Early next year Chinese tourists will depart for the South Pole
on a 21-day expedition which will result in them walking on the
huge white expanses of the Antarctic Peninsula that is usually
reserved for scientific researchers. This holiday of a lifetime
costs over 80,000 yuan (US$10,000) making it one of the most
expensive trips ever marketed by a Guangdong travel firm.
According to Guangzhou Merchant Travel Agency, one of the
organizers, the travelers will depart on February 7 from Guangzhou
and cross half the globe to reach Ushuaia in Argentina which is one
of the world's southernmost cities. From there they'll take a ship
through the Drake Passage and pass the South Shetland Islands where
they'll be able to spot penguins and fur and elephant seals.
They'll finally arrive at the Antarctic Peninsula on February
18.
Most of the 24-member tour group signed-up for the holiday are
senior business figures including real estate developers. Insurance
cover for them will be taken out to the tune of two million yuan
(US$250,000).
The travelers require a full physical examination before
departure and if they're not fit enough there's no holiday to the
South Pole for them.
Several previously planned but unrelated tours to the South Pole
failed -- a trip arranged in Shanghai collapsed because of a lack
of interest and a Beijing expedition came to nothing because the
group involved had no approval to travel in Argentina.
The south American country itself will become an approved
destination for Chinese travel groups from January 1, 2007.
(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2006)