JUNE 6 - 25, 2002

One day, my brother Henry approached me with the idea to take a trip to China. So was I going to say, "No"?

And so we began our planning to travel through the third largest country in the world, one that is rich in history and culture, and a dramatic departure from all my previous trips.

This trip would also be different in that we would choose where we would want to go in China and what we would want to see. Helping us out with the itinerary and bookings was Wanda at LTI Tours, so she deserves many thanks from us. It would just be the two of us, my brother and I throughout the trip, met by a different tour guide and driver, working for either the China International Travel Service (CITS) or the China Travel Service (CTS), in each of the cities or regions we were to visit, as opposed a large group on a tour bus. We would be chauffeured in a regular passenger vehicle to the various places and sites. As it would be just be the two of us, the trip would also have a more personal touch and be at a much more leisurely pace.

We would begin in the capital of Beijing and work our way south to Guilin, and then to the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. Breaking it up in the middle of it all would be a 3-1/2 day cruise on the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), provided by Victoria Cruises. At the conclusion of the trip, we would spend 4 nights in Hong Kong, visiting and being shown around the region by many of our relatives. It would mark the first time I would be back to my city of birth since our family immigrated to Canada before I was even a year old.

We took over 900 digital photos between myself and my brother and an additional 275 with a regular camera, of which less than 230 of them are on display here. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime, with many lasting memories as well as an interesting learning experience. I hope you enjoy this look into one of the most fascinating and historically rich countries in the world.

Many thanks to Wanda at


the many tour guides and drivers from
     and    

the crew aboard the Victoria Empress


and of course all my relatives in Hong Kong!
 

Click the map of China below to begin...

June 6-9: Beijing ... June 9-11: Chengdu ... June 11-15: Yangtze River Cruise (Chongqing to Wuhan) ...
June 15-17: Shanghai ... June 17-19: Huangshan ... June 19-21: Guilin ... June 21-25: Hong Kong

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have made the journey to China

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