May 15 - Depart LAX approximately 1:30 PM. Check in begins at 11:30 AM (for seat assignment). Cross the international dateline and arrive Shanghai
May 16 - Arrive Shanghai 6:30 PM (14 hours); change planes for Beijing, arriving 11:30 PM. Transfer to hotel. This will be a short night!
May 17 (BL) - Breakfast at the hotel, 7:00 on; on the bus 8:30 AM for the Imperial Palace. You can stroll Tian An Men square or visit the imperial herbal medicine college. After lunch we walk the hutong neighborhoods of Beijing (the Drum and Bell Towers, Confucian College and Tibetan Buddhist Temple are optional visits, about $2-4 entry). You are on your own for dinner in the vibrant Hou Hai zone (across the street is Beihai Park and lake). It is an easy cab ride to the hotel, at your leisure.
May 18 (BLD) - We talk with women’s studies faculty at a major Beijing university before visiting the magnificent Summer Palace (much built by Dowager Empress Cixi). Evening, enjoy traditional entertainment at Laoshe Tea House.
May 19 (BLD) - Pack your bags before we take in the Great Wall (and souvenir shops). After lunch we return to Beijing for a traditional Peking Duck dinner before boarding our overnight train to Xi’an (4-6 beds/room).
May 20 (BLD) - We arrive in Xi’an at 8 AM. After breakfast we visit the city wall, the most complete and preserved in China. After lunch we stroll the Hui (Muslim minority) streets and visit the mosque. Bodi School is our stop in the afternoon to speak with teachers and students. After dinner you have the option of the city’s shopping arcade or the Bell Tower with its panoramic view of the city center.
May 21 (BLD) - In the morning, we visit Terror Cotta Solider Museum, sometimes referred as World’s eighth wonder, and visit Shaanxi Museum. In the afternoon, we will visit the old Confucian temple grounds house the famous Stelae Museum on which are carved China’s most renowned literature. Xi’an is known for its myriad styles of dumplings, which we enjoy tonight for dinner.
May 22 (BLD) - First we visit Panpo Neolithic village museum, alleged to represent the last throws of “matriarchy” in China, some 7,000 years ago. The tomb furnishings of Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di include some 10,000 life sized solders and horses made of terra cotta over 2,000 years ago. En route home, we stop at the Tang Dynasty hot springs (imperial retreat 1,300 years ago).
May 23 (BLD) - We fly to Nanjing in the morning, the capital of the Nationalist Government until 1949. We will visit Dr. Sun Yet Sun’s Mausoleum in the afternoon. In the evening, we will visit the Confucius Temple.
May 24 (BLD) - We visit the Nationalist Palace before transferring to Suzhou famous for its luxury gardens and Guanqin Street.
May 25 (BLD) - Landscaping and architecture have had deep symbolic meaning in China from ancient times. After visiting several gardens and temples, we stop at the famous embroidery institute. After dinner, we drive to Hangzhou.
May 26 (BLD) - West Lake is the setting for the former capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (1,000 years ago). Linying Buddhist monastery is bounded by carved grottos prominently featuring Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy. A tea farming village exemplifies another industry (along with silk) in which women were primary workers.
May 27 (BLD) - Chinese women are most supportive of education, as we shall see at the Children’s Palace where enrichment classes (dance, music, art, etc.) are offered. Afternoon takes us to the silk district of Hangzhou. We have a snacking dinner (rather like eating Spanish tapas) at one of Hangzhou’s tea houses
May 28 (BLD) - We drive to Shanghai, perhaps stopping at a reconstructed “water town” (depending on our May 29 schedule); in Shanghai, we visit the wonderful Shanghai Museum and “old Shanghai” (or May 29). The Bund at night is a favorite area of locals and tourists, with German concession buildings on the west and Pudong economic development area across the river on the east.
May 29 (BLD) - We explore women’s issues further either at a government agency and visit a Kuan Yin Temple in Shanghai.
May 30 (BL) - We will spend some time in Pudong en route to the airport. The supermarket at Lotus Shopping Center is worth the visit. You have the option of taking the bullet train (over 250 mph) to the airport ($6-8). We leave for LAX after lunch, arriving May 30 (yes, May 30) at 11 AM after an 11.5 hour flight.
To apply, submit this application and payment in full to your counselor/teacher or directly to CCE China no later then 60 days prior to departure.
