Bring Your Chopsticks on Culinary Tour of China

Chef Stewart Blackburn of Stache Specialty Foods in Bremen, Maine, will lead a 16-day gourmet tour of China from March 27 to April 11. Blackburn, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, is an expert in Chinese cuisine. This tour visits cooking schools and kitchens and features hands-on training in preparing various regional dishes.

The tour begins in Beijing with a visit to the Beijing Tourism College Culinary Department. Guests will also explore the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall.

The next stop is Xian to see the terra-cotta soldiers. The area is known for its many varieties of dumplings. In Chengdu, guests will sample spicy Hunan cuisine before flying to Guangzhou to learn to prepare Cantonese dishes at the Guangzhou Cooking School. The final stop is Shanghai, to see the Shanghai Museum and enjoy a vegetarian dinner at the Jade Buddha Temple.

Cost: $3,990 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all transportation within China, deluxe hotels, all meals, all entrance and class fees, three theater performances and all taxes and porterage.

Contact: East-West International Tours, 925 Acapulco St., Laguna Beach, CA 92651; telephone (800) 359-6719, Internet https://www.east west-tours.com.

Mideast: Religious Sites

A 14-day tour of Judeo-Christian and other sites in Israel, Jordan and Egypt will be led by two Lutheran pastors beginning May 3.

The tour starts in Cairo and covers the Antiquities Museum, city sights, the Sphinx and pyramids. Then it’s on to St. Catherine’s Monastery near Mt. Sinai. Guests will cross the Jordan River and visit Petra, the ancient city carved out of cliffs.

The tour includes three days on the Sea of Galilee visiting Capernaum, Nazareth and the archeological site of Megiddo. It finishes in Jerusalem with visits to Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, the Old City and the Western Wall.

Cost: $2,844 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, first-class hotels, two meals daily, fees and admissions, motor-coach transportation and guides. Airport taxes and visas are extra. The tour is being operated by NAWAS International Travel.

Contact: Harvey Wehrmeister, tour director; tel. (323) 874-7206.

Costa Rica: Gardens

If plants and flowers give you a thrill, you can join the Horticultural Society of New York on a tour of gardens in Costa Rica from March 24 to April 2. Members will see tropical rain forests, plantations and misty mountainous regions.

The Horticultural Society’s education director, Scott Appell, will lead the tour and discuss the ecology of the area. There will be time to relax by pools filled with waterlilies and other aquatic flora and fauna. The trip includes tours of a tropical research center; the display gardens of Costa Flores; the Arenal Botanical Garden; and Monteverde Reserve, where you can walk through a cloud forest and misty mountains in a privately owned garden.

Cost: $2,050 per person, double occupancy, including ground transportation, entry to most sites, lodging and most meals. Air fare is extra.

Contact: Marge Labadie at Steppingstone Tours; tel. (800) 874-8784.

Italy: Wine, Opera

Visit some of the most beautiful regions of Italy: Emilia Romagna, a center of Italian gastronomy; the historical cities of Bologna, Faenza, Ravenna and San Marino; and Verona to hear opera. The tour begins June 21 and lasts 13 days.

Guests will stay in a Tuscan hill town while exploring the region’s fine food, wines and out-of-the-way villages. A full day is available for exploring Florence.

Next it’s on to the Franciacorta wine region of Lombardy for two more nights before going to Verona to stay at a wine estate that has been owned by the poet Dante Alighieri’s family since the 1300s. Guests will attend a wine-tasting luncheon on the estate. In Verona’s outdoor Roman amphitheater, participants will hear Verdi’s “Aida.” The tour winds up with a day in Venice.

Cost: $2,875 per person, double occupancy, including 13 nights’ accommodation with private bath, 13 breakfasts, seven dinners with wine included, ground transportation, train fare for Venice excursion and Verona opera tickets. Air fare to Italy is not included.

Contact: Nicki Mistri at Bel Sogno Tours, P.O. Box 1362, Brea, CA 92822; tel. (714) 526-2244.

Ozarks: Byways

Mountain Outin’ Tours is offering a 14-day journey to the Ozarks from April 27 to May 10. Starting in Dallas, the itinerary features a blend of popular destinations, such as Branson and Eureka Springs, with lesser-known towns such as Hugo and Miami in eastern Oklahoma.

Scenic highlights include the Talimena Scenic Drive and a rail trip through the Boston Mountains on the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad. The tour visits Heavener, Okla., where there is evidence of Viking settlement about AD 900, as well as the homes of several noted Americans, including scientist George Washington Carver and humorist Will Rogers.

There are several opportunities to visit local families, including an Amish couple who will host a dinner for the group and another couple who will entertain on their houseboat on Broken Bow Lake.

Participants will spend three nights in Branson to attend a variety of shows before returning to Dallas through Oklahoma, traveling U.S. 66 from Joplin, Mo., to Claremore, Okla. The tour concludes with a ride on Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth.

Cost: $1,795 per person, double occupancy, including all transportation from Dallas, accommodations, 25 meals, sightseeing and admission fees, seven shows in Branson and services of a tour manager. Air fare to Texas is extra.

Contact: Mountain Outin’ Tours, P.O. Box 70, East Irvine, CA 92650; tel. (800) 844-3985.

Burgundy: Barging

Life in the slow lane can be found in France on board the luxury 24-passenger Mirabelle barge for six nights. Guests journey from the heart of the southern Burgundy wine country to the historic Gallo-Roman area of the Loire.

Highlights include ancient Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, with a 15th century hospital; Autun, a Roman city founded by Emperor Augustus, which has a 15th century cathedral; Cluny, the abbey built in AD 910; and Paray-le-Monial, another ancient town with a Romanesque basilica. Participants will also tour Bourbon Lancy, a spa town with 16th century half-timbered houses and views over the Loire Valley. Bicycles are provided for exercise and independent exploration. Guests then return to Paris for two nights at the Hotel Normandie, close to the Louvre. A museum pass is included. The trip runs May 4 to 14.

Cost: $3,345 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all excursions, wine with meals on board and three nights in Paris with daily breakfast.

Contact: Claudette Crowther at Carlson-Wagonlit Travel; tel. (805) 899-2323.

San Francisco: Train Trip

AFC Tours of San Diego is offering a four-day holiday trip going from Los Angeles to San Francisco Dec. 25 to 28. Train fans can spend Christmas riding the rails to San Francisco while eating a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Guests will stay at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel and take a city sightseeing tour. Also planned is a seafood dinner at Pier 39. Day tours take guests to the Sonoma wine country and Sausalito.

Cost: $999 per person, double occupancy, including train fare, hotel accommodations, admission fees and some meals. Guests will be picked up from their homes and taken to Union Station in Los Angeles. The return trip is also included.

Contact: Randy Case at AFC Tours, 11772 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92121; tel. (619) 481-8188 or (800) 369-3693.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.