China Tour - FAQs

What is the Holt Family Tour to China?
A trip to revisit China especially tailored for families with children who were adopted from China, escorted by experienced Holt staff and professional tourist guides.

How long is the tour, where will we go, and when will it be?
A standard tour will last around two weeks and you'll visit places of educational and cultural interest including well-known and beautiful tourist sites like the Great Wall and the Li River, private homes, and public places like schools. And you will also participate in activities and visits significant to the story of your child's adoption from China. We try to arrange itineraries to give participants an overview of the variety of urban and rural life around China. This year we will also include two or three days of adoptee day camp at a reserved location in China where we can offer activities exclusively for adoptees, facilitated by Holt camp counselors who are themselves adult international adoptees.

In 2012 we will offer two tours in mid-June to early July.

All tours will be open to families with children from any province; families will separate mid-tour to visit home provinces and orphanages and then rejoin the main tour group. Because of increasing interest in Holt's tours we may need to choose participants on a first-come-first-served basis. We expect to announce exact tour dates in the fall of 2011. The details of these tour itineraries are currently under consideration.

A sample tour itinerary for a typical tour

• Day one: Board your international flight to China from your US gateway city.
• Day two: BEIJING – After crossing the international dateline, arrive in Beijing. Your English-speaking guide and driver will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel where you’ll be met by Holt staff. Your children will be measured for a traditional Chinese outfit, compliments of Holt.
• Day three: BEIJING – Attend your tour group’s orientation meeting, then tour the beautiful Forbidden City complex, and visit Tiananmen Square. Stop by the 2008 Olympic Venues. Enjoy an optional martial arts or acrobatic show.
• Day four: BEIJING – Visit the world famous Great Wall. Attend an adoption and orphanage discussion meeting facilitated by Holt staff with many years of experience working in China.
• Day five: THE ADOPTEE'S HOME PROVINCE – Separate from the main group and travel to your adoption home province. Tour the city where your orphanage is located.
• Day six: THE ADOPTEE'S HOME PROVINCE – Visit your orphanage, finding site and foster family (where applicable and possible).
• Day seven and eight: Travel to scenic locations like GUILIN, CHENGDU, or XI'AN - Visit beautiful scenic places in China and participate in fun activities, cruise a river past mountains and water buffalo, see the famous Terracotta Warriors, pet a panda, learn to cook Chinese dishes, ride a bike along an ancient city wall, or take in a local folk performance
• Day nine: Local activities along sightseeing route.
• Day ten: BEIJING - Formal invitation to visit the government offices of the CCCWA (formerly CCAA) where prospective adoptive parents and children are matched, and Bridge of Love Adoption Service. Learn about Chinese calligraphy and to sing a Chinese song.
• Day eleven: BEIJING – Visit the Summer Palace.
• Day twelve: BEIJING – Daytime activities at a camp exclusively for adoptees, facilitated by experienced camp counselors who are themselves international adoptees. Other family members will tour local museums and places of interest.
• Day thirteen: BEIJING - Daytime activities at a camp exclusively for adoptees, facilitated by experienced camp counselors who are themselves international adoptees. Other family members will tour local museums and places of interest. Farewell banquet – adoptees are invited to wear their traditional outfits.
• Day fourteen: Your return flight to the US, or choose to add on additional tourist travel in China with Holt's assistance.
  

How likely is it we will be able to visit our child's orphanage and foster family?
These visits are absolutely central to Holt's heritage tour philosophy and we work very hard to arrange them; however, it's important to know that orphanages in China are not public places, and permission from the government is required to properly arrange them. It is also common for foster families to no longer be fostering and to have moved away in the years since a child's adoption, requiring substantial "detective" work to try to find them again. Please also note that some orphanages will be restrictive about direct contact by outside visitors with the children in their care. Nevertheless, Holt has excellent relationships with appropriate officials and our partners in China; we have successfully arranged these special visits and located most foster families in the past, and we anticipate being able to do so in 2012, as well.

How much will it cost?
Your exact tour cost will vary, depending upon your child's home province and other personal choices. However, as an example, in 2011 the average fee for a two-week tour was about $3000 per adult or child aged twelve and older, and about $2500 per child under twelve. This cost did not include international airfare to and from China and some other minor expenses.

Holt's tour arrangements, official orphanage visit applications, and the fees for Holt's tours will be coordinated through a government office in China, Bridge of Love Adoption Service (BLAS), under the direction of the CCCWA. Your fee will include your stay in international-level hotels, tour guides and site fees, all arrangements for visits and activities in the primary schedule, most meals, camp lodging and materials, and all your basic air and ground transportation throughout your trip in China.

Who may participate?
Everyone in your party must be at least nine years old and have a significant relationship with the adoptee (e.g. not just a friend interested only in tourism). We do hope that everyone will return home with something of significance from any discussion about the story of adoption and visits to orphanages, so please consider the maturity of your child and the expectations of others in your party when applying.

How does the location of my child's orphanage affect the tour itinerary?
While the overall itinerary will take you to locations all around China, normally everyone will also spend at least two or three days of the tour in the child's adoption province and will visit orphanages within that province on a specific day. For a couple days participants will have to separate into smaller groups or individually escorted visits.

Must my child have been adopted through Holt to participate?
No. All are welcome.

How will the group get to China?
You are responsible for arranging your flights to and from China. We will arrange your airport pickup and transfer to the group’s hotel upon your arrival in China, and all your group travel in-country thereafter.

May I travel elsewhere in China besides Holt’s regular tour itinerary?
Yes, but only as a personal trip before the Holt tour begins or after it ends. Holt staff time is limited and they cannot assist you in arranging such elective travel or during any additional time in China; however, if you wish, we can suggest professional tour services or packages that can provide all the arrangements and support you request.


What if we have adopted children from two or more different provinces
Since there is only enough time within the regular Family Tour itinerary to schedule orphanage visits in one province per family, most families in this situation choose which orphanage visit they will want to experience during the standard Holt Family Tour schedule. Holt and BLAS can then assist you in scheduling add-on travel to make a visit to the other adoptee's province after the regular Family Tour has ended. Although it may not always be possible for Holt staff to be available to accompany you on such additional orphanage visits outside the regular tour schedule, Holt will confirm that your orphanage visit appointments have been made and make sure you are provided with an experienced tour escort / translator as needed.

We have both a teenage adoptee and a younger adoptee in our family. Which tour should we choose?
Either tour is workable. We've designed one tour to include activities more directed to teenagers, but there will be plenty to interest an adoptee of any age on either tour. Activities at the adoptee day camp will be separated and facilitated by counselors according to age level.

During the daytime activities on the two days of adoptee camp that will be for adoptees only, what will other family members do?
Escorted tours or optional activities will be provided for all other, non-adoptee family members, or you may choose to rest or explore the area on your own.

What is the application deadline and when will you have more information?
Holt must first confirm tour dates, itineraries and arrangements with our China partners and assess our China staff availability, after which the details of tour dates and cost will be set and formal application forms for registration on a tour will be made available to you and accepted through the last day of February, 2012 or until spaces on the tour of your choice are all filled. (In such a case, applicants may still be considered for stand-by for available spots or offered alternate tour options.) Your individual fee will be computed based on the location of the adoptee's orphanage and according to your family's individual needs and preferences. Spots for your family members on a tour can then be secured with a down payment. Regular communications from Holt by e-mail will keep you updated on the progress of tour plans along the way, answer your questions and help you prepare. Contact Holt to request information on how to begin this process. You may submit a Family Tour interest form online to register your interest and receive updates, or contact Holt to request that one be sent to you.

For more information contact the China Program at lislev at holtinternational.org or at telephone extension 118.