Personally, I thought that the Wintercamp China Tour 2004 was a great success, in terms of what I learnt, what I saw, and simply meeting new people.
The trip was well organised, and thanks must be given to the NZCA, Janet Joe and the many others involved for ensuring this.

The flight from Auckland to Hong Kong was very smooth, despite, not having the luxury of inflight entertainment, due to a technical error from Cathay Pacific. The flight from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was just as smooth.

Guangzhou:
The transport from Guangzhou International Airport to our hotel in Foshan was below average. This was mainly due to the fact that the bus driver did not know where he was going. What was supposed to be a 40 minute bus drive to our hotel ended up being almost 2 hours. He did not know his directions at all, and on many occasions, he had to pull onto the side of the road to ask for directions, for which we got even further lost. However, once we arrived at our destination, transport was better afterwards.

The accommodation in Foshan was excellent. It totally exceeded what I was expecting. The Golden City Hotel provided a good breakfast to start the day, and the standard of the rooms and service was very high. The reception staff spoke an adequate amount of English, that I had no difficulties in talking to them. It was located very centrally, and was within walking distance of the Huang Fei Hong Martial Arts Academy, where we spent a great deal of time, while we were in Foshan.

While studying at the Huang Fei Hong Martial Arts Academy, the students gave many demonstrations of martial arts routines, utilising weapons sometimes. These demonstrations, having been told how long these students have trained for, gave me an appreciation as to how difficult it is to master such an art. I was, also, fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to learn a martial arts routine. Even after, 4 days of continuous learning and training, I was still not close to mastering a simple martial arts routine. That really made me appreciate how hard martial arts is, and how important technique, precision and accuracy is to making a good martial artist.
The Foshan Ancient Temple was exciting, especially, because it was different from many of the other temples we saw later on in the trip. It gave me a chance to really soak up where we were.

The Chinese Language classes we were given, however, were very unstructured and disorganised. There was debate within the group as to what dialect we should be given lessons on - Cantonese vs Mandarin. Some of the members of the group wanted to learn Cantonese since that had an ancestral significance and is what most of their relatives spoke. Others wanted to learn Mandarin because that is the official language of China, and what most people speak, especially in the later parts of our trip. It would have been nice, for the decision to have been made for us, or for the opportunity to be given for both to be taught by two different teachers. However, this was not the case. Only two lessons, of approximately ninety minutes duration, were given while in Foshan. One was based on Mandarin, the other on Cantonese. As a result, I got rather confused over the tones, and whether each sentence was Cantonese or Mandarin, in the end. The teacher that taught us Mandarin, was very good, as she was fluent in both English and Mandarin, so it was easy for her to convey her messages to us. However, our teacher for Cantonese could not speak a great deal of English, which made it difficult for us to grasp what she was trying to say. Janet Joe, being fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English had to help out on many occasions, and as a result, ended up tutoring half the group at one end of the table. The sole handout that the group was given was not utilised at all, and even then, was very advanced for some of the group. Our second lesson (our Mandarin lesson), which was held within the confines of the Foshan Ancient Temple, was a lot more structured, in that different teachers were assigned to different groups, determined by how fluent they were in Mandarin. Each group received tutoring in smaller groups and teaching was at a level appropriate for each group. However, despite the disorganisation, the lessons showed me how difficult it is to learn a language, especially, only given two days. Two days, however, is certainly not enough to learn any great deal of Chinese, unless you are very proficient in the language prior to coming to China. I was at least, able to learn the tones for Mandarin, and small basic phrases, which did serve me on the later parts of the trip - "how much is this?" "what is this?" etc..

The trip also gave me an opportunity to learn more about my Chinese ancestry, by giving me the chance to visit my family villages in Guangdong Province. I was privileged enough to be able to visit three of my family villages. At each village, I was able to meet family relatives, who allowed me to visit and explore the villages and my family home. Visiting each of the homes allowed me to see the conditions that my ancestors lived in, and the sort of lifestyle they were used to. Unfortunately, because of time constraints, I was not able to spend a great deal of time at each village. This may have been partially due to the fact that my family relatives were unable to meet me at the Overseas Office, like other relatives to other members of the group did. Nevertheless, the visits to each of my family villages, definitely served as the highlight of my trip to China. Although, I was unable to communicate to any of my relatives directly, I was fortunate enough to have the aid of a translator at each village, for which I send my thanks to the teachers that accompanied us in Guangzhou. This gave me the chance to convey messages from relatives in New Zealand, and also, to acknowledge that I would pass on my relatives wishes to my relatives in New Zealand. I am extremely grateful to be able to visit three of my family villages, as I know others were not so fortunate, with some not seeing any of their family villages. I know it would be difficult to incorporate into the trip more time to be able to visit everyone's family villages simply for logistical reasons. Some feedback I got from other members of the group suggested a bit of annoyance in that they travelled so far, to come so close to their villages, but because of time constraints, they were not able to visit their villages.

Our accommodation while visiting our family villages in Xintang was not overly great. Two tour group members and myself found two live cockroaches (of reasonably large size) in our room, upon walking in. There was noone at reception for most of the time we were there, making it difficult to arrange anything at the hotel. The facilities, such as the basketball court, were well used by our tour group though. The location of the Resort, in relation, to our family villages was very convenient though, as the original plan was to stay in the main Guangzhou area. I think it was good that a couple of nights was spent staying in this Resort, purely for logistical reasons, otherwise, even less time would have been spent at the family villages in Xintang.

For the later part of the day we spent visiting family villages in Xintang, some of us had the opportunity to do some sightseeing, while others continued to visit to their family villages. Some of the sights visited were the Fairy He Temple, Fairy He Tower, the Dragon Vine and the Oldest Lychee Tree in China.

This in-between activity, served as  a good way of breaking up the trip, as it was purely spontaneous. There was not as much pressure during this trip, as time was generally not an issue. The sights were all reasonably close to each other, so no long amounts of time were spent on the bus travelling. I had a great time, soaking up a bit of Chinese history, as well as, taking the opportunity to have a hit on the gongs at the Fairy He Temple and Fairy He Tower. The Dragon Vine was definitely unique, especially given the fact it holds the Guiness World Record for the longest vine in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these sights, as I think it was more worthwhile than joining other members of the group visiting their family villages. Not only this, it was good to spend time not as a whole group, giving me a chance to get to know some members of the tour group better, which I think was great, given that it was early in the trip.

The visit to Shenzhen was well worthwhile, although a great deal of time was spent commuting there and back to our hotel in Guangzhou. The bus driver was not particularly familiar with the area, which did result in us getting lost for some time also. Our visit gave the tour group their visit opportunity to try their bargaining skills, as well as, enjoy the time to do a little bit of shopping, which was very seldom during our stay in Guangzhou. I personally had a great time in the shopping centre we visited in Shenzhen, just getting a taste of bargaining, as well as, just seeing what shopping life in China is like.

While we were in Shenzhen, we also visited the Minority Village, which was the main purpose of our visit to Shenzhen. This visit gave me a unique chance to learn about various aspects of the Chinese minority. However, given the short stay, I was only able to attend a dance show, a performance (which I was totally blown away by) and a short time to walk around a small part of the Village. I think it would have been nice to have spent a little longer at the Village, especially, given that we arrived late afternoon, where the daylight soon disappeared after we arrived. However, I don't think I could have spent a whole day there, like was originally planned, as I think my interest may have waned as the day went on. I noted from other tour group members, however, that they would have preferred to have spent this day commuting further to their family villages, not originally planned for the trip, instead. Admittedly though, they did say they had a great time shopping.

During my stay in Guangzhou, a visit to one of the local schools had been organised, which was where one of our teachers who accompanied us during our stay in Guangzhou taught. I had the opportunity to meet students, who were learning English, as well as, explore into what was school life over there. The students were very friendly, welcoming (especially given the fact that they had to come in on a Sunday to meet us!) and could speak a great deal of English. The group was split up, and each tour group member partnered up with one of the local students. The students took us around the school, showing us their facilities, such as the dormitories, dining hall, and classrooms. Being shown around the facilities, especially the dormitories, certainly opened up my eyes, since it was not what I had been used to throughout my schooling career in New Zealand, or something you would probably see in New Zealand.

Also, during our visit to the local school, the group was able to take the opportunity to take part in two basketball games (boys vs boys and girls vs girls) against the local students. I think this helped to bring the group and local students closer together, and the game was played in good spirits (the boys tied, and the tour group girls won).

In the afternoon, a performance had been organised for us, for which we contributed a couple of acts. The performances were all of a very high standard, and it gave me a chance to see Chinese performances, which in some ways, can be very different to New Zealand-style performances, especially the dances.

Earlier in the day, Chinese calligraphy lessons had been organised. The students gave us a crash course on Chinese calligraphy, which ultimately culminated in us writing our Chinese names on a piece of paper, as a gift to the School. The experience was unique, especially since I had never done Chinese calligraphy before. It was like I was learning how to write again! It's certainly a lot harder than what it appears to be. However, I was grateful to have the chance to see how difficult it is to write Chinese calligraphy.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the local school in Guangzhou. I thought it was breath-taking in its own way. It gave me a sample of what school life in China can be like, as well as, the living conditions that the students are subjected to. Although it would have been nice to have attended a class or two, I think this may have been difficult, given time constraints, as other parts of the visit would have had to been shortened, or an extra day would have been needed for it, which I think would have been impractical. Nevertheless, it was great conversing with students in English, as it gave them the opportunity to speak to fluent English speakers, which a lot of them said, was a unique opportunity for them. Some of the tour members even helped some of the students pick English names for themselves!

The final chapter of our visit in Guangzhou was a day visit to Zhongshan to see Dr. Sun Yat Sen's former residence and to do some local sightseeing. It was here that we met up with an Australian contingent, doing the same sort of trip we were.

Although a great deal of time had been spent commuting to this area, which I thought was the only downfall to the visit, I was able to visit one of the memorials to Dr. Sun Yat Sen. It was actually the first time I had heard his name, so it was certainly mind-blowing when I found out who he was from one of the other tour members. The visit to the memorial was great, in that we were able to have a good walk around, explore the memorial on our own, as well as, take in the surrounding sights.

In the afternoon, following a lunch with the Australian contingent, both groups visited the former residence of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. The residence had a museum dedicated to the life of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. It was here that I learnt a great deal about his life, and what he accomplished. It really made me appreciate how much of an impact he had on Chinese history, and why he is still very highly regarded. I really enjoyed my time there.

The accommodation in Guangzhou for our final four nights at the He Qun Hotel was very good too. It had great service, and the staff were very friendly and able to speak a reasonable amount of English, which made communication easier. It was centrally located within Guangzhou, and located to a nearby subway station which made other parts of the city more accessible.

My stay in Guangzhou was fantastic. I enjoyed every moment I was there. The only suggestion for future tours would be to have more free time during the day (or even a whole free day) in Guangzhou. This may only be possible if another day is spent in Guangzhou, which either means another part of the trip would to be shortened, or the trip lengthened by an extra day. Aside from the morning off we had on the day we left Guangzhou, we did not have any opportunity to explore Foshan, Xintang or Guangzhou during the day (although the members that did not have Poon Yue villages had that day off to explore - I was not one of them). Our only opportunities were at night, when on most occasions, the group was very tired.

Hangzhou:
The short time I spent in Hangzhou was very enjoyable, and it was sad that this stop was so short. It would have been nice to have spent more time, perhaps just an extra day to explore and do some local shopping on our own, but otherwise, it was a very compact stop that fitted into the trip well.

The walk around the Westlake, and the cruise on the Westlake itself were both very refreshing. It was nice to take in some fresh, clean air, which we did not see as much of in Guangzhou. The sights from the cruise were breathtaking. Bob, our tour guide, shared his knowledge of the surrounding area, and the historical significance of certain buildings/structures overlooking the Westlake. The cruise was different from anything we had done on the trip up to this point, and I found it just nice to be able to sit down, enjoy the view and relax (as well as take lots of photos and video footage!).

The Lingyin Temple and Yue Fei Temple were both very interesting, since they had slightly contrasting styles. It was at the Yue Fei Temple that I learnt the general format to Buddha temples, thanks to Bob.

The Dragonwell Tea Village was fascinating. It was different from any sight that we saw on our trip in China. It was interesting to learn about the finer facts of Chinese tea, how it is grown, harvested, and the way it should be drunk. Unfortunately, we were not able to spend a great deal of time there to have a thorough look around, and read about the history of the site. However, from what I experienced, I enjoyed my time there.

Our accommodation in Hangzhou at the Hangzhou Sunny Hotel was very nice. The service was great, especially because the staff could speak a great deal of English, and were willing to go out of their way to help (one of the porters was even nice enough to walk us personally to an internet cafe 2-3 minutes away from the hotel!). The rooms were of a high standard, and the breakfast served was delicious.

Our stopover from Hangzhou to Shanghai - Wuzhou - was great fun. Not only did I have the chance to go for a punt down the river there, but I also got to see a traditional Chinese puppet show and learn about different aspects of Chinese furniture, such as beds. The only downfall to this stopover, was that Wuzhou was very commercialised. Janet mentioned that it would be nice, perhaps next time, to arrange for another water town to be visited, that was not as commercialised. I thought it was well worthwhile to stop in Wuzhou on our way through to Shanghai though, as it broke up the bus trip very nicely, especially, given the fact that our bus became stuck in the middle of traffic for about an hour, thus making the journey longer.

Shanghai:

Shanghai was a totally different city from both Guangzhou and Hangzhou. It was far more industrialised and commercialised, compared to the other two cities. I think the five nights we spent in Shanghai was just right. I think staying any longer in Shanghai would have been a bit too much.

Visiting the Shanghai History Museum was very informative. I learnt a great deal about Chinese and Shanghai's history, and how the city developed. It was a shame that I was not able to go up the Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower at the same time, but I got the opportunity to go up the Jin Mao Tower instead on one of my free days. While visiting the Shanghai History Museum, I was able to get a close up view of the Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower, so that sufficed.

The visit to The Bund was breathtaking. It also made it convenient afterwards ,as well, to head straight to Nanjing Road.

I thoroughly enjoyed my walk down Nanjing Road, as it was the first real opportunity to do any shopping on the trip. Although, I did not get the opportunity to do a great deal of shopping in the short time allocated, I did come back on one of my free days to do more shopping, which was more than enough time.

The Huangpu Night Cruise was great as it gave us a chance to admire the Shanghai skyline by night. It also served as good relaxation after a hard day of sightseeing, and it was good to be able to sit down and mingle with other members of the tour group. It was not as breathtaking as the Westlake Cruise in Hangzhou , but was still good to help break the trip up, instead of walking around sights all day.

The Jade Buddha Temple was interesting, simply for the white jade Buddha statue present inside the temple. Otherwise, by this point, having seen other Buddha temples earlier in the trip which all have the same format/layout, it was just another Buddha temple to myself. However, it did help to fill in the afternoon the day we did visit it.

The Yu Gardens was good to see, as it was our first time to view any Chinese garden or some sort. The Gardens are different from what we are used to in New Zealand, and Bob, our tour guide, shared his knowledge on the significance of many objects around the Garden, which I did not know about prior to this trip. Also, because it was right next door to Old Shanghai Town, it was very convenient to make a visit there.

Old Shanghai Town was well worth going to. The architecture was different from other parts of Shanghai, and although we did not learn much about the Town itself, it was great to just walk around and do some shopping. I was able to try some different foods while I was there, and simply relax. The shops that were at Old Shanghai Town were mainly tourist related, so it made it easier to look for certain things I had been seeking. However, it was very crowded, which did make getting around very difficult at times.
I was very glad to have two and a half days free in Shanghai. I thought it was enough free time to do any extra sights that I wanted to do, such as the Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai Aquarium, as well as, any additional shopping, such as the Xiangyang Markets and Nanjing Road. Janet was kind enough to direct us towards the Xiangyang Markets, which was our first, and only experience of an outdoor market. Any longer, and I think I would have thought of Shanghai as "just another big city".

The accommodation in Shanghai at the Shanghai Hotel was also, very nice. The hotel was located close to Nanjing Road, as well as, the subway station (at City Plaza), which made other parts of the city more accessible. The rooms were of a high standard, and the staff were able to speak reasonably fluent English, which made communication very easy. There was also a supermarket, and a variety of other shops close by, which made getting groceries and other necessities very easy.

I thought taking the Evening Express Train to Beijing was an experience too. It was the first time I had taken a train long distance, or overnight. It was definitely better spending 13 hours on the Soft Sleeper Overnight train than spending 11 hours on the plane from Auckland to Hong Kong! A bit crammed, but the group got along fine.

Beijing:

Beijing was a very fascinating city. It was good to have two free days to do whatever I pleased. However, I found it  difficult to utilise the second free day, as most of the group went back to the markets to do extra shopping, therefore making it difficult to do much else, since we were not allowed to go out alone. I am sure that if shopping were not a factor, I could have done a lot more with the day though. The sights of Beijing were by far the most impressive of the tour, especially the Great Wall of China.

The Temple of the Heaven was unique, especially with its architectural excellence, such as the echoing wall. The sheer size of the site was an indication of how important the Temple is. It astounded me to learn that all of the buildings in the Temple of the Heaven were built without nails. It certainly made me appreciate Chinese engineering and their skills involved, which by today's standards is still incredible.

Tiananmen Square was very impressive, especially the size of it. For me, it brought back some history, in relation to the student disaster that occurred there. However, given that it is the heart of Beijing, it was a great place to begin our tour, and was very convenient to some of the other sights we planned on visiting - Mao's Mausoleum and the Forbidden City.

 Mao's Mausoleum was something new to me, as it is the first time I have ever been in a mausoleum. It amazed me while I was in Beijing, how much respect they have for this great man. It was only after seeing how big the mausoleum was, the military guard presence inside the mausoleum and the picture of him in front of the Forbidden City that I got an idea of how much respect Chinese people have for him. However, the visit to his mausoleum did not have the same impact on me as it did on the local Chinese people that visited at the same time our group did.

Both the Hongqiao Markets and Ya Show Markets were worthwhile going to. It was good to have allocated shopping time in our schedule, as it placed less pressure on our free days, and since everyone was keen to go anyway, it made it worthwhile to allocate time to these markets. It was a good opportunity, along with the free days, to do any final shopping before leaving China.

The Forbidden City was mind-blowing. The size of the Forbidden City simply blew me away. However, it was great to visit, as it put into perspective the position of the Emperor in Chinese society. The condition and size of the Forbidden City also gave me an idea of the type of life the Emperor lived in the past. Despite the size of the City, and how much time we could have spent there, I think it was good to only spend a morning there because if more time had been spent there, I think it would have tarnished the visit by people losing interest.

The Hutong Tour served as one of the unexpected highlights to the trip. The ride on the rickshaws was definitely a great fun. However, the actual tour itself, gave you an idea of how the average Chinese person in Beijing lived, and the sort of living conditions they were accustomed to. Not only that, I learnt about how you can tell how many people live inside each house, and the significance of each family from their front door. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour.

The Summer Palace was good, although I found as time went on there, everything started looking the same, especially as we spent a great deal of time walking down the Long Corridor. Given its sheer size, there was no way we were going to visit the whole Palace, but I think what we visited as least gave me idea of what the Palace was like. However, due to cloud and fog, we were not able to appreciate the views from the Palace grounds.

The Ming Tombs was interesting, as it gave me an idea of how Emperors had themselves buried in the past. The size of the tombs was phenomenal. It was a shame that only a short time was spent at the Tombs though because only one Tomb has been excavated. However, on our bus ride back to the hotel, our group did take the opportunity to ask to visit the Sacred Way associated with the Ming Tombs. The Sacred Way put into perspective the grandness of the Emperors, simply through its grandness and size.

The Acrobatics Show was very entertaining, and was well received. I thought it was a good break for the sightseeing that I had done earlier in the day, and also a good opportunity to appreciate Chinese acrobatics, since we rarely have the opportunity to see such talent in New Zealand.

My personal highlight of Beijing was the ascent up the Great Wall of China though. It was certainly an experience, and one I will not forget. I think our group was allocated enough time to ascent and descent the wall, as well as, take in some of the sights and simply being on the Great Wall of China. It certainly makes you wonder how Chinese soldiers could walk the wall so fast in times of emergencies, given the steepness of some parts of the wall!

Perhaps in tours for the near future, a visit to the Olympic Village may be an idea. I am sure there would be interest from future groups to see what is going on there, and how it is developing.

The accommodation at the Song He Hotel was great. The service was very good, and the staff could speak enough English to make communication reasonably easy. The rooms were of a good standard too.

Hong Kong:

Making Hong Kong the final stop to the Tour was good, instead of making it the first stop in the Tour, especially in relation to shopping. I also thought that it was good not to do any scheduled sightseeing, because I thought that by this time of the trip, it was nice to come to a place knowing that nothing had been planned, and the time was solely our own (also because I think I was suffering a bit of burnout in relation to sightseeing - I was not the only one). However, it would have been nice to have had the scheduled time in Hong Kong lengthened. I know there was an option to spend more time in Hong Kong if I chose, However, I think if the option was given to future potential members of the Tour during the organisation stages of the Tour to ask how long should be spent in Hong Kong at the end, it would mean more of a consensus could be gained. From what I heard from other members on this years tour, it would have been nice to have spent longer in Hong Kong, and if we had been asked how long we would have liked to have spent, I think everyone would have preferred to have stayed on longer, not only to do more shopping, but knowing that the entire group would be there too, which would have made the stay that much more worthwhile.

Overall Impression:

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Wintercamp China Tour 2004. I learnt a great deal from the trip, and it certainly made me appreciate various aspects of Chinese life, society, architecture and traditions. A lot of good memories were made on the trip, as well as, a lot of new friends, which I have been keeping in good touch since the trip finished. I give my thanks to the NZCA for organising the trip, to Janet Joe for running and organising the Tour, and to the other people involved for making it such a successful trip. I would happily recommend this tour to future local Chinese people considering going on this trip.

by:Bevan Chong