Don't let them get your goat this coming New Year's. Go get it yourself in Hong Kong, where you can celebrate the Chinese New Year (yes, it's the Year of the Goat coming up) for at little as $960 per person in a deal cooked up by Pacific Delight Tours.
You've read about this company before in this space, but I believe in its products without reservation. This one, in which you can celebrate the arrival of the coming year along with nearly one-fourth of the world's population, is a dilly: You depart from Los Angeles on Northwest or from San Francisco on United on 27, 28 or 29 of January 2003 and spend 6 nights in Hong Kong during the height of the festivities.
The new year begins on February 1, 2003, with parades of colorful dragons (some up to 100 feet long), marching bands, lion dancers and performing groups. Add in fireworks in the streets and over the harbor at midnight, face painters, calligraphers and performers in the Flower Market, and huge feats of traditional Chinese goods, and you have a merry round of events.
You get to pick from nine hotels in the package (prices for which are per person, sharing a double room), including three of the top Asian hotels, such as the deluxe Shangri-La, JW Marriott and Inter-Continental, or from less-expensive, superior first-class ones such as the Majestic Hotel, for example. Also included in the package price are a tour guide, VIP bleacher seats for the New Year's Day Parade, 5 breakfasts, a half-day city tour, museum pass, airport transfers, baggage handling, hotel taxes and service charges.
Optional activities at your expense include a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner of Peking Duck or a classic Shanghainese gourmet dinner at the Ritz Carlton with live entertainment and dancing; a special New Year's Day dinner at Caf?#8222;eco on Victoria Peak with jazz band and tables overlooking Victoria Harbour; an international dinner buffet at the Marriott's lobby lounge with a view of the fireworks over the harbor; and a full-day China tour that includes Shekou and Guangzhou cities on the mainland.
Contact Pacific Delight (now 31 years old) at 800/221-7179 or 212/818-1781 or www.pacificdelighttours.com.
