_Vegetables and Fruits Tour to China

Day 1.
Arrival into Beijing in the evening. Transfer from Airport to Hotel. Dinner.

Day 2, - Beijing
As an introduction to the imperial city of Beijing the tour offers a stroll in Tiananmen Square, the world's largest square, bordered by the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China. This will be followed with a walk to the Forbidden City, the complex of imperial palace, which was home to the Chinese Emperors for over 500 years. Sited on 72 hectares of land with 9000 rooms covering a floor space of 150,000 square meters. Grand halls and courts gradually give way to more intimate domestic quarters, giving an insight into the pampered isolation of the emperors. This afternoon will be one of the highlights of China tour, the climbing of the Great Wall. No visit to China would be complete without seeing the Great Wall. The Great Wall of China was first built in the Warring States period (475-221 BC) as a series of earthworks erected by individual kingdoms as a defense against each other as well as from invasions from the north. Its main objective was to keep out Genghis Khan and the Mongolian hordes. This proved only partially successful. The present day wall was left from the Ming dynasty and it represents one of the wonders of the world. After this excursion, Peking Duck Banquet. Overnight Beijing Jianguo Hotel ***** BLD

Day 3, - Beijing / Xian
Today we drive to suburban district of Beijing to see a modern vegetable-growing farm, in their green house, we can see many kinds of green vegetables such Chinese cabbage, egg plant, spanige, snake melon, celery etc. and orchid, arable land. In each farm we arrange a short time meeting with local experts and agricultural officials for discussion on interesting subjects of both sides. This afternoon. At about 4:00pm, we fly to Xian. Overnight Xian Jianguo Hotel **** BLD

Day 4. - Xian
Xian, the one of the ancient capitals of China, is one of the oldest settled regions in China, with remains of human habitation dating back to prehistoric times. As the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow Rive, cuts across the middle of the province, this fertile land became a center of Chinese civilization. The earliest evidence of human habitation dates back 6000 years to Neolithic times, when the plain was lush and green and primitive Chinese tribes established their villages. We visit some important historical sights including the Ban-Po Primitive Society Museum, one of the earliest places where people cultivated farmland 6000 year ago and fossilized millet and vegetable seeds are displayed in many original pottery jars. Visit some local peasant families followed by a city tour to see the well-preserved old city wall that was built from 1370 -1387. Then later explore the agriculture products free markets. Be prepared for some surprises. This afternoon one of the highlights of the tour is a visit to the buried army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. These 2180-year-old terracotta armies of more than 8000 soldiers were discovered in 1974. On the way, if time allows, we visit a peasant village where we talk to some farming families about their operation of enterprises, growing of grain crops, kiwifruit and pomegranate orchard and visit their homes. See Tang Dynasty show in the evening. Overnight in Xian Jianguo Hotel **** BLD

Day 5. - Xian / Shanghai
In this morning we drive 82km to a suburban county, the earliest area where the Chinese agriculture civilization started. We visit National Agriculture High-Tech Industry Demonstration Zone founded in July 1997, which is the only one in China. This Zone was set up specially for demonstrating the best agri-achievements and providing technical and personal support to the development of West China's agriculture. At present, this county has scores of researches, which occupy the advanced position within China, and part of which reach the international advanced level. These researches are: wheat breeding, water saving agriculture in arid area, plant protection, soil and fertilizer, livestock product incretion and embryo engineering, the comprehensive management of water and soil losing in loess plateau, desertification protection, forest fosterage, garden and greening art, fruit tree and horticulture, lumber processing and use, protection exploitation and use plant resources. The place also concentrates more than 4000 researchers, the biggest number of sci-tech talents in China, belonging to 64 subjects of agronomy, forest, water and herd. We will arrange a technical interview to talk with our clients to exchange views with some experts. After lunch we fly to Shanghai. After checking in hotel, we will stroll along the "Bund" (waterfront), which will give you a grand view of the "Wall Street" of the Orient, recalling the modern history in the last century of this great city. Nearby is the famous Nanjing Shopping Road. After dinner. We enjoy the famous Shanghai Acrobatic Show. Overnight Shanghai Ocean Hotel **** BLD

Day 6. -- Shanghai / Suzhou
Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of 16 million. Shanghai is the economic, financial, and industrial center of China. We visit Shanghai Sun Qiao Modern Agri Development Zoon, where there are a lot to see, many kinds of organic vegetables, grains, edible fungus, fine seedlings, experimental fields, some pickled vegetables processing, technical center of bio and microbe, cell and gene engineering and talk with agri scientists. Then we visit the Yuyuan Garden, built in 1559 by a high official of the Ming dynasty intending to entertain his parents. The exquisite layout, beautiful scenery, and the artistic style of the garden architecture are where the charm of Yu Yuan lies. The garden is acknowledged as "an architectural miracle in the region south of Yangtze River", "an elite of garden in southeast China", and "the mountain and forest in the embrace of the bustling city". After lunch, two and half hours free time for shopping along the Nanjing Road. About 5:00 pm, we take a bus about 2hours journey to Suzhou. Overnight Suzhou Aster Hotel**** BLD

Day 7. --Suzhou
Considered to be the "Venice of the East" and one of the oldest cities, Suzhou is an attractive city with an extensive network of canals and is well known for its beautiful gardens. We take boat cruising on canal to view people's daily life for one and half-hours. A visit of the Suzhou Silk Institute and learn the ancient art of making Chinese silk products by hand. Also, we will enjoy a silk fashion show and do some shopping. Then visit the Serging Waves Garden, the oldest existing garden in the city and one of the four most famous classical gardens in China built in Song Dynasty 900 years ago. In the afternoon, we visit the center of a modern Agricultural Technology Park (Agriworld). This is a research center involved in evaluating various breeds of cows, species of animals and many kinds of vegetables like asparagus lettuce, crown daisy, etc, as well as some animals like ostrich, peacock, wild duck and chicken and plants and crops recommending to Chinese peasants. After the visit meet with local agriculture experts. If time allows, we visit local Silkworm farms. Overnight Suzhou Aster Hotel **** BLD

Day 8, - Suzhou / Haikou
After breakfast, we drive about 3 ours to Shanghai airport, on the way; you can enjoy beautiful farmland landscape. After lunch at the airport, we fly to HaiKou, the capital city of Hainan Province, and the second largest island in China, occupying the area of 34000 SQUARE KM. It is known as one of the biggest provinces to supply the tropical agriculture products both to main land China and export to other foreign countries, such as great burdock, white gourd, sweet potato which are honored as pollution-free vegetables. After checking in our hotel, we visit a watermelon farm and another farm we can see green pepper, eggplant and sugarcane. Then we have a meeting with farmers to exchange ideas. Overnight Hainan International Hotel **** BLD

Day 9. - HaiKou / Hong Kong
In this morning, we visit the Hainan Tropical Agriculture Products Research Institute to discus with experts on local fruits and vegetables and to visit their experimental fields. In the afternoon, we go to one of the biggest vegetable and fruit market as well as have a talking with some marking persons, and visits of a pineapple and banana farms. In this evening, the group has a farewell dinner. At 9:00pm, take a flight to Hong Kong arriving at 10:00pm. Overnight Hong Kong. BLD