05 August 2012
It’s not every day you get to go on a $10,000 adventure in China for free, but that’s just what Tony Mengel got to do after he won a competition exclusively open to AA members last year.
The competition was a collaboration between AA Tourism and Auckland Airport in conjunction with China Southern to celebrate their direct flights from Auckland to Guangzhou.
Tony (pictured) got to take one lucky person with him on his 14-day tour, which was arranged by Auckland-based Adventure World and encompassed the wonders of China including the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, the Buddhist gems of Hangzhou and watching the Shaolin monks’ Kung Fu display.
Joining a group of eight people ranging in age from their late 20’s up to 65, Tony cannot praise their the G Adventures guide (who are G adventures? Not mentioned anywhere else in the article) Olive highly enough. “She was professional, knowledgeable and friendly and like the other tour members we bonded with her really quickly.”
Clear blue skies accompanied their day on the Great Wall and Tony also names experiencing the overnight train between Xian and Beijing as a highlight of the trip.
“We really appreciated the trip and made some friends along the way."