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HONG KONG & SHANGHAI CONTEMPORARY ART IN CHINA MARCH 28 –
APRIL 4, 2019 TOUR LEADER: DR NICK GORDON
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Overview Hong Kong and Shanghai are China’s most cosmopolitan
cities. Both cities have been shaped by their historic role as the
point of contact between Chinese and western cultures, but they
have retained distinctive local identities which is reflected in
their architecture, cuisines, way of life and in their art. Yet
their unique histories make them vastly different, revealing
different aspects of China’s past and present. Both cities share in
common an extraordinary reputation as centres of contemporary art.
Hong Kong’s profile has grown substantially over the past decade,
thanks in part to the transformation of the Hong Kong art fair into
Art Basel, and the growing number of art shows taking place around
the signature event in March. Shanghai – the colonial ‘Paris of the
East’ and the third largest city in the world – has extended its
role as a creative capital, with former industrial spaces being
transformed into galleries, studios and art venues. The growth of
world-class private collections has been remarkable too, and ranges
from museums of traditional art, such as the Tadao Ando designed
Aurora Museum, to China’s largest private art collection (whose
owner, Liu Yiquan, made headlines when he bought a Modigliani for
US$170 million). This new 8-day tour explores the art and history
of these two cities, with a special focus on modern and
contemporary art. The tour starts with 3 nights in Hong Kong,
visiting Art Basel and exploring the city’s architecture and
history. It continues with 4 nights in Shanghai, home to many of
the finest collections in China and its most stunning contemporary
architecture. The tour is rounded out with fine dining, an
exploration of traditional Chinese art and architecture, and a day
trip to Suzhou, a beautifully preserved traditional Chinese
watertown famous for its gardens.
Your tour leader Dr Nick Gordon holds a University Medal and a
PhD in history from the University of Sydney. Nick taught European
history at universities in Sydney for 10 years, and continues to
lecture regularly on art and history. His academic knowledge of art
is complemented by the detailed understanding of it as an artist,
working across a range of media and he brings this insight to his
tours. He has led tours since 2007, and develops art, history and
culture tours for Academy Travel.
“Nick is an excellent tour leader – in his management,
organisational and people skills; he has great knowledge of art and
history, which he shared willingly, both in lectures and
informally.” – Feedback from participant on our June 2017 Art Along
the Rhine with Art Basel tour
HONG KONG & SHANGHAI
Tour dates: March 28 – April 4, 2019
Tour leader: Dr Nick Gordon
Tour Price: $5,180 per person, twin share
Single Supplement: $1,240 for sole use of double room
Booking deposit: $500 per person
Recommended airline: Airline Name
Maximum places: 20
Itinerary: Hong Kong (3 nights), Shanghai (4 nights)
Date published: March 27, 2018
Enquiries and bookings
For further information and to secure a place on this tour
please contact Jamal Fairbrother at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or
1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email
[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
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Tour Highlights
ART BASEL IN HONG KONG Art Basel Hong Kong is the Asia-Pacific
region’s premier art fair. Each year over 200 commercial galleries
from around the world show off their best works of modern and
contemporary art. The scale and quality of the work on display is
extraordinary, and it has become the centrepiece of Hong Kong’s
thriving arts scene.
HISTORIC CHINESE ART Contemporary art in China often draws on
millennia old traditions. Explore how these traditions – from
porcelain, to bronze, lacquered wood, painting and calligraphy –
inform recent generations of artists, or just appreciate these
works in their own right for their beauty, refinement and the
insights they give into an ancient civilisation.
SHANGHAI Get to know China’s most glamorous city, from the
fusion of Chinese and Western colonial cultures that helped make it
the Pearl of the Orient, to its stunning transformation into the
country’s cultural capital. Explore its streetscapes, cuisines and
fantastic art collections, and enjoy a day trip to Suzhou, a
traditional Chinese watertown outside of Shanghai.
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS Hong Kong and Shanghai are global financial
centres, like New York and London. As such they attract residents
whose wealth and love of art have led them to create exceptional
private collections, such as the Aurora Museum and the Long Museum
in Shanghai, and to attract exceptional artists, curators and
gallerists to these cities.
STUNNING ARCHITECTURE From traditional temples to playful
contemporary museums and soaring towers, the architecture of China
is stunning. See masterpieces by I. M. Pei, Tadao Ando, Foster
Wallace and the host of others who’ve found patrons with the will
(and money) to enable them to unleash their creativity and push
what is possible with modern engineering.
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Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B,
L and D.
Thursday 28 March Arrive
Flights from most Australian cities arrive in Hong Kong in the
late afternoon or early evening. We meet in the hotel for an
introductory talk and then enjoy dinner. Overnight Hong Kong.
(D)
Friday 29 March Hong Kong and Art Basel Hong Kong’s
extraordinary history, from its early foundations, to its growth as
the centre of British trade and finance in Asia and its transfer
back to China almost twenty years ago, is evident everywhere. This
morning we explore the island’s history and culture through a tour
of Central – originally Victoria City – whose architecture ranges
from British Colonial through to stunning buildings designed by
I.M. Pei and Norman Foster. After a break for lunch, we have a
guided visit of Art Basel HK, at which well over 200
internationally respected commercial galleries, mostly from the
Asia-Pacific, showcase their wares. After our guided visit, there
is time for independent exploration, and you may want to visit some
of the other sections of the fair, which are dedicated to
large-scale sculptures and installations by international artists.
Overnight Hong Kong. (B) Saturday 30 March Po Lin Monastery And
Contemporary Art Despite its modernity, Hong Kong retains close
links to its ancient culture. This morning we travel by coach to
the Po Lin Monastery, a Buddhist temple founded by three monks in
the early 20th century. The traditional Chinese Buddhist
architecture of the temple is beautifully situated with views
across the bay, over which gazes a 34-metre-high bronze Buddha. In
the afternoon, we continue exploring the contemporary art on
display in and around Art Basel, taking in a selection of the
year’s best offerings. Evening at leisure. Overnight Hong Kong. (B)
Sunday 31 March To Shanghai
This morning take the short flight to Shanghai. After checking
into our hotel, we tour the Bund district. This district, where the
British, American and French settled as their main point of
Above and below: The vibrancy and colour of Hong Kong Central in
painting and photography Below: Large sculpture and installations
are exhibited among the Galleries section at Art Basel Hong Kong.
In this case Dan Buren’s work captures the colour and forms of
urban living
Tour Start & Finish Time
The tour starts at 8.00pm in the Park Lane, Hong Kong.
The tour ends after breakfast at the Central Hotel,
Shanghai.
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Above: The Giant Buddha at Po Lin Monastery, surveying the
mountains and the bay; and a mosaic from Zhuang Hui and Dan’Er’s
Image Library series Below: The beautiful, traditional atmosphere
of a Chinese watertown
contact with mainland China, gave Shanghai its reputation as the
Paris of the East. After a group lunch, we explore the colonial
architecture along the river front is well preserved, and it
remains the most fashionable place to be seen in Shanghai, not
least for the views it offers across the skyline of Pudong. Our
tour concludes with a visit to Yu Garden, the private garden of
Shanghai’s 16th-century rulers, and today one of the best examples
of Ming-era garden design. The evening is at leisure. Overnight
Shanghai. (B, L)
Monday 1 April art and architecture in Shanghai
Shanghai’s museums have collections befitting the cultural
capital of one of the world’s largest economies. After a talk in
the hotel this morning, we visit the Shanghai Museum, whose
collection of ancient art ranges from 10th-century bronzeware, to
Ming dynasty furniture, and porcelain and lacquered wood from
across the ages. After a break for lunch in the area, we visit the
Aurora Museum, the private collection of the Aurora Group’s
chairman, housed in the company’s headquarters which was designed
by Tadao Ando. After our visit, we take an architecture tour of the
Pudong, where teams of internationally acclaimed architects and
engineers have given the city its new, futuristic landmarks, such
as the twisting form of the 632-metre-high Shanghai Tower and the
Pearl Radio Tower. In the late afternoon, there is the option of
visiting the Rockbund Art Museum, a contemporary art gallery housed
in what was originally the museum of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Evening at leisure. Overnight Shanghai. (B)
Tuesday 2 April Suzhou
Today we visit Suzhou, the Shanghai region’s most beautiful
watertown. The town – sometimes called the Venice of the East – is
famed for its well preserved traditional architecture and for its
extensive canal systems, which were the main form of transport in
trading centres along the Yangtze Delta. After touring the town, we
have lunch in a traditional restaurant. In the afternoon, we visit
some of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed gardens of Suzhou, which
in addition to their beauty give insight into hundreds of years of
Chinese garden design. Evening at leisure. Overnight Shanghai (B,
L)
Wednesday 3 April Contemporary art in Shanghai
Art has been central to Shanghai’s growth as a modern cultural
capital. Today we explore Shanghai’s fantastic collections. In the
morning we visit the China Art Museum, an extraordinary collection
of modern and contemporary art. The core of the collection is the
old Shanghai Art Museum, which rebranded in 2012 when it moved to
the China Expo building – an impressive red structure that
resembles a traditional Chinese crown. In the afternoon, we visit
the nearby Power Station of Art, whose utilitarian architecture on
the banks of the river have been transformed into an excellent
venue for temporary exhibitions,
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followed by a visit to the West Bund Long museum. This museum
contains part of the largest private art collection in China. We
return to the hotel via M50 – a creative space housed inside a
former cotton mill. After returning to the hotel, there is time to
relax before we have a farewell meal in an excellent restaurant.
Overnight Shanghai. (B, D)
Thursday 4 April Departure
The tour ends after breakfast in the hotel. If you have booked
your international travel through Academy Travel, we will include a
transfer for your outbound flights.
Hotels 4-star hotels have been selected for their central
locations and modern conveniences.
Hong Kong, The Park Lane Hong Kong (3 nights)
www.parklane.com.hk
Shanghai, Central Hotel (4 nights)
www.shanghaicentralhotel.com
Weather on Tour It will be the beginning of spring and weather
can be quite changeable in both Hong Kong and Shanghai. Hong Kong
can, however, be quite warm with temperatures reaching the mid to
high 20s. In Shanghai, average maximums at this time of year are
20C, with some days and evenings much cooler. We recommend bringing
clothing that can be layered according to the weather, good walking
shoes and a coat.
Images left: the stairwell connecting the floors of the Aurora
Museum Shanghai are an excellent example of Tadao Ando’s gentle
minimalism and use of materials; and The China Art Museum, whose
design mimics the form of a traditional Chinese crown
http://www.parklane.com.hk/http://www.shanghaicentralhotel.com/
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Tour Price The tour price is $5,180 per person, twin share (land
content only). The supplement for a single room is $1,240 per
person. A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required to
secure a place on the tour.
Tour Inclusions
Included in the tour price
Land travel by private, air-conditioned coach Economy class
airfare for the flight from Hong Kong to
Shanghai All accommodation in hotels as stated in the itinerary
Breakfasts, lunches and dinners as indicated by the
letters B, L and D in the itinerary Drinks at welcome and
farewell meals Background talks by the tour leader Services of a
Tour Leader throughout the tour All entrance fees to sites
mentioned in the itinerary Local guides at some sites Tips for
drivers, local guides and restaurants for
included meals
Not included
International air fares, taxes and surcharges (see below) Travel
insurance Meals not mentioned in itinerary Expenses of a personal
nature
Air travel OPTIONS The tour price quoted is for land content
only. For this tour we recommend Qantas or Cathay Pacific, which
offer daily flights into Hong Kong and out of Shanghai from most
Australian cities. Please contact us for further information on
competitive Economy, Business and First Class airfares. Transfers
between airport and hotel are included for all passengers booking
their flights through Academy Travel. These may be group or
individual transfers.
Enquiries & bookings For further information and to secure a
place on this tour please contact Jamal Fairbrother at Academy
Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email
[email protected]
Fitness Requirements of THIS tour
GRADE ONE
It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that
you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this
tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness
required to participate on our tours, we have given them a star
grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature extended walking
tours and site visits, which require greater fitness than coach
touring. We ask you instead to consider carefully your ability to
meet the physical demands of the tour.
Participation criteria for this tour
This Grade One tour is appropriate for travellers in good health
with good mobility. You should be able to comfortably participate
in up to three hours of physical activity per day on most days,
including walking at an easy pace, sometimes on uneven terrain,
climbing stairs and standing in galleries. You should be able to:
keep up with the group at all times walk for 2-3 kilometres at a
moderate to slow pace with
only short breaks stand for a reasonable length of time in
galleries and
museums negotiate stairs and bridges get on and off a coach,
ferry or boat with steep stairs
unassisted move your luggage a short distance if required
A note for older travellers
If you are more than 80 years old, or have restricted mobility,
it is likely that you will find this itinerary challenging. You may
have to miss certain activities and may not get the full value of
the tour. Before submitting your booking form, please contact
Academy Travel to discuss your situation and the exact physical
requirements of this tour. While we will do our best to reasonably
accommodate the physical needs of all group members, we reserve the
right to refuse bookings if we feel that the requirements of the
tour are too demanding for you and/or if local conditions mean we
cannot reasonably accommodate your condition.
mailto:[email protected]
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