Come back to China

By John Halford

As you may remember, in the early and mid-1980s, our church organized Festival tours to China.

Participants have lasting memories of that fascinating country, and its talented, energetic people.

I was asked to lead the three cultural exchange tours. I also accompanied Herbert W. Armstrong on a visit, and helped make a film there--perhaps you remember "The Little Ambassadors From Shanghai." I came to know China quite well.

So, as you can imagine, I was excited to hear that we have once again been invited to organize a cultural exchange tour.

Much has happened, in both China and our church in the intervening years. In 1984, when we first visited, China was in the first stages of modernization. We kept the Feast in Nanjing, in a hotel that was at that time the tallest building in China.

Today, I am told, that building is now dwarfed by other high rises, and we would not recognize the skyline of Nanjing.

Our church has changed too. This will allow us to have a fuller yet more relaxed tour of China. We hope to meet Chinese Christian groups, as well as visit historical sites in Beijing, Xian, Nanjing and Shanghai. In 12 days we can't see it all, but we will see far more than the average tourist.

The tour will have a daily schedule of worship services, including, we hope, one or two with Chinese Christian groups.

I am happy to be working again with my friends Fred and Maryann Stevens, who I hope can join us as co-hosts. In the years we worked together, I think we learned a thing or two about planning a Festival tour that combines the elements of worship, education and entertainment.

Travel Gallery, the tour organizers, worked with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation in China to prepare a full program that is not too strenuous. The hotels are first class.

So if you came to China with us before, come back and see how it has changed. If you have never been, please join us for the experience of a lifetime.

We leave Los Angeles Sept. 21 and return Oct. 3. The cost per person (double occupancy) is $2,295. See below for an overview of the program. Then, if you would like to know more, call Travel Gallery at 1-800-858-6999, and they will send you more details. But don't delay--places are limited, and this tour may fill up fast.

Itinerary

Sept. 21-22--Los Angeles to Beijing. Your flight path on China Eastern Airlines takes you along the coast of Canada and Alaska, then over the Pacific. Arrive in Beijing in the early evening. Transfer to hotel for a traditional Chinese dinner.

Sept. 23--Beijing. Begin in Tiananmen Square. Then visit the Imperial Palace Museum (Forbidden City). The Soong Ching Ling Foundation will be hosts for a classic Peking duck dinner.

Sept. 24--Great Wall of China and the Summer Palace.

Sept. 25--Beijing. Visit 15th century Temple of Heaven. Tour Yonhe Lama Monastery Buddhist temple.

Sept. 26--Fly to Xian, the starting point of the silk road, a trading route that stretched through central Asia and Turkey to Rome.

Sept. 27--Xian. Visit Provincial Museum housed in a former Confucian Temple. Then see Xian's Terra Cotta Warriors Museum.

Sept. 28--Fly to Nanjing. Visit China Church Seminary and meet Ding Guangshun, head of the China Patriotic Church Association.

Sept. 29--Nanjing-Suzhou. Visit Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum erected in memory of the founder of the Chinese republic. Then tour ancient city wall. After shopping, board the Suzhou train.

Sept. 30--Suzhou. Suzhou is one of China's oldest inhabited towns. Visit Tiger Hill, the Silk Embroidery Center and enjoy an Ancient Grand Canal cruise. Then board the Shanghai express to Shanghai.

Oct. 1--Shanghai. Tour Yu Garden (Garden of Happiness). Acrobatic show in evening.

Oct. 2--Shanghai. See Shanghai Children's Palace, where children with particular skills receive specialized training, often provided by leading professionals.

Oct. 3--Shanghai to Los Angeles.