and local markets. This evening an entertaining look at Chinese culture with the Tang Dynasty Show.
Overnight Xian

Day 7 Xian - Taibei
Drive 40Km to Huxian district where we visit the peasants painting exhibition. This is famous for local traditional peasants artist works, such as paintings, paper cuts, embroidery, wood carving, shadow playing performances. Those works reflect the local peasants simple and natural lifestyle. Lunch with farmers family. Then drive 80km to Taibei Summer Resort. We drive through the countryside and see many fields growing kiwifruit. We visit farmers on the way.
Overnight Taibei Hotel

Day 8 Taibei - Xian
In the morning, we take the cable car to Taibei Mountain to see wild kiwifruit (monkey fruit). The season for harvesting and packing of wild kiwifruit is September. In the afternoon, visit the Provincial Fruit Tree Research Center of Shaanxi, which is a centre for research into how to cultivate and grow new species of fruit (including kiwifruit) and other trees for China. Here we see many kinds of trees displayed. We can exchange views with experts in this centre.
Overnight Gudu Hotel Xian.

Day 9 Xian - Chongqing
This morning we fly to Chongqing. WH2521 departs Xian at 9.45am and arrives Chongqing at 11.05am. Chongqing is also called Mountain City (like San Francisco) and has the biggest population of any city in China (16,000,000). The city is located in the southwest part of China where you can see people, markets and residential houses which are different from the southern part of China. We visit a citrus and silk worm cooperative. This evening board the boat for the Yangtze Cruise.
Overnight On board

Day 10 Yangtze River Cruise
In the morning the boat sets off for Fengdu as we begin our exciting trip on the Yangtze River. The steep mountains are very changeable and we see villages with different crops on the slopes on each side of the river. In the afternoon, we arrive at Fengdu, the city of ghosts. We take a cable car ride to visit a Taoist temple and a Buddhist temple.
Overnight On board

Day 11 Yangtze River Cruise
The boat passes White Emperor Temple which was built in 4th century on the north bank. Then the boat approaches the magnificent Qutang Gorge. After one hour, we arrive in Wushan County, Here we take several small boats, spending five hours on a tributary of the Yangtze to see the Small Three Gorges. During the journey we can see many coffins suspended half way up the steep peaks. This is still a mystery. No one knows how the ancient people hung those coffins on such high steep cliffs. We return to the main boat. After 2 hours, we go through the beautiful Lady Wu Gorge.
Overnight On board

Day 12 Yangtze River Cruise
In the early morning, we will pass through the Xining Gorge, the longest and historically most dangerous of the Three Gorges and the site of the new Three Gorges Dam project.
Overnight On board

Day 13 Wuhan - Guilin
The boat arrives at Wuhan at 11.30am this morning. Wuhan is one of biggest industrial cities in China. After lunch depart at 1.30pm for the overnight train journey to Guilin.
Overnight Train

Day 14 Guilin
There is an old saying in China " the scenery in Guilin is the best under the sky". It has always been famous for its stunning limestone peaks. 7.09am arrive in Guilin. Check in to hotel and this afternoon visit a kiwifruit farm.
Overnight Guilin

Day 15 Guilin
This morning we take a cruise on the Li River, one of the highlights of the trip and an opportunity to enjoy quite different scenery compared to the huge Yangtze Gorges. Lunch on the boat. In the afternoon, we arrive at Yangshuo. This is a tiny county town set amidst pinnacles, and makes a great base from which explore other small villages in the nearby countryside. We take a bus back to Guilin to see the cave Ludi. On the way back, we will pass many villages with huge rice fields, orchards, vegetables and fish ponds. We stop to talk to peasants about their enterprises. Some of the most extraordinary scenery Guilin has to offer is underground. The cave Ludi (Reed Flute cave) is rather like a set from "Journey to the center of the Earth". One grotto the Grystal Palace of the Dragon King can comfortably hold about 1000 people. The dominant feature of the cave is a great slab of white rock hanging from a ledge like cataract, while opposite stands a huge stalagmite said to resemble an old scholar.
Overnight Guilin

Day 16 Guilin - Hong Kong - Auckland
Today we fly to Guangzhou departing Guilin at 9.15am on SZ3302 and arriving Guangzhou at 10.05am. A city sights tour this morning and then travel by train to Hong Kong departing Guangzhou at 2.28pm and arriving Hong Kong at 4.00pm
Transfer to the airport to connect with your flight to Auckland. CZ 107 departs Hong Kong at 8.25pm

Day 17 Arrive Auckland
12.10pm Arrive Auckland