Originally Posted by
tentseller
I have taken advantage of their generosity three times. It was a very low cost way of searching your roots and identity. There weren't any hidden additional charges forced upon the group. Overall a very good experience. BUT I had friends who went and the trip was ruined by other people in the group who had life issues.
You should take them up on their offer if you have the time.
If it is easier for us to get the Chinese Visa, we sure would take advantage of those cheapo land tours. The afore-mentioned tours are offered twice a week it seems. If not because one of our primary goals for this trip to HKG is to get back our HKID cards, we might take a side trip into China with the "express" Visa service at HKG (about over twice as much as the regular way I believe, like $300 USD in total versus $130 for US citizens - Canadians got it 50% less than Americans).
Originally Posted by
tentseller
BTW Taiwan government did that as a one month trip with "education" and introduction to their version of Chinese culture in the 1960/70's for ethnic Chinese youth 15yrs+ to University students. That was another cheap experience for the airfare was covered as well.
Taiwan government often offers some sort of incentive tours during October. We visited Taiwan in 2009 on a big Circle Pacific 45 days long trip and quite liked how it has improved from our long time ago visit. We would like to work it into our next year trip(s) to Asia if possible.
Originally Posted by
tentseller
My family left HK when the PLA was shooting across the border into HK in the 1960's. My father picked Canada and here I am!
Was it the Cultural Revolution or the earlier years when people were starved to death due to combination of extreme policies by Mao and natural disasters? Those were some sad eras in Modern China's history.
Originally Posted by
tentseller
I had many offers for employment/contracted work/re-posting to PRC/HK/SEAsia but I am too used to the way of life where I am and the cold.
You can be an Expat for a few years. Escape the high taxation in Canada for a few years then return to enjoy the fruits earned by the hardship brought by living in PRC/HK/SE Asia... Actually being Expat in HK/SE Asia aint too bad. I would imagine it is far better than in PRC.