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St Canice's Parish Tour of China

late April 2020

Join us on a journey through China's religious and cultural history!

What is this wonderful opportunity?

The parish of St Canice's, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney has asked Sino-Immersions to construct a parish pilgrimage for them to China.

Leading pilgrimages through-out China is one of our strengths, and the tour will be led by Dr Jeremy Clarke, PhD, who has a doctorate in Chinese history and has published much about the history of religion in China, including of the Jesuits. Parishioners of St Canice may also remember Jeremy's mother, Elizabeth Clarke, who worked in the parish in the early 1990s, with Fr Donal Taylor SJ and Fr Steve Sinn SJ.

 

Fr Frank Brennan SJ has accompanied Jeremy on a personally guided tour and says of our Director:

 

"“Jeremy combines learning and pleasure, putting the anxious and curious equally at ease.”

Other reviews can be read on this page. (Click the underlined text)

This unique opportunity will take place in late April 2020, and the group will visit Macau, Zhuhai, Shanghai and Beijing.

The tour covers Catholic/Christian history, Jewish history, Buddhist history and the role of the emperor as the Son of Heaven. It is also obviously an engagement with the China of today.

 

We visit hard-to-get-to sites like the beach where St Francis Xavier died, as well as such cities as Macau, Shanghai and Beijing, all rich with Chinese Catholic stories. We tour the Jewish museum in Shanghai, as well as have mass in the French Concession. We stroll along the Bund and see the Church of St Ignatius. We pray before Jesuit missionary tombstones in Beijing, as well as climb the Great Wall and visit the famous Buddhist Lama Temple. We catch ferries, planes, a high-speed train, the metro system and also have our own private buses en route as well. We dine in street-side restaurants as well as gourmet haunts. We engage with history as we brush up against the China of today: vibrant, bustling and fascinating.

Proposed Itinerary:       APRIL 13 TO APRIL 24

 

Day #1                    Sydney to Hong Kong, then straight to Macau

Day #2                   Day in Macau, St Paul’s and Jesuit/Catholic history

Day #3                   Half-day Macau, then across to Zhuhai

Day #4                   All day to Shangchuan Island, where Xavier died, then back to Zhuhai

Day #5                   Fly to Shanghai, evening river cruise

Day #6                   Full day Shanghai, Xujiahui/Jesuit history

Day #7                   Full day Shanghai, plus Jewish Museum

Day #8                   Morning train to Beijing,

Day #9                   Full day Beijing, Jesuit cemetery, Forbidden City

Day #10                 Full day Beijing, including Lama Buddhist Temple

Day #11                Great Wall, and then Temple of Heaven

Day #12                Day of exploring in Beijing, with various options.

                               Late night plane to Sydney arriving next day.

Macau = 2 nights; Zhuhai = 2 nights; Shanghai = 3 nights; Beijing = 4 nights.

Likely Cost

Per person 12 days fully inclusive: $8199 twin share; $8599 single supplement.

Inclusions:

  • all transport (incl. economy return airfare) plus transfers,

  • all hotel rooms in central locations,

  • all meals,

  • all entrance tickets,

  • all tips (that is, once in China you will not have to tip, unless you choose to do so, as we do it for you

  • full accompaniment by Sino-Immersions staff and local guides,

  • expert guiding & translation, pre-departure advice and help with visa applications.

Exclusions:

  • alcohol,

  • gifts and souvenirs,

  • costs incurred in own hotel room as laundry etc,

  • snacks and drinks outside of meal time,

  • anything not covered in inclusions.

NB:    Sino-Immersions will provide, for a separate fee, a visa application and delivery service upon request.

[The tour is open to all. However, Sino-Immersions reserves the right to refuse certain bookings. All travellers must be able to walk 1kilometre unaided, wheeling their own bag, and all travellers must be able to climb and descend 2 flights of stairs by themselves, unaided. What is at issue is not speed but rather the capacity to walk along with fellow travellers at a commensurate pace. Where  an individual needs greater assistance, they may be able to join the tour if they provide their own carer, who travels at full price.]

What to do now?

There will be an information session held at St Canice's ParisH, all are invited. Fr Chris will organise the time.

The tour will only take place if there are a minimum of 8 pilgrims. The tour numbers are also capped at 18.

Contact the parish, or Dr Jeremy Clarke, PhD, for further details          jclarke@sinoimmersions.com.

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