Ningdu Heritage Trip in 2009

The following is from my post on Yahoo's Ningdu Families that I submitted this afternoon:


This past weekend I attended the Bay Area Travel Show (as an exhibitor) and caught up with many old friends and met some new ones during the 2-day travel show. Many of my Chinese contacts were in attendance, and I had the opportunity to begin discussing with one tour operator some initial thoughts on coordinating a Ningdu Heritage Trip in 2009.

For most, the idea of traveling to China with a possible 3-day stay in Ningdu would be a dream come true. I know that it would be for our family. Our daughter will turn 5 in November, so I know that providing her with the opportunity to visit her native China and to see the area where her life began would be of tremendous value.

I would like to get an idea from this group as to the interest level for having a group tour, say 8-10 days, in China, with Ningdu being the primary focus for perhaps three days.

Here is a portion of the e-mail that I received this morning from my contact at Access China Tours:

"Yes, the show was very good and we got some solid leads. I have done a quick search on Ningdu in our China destination data base and found some very useful info and images. I will wait for your further instruction but I am very confident that we can offer a wonderful heritage experience for both the kids and the parents in Ningdu. By the way, the best time to visit Ningdu in terms of weather is from mid October to late November."

He indicated to me that sometime in 2008, he would arrange to visit Ningdu and to make preliminary arrangements with the orphanage director and others to properly welcome the group.

I'll put together a poll for this site and on Our Ningdu Kids blog to see what the interest level is for a Ningdu Heritage Trip in late 2009. Also, please reply directly to this message as there's no need to do a private reply to this post.

I think this could be very exciting, especially since this group could have both Canadian and American families traveling together. We may also find that Australian and European families might meet up with us in China for the mainland tour. I can see many new friendships developing from such a trip and a strenghtening of the bond that ties all of us together as Ningdu Families.

Please think about it; it could be a lot of fun for everyone!

Best Regards to All,
Kurt
Father to Ning Yuqing (Melani),
Class of September 2004