Day 1 – If you depart with the group, it will leave from LAX for Beijing, via Shanghai, leaving at 12:30 PM (seat selection begins at 11:30 AM. The 13 hour flight arrives in Shanghai at 6:30 PM. Transfer to Beijing at 9: 30 P.M.
Day 2 – Our transfer flight arrives in Beijing at 11:30 PM. Tomorrow will be a
very long day!
Day 3 (BLD) – We have a very full day of cultural experiences including the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City), a 175 acre walled and moated complex of 9,999 rooms and meeting halls, Tian An Men square which has held more than 1,000,000 people. Late afternoon includes a walk through the hutong (old housing area) and evening a visit to nearby Hou Hai, an up-and coming area of the city.
Day 4 (BLD) – Travel north of Beijing to the Great Wall, unified 2,200 years ago across 4,000 miles and rebuilt in the 1600s. We visit two areas, one largely wild and one rebuilt. On our return we’ll stop by the Ming Tombs. After dinner, we enjoy traditional entertainments at Lao She Tea House—bring cameras!
Day 5 (BLD) – You need to pack and be ready early (for we take the overnight train to Xi’an tonight). During the day we will visit the beautiful Summer Palace (built to its present splendor by Dowager Empress Cixi, using funds slated for the navy). We will talk with professors in the Women’s Studies program at a leading Beijing university (or you may walk across the ring road and visit Yuan Min Park, site of the summer palace under the Mongols ($4). Later we will have a Peking Duck dinner before boarding our train for Xi’an (4 berths/compartment; your option to up-grade to 2/compartment is $50 per bed).
Day 6 (BLD) – After our train arrives in Xi’an about 8:00 a.m. We visit the city wall before transferring to Ban Po Neolithic Village alleged (by some Marxist scholars) to verify matriarchal society in China, some 7,000 years ago. We travel east to the Terra Cotta Soldiers Museum, said to house 9,999 statues, actually just part of the vast grave site dedicated by his son to Qin Shi Wang Ti, the man who united the Chinese states 2,200 years ago. (His was preceded by the Han Dynasty, among whose leaders was a Dowager Empress, and succeeded by the Tang Dynasty, a period of relative openness in China, ruled for a time by the female Emperor Wu). Dinner will feature the Xi’an specialty—dumplings of all sizes, shapes, colors and fillings. After dinner stroll the square and, if you like, visit the ancient Bell Tower ($3) for pictures.
Day 7 (BLD) – We will stay around the walled city, visiting the Shaanxi (Stelae) Museum which houses monumental stones engraved with original calligraphy by China’s leading philosophers, poets, and leaders; set in grounds designed after Confucian temples, you may purchase peasant paintings and stelae rubbings). We will also visit the Shaanxi Province Museum and the Big Goose Pagoda. After dinner, we highly recommend the optional ($20) Tang Dynasty show that features the exotic garments of women during this more open time period in China.
Day 8 (BLD) - We will fly to Ji Nan and transfer to Qu Fu by noon. After lunch we visit Qu Fu Normal University for a welcome reception and discussion of Confucius: his life; the chaotic political times; his own credo and philosophy. We will visit the Temple dedicated to Confucius. The evening features dinner in the homes of local Chinese families.
Day 9 (BLD) – We will drive to sacred Mount Tai for much of the rest of the day. There is a gondola from the base to mid-way up the mountain, as well as a long path/stairway along which are temples, pagodas, and stopping places along the royal route.
Day 10 (BLD) – We will drive to Ji Nan in the morning. In the Ji Nan area there are several beautiful locales we shall visit: Da Ming Lake and Bao Tu Spring are on our schedule. In the afternoon, we’ll fly into Shanghai and explore “Old Shanghai” through Yu Garden, a crowed, architecturally Qing Dynasty area of shops, restaurants, temples, and antiques (as always, buyer bewares). Several multi-storied emporia sell porcelains, rocks, wood carvings, jades, antiques, paintings, jewelry, medicines, tee shirts and trinkets, etc. Starbucks and Hagen Dazs have a presence.
Day 11 (BLD) – We travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou. West Lake is the setting for the former capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1,000 years ago) and the inspiration for much (earlier) Tang Dynasty poetry, including a famous woman poet of the times. We will cruise the lake, then visit Linying Buddhist (working) monastery which is bounded by carved grottos prominently featuring Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy and other more typically SE Asian figures. A tea farming village exemplifies another industry (along with silk) in which women were primary workers. Time permitting, we will pay a brief visit to the “Silk District” for shopping (shirts, blouses, scarves, etc.). We have a snacking dinner (rather like eating Spanish tapas) at one of Hangzhou’s tea houses along West Lake.
Day 12 (BLD) – We transfer to the sacred island of Pu Tuo Shan (this trip takes most of the day through beautiful, lush countryside in which the growing wealth of some farmers and liberalization of ownership laws has led to “mansions” topped by glass rooms (for ancestor worship as well as clothes drying). This evening we’ll walk around Pu Tuo Shan.
Day 13 (BLD) – As we explore the origin of (and feminization of a lesser Buddha into) Kuan Yin, we can talk further about women’s issues in China. We will visit the several temples and many statues of Kuan Yin on the island.
Day 14 (BLD) – It will take some time to travel from Pu Tuo Shan to Shanghai. We will plan to arrive in time for a meeting with female administrators in Shanghai government for their candid views on both economic development and the role of women in leadership in China. After dinner we visit the Bund, part of the old German Concession in Shanghai from the 1800s, with the European-style buildings on the west of the river (Pu Xi). Pack tonight!
Day 15 (BLD) – The famous new development area of Shanghai is on the east side of the Huang Pu river has wonderful world class architecture, newly constructed suburbs with schools, markets, etc. We will visit the high school affiliated with Shanghai Finance University and Pudong. Time permitting, we’ll make a quick stop at Lotus shopping center—we recommend the supermarket on the lowest level. There is much to see and great items to purchase (tea, tea containers, wine and spirits, dried fruits or all sorts, etc.). At the airport, there is wonderful produce (which you’ll have to eat on the plane) but also meats and other items packaged for import. We leave mid-afternoon today and arrive on the same calendar day at LAX between 10 AM and 11 AM.
This CCE China guided trip includes international airfare from LAX, airline taxes, fees and fuel surcharges, tour guides and drivers, nights in 4 star hotel and lesser ranked comfortable hotels(double occupancy), all meals and sightseeing as indicated. You may arrange your own airfare (deduct $650 from the total price). We can secure business class for you but it has become pricey (group rate plus $2,700). If you make your own arrangements, you’ll need to find your own transport to our hotel in Beijing on November 2 (rooms available after 4 PM). Please complete the application form and return it to CCE China.
Your application must be accompanied by a valid passport (good through April 2009)
