Di Clanchy and China Birds
Di Clanchy is a librarian and sinophile, whose first trip to China occurred in 1987. Since then she has travelled to China 16 times, each time learning more about this fascinating country.
Di lives in the small coastal town of Port Fairy. She attributes her interest in China in part to growing up in Eaglehawk near the gold mining city of Bendigo. Many of her classmates and friends were the descendants of Chinese people who came to the goldfields in the 1850s. As a teenager and young adult, she had many Chinese friends amongst the student population in that central Victorian city (they were from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia- none from mainland China at that time).
However, as well as that, there is the indefinable something which draws people to one country or another.
Di is a librarian by profession. She has worked in the public library sector, as well as in educational libraries- secondary and tertiary. She was a Moyne Shire councillor between 1999 and 2008. She has been involved in community- based committees of all kinds. As well as Port Fairy and Bendigo, she has lived in other rural areas in Victoria- Horsham for 5 years and Warrnambool for 10.
China Birds Pty Ltd was established in 2004, and there have been 13 trips since then. It was developed for women who may be on their own- possibly widowed or divorced. In many cases too, there are husbands and partners who do not wish to travel!! The tours are carefully planned with women in mind- but of course men are welcome. Hours of research go into the organisation of them, with the idea that tourist icons must be seen- but that there are other things of interest to be enjoyed as well.
The trips are also holidays, so care is taken planning the itinerary, so that early mornings and late nights are avoided if possible. The aim is to arrive home feeling wonderful.
Here a word or two must be added to inform about the businesses which make the tours possible.
Premier Towns Travel, a travel agency based in Melbourne excels in China Travel. Bob Teng, the Director, has been in the business for many years, and is well known. Premier Towns Travel staff have organised many tours for groups such as the Greater Green Triangle, and school groups to China for Hamilton College, Tintern, Oxley College, Carey Grammar and Ruyton Girls School. Since the first China International Travel Mart, PTT has been the guest of the organisers, CITM -which equates to 12 years. PTT also attended as a guest, the Pacific Asia Travel Agent Travel Mart in Hangzhou, in 2009. PTT is highly recommended by the China National Tourism Office and is one of the leading companies in Australia for trips to China. Bob and his staff- particularly Shirley Shao are very helpful and their expertise helps make the tours so successful.
Vietnam is the other country visited by China Birds Tours. Bookings are made through Bronwyn Patel at Travelscene Warrnambool. There have been two China Birds tours to Vietnam, and credit for the successful tours is due to the meticulous planning by Bronwyn and the Travelscene team.
A word about the name of the company. "China Birds" was chosen because in Australia (and Britain), a "bird" is also a woman, or more particularly, an attractive young woman. Hence, China "Birds" for the attractive girl inside every woman, whatever her age!
