After 15 months of planning, band members from Cedar Cliff and Red Land high schools hopped a bus early Tuesday morning for the first leg on what's to be an eight-day tour of China.

The second leg will include a 13-hour plane ride, immediately followed by a three-hour bus trip before they make it to their final destination.

There will be no time to be tired and there will certainly be no time to rest. This group has a full itinerary which includes marching in a pre-Olympic ceremony.

"They're marching in two different parades and they're giving three separate performances," said Red Land's Dennis Way, "but they're going to get to see the imperial palace in Chengde, they're going to get to tour the Forbidden City, they're going to get to see the Chinese acrobats, a Chinese opera, and the government in Chengde and the government in Beijing have invited them, one as a luncheon and one as a dinner in their honor."

Nearly 200 people are making the trip. Each paid their own way. The bands did raise $35,000, but most of that money will go toward the airfare for all their instruments.

Other stops for the bands will include Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall of China, and a visit with the pandas.

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