DG Kenneth Wong visit to China

Dear Presidents and District Leaders,
  It is my pleasure to invite you to join our District’s Delegation to visit the Shaanxi Province and Beijing next month, May 2013. The whole schedule will run from 16 May to 23 May 2013 as follows:

(i) 16-21 May: Visit to Shaanxi Province (we will leave Shaanxi Province in the afternoon of 21 May). I will leave Hong Kong for Xian (capital city of Shaanxi) on 16 May. For those of you who could not join the flight on 16 May, you could take the flight on 17 May which is a public holiday in Hong Kong. Note that there is only one direct flight from Hong Kong to Xian each day. You are most welcome to join me on the flight of 16 May if you can make it. DS HW and some others have confirmed that they will travel with me on 16 May.

(ii) 21-23 May : Visit to Beijing (we will arrive in Beijing in the evening of 21 May and leave in the evening of 23 May). For those of you who could only join the Beijing visit (and not the visit to Shaanxi), you could take the direct flight from Hong Kong to Beijing on 21 May.

Visit to Shaanxi Province to oversee the Water Service Project

 Our Delegation will visit the Shaanxi Province to oversee the Water Service Project which will provide clean water to 60,000 students and teachers in 43 schools there. The eight Areas in Hong Kong and Macao of D3450 have all participated in this mammoth project and this would be a good opportunity for you to personally visit the schools which benefit from the sponsorship of your Area/Club, and to see if the progress and quality of work are satisfactory. The Delegation will also meet Government officials in Xian (capital city of Shaanxi province), Weinan and Tongchuan (the two cities where the 43 selected schools are located). During our stay there, 17-21 May, we will also be abe to see latest development and heritage in Shaanxi province, a most historical place of China. As there are 43 schools spread over in Weinan and Tongchuan to be visited, more detailed itineraries will be worked out for the visits which will take place on 17, 20 and the morning of 21 May. Visits to heritage and historical landmarks will take place on 18 May (Saturday) and 19 May (Sunday).

Visit to Beijing

 For our visit to Beijing, we will have Mr. Chen Shaobin, Deputy Director-General of the Coordinating Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR, as the advisor and coordinator. He will accompany us during our stay in Beijing. Visits will be made to the following Government Offices:

(i) the National Commission of Health and Family Planning: to discuss our work on Organ Donation promotion with reference to the MoU signed between the Ministry of Health and D3450 last December;

(ii) the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council: to discuss our work on the Water Service Project in Shaanxi Province and the prospect and need of extending this or similar services to other provinces;

(iii) the National Ministry of Civil Affairs: to discuss the prospective of setting up NGOs with structure similar to Rotary;

(iv) the Central United Front Work Department: to discuss future liaison between D3450 and various government offices and organisations in China, and the possibility of organising National Studies Program for Rotarians in Hong Kong and Macao.

A more detailed itinerary for each of the above visits will be available later.

Flight schedules and accommodation arrangements

 The following flight schedules and accommodation arrangements have been kindly drawn up by PP Andy Wong:
(a) Fight schedule for those who are joining the Shaanxi trip or both Shaanxi and Beijing Trip and the cost of air fares; (see attachments)
(b) Registration form for those who are joining the Shaanxi trip or both Shaanxi and Beijing Trip; (see attachments)
(c) Flight schedule and registration form for those who are joining only the Beijing Trip and the cost of air tickets and accommodation (see attachments)
(d) Personal information form to be filled in by those who are joining the Beijing Trip (see attachments).

Regarding accommodation arrangement for the stay in Shaanxi, we will wait for the advice from our contact in the Overseas Chinese Liaison Office of Xian and inform you of the arrangements. For those joining the whole trip (Shaanxi and Beijing), accommodation in Beijing will be similar to the options presented in (c) above.

Registration for the Trip to Shaanxi and Beijing

You are cordially invited to fill out the relevant forms attached and send them back to RIC as soon as possible and no later than 27 April 2013, to allow time for completing the necessary flight and accommodation booking. Also please check your travel documents to ensure that they will be valid for the trip. If you are joining the Beijing visit, please also send a photo of yours along with your registration form.

 Some of your international partners and sister clubs who have rendered their support to the Water Service Project may also be interested in joining the trip. They are most welcome to do so. But do alert them to the above schedule as early as possible so that they could make up their mind and make the necessary arrangements well in advance to avoid disappointment (e.g. they may need time to obtain visa for entry to China).

 If you have any questions on the flight and accommodation arrangement, please feel free to raise them with PP Andy Wong at mobile 90930011 and email at <awong@aatravel.com.hk>, or DS HW Fung at mobile 96518353 and email at hw.fung@rcmhk.org.

Details and Registration Forms

Yours in Rotary
Kenneth Wong,
DistrictGovernor 2012-13
District 3450
Hong Kong, Macao and Mongolia