WASHINGTON — After hearing Arthur Frommer speak at a travel expo shortly after CUNA's GAC, CUNA Senior Vice President of Compliance Kathy Thompson and her husband, Fred, said they decided they had to go to China.

She recalled Frommer saying, "The No. 1 bargain is you've got to go to China and you've got to go quick." It is a bargain for now because China has not moved to revalue its currency despite U.S. pressure. And you have to go now because it will be packed next year with the Olympics heading there and a huge dam is due to be completed on the Yangtze River in 2009, which will flood part of Central China, Thompson explained. She added, of course, the bargain part is what her husband heard.

Thompson said during their two week tour in August and September they plan on doing "the typical tourist things: fly into Shanghai, take a boat trip down the Yangtze for a week." They look forward to visiting Tiananmen Square, museums, the Great Pandas, caves, and other spots.