Hundreds of members from the Pearl City High School Marching Band and their families are in China this week to participate in the Beijing Olympic International Youth Festival, a prelude to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China.

The Pearl City band is one of two representing the United States. The Danvers Falcon Marching Band of Massachusetts has also traveled to China for the event.

The Pearl City band is expected to perform on several occasions but will also tour some of the more well-known historical sites, said Jenny Watanabe, the school administrative services assistant.

"They will play on top of the Great Wall (of China) and visit the Forbidden City," Watanabe said, adding that not many people involved with the band are on the island to answer questions about the trip. "I think just as many non-band members were going as band members."

The band will also visit the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square, perform in the Olympic Culture Square and see a Chinese acrobatic show.

The trip is sponsored by the Chinese American Cultural Bridge Center, a nonprofit group in Arlington Heights, Ill., that promotes fellowship between the two countries through the arts and education.

According to an itinerary supplied by the center, the marching bands representing former Olympic host countries would participate in the youth festival and march through the heart of the city on Wangfujing Street.

This historical event would mark a moment for China where never before had so many races and nationalities come together in the spirit of international unity, said Rebecca Ji, center director, in paperwork sent to the school.

On the Great Wall, the students will perform on a section called Mutianyu, where the Olympic torch was handed off in the 2004 Olympic Games, Ji said.

The band has a national reputation and has performed at the Tournament of Roses Parade in California, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and other big events.

The group left July 8 and will return Wednesday.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.