NEW SPONSORS
Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
European Space Agency
HOW TO GET TO NANJING
Usually, air all the way would be the best route to Nanjing. The LOC will meet all participants at Nanjing airport and take them to their hotels. All participants requiring transportation arrangements must send information on their arrival time at Nanjing and flight No. to the LOC before 8 May. A sign will be posted indicating the LOC members at Nanjing Airport. The LOC also suggests that Hong Kong might be the most suitable entry port to be chosen for most participants from western countries. The plane transfer at Hong Kong Airport is very simple. After arrival please go directly to the transfer desk to obtain boarding pass to the domestic flight to Nanjing. You need the boarding pass to go through the check point to the transfer lounge. There are several daily flights between Hong Kong and Nanjing. Beijing and Shanghai can be also chosen as the entry ports. If a participant cannot book the air ticket between Beijing/Shanghai and Nanjing, he is asked to email the LOC so that the LOC should be able to book a ticket for him/her. If a participant has to stay one night in Beijing or Shanghai for the flight connection, the LOC will arrange a hotel. In this case, such requests should reach the LOC before 8 May. The LOC will send one of its members to meet the relevant participants at Beijing airport. If a participant chooses Shanghai as his entry port and needs help, please don't hesitate to contact the LOC in advance by email. The LOC can book air tickets in China without passports.
TRANSPORTATION FEE
Each participant or accompanying person is requested to pay 25 USD for the transportation between hotels in Nanjing and the Nanjing airport. This covers about the one-way expense between the hotels and the airport. The LOC will pay the other one-way expense.
CLIMATE
The temperature of May in Nanjing, Shanghai and Suzhou is 10-25 C (day to night variation); in Beijing and Xian it is a bit lower. Rain is possible.
TOURS
All tours are at extra cost and are not included in any of the registration fees, with the exception of the subsidy mentioned below for accompanying persons on the ONE-DAY TOUR. Fees for the tours, however, are payable to the LOC which will make all the arrangements. The following tour prices include all meals.
TOUR A
Nanjing-Suzhou plus Zhouzhuang-Nanjing or Shanghai Itinerary.
Depart in
the morning of 23 May. 1.5 days in Suzhou, which is famous for its silk
and gardens. We will visit some of the gardens and, time permitting,
inspect the processes of silk production. 1 day in Zhouzhuang, which is
a beautiful, small town with traditional style (it often appears in
Chinese Movies). On 26 May (AM), leave Suzhou for Nanjing or Shanghai.
This tour is organized by the LOC and all tickets for parks and
entertainment are included.
Expenses: 520 USD/person (train tickets included)
TOUR B
Nanjing-Xian-Beijing or Shanghai Itinerary.
23 May fly to Xian, 26 May leave Xian for Beijing or Shanghai. We will
visit Qin Emperor's Tomb, famous for the Terracotta Army, the Huaqing
hot springs, the Forest of Steles and so on. This tour is organized by
the hotel and only "first-gate" tickets are included in the price.
Expenses: 700 USD/person (the air ticket from Xian for Beijing or Shanghai is not included).
TOUR C
Nanjing-Beijing Itinerary.
23 May fly to Beijing, 27 May go abroad. We will visit the Great Wall,
Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and other scenic spots.
This tour is organized by the hotel and only "first-gate tickets are
included in the price.
Expenses: 900 USD/person (this includes the air ticket from Nanjing to
Beijing).
ONE-DAY TOUR
For people who do not sign up for one of the above mentioned tours, the LOC will organize a one-day tour to Zhenjiang on Saturday (23 May).
Expenses: 50 USD/participant; 15 USD/accompanying person (those who have paid the synthetic fee for accompanying persons).
HOTELS AND MEALS
As described in the second announcement, all participants will be lodged either in the Nanjing Hotel or in the Fen Yuan Guest House with the latter being limited to students and those participants being supported by the LOC. All meals will be provided in the hotels.
Nanjing Hotel, Main Building $110/day Nanjing Hotel, South Building $ 70/day Fen Yuan Guest House $ 50/day
This price includes the cost of meals for one registered participant. An accompanying person in the room is free. However, accompanying persons are asked to pay a fee of $60/day, which includes both the cost of meals, including lunch at mid-day, and the costs of special tours of Nanjing for the accompanying persons.
SOCIAL EVENTS
All participants will be asked to pay 35 USD per person to cover the = social events during the meeting. The accompanying persons are free (the = fee has been covered in the synthetic fee). A full day bus tour is = planned on May 20 (Wednesday) to Purple Mountain Observatory and the = eastern suburb of Nanjing (a resort place, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen's = mausoleum, Ming Tomb etc.), the tour will be concluded with a visit to = the night market near the Qin-Huai-He river. In addition, the LOC will = arrange an entertainment program of traditional Chinese opera in the = evening of 18 May. On the final day of the conference (on May 22), a = dinner party will be held at Nanjing Hotel. All participants and = accompanying persons are invited to attend.
SUMMARY OF FEES
Registration Fee $150./registrant
Includes copy of proceedings subsidized by ESA.
Student Registration Fee $75./student
(without copy of proceedings).
Transportation Fee $ 25./person
Covers transportation to and from airport.
Accompanying Person Fee $ 60./day
Covers meals and activities in Nanjing and all social events of meeting.
Social Events Fee $ 35./registrant
Covers social events of meeting, including banquet.
Hotel Fees
Nanjing Hotel, Main Building $110./day/room
Nanjing Hotel, South Building $ 70./day/room
Fen Yuan Guest House $ 50./day/room
Includes meals.
Tours
Tour A $520./person
Tour B $700./person
Tour C $900./person
One-Day Tour $ 50./registrant
or $ 15./accomp.person
FORMS OF PAYMENT AND CURRENCY EXCHANGE
All the fees should be paid to the LOC (which is trusted to collect all the fees) at the time of registration and only U.S. Dollars in the form of cash are accepted. If you do not like to travel with a large amount of cash, two credit cards (Visa Card and Master Card, both of which are widely accepted in China) and traveler's checks can be used to pay the fees and the credit cards can be used to obtain a cash advance either in USD or Chinese currency.
The commission fees which the Bank of China asks to pay according to its policy are as follows:
Visa Card 4% Master Card 4% Traveler's Check 0.75%The Bank of China will provide service at Nanjing Hotel for the participants. How much money you can cash depends upon how much you are authorized to draw by the center of credit card; the latter will be checked by the Bank of China by means of computer net in advance (please fill out the form appended to the registration form). Apart from the above-mentioned two credit cards and traveler's checks (they are also widely accepted in China), other cards and checks are not accepted. In sum, you are asked to go to Bank of China in Nanjing Hotel, use your credit card or traveler's checks to get a cash in advance and then pay all the fees in cash to the LOC.
PROCEEDINGS
The proceedings of the colloquium will be edited by M. A'Hearn, the chairman of the SOC, and published in the Conference Series of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). The ASP is now the official publisher of IAU Symposia, Transactions, etc. and we have chosen them as the publisher for this colloquium. Copies of the proceedings will be provided, courtesy of financial support from the European Space Agency (ESA), to fully registered participants. Papers presented at the colloquium will be due in final form on 1998 June 30, approximately 5 1/2 weeks after the end of the conference. All manuscripts must be prepared in the LaTeX templates used for the ASP Conference Series and will generally be submitted electronically, with a paper copy as backup an, in the case of contributed papers, for preliminary distribution to a referee. Details of the formatting and links to download the templates and style files will be provided on the meeting's web pages at http://www.ss.astro.umd.edu/IAU/colloq168/ by early April. Invited review papers will be limited to a maximum of 20 pages, while contributed papers will be limited to a maximum of 10 pages. Contributed manuscripts will be refereed by members of the SOC before being accepted for publication.
REGISTRATION FORM
The completed form should reach the LOC in Nanjing before 8 May, 1998.
The following addresses should be used:
Drs. Yang Benyou and Ma Yuehua
LOC IAU Colloq. No. 168
Purple Mountain Observatory
Academia Sinica
Nanjing 21008
China
Email address: pmoyl@jlonline.com
Registration form
Name(in block letters)_______________________________Sex___________
Last First
Accompanied by________________ Spouse and/or family members________
(if coming with children, kindly specify age.......)
Please provide the following information as completely as you can
Entry port_______ Date______ Flight No._______ Arrival Time________
Flight No. to Nanjing_________ Date_________ Arrival Time__________
Exit Port_______ Date_______ Flight No.______ Departure Time________
If need help in booking domestic (in China) air ticket, please state=20
your requirements:________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Roommate wanted: if you would like the LOC to try to find you a =
roommate, please complete the following information. The LOC will not =
be responsible for any dissatisfaction with the roommate that you are =
matched with.
Are you a ____smoker ____non-smoker
____female ____male
I shall participate in the following trip (cf. 2nd announcement)
Tour A Tour B Tour C
I shall participate in the one-day tour (Saturday, 23 May) to Zhenjiang
Yes No
I choose the following hotel or guest house_______________________
Duration in Nanjing, from _____(day)to ___ (day). Total ____(nights)
Any specific requirement: (vegetarian food, etc.)_________________
If you use Visa Card or Master Card to cash money, please fill in the
following form(Bank of China needs the following information)
Full Name ________________________ Passport No. _________________=20
Visa Card No. ____________________ Expires End __________________
Master Card No. __________________ Expires End __________________=20
Amount (to be drawn) _________ USD, _________Yuan(Chinese currency,=20
1 USD is approximately equal to 8 Yuan)