2026-27 Tour

• Complete TRYPO’s Registration Form and pay the deposit
• TRYPO will confirm your participation and deposit with ACFEA and then you will receive an invitation to ACFEA’s tour website called “Group Collect”
• You will have 14 days to decide if you want to purchase the most inclusive insurance policies (you can add other insurance policies later if you wish).

• Transportation to and quad-occupancy hotel rooms in Toronto
• International round-trip and internal airfare (from Xi’an to Hangzhou)
• 9 nights in tourist class hotels, sharing twin-bedded rooms
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
• 3 coaches and 3 ACFEA couriers throughout
• 4 performances, including publicity and promotion
• Entrances to: the Great Wall, a Jade Factory, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, Terra Cotta Museum and Workshop, Yu Garden, Grand Hyatt 88th Floor Observatory, Shanghai Silk Factory, a Hutong Rickshaw Tour, a Boat ride on West Lake and a River Cruise on the Huangpu River
• Chinese Tourist Visa costs
• Tour Tee-Shirt
• All costs associated with instrument rental, transport or airline checked baggage fees
• Transportation to and from North American airport

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance (which is highly recommended); independent snacks throughout the tour; beverages other than coffee, water, and tea with meals; souvenirs and gifts. 

• TRYPO has hired the well-known and experienced tour company ACFEA.  ACFEA was the same company that we used in 2018 and 2023 that did a fantastic job. They work with hundreds of organizations and youth orchestras such as PYSO, as well as other prestigious youth orchestras like the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. 

• June 14/15 – 25, 2027 (our main itinerary departs via bus for Toronto on June 14 to fly out of Toronto on June 15).  

• Beijing, Xi’an, Hangzhou, and Shanghai (with a stop in Toronto on our way out!) 

4 performances including the opportunity to work with a Chinese youth orchestra.

• We have a few different groups interested in working with YPO! Stay tuned. 

• All YPO students are expected and encouraged to travel with the orchestra during a travel season and we will do everything we can to make that possible for every student who wants to go. The TRYPO Concert Tour to China is open first to current students of YPO and those seats will be held exclusively for YPO students until October 1, 2026.  

• After YPO students have accepted or declined their seat on tour, some TRYPO alumni or other members of the greater TRYPO community may be invited to join the tour after October 1, 2026. Invitations to join the tour will be granted at the discretion of TRYPO staff. All students must be registered by December 4, 2026. 

• We have the largest number of seats reserved on our Toronto itinerary. It is possible that some students or shadow tour participants who wish to deviate will be on other itineraries. It is possible that the student tour will be on the same flight out of Toronto, depending on how many deviations are requested. A small group of students may need to fly on a different itinerary. 

• The key is advance notice and communication! We should be able to accommodate just about anything you need to do with substantial advance notice, and parental permission. Tour registration will include more information about the deadlines for deviations. Talk to us and we’ll work it out. 
• How does this relate to TRYPO’s fee schedule? Since deviations involving deductions will be processed later, those planning to deviate or book land-only packages should NOT choose pay-in-full as a payment option. 
• AIRFARE TRAVEL DEVIATIONS: If you need to have some different airfare arrangements than the group, there are two options: 
  1. Participant does their airfare entirely separate from the group.  IE: Parent has miles, or they want to buy the airfare on a credit card to get points.  The reduction is approximately $1,800, but the actual amount is subject to confirmation with ACFEA once registration for the tour opens. Please keep in mind that booking your own airfare (even if it’s on the same itinerary as ours) means that ACFEA likely will not be able to assist you or your family in the event of a delay/missed connection. ACFEA will certainly try to keep your child with our group, but this could mean that in the case of a delay or missed connection, you and/or your child could get rebooked on a separate itinerary and there won’t be anything we can do about it. 
  2. Participant wants to stay in China after the tour: ACFEA can assist you with booking custom return airfare departing on a different date or from a different city.  When the group flights are confirmed, you will have access to the Individual Travel Request form.  The cost is a $100 deviation fee for requests submitted before 12/15/26 and $200 thereafter, plus any applicable fare increase. The possible increase in airfare depends on what you want to do and how early you make your request.  With enough lead time, ACFEA can help to coordinate family members’ return flights with the participant’s flights, so you can all return together.  If this scenario applies to you, please speak with ACFEA before booking your family’s flights. 

• Yes. All travelers must have a current passport valid through December 2027. If your passport is expiring before then, please renew ASAP. If your passport does not have at least two empty pages, you will need to apply for a new one. 

• Most likely, yes. TRYPO is covering the cost to procure a visa should you need one. We are hiring Passport Visa Express to facilitate this process. After the initial registration is underway, you will receive a more detailed list of instructions and a schedule of when materials will need to be submitted.  Students will need to submit their passports to TRYPO in the Spring, so everything can be finalized appropriately. The cost for visa procurement is being covered by TRYPO. 

• https://acfea.com/access/
• When filling out your registration form, be as specific as possible about your allergies. ACFEA will endeavor to communicate as thoroughly as possible to restaurants and airlines. We take food allergies and dietary restrictions extremely seriously, and make every effort possible to relay tour participants’ needs to the airline, hotels, and restaurants. That said, sometimes airlines forget to load special meals, or restaurants don’t get the food delivery they expect and have to improvise. All tour participants, but especially those with severe or extensive dietary restrictions, should consider having some safe snacks packed in their suitcase and day bag and ask questions.  

• No. It is recommended that all travelers are up to date on their regular vaccination schedule, but no travel-specific vaccines are required. This tour does not include any typhoid zones. As always, if you have questions or concerns, speak to your healthcare provider. You may review the CDC guidance here: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/china 

• AN EMPHATIC YES! You will be able to purchase insurance through the ACFEA portal during the tour registration process. IMPORTANT: You must purchase your policy within 14 days of trip deposit if you need coverage for any pre-existing conditions, or to be eligible for “Cancel for Any Reason” insurance. Plan benefits may vary by state of residence. The start date of that 14-day window for those registering during the Early-bird period will be the date that TRYPO makes its deposit to ACFEA.  You will receive instructions for registration on that date. The start date of that 14-day window for those who register AFTER the early-bird period is the date YOU make the deposit to TRYPO. 

• Yes, TRYPO will have an awesome group of parent chaperones. Chaperones will be grouped in teams of two with 14-16 students per team. Chaperones must be able to focus attention on other peoples’ children, both for their own sanity as well as allowing your child to have the full trip experience (frequently means we encourage your child to be in a different group than yours)! Preference will be given to those who have chaperoned with us before or others with needed skill sets such as medical training/language skills. 

• We are offering a shadow tour for parents/guests. The shadow tour parallels the student tour but is its own stand-alone experience. It includes airfare, nicer hotels than the student hotels, concert tickets to each performance, a separate luxury coach bus, some meals, and some shared components of the student tour. The cost per shadow tour participant will be likely between $5,250-$5,750 per person. Having the privilege to be able to travel across the world to hear your child perform in some of the great halls of China is something parents and relatives will cherish for years. Being able to do that while a professional company takes care of your travel, hotel, and itinerary will just make the experience that much easier! Please note that we are already hearing a lot of interest in the shadow tour. We will take registrations on a first-come first-served basis to fill the first bus and then we will go to a waiting list to see if there is enough interest to add a second bus.   

• No, the only attendees on the student side of the tour will be chaperones, students, staff, and members of the greater TRYPO community at TRYPO’s discretion. Why? Tours are rewarding, but time-consuming and challenging for staff and chaperones. The culture, structures, and routine of the trip (such as call times, room checks, numbers of people on the bus) is how we keep the kids focused and safe, which means we cannot allocate any energy on the student side of the trip to managing guests who may come and go. However, if specific needs accommodation is necessary for the safety, health, or well-being of a student, one and only one parent/guardian or other adult guest may be approved to accompany the student on the student side of the tour. We do not anticipate that an accompanying adult in these circumstances can also be a trip chaperone. To request an accommodation, please notify TRYPO staff in writing and indicate the accommodation needed. Families requesting an accommodation may wait until the accommodation is approved prior to confirming trip participation. Accompanying parent/guardian will be assessed the same trip fee as the student rate. 

• For liability, safety, and logistical reasons, families may not take their children during the tour. We don’t anticipate that students will have free time on this tour. There will be opportunities during crossover activities (ex: after concerts) to meet and greet with your kids.  

• Family members making their own travel arrangements certainly can book tickets or attend any activities that are open to the general public. However for liability, safety, and logistical reasons, guests not officially traveling with the TRYPO organization are not permitted on any group bus, backstage at concert halls, in student hotel rooms, or as part of any privately arranged activities or schedule components. TRYPO also cannot arrange tickets for any concerts or events for those not officially with our group.  

• Yes, of course! Scholarship funds will only stretch so far and let’s make sure that the families who need the most help receive the most assistance. Limited need-based financial assistance is available for students who apply for and receive TRYPO tuition assistance for the 2026-27 season. Additionally, we will be looking for parent volunteers to assist us with coordinating student fund-raising efforts to cover the cost of touring. 
• Need-based assistance: Families who are receiving scholarship assistance for the 2026-27 season are eligible for tour assistance as well. TRYPO staff will schedule one-to-one meetings with families requesting scholarship assistance for tour after they complete the registration form to try to help as many families as possible. We will be asking families to consider their actual need and who else in their circles might be able to help because scholarship dollars for touring are limited. Families requesting scholarship assistance will be able to receive notification of scholarship options before committing to tour.  
• Fund-Raising Opportunities: TRYPO and parent volunteers will offer fundraising opportunities for students and families to raise their trip fees. Students receiving need-based scholarship are expected to participate in their on fund-raising efforts.  

• Yes!  we need all hands on deck with dedicated parents to assist with several committees: 
• Assisting with student fund-raising opportunities for students to be able to fund-raise for their own tour fees. 
• Assisting TRYPO to fund-raise for scholarships. These events could be things like host a dinner party at your home, spread the word about a restaurant night where a portion of proceeds benefit the TRYPO tour fund, writing letters, etc. 
• Please e-mail us at staff@trypo.org if you are interested in helping with fund-raising! 

• One of the reasons TRYPO engages a company like ACFEA is because their history and track record for navigating this kind of situation is second-to-none, however there is no way to know exactly what that would look like in advance because every tour is unique. Yes, TRYPO and ACFEA have a back-up plan as we do for every tour. If the tour is determined to be impossible or unsafe, the ACFEA team will negotiate and work with TRYPO and all vendors to secure either an alternate destination, a postponement, or refunds as is possible and will endeavor to keep losses at a minimum. Their historical track record gives TRYPO confidence that in this worst case scenario we are in good hands.