Tours

Framespotting Tour of the People's Republic of China

April 5-17, 2010

Our next international timber framing tour, led by Guild member Richard Wiborg, will be to the People's Republic of China. Dates are tentatively scheduled for April 5-17, 2010.

Help Us Bring Chinese Timber Framing
to the U.S.

We want to bring noted Chinese architect and builder Ma Bing-Jian, who will be one of our guides in China, to the U.S. to do a series of workshops and presentations at the 2010 Western Conference in Idaho in late April. This will give all of those not fortunate enough to go to on the tour a taste of Chinese timber framing methods. To this end, we are seeking someone with 65,000 frequent flier miles on a major airline that serves China to be a sponsor for Mr. Ma, allowing us to fly him here at no cost. Alternately, a $1,000 cash sponsorship would enable us to purchase the ticket. Sponsors will be recognized at the event.

Ma Bing-Jian is one of the foremost authorities on traditional Chinese timber frame building. His books include Construction Techniques of Traditional Chinese Wood Architecture and Architecture of Beijing's Quadrangle Residences, and writing and editorial work for the magazine Traditional Chinese Architecture and Gardens.

Please contact Will Beemer at 413-623-9926 or will@tfguild.org if you are able to help us with this generous sponsorship of Mr. Ma.

The tour will start in Beijing and include the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. We will meet with Ma Bing-Jian of the Committee for China's Cultural Heritage in Wood and visit roof structures. We also plan to arrange visits to construction sites to witness restoration of ancient structures and meet with some of the work crews to see their tools and methods.

On the third day we will travel by bus to Jixian for a day tour including the Solitary Joy Temple and the Luban Temple. After returning to Beijing we will meet with architecture professor Wang Guixiang at Tsinghua University and visit nearby Chinese Folk Houses. Then we will move to a new hotel in Datong and experience the Yungang grottoes, Shanhua Temple and Huayan Temple. More temples and pagodas await us in the middle of the tour in the Datong/Taiyuan area, including the Xuankong Temple (also called the Suspending Temple) and the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, the oldest and highest wooden pagoda in China and a rare treasure of ancient Chinese architecture.

Traveling on to Pingyao we will stop in Jinci, a combination of historical cultural relics and beautiful landscapes. Pingyao is a unique ancient city with a grand, solemn city wall and residences, shops and offices all in the Ming and Qing styles. We will return for a few days in Beijing before returning home.

The all-inclusive tour fee will include airfare from the U.S., hotels (4-5 star), meals, admissions and ground transportation in China (bus and plane). We anticipate the price to be somewhere around $2,300 from San Francisco, and about $200 higher from JFK in New York. We are now taking deposits to confirm participation.

We need to get a $500 deposit from everyone who wants to go on the tour, since the final price and negotiations with the travel agent depend on the number of people going. Airfares also fluctuate, and we can get a better deal and lock in a price with more people.

Policy for Tour Deposits

Submit a $500 deposit per person as soon as possible in the Guild Webstore or by calling Sue in our Becket office at 413-623-9926. This deposit is fully refundable should we cancel the tour or if the cost of the tour is higher than $2,500 and you decide not to go. If the price remains at that level and you cancel, there is a $100 non-refundable fee since we will have committed to the tour operator.

Please sign up by mid-October if you want to join us in China!

Photos by Richard Wiborg

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