• Journey by vans through remote Guizhou Province’s rural villages — home of ethnic Miao peoples — to meet residents and village chiefs.     
• Learn about China’s new generation in open, informal talks with students at Xi’an International Studies University.
• Marvel at the colossal Longmen cliff carvings and Xi'an's inconceivable army of terra cotta warriors.
• Start your day with morning tai ji exercise and in the evening, get together for informal Chinese conversation practice and informational seminars.
• On a three-night voyage on the Yangtze River, learn about the river’s role in Chinese history and the Three Gorges Dam, one of the largest and most daring construction projects ever.         

Program Price:

• $4,579 Double occupancy (does not include airfare)
• $5,879 Double occupancy with airfare from Los Angeles
• $5,729 Single occupancy (does not include airfare)
• $7,029 Single occupancy with airfare from Los Angeles

 Accommodations:
Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Beijing, China – 4 nights        

• Four-Star Hotel          
• Originally built in the 1950s, this modernized hotel is located in a traditional district south of Beijing's famous Chang An Avenue, approximately a 15-minute drive to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.    

Companionship Hotel
Luoyang, China – 2 nights

• Four-Star Hotel
• This hotel boasts the best location in Luoyang, just across from the People's Square where locals gather on a daily basis to practice tai ji, ballroom dancing, martial arts, and to air pet birds.

Grand Noble Hotel

Xi’an, China - 3 nights

• Four-Star Hotel          
• Located inside the city walls in the heart of 'downtown' Xi'an, the Grand Noble (formerly known as the Royal Garden Hotel and recently renovated) is close to the city's main attractions, including the Bell Tower and Muslim Section.         

Ramada Plaza Hotel Guiyang

Guiyang, China – 2 nights

• Four-Star Hotel
• This four-star hotel located in the heart of Guiyang is considered among the city's best and is a short walk to Guiyang's bustling night street market.

Grand Dragon Hotel

Kaili, China –3 nights

• Though simple, this hotel has all basic amenities and comfortable rooms. Centrally located, it is the best available hotel in Kaili.

          Victoria Cruise Lines

Yangtze River Cruise, China – 3 nights

• Victoria cruises is an American based company and its fleet is considered the finest sailing the Yangtze River.

Equatorial Hotel

Shanghai, China – 3 nights    

• Four-Star Hotel          
• Located in the center of Shanghai, this gracious hotel provides easy access to the most important Shanghai sites and is within walking distance of the charming old French sector and Huaihai Road, a district known for its upscale shops.       

Meals Included:  58 Total – 20 Breakfasts, 18 Lunches, 20 Dinners

Daily Itinerary:

Day 1: Monday, May 7

Departures

Evening:

• Depart on overnight flights from the U.S.A.  

Day 2: Tuesday, May 8                     Arrival in Beijing
Afternoon:

• Arrival at Beijing International airport where your National Guide will be waiting for you.  Our group leaders are designated national guides from China’s Foreign Service Center.  All are University graduates, fluent in English, well-educated in safety and protocol and supported by offices nation-wide.
• Late this afternoon and evening: meet your National Guide for an introduction to the program.     

Dinner:

• In the hotel.    

Evening:

• At your leisure

Day 3: Wednesday  May 9

Beijing’s Imperial Legacy: The Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    

Morning:

• Explore the Temple of Heaven, an architectural masterpiece begun in the 15th century and symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth.
• Choose to walk the extensive grounds or watch the activities of local people as they practice calligraphy and tai ji, play musical instruments, dance or fly silk kites.          
• Later stop at the “heart of Beijing” – Tian’anmen Square

Lunch:

• In a local restaurant.  

Afternoon:

• Explore the Forbidden City. This 250-acre imperial compound once was the residence and seat of the Qing Emperors and forbidden to all others.           

Dinner:

• Experience a Beijing specialty at a welcome banquet in a Peking Duck restaurant.  Peking Duck was first created in Beijing for emperors six hundred years ago during the Ming Dynasty. Thinly sliced, with crisp skin, the duck is wrapped in light pancakes with julienned cucumbers and a variety of sauces. It is often said that if you go to Beijing there are two things you must do: walk the Great Wall and enjoy Peking Duck.

Evening:

• At leisure.

Day 4: Thursday, May 10

Defining China: The Wild Great Wall/Beijing Opera

Breakfast: 

• In the hotel.    

Morning:

• Drive out of the city to the Great Wall at Jin Shan Ling, a section sometimes referred to as the ‘Wild Great Wall’, as it is not overly restored and receives few visitors.  
• Take a gondola to the upper part of the wall, then walk along its battlements and through watchtowers to experience magnificent views of the wall as it climbs and descends over the distant mountains.  

Lunch:

• A simple box lunch is provided to eat at a spot of your choosing on the wall.          

Afternoon:

• Return to Beijing (about three hours).

Dinner:

• In the hotel.    

Evening:

• Experience the uniquely Chinese art of Beijing Opera, which uses brilliant costumes, mannerized makeup, acrobatics, martial arts, various types of falsetto singing and exuberant percussionists. Excerpts of popular operas are performed with both English and Chinese subtitles.

Day 5: Friday, May 11

Daily Life in Beijing: Hutongs and Tiananmen Square

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning: 

• Explore Old Beijing on a walk with your Program Leader through hutongs, (small lanes and alleys lined with homes, small shops and street vendors). The activity and color of these traditional neighborhoods are rapidly disappearing as the city modernizes.            
• Stop in at a local Neighborhood Committee Center to learn how it governs the surrounding community.  
• Reach Tiananmen Square, often referred to as the ‘heart of China.’           

Lunch:

• At a local restaurant   

Afternoon:

• The afternoon is at your leisure.        

Dinner:

• Dinner is at a local restaurant.           

Evening:

• Get together with your National Guide to practice spoken Chinese.

Day 6: Saturday, May 12

Daily Life in China/ fly to Luoyang

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning: 

• Lecture in the hotel: ‘China: People, Land, Daily Life’

Lunch:

• At restaurant  

Afternoon:

• Depart for Beijing airport for flight to Luoyang, one of the four great ancient capitals of China and home to the Longmen Buddhist cliff carvings dating from 316 to 907 CE.

Dinner:

• Hotel dining room.      

Evening:

• Explore the evening activities of local people in the lively People's Square just opposite your hotel.          

Day 7: Sunday, May 13

Buddhist Heritage and Life in a North Chinese Village

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.
• Before breakfast, practice gentle tai ji exercises in the People's Square which is filled with local citizens practicing martial arts, ballroom dancing or airing pet birds

Morning:

• After breakfast, depart for the 1,500 year old Longmen Grottoes, stone carvings that overlook the Yi River and celebrate the introduction of Buddhism into China.        

Lunch:

• At a local restaurant.  

Afternoon:

• This afternoon visit Huai Shu Wan agricultural village and its Primary School. Huai Shu Wan is a typical north Chinese country village and its primary school has about 200 pupils from various villages in the area. Observe classes, talk with English teachers and then visit families in the village.
• On the way back to your hotel, if time permits, stop at Luoyang's small Old Section.         

Dinner:

• At your hotel   

Evening:

• Enjoy an introduction to traditional Chinese musical instruments with demonstration (at hotel).

Day 8: Monday, May 14

Crossing the Yellow Soil Plateau by Train to Xi'an
Breakfast:

• After morning tai ji, enjoy a buffet breakfast in the hotel.      

Morning:

• Take a morning train to the City of Xi'an. Enjoy views of rural life from the train as you ascend China's Yellow Soil Plateau. The land is covered with a thick layer of wind-blown loess soil, which masks the original landforms. Deeply eroded, the landscape has steep ravines and almost vertical cliff faces pocked with holes and caves known as 'yaodong,' which are used for dwelling, resting, or storage.   

Lunch:

• Box lunch on train.     

Afternoon:

• Arrive at Xi'an Station in mid-afternoon and check in to your hotel.
• The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure.   

Dinner:

• At a local restaurant.  

Evening:

• Join your National Guide for a discussion:  “Current Social Questions in China” including China’s family planning policy and migration to cities.

Day 9: Tuesday, May 15

Chinese Cultural History and Xi’an History Museum

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• At Xi'an's renowned International Studies University, a presentation discusses Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism as a way of illuminating the Chinese 'character' and life views.        

Lunch:

• In the University dining room.
• After lunch, tour the campus with English-speaking students.          

Afternoon:

• Understand China's dynastic history, as well as its rich and enduring culture at its state-of-the-art Museum of History.

Dinner:

• Enjoy a dinner of various dumplings for which Xi'an is famous.       

Evening:

• At your leisure

Day 10: Wednesday, May 16

Qin Emperor's Terra Cotta Warriors Tomb /Xi’an

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast        

Morning:

• Experience the truly awe-inspiring site of the Qin Emperor's Tomb. Learn about and explore this remarkable 2,000-year-old tomb site that contains thousands of life-size terra cotta warriors, cavalrymen and graceful archers -- each believed to represent an actual member of the Emperor's retinue.

Lunch:

• In a nearby restaurant            

Afternoon:

• Return to town about mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure.

Dinner:

• At Xi’an International Studies University dining room with members of English-speaking faculty and students.

Evening:

• After dinner, break into small groups with faculty and students for informal discussions about middle-class and student life in China and the impact of traditional customs and values on their lives.

Day 11: Thursday, May 17

Xi’an’s Hui (Muslim) Section/flight to Guiyang (Guizhou Province)
Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• Walk about Xi'an's lively Hui (Muslim) district.
• Explore commercial and residential areas, and street markets.
• Enjoy its beautiful Great Mosque, built in the style of Chinese temples.
• Meet at Xi'an's Drum Tower, which you can climb for a view of the surrounding area.

Lunch:

• At a local restaurant   

Afternoon:

• Fly to Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, one of China's most beautiful and sparsely populated regions.
• Check in to your hotel.           

Dinner:

• At a restaurant.          

Evening:

• At Guiyang Minority Nationality Institute, enjoy a private performance by dancers and choral singers, accompanied by musicians playing local ethnic musical instruments. The concert highlights the music of Miao, Zhuang, and Dong peoples. The Dong are noted for the beauty of their a cappella harmonies and the Miao for their dancing.           

Day 12: Friday, May 18

Earth Opera Demonstration/ Tea Farming

Breakfast: 

• At your hotel.  
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• This morning, visit Ji Chang village whose residents are descendants of Han military units sent to Guizhou in the 15th century. Among the customs they brought with them was ‘dixi' (‘earth opera'), a folk form that dates from the early Ming Dynasty and is still performed in ‘old Han' locales. Villagers will perform a sampling of dixi, using traditional hand-made wooden masks.

Lunch:

• In a local restaurant.  

Afternoon:

• Learn about tea cultivation and processing at Xia Yun tea farm.      

Dinner:

• At a local restaurant.  

Evening:

• Join your National Guide for a discussion of Medical Care in China

Day 13: Saturday, May 19

Coach to Kaili, Center of Miao Culture
Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• After breakfast, travel westward by coach through Guizhou Province to Kaili town, located amongst Miao villages. 

Lunch:

• A picnic lunch en route

Afternoon:

• Travel through the countryside to Shiqiao (Stone Bridge) Village, where paper has been made from mulberry tree bark for 600 years.
• Meet the village chief for a discussion about how the village has remained timeless yet entered the global market with exportation of their handcrafted product.
• Walk through the village for a glimpse at daily life.
• Continuing to Kaili, stop at a small, local museum whose displays include the hand-embroidered costume of local ethnic groups and hand-crafted silverwork.

Dinner:

• At your hotel

Evening:

• Join your Local Guide for a discussion about the development, ownership, and maintenance of terraced land plots.

Day 14: Sunday, May 20

Country Life and Traditions in Rural China (Kaili)
Breakfast: 

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• A professor from Kaili Normal College discusses the lives and customs of the Miao and Dong ethnic minority peoples.
• Afterward, walk to the nearby Miao Sunday market where local people come to exchange goods such as baskets, cooking utensils, silver necklaces and hand embroidery, and where itinerant dentists and barbers ply their skills.

Lunch:

• At a local restaurant.  

Afternoon:

• Visit a small traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospital to learn about practices such as acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbal treatments.

Dinner:

• In your hotel or at local restaurant     

Evening:

• Join your National Guide for an informal discussion of Education in China
• Day 15: Monday, May 21

Miao Villages

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• Drive through the terraced countryside to beautiful Xijiang, the largest Miao village in China.
• Climb to the p
• erched village’s higher reaches where its chief meets you to discuss its way of life and current challenges, such as emigration of youth to the cities.
• Visit the local middle school and meet the teachers.
• Note: Today’s walking is strenuous. You must be in good physical condition, able to walk uphill on uneven but wide stone steps to reach the top of the village.

Lunch:

• In the homes of local families.           

Afternoon:

• Return to the hotel, stopping en route to visit a small family-owned Taoyao pottery  kiln.

            Dinner:

• In the hotel.    

Evening:

• Practice Chinese conversation with your National Guide.    

Day 16: Tuesday, May 22

Chongqing, A City where Two Rivers Meet; Embarkation

Breakfast: 

• In the hotel.

Morning:

• Depart for flight to Chongqing, an independent municipality situated inside Szechuan Province and at the head of the navigable Yangtze.         

Lunch:

• Light lunch will be served in flight.

Afternoon:

• At Chongqing Zoological Gardens, meet its giant pandas, indigenous to Szechuan Province only.

Dinner:

• Dinner is at a restaurant near the Yangtze piers.      

Evening:

• This evening, board your Yangtze vessel and, as you set sail, view the brightly lit hill city of Chongqing at night.  

Day 17:  Wednesday, May 23

Sailing on the Yangtze

Breakfast:

• Ship's buffet.  

Morning:

• Discuss traditional Chinese medicine and consider the Yangtze's influence on China.       
• Where possible, your national guide will also continue instruction in Tai Ji and Chinese conversation.       

Lunch:

• On board the ship.     

Afternoon:

• Visit a new village for relocated families. Explore their agricultural market and visit with a local family.    

Dinner:

• Before dinner on board, the Captain invites you to a welcome reception.   

Evening:

• Evening entertainment includes performances of Chinese music and dance.        

Day 18:  Thursday, May 24

Sailing through Yangtze Gorges/ Sampan cruise on Mini-Gorges

Breakfast:

• Ship's buffet   

Morning:

• Today, pass through the magnificent Yangtze Gorges and cruise in sampans up a mini-gorge on a pristine tributary of the Yangtze where you may catch glimpses of red monkeys amongst the trees, goats clinging to the craggy cliffs, and 'hanging coffins' secured in the cliff face by the Ba people centuries ago.   

Lunch:

• On board the ship.     

Afternoon:

• Free afternoon to enjoy sailing on the river, ship's presentations, or Chinese language learning with your National Guide.          

Dinner:

• On board the ship.     

Evening:

• Enjoy an on-board performance of Chinese music and dance.       

Day 19: Friday, May 25 

Three Gorges Dam/ Disembark and fly to Shanghai

Breakfast:

• Ship's buffet   

Morning:

• This morning, take a short coach ride to the Three Gorges Dam site.         
• From an observation deck, you have a bird's-eye view of the dam, five-step ship lock, diversion canal, and power station.
• A nearby exhibition displays a dam model; a briefing will explain this project, one of the largest construction ventures ever.

Lunch:

• On board the ship.     

Afternoon:

• Disembark in the Yangtze town of Yichang for a late afternoon flight to Shanghai.

Dinner:

• In a local restaurant.  

Evening:

• At leisure.       

Day 20: Saturday, May 26

Shanghai: Ancient Arts in Modern China

Breakfast:

• In the hotel.    
• Tai ji is offered before breakfast.       

Morning:

• This morning, explore Shanghai Art Museum which houses China’s finest collection of ceramics, painting, sculpture, and bronzes.
• If you like, join your local guide for a ride on the Shanghai metro to the Museum stop – or take the coach.            

Lunch:

• Coach to Shanghai's fashionable Xin Tian Di (New Heaven Earth) section.
• Explore its lanes, cafes, shops, and a small restored residence/museum independently.
• Take lunch of your own choosing.    

Afternoon:

• Learn the background of new Shanghai at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. View archival photos and a vast scale model of Shanghai as projected in 2020.   

Dinner:

• In a local restaurant.  

Evening:

• Acrobatics is considered one of China's performing arts ‘treasures'. It has a history of thousands of years and figures in other genres such as Chinese opera. This evening, enjoy a performance by the famed Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe.

Day 21: Sunday, May 27

Shanghai's Changing Cityscape/Yu Garden/ the Bund

Breakfast:

• Hotel buffet.   

Morning:

• Explore the Ming Dynasty Yu Garden in Shanghai’s historic district.           
• The garden’s classical pavilions, fountains, and arching bridges exemplify traditional Chinese garden landscaping. Continue on to the riverfront Bund beside iconic art deco and neo-classic buildings stemming from Shanghai's history as a foreign 'concession'.   
• View across the river 'new Shanghai' -- until recently undeveloped farmland and now a forest of glittering skyscrapers.  

Lunch:

• At Chengdu Panda Research Base; observe infant and adult pandas in a naturalistic habitat and learn what is being done to save the Giant Panda.

• View Lhasa old town from the Potala Palace, one of the most prepossessing princely palaces in the world and delve into the nearby Bokhor Bazaar.

• Sail amidst karst mountains along the Li River whose natural beauty has been celebrated for ages by China's poets and painters.

• Travel by electric car into the Guilin countryside to explore natural villages set amidst China's most beautiful landscapes.