I have just received an email from Professor Tan Ken to say that he is being sent to Germany to work and study for 6 months and can no longer arrange our visit.

I have had an email from Professor Tan Ken who will be the liaison person for our visit. Here is the body of my reply which is probably the easiest way of giving everyone an update of where we're at.

You will see it contains a link to the website for our proposed accommodation so you can take a look. A friend of mine has been to check it out, so I'll aim to include his comments and photos.

Please post any comments, suggestions or questions using the comments facility or by email, phone or post to me

In the photo of my previous entry, Tan Ken is on my left (your right!) and He Shaoyu, the Director of the Research Institute, is on the other side of me.

My email to Tan Ken said . . . . 

We shall arrive around April 16 and are planning to stay in Yunnan for one week, including up to 5 days focussed on apiculture.   
Some of the group will then visit other tourist attractions in China (for example Beijing, Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors)  
 
The group are keen to:

• See the work of your Institute in both research and training.
• Get an overview of beekeeping in Yunnan Province and in China as a whole.
• Learn about Apis cerana, including both modern and traditional methods of keeping them.
• Visit beekeepers in villages and to see how they keep their bees in logs, walls, hives, etc.
• Learn about Chinese methods of keeping Apis mellifera and to compare these with British methods.
• Learn about the use and production of bee products such as royal jelly, propolis, pollen, etc. which seem to be more popular in China than in Britain.
• Visit a commercial bee farm.
• Learn about Chinese methods of treating bee diseases.
• See or do anything else you can recommend to us.

How much of this would you be able to arrange for us? 

Would it more convenient for you to arrange a programme from Monday to Friday or would it be better to include a weekend in our 5 days?
 
The group are naturally asking about the total cost. Our travel agent will tell us the cost of air travel to Kunming. We are planning to stay in the Nissi Holiday Hotel which is in the north of Kunming. www.nissisuiteshotel.com will give us the accommodation cost.
 
In addition there will be the cost of food and of road travel. It would be helpful to have your ideas on that. Will you be able to arrange a suitable minibus, 面包车 or larger, depending on numbers? If so, what will that cost?
 
Unless you are able to accompany us yourself personally, we shall need an interpreter who is familiar with beekeeping terms in Chinese and English.
 
When I was at the conference in Hangzhou (which Professor He Shaoyu also attended), we were helped by student volunteers who were keen to improve their English. Maybe two of your students would like to do the same for us?
 
I am not yet able to give final names and numbers for our group. I estimate 6 to 8 beekeepers.
 
In addition there may be one or two wives/husbands who are not beekeepers and who will not take part in the beekeeping activities, but who would probably like to be invited to the opening ceremony and/or meal. These non-beekeepers will do other things in and around Kunming.
 
Some of our group will be older but all have assured me that they are in good health and will have no problem visiting the mountainous areas.
 
As advised by our travel agent, I shall be asking for firm bookings by early January. After that, I can give you a list of names so that you can send us a letter of invitation and we can obtain visas. (If that is a problem, it should be easy for us to obtain 30 day tourist visas.)

Here I am with some of the Institute staff who have invited a group from UK to visit in April.
After about one week in Kunming, there will be the option of travelling to Beijing and other tourist destinations in China. The travel agent is recommending Wendy Wu Tours. You can see what they offer at  http://www.wendywutours.co.uk/ although the travel agent says we don't have to do a complete tour if we only want to do part of one. Another (cheaper) possibility is to stay on for longer in Kunming and visit tourist destinations in Yunnan Province which has a lot to offer
I am awaiting responses from BfD and BBKA in case they have any suggestions.
The travel agent says we should aim to make firm bookings by mid-January

China is probably the largest honey producing country in the world. 90% of the colonies are the bees we are familiar with, Apis mellifera. In Yunnan Province in south west China, however, 90% of colonies are the smaller Eastern Honey Bee, Apis cerana.The Eastern Bee Research Institute in Kunming, the provincial capital, is inviting a group of British beekeepers to visit in April, 2012. As well as learning about the work of the Institute, we hope to visit village beekeepers and commercial honey producers.

We plan to spend up to a week in Kunming. There will be the option of another week or so visiting other places of interest in China such as the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors.

Non-beekeeping partners are welcome to join us. We aim to arrange other interesting activities for those who do not wish to see the bees!

We shall depart on or about 16th. April, 2012. If you are interested in knowing more, phone me on 01242 514640 or leave a comment with your contact details.