Society Tours

Immediate Past President Dave Bromwich’s tours report to the latest meeting of the national executive made interesting and exciting reading. Scan through the following, register your interest and start saving your dollars!!

NZCFS Rewi Alley and Kathleen Hall Heritage tour, March 2023 or September 2023?

21 days in China

2021 is the 125^th anniversary of Kathleen Hall’s birth. 2022 is Rewi Alley’s 125^th. An overview of the itinerary is to travel from Beijing to Shandan, ending in Shanghai. The focus is to visit heritage sites of both Kathleen Hall and Rewi Alley and organise some official/semi-official meetings with partners of their heritage in China.  The plan includes activity like English corner with students in Gansu, Youxie support for forums on RA and KH, meet Kathleen Hall scholars, all to be confirmed. Along the way there will be a number of historical, cultural and scenic sites of interest. Underlying all, of course, will be a diverse and authentic food experience of the regions!

THIS IS A UNIQUE TOUR THAT ONLY NZCFS CAN DELIVER. THROUGH THE FOCUS ON REWI ALLEY AND KATHLEEN HALL, IT PROVIDES A PLATFORM FOR A BROAD APPRECIATION OF WHERE CHINA CAME FROM, AND HOW IT GOT TO WHERE IT IS TODAY, WITH CONTACT WITH REAL PEOPLE! A DRAFT ITINERARY WILL BE PROVIDED ASAP.

NZCFS seeks expressions of interest in this tour. At this stage it is conditional on NZCFS being able to deliver the tour free of restrictions on both international travel and in-China travel, free of constraints from Covid other than testing requirements. Expressions of interest are also free from commitment at this stage.

A draft outline of the itinerary and an indication of the activity is as follows:-

Beijing:

• Highlights of Beijing, may include Great Wall, Tiananmen/Forbidden City, to be arranged
• Sites less visited – Zhoukoudian (Peking Man Site); Luguo qiao (Marco Polo Bridge)
• Rewi Alley heritage – formal meetings/ informal workshops; Song Qingling former residence

Hebei Province:

• Kathleen Hall heritage – Songjiazhuang village; KH Memorial room, Baoding; Anguo
• Langya Shan (wolf tooth mountain)

Shanxi Province:

• Datong – Kathleen Hall heritage; meet NZCFS’ KH scholar; Yungang grottoes; Hengshan Hanging temple
• Pingyao Ancient Town / Zhang Yimou performance

Shaanxi Province:

• Xi’an – Terracotta soldiers; Eighth Route Army Museum; City Wall; Moslem Bazaar; meet Kathleen Hall Scholars, Women’s Federation
• Fengxian – cross the Qingling mountain range that separates north and south of China; Rewi Alley cave house and heritage – Xi Zhongxun memorial museum
• Baoji – Restored Cave Factory Museum Complex; Baoji Museum (featuring Bronze Age)

Gansu Province:

• Zhangye – Zhangye Danxia Geological Park; Wetlands Nature Park
• Shandan – Rewi Alley heritage activities; Shandan Vocational College (previously SBS); RA museum, RA grave; Commemoration activities- seminar, meet the students and teachers
• Big Buddha
• Lanzhou – Lanzhou City University: Rewi Alley commemoration activities, forum with students and teachers; Bailie Square; Yellow River waterwheel park

Shanghai:

• Rewi Alley historic residence 1315 Yu Yuan Ave; meet partners (possible meet NZCFS sponsored Michael King NZ writer in residence?); free time, to be arranged

Tibet and Xinjiang, April 2023? 2024?

This is a revision of the proposed Hanoi to Lhasa with an Everest Base Camp add on – https://tours.nzchinasociety.org.nz/tours/hanoi-to-everest/.  It is best to do this in Chinese Springtime. At this stage the Vietnam content is removed due to requiring an extra border crossing, which may add complications in uncertain times. A Xinjiang add on suggested is also a new combination for NZCFS. Wang Fang (NZCFS tour colleague in China) advises that it is untenable to do at this time, but we look forward optimistically to offer this in 2023.

NZCFS Long March and 20^th Century History, October 2023?

This tour promoted for September 2021 is postponed to September/October 2023. https://tours.nzchinasociety.org.nz/tours/long-march-and-20th-century-history-tour/