China’s Feathered Dinosaurs – Paleo Expedition
20–29 July 2007 (10 days)
Western Liaoning Province, China
DAILY ITINERARY
- 20 July - Beijing: Arrival and Welcome.
- We will meet you at the Beijing Capital International Airport, and transfer you to hotel. We'll celebrate the arrival with a welcome reception in the evening.
21 July - Beijing: Fossil Wonders.- In the morning, our leading paleontologist will give an introductory lecture on dinosaurs, especial Chinese dinosaurs, before our visit to the unparalleled fossil collections at the Chinese Paleozoological Museum of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. We're off to the Beijing Natural History Museum in the afternoon.
22 July - Beijing > Yixian: The East End of the Great Wall.- On the third day of our expedition, we'll drive ~500km to Yixian City in western Liaoning Province, our base for the following days’ geoventure. Around noon on the way, we will visit Shanhaiguan Pass, the east end of the Great Wall, and have lunch there.
23-26 July - Feathered Dinosaur Quarries.- In what is sure to be memorable days, we'll search and excavate fossils in several of the celebrated feathered dinosaur quarries near Yixian City, considered by many to be one of the most scientifically important fossil localities in the world. These sites have produced dozens of new species of dinosaurs, primitive birds, and early mammals, as well as countless animals and plants that lived with them. The recent discovery of feathered predatory dinosaurs at these sites proved that birds descended from dinosaurs.
27 July - Yixian > Beijing.- We'll drive back to Beijing. In the evening, we’ll also go shopping in the silk market and tea house where you can grab some souvenirs.
28 July - Beijing: The Great Wall and Ming Tombs.- We will drive north to see the Great Wall and Ming Tombs for the whole day. We'll top off your experience in China with a hearty evening banquet at the Peking Duck restaurant.
29 July - Beijing: Fond Farewells.- We'll take you to the airport, guide you to your terminal, and share a last lunch together if you depart in the afternoon.
Pre-trip 3-day sightseeing in Beijing
$750/person: double occupancy
- 17 July - Beijing: Arrival and Welcome.
- We will meet you at the Beijing Capital International Airport, and transfer you to hotel. We'll celebrate the arrival with a welcome reception in the evening.
- 18 July - Beijing: The Lama Temple, Hutong Tour, and Summer Palace.
- In the morning, we will visit the Lama Temple, and enjoy the Hutong tour. After lunch, we’ll visit the Summer Palace.
- 19 July - Beijing: Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site and pandas at Beijing Zoo.
- We'll visit the Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site, a World Culture Heritage in the morning, and see pandas at the Beijing Zoo in the afternoon. In the evening, we’ll see a Chinese Gong-fu show.
- 20 July - Beijing: Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven.
- We'll visit the Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, and Temple of Heaven. We’ll join the other participants for dinner.
Post-trip 3-day sightseeing in Xi’an and Lanzhou
$1,000/person: double occupancy
- 29 July – Beijing > Xian: Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses.
- We’ll fly to Xian in the morning, and visit the Banpo Neolithic Village Museum, a comparatively integrated commune village site rather typical of the matriarchy in the Yellow River Valley that prevailed about 6000 years ago, and the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, which is one of the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century.
- 30 July – Xian > Lanzhou: The Liujiaxia National Dinosaur Geopark.
- In the morning, we’ll fly to Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province. Then, we’ll drive about an hour and take a boat along the Yellow River to see the Liujiaxia National Dinosaur Geopark, where thousands of dinosaur and other vertebrate trace fossils have been discovered (see details below.)
- 31 July – Lanzhou > Beijing: Shopping.
- Today, we’ll fly back to Beijing and give you a chance to shop in Beijing.
- 1 August – Beijing: Fond Farewells.
- We'll take you to the airport, guide you to your terminal, and share a last lunch together if you depart in the afternoon.
Post-Trip Information:
Liujiaxia National Dinosaur Geopark
The Liujiaxia National Dinosaur Geopark opened in the fall of 2005 at the site where dinosaur footprints were first discovered in 1999. Its construction cost an investment of more than 7 million yuan (863,132 US dollars). This diverse and well-preserved assemblage of dinosaur (theropod, sauropod and ornithopod), pterosaur, and bird tracks from the Hekou Formation (Lower Cretaceous) in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley represents the first significant fossil footprint discovery in Gansu Province, China. The sites are large, visually spectacular, and well-exposed thanks to labor-intensive hand excavation. Dinosaur tracks include at least two theropod morphotypes that range in size from about 5 to >30 cm in length. Wide-gauge sauropod tracks range in size from 25 to 90 cm (pes length) and are the best-preserved examples known from China, with clear claw impressions. One trackway suggests an accelerating/running individual. Parallel ornithopod trackways indicate gregarious behavior. An enigmatic trackway may be a manus-only ornithopod trackway. A pterosaur trackway, the first reported from China, consists of 24 consecutive footprints, and is the longest, well-preserved trackway on record. Bird tracks are also very well preserved.