Program Itinerary:
Shanghai, Nanjing, Luoyang, Xian, Beijing, and Lhasa, Tibet

The following is a representative account of places to be visited and not a contractual commitment. It may not be possible to visit every place mentioned here. If events make any part of our itinerary untenable, we have a very experienced staff who can make adjustments to our route before or during the tour.

PRE-TOUR ORIENTATION

Prior to departure we will have at least one orientation session for EMU and regional students that will help us to create a community of culturally aware traveling scholars.

We'll get acquainted with each other and learn the ground rules for the China-Tibet Cultural History Tour and our unique approach to study and travel. There will also be essential introductions to the academic subject areas and the interdisciplinary framework we will use throughout the program. Specific information on other program meetings, orientation and travel arrangements will be available after enrolling. For other students we will have to do this through the internet.

EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY ORIENTATION May 14 - 15 We will begin our tour at Eastern Michigan University with an intensive Orientation. Here we will meet the Tour Director and Manager. We will learn the China-Tibet Cultural History Tour ground rules for travel and prepare for the cultural differences in China. There will also be further introductions to the academic subject areas and the interdisciplinary framework we will use throughout the program. Specific information on the location of the orientation and instructions for arrival will be available after enrolling.

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT TO SHANGHAI
May 15 - 16

From the Detroit we will take a flight to SHANGHAI, China. On the way we cross the International Dateline and lose a day as it suddenly becomes May 17.

SHANGHAI
May 16 - 22

From the Opium Wars of the 1840's to the 1930's, SHANGHAI went from a provincial fishing and weaving community of 50,000 people to a western metropolis of over a million people with skyscrapers owned by western bank and trading houses, western cinemas, and more cars than any other city in Asia. It became the largest manufacturing city in Asia based on the slave labor of Chinese boys and girls. Foreign business interests dominated the city and were guarded by the armies of their home countries.

We will tour the remnants of the International Settlement including the British, French, American, and Japanese concessions and the Huangpu River embankment, called the "Bund." The Bund is lined with the western buildings constructed in the1930's in a mixture of colonial, neo-classical, and even Egyptian architectural styles. Here we will see where the foreigners and Chinese met and still congregate to talk and see street performers and hawkers. Of course, we will also visit the SHANGHAI Museum with its collection of bronzes, ceramics, and paintings; the site of the 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party attended by Mao Zedong; and Sun Yatsen's residence. We will also spend an evening at a performance of the famous Chinese acrobats.

The area around NANJING has been inhabited for 5,000 years and has sites from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Situated on China's Grand Canal connecting north and south China, NANJING became an important trading and industrial town. Its heyday came with the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Hong Wu. He captured the Mongol capital of BEIJING in 1368 and made NANJING his capital. Unfortunately for NANJING , the Emperor, Yong Le, moved the capital to BEIJING in the early 1400's. Although NANJING remained an important center under the Ming and Qing dynasties, it did not reach its former glory until the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century It played a central role in the Opium Wars and was the capital of the unsuccessful Taiping rebels. Later in the 20th century Sun Yatsen and Chiang Kaishek made it their capital. Today it is a major industrial center.
Here we will see the Taiping Museum; the Memorial of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese in their occupation of 1937; the Yangzi River Bridge, a marvel of Chinese engineering; the Tomb of Hong Wu, the first Ming Emperor; the Sun Yatsen Mausoleum; and the NANJING Museum with its collection of artifacts from the Neolithic Period to the Communist period.

BEIJING
June 5 - 12

Although Beijing was not a major player in early Chinese history, from the 13th century to the present it has been the capital under the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties as well as the Communist regime.

It was the Mongols who first made it their capital when they conquered China in the 13th century and established the Yuan Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty took power in the 1300's its first capital was Nanjing, but the Emperor Yong Le moved the capital to Beijing in the early 1400's and started the construction of the Forbidden City. Later when the Manchus conquered China, they kept Beijing as capital and enlarged the Forbidden City. In 1949 the Communists chose Beijing as their capital and set up headquarters right next to the Forbidden City.

One of our first stops in BEIJING will be Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 student demonstrations and subsequent bloodbath. Around the square we will visit the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, the Museum of Chinese History, and Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall containing the preserved body of Chairman Mao, the first leader of Communist China. Then we will pass through the Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) into the Forbidden City, where twenty four emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties ruled from their palaces for hundreds of years. Here there are six major palaces including the Palace of Ci Xi, the last Empress Dowager who dominated China in the early 20th century.

In BEIJING we will also see the beautiful Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace of the Emperors with the famous marble boat built by Ci Xi with funds to build a navy. In the evenings we will attend a performance of selections from the Beijing Opera and other cultural events.

The Great Wall was begun in the 5th century BCE and completed by Qin Shi Huang, founder of the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE Being approximately 3750 miles long. It is surely one of the wonders of world.

The Tombs of the Ming Dynasty Emperors date back to the 15th and 16th centuries.

OTHER EXCURSIONS FROM BEIJING: We have allowed enough time in Beijing to take other excursions outside of the city. These will be announced on the tour.

LHASA, TIBET
June 15 - 23

Lhasa is the spiritual and political center of Tibet. We will have a light schedule for the first couple of days in order to accustom ourselves to the altitude. Then we will visit the Potala Palace perched on a hill in the middle of the city. Originally, built for a king, it became the home of the Dalai Lama, the religious and political leader of Tibet until the takeover by the Chinese communists.

End of Tour
Flight Home to U.S.A.
June 24, 2007
to U.S.A.

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Academic Programs Abroad
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