Chinese American Cultural Bridge Center: Explore China

Come to participate in our 2009 Cultural Exchange tour to China! This unique tour allows educators to experience the arts, culture, geography, history, economics, government and technology of China firsthand. In addition, each educator will be provided with background and educational materials to help bring China alive in the classroom!

Day 1: International flight from U.S. to Beijing.

Day 2: Arrive in Beijing. Check-in at hotel, and enjoy the Welcome Banquet (Beijing Duck Dinner) hosted by CACBC China Office, Cultural Exchange Bureau, and the China Travel Service.

Day 3: A full-day excursion: explore the Great Wall of China - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In the afternoon, visit the magnificent Temple of Heaven, the largest temple and altar complex in China, where the Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasty worshipped Heaven and prayed for good harvests. In the evening, attend an exciting Chinese Acrobatic show.

Day 4: A city tour of Beijing to the center of the city -Tianan-Men Square - the largest open plaza in the world - accommodating half a million people at one time. Explore the Forbidden City (Palace Museum), the former Imperial Palace for the 24 Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as the Scenic Hill and the nearby Beihai Park, a Royal Family resort.

Day 5: Visit the 800 year-old Summer Palace with the largest garden in China. Here, the royal family of the Qing dynasty came to spend relaxing summers and handle government affairs. (Night Sleeper Train to Zhengzhou).

Day 6: Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou - the capital of the Henan Province, is a prime example of the changing face of China. Here you will see modern buildings and shopping malls contrasted against the background of an ancient civilization.

You’ll visit Dahe village, an archeological site dating back 8,000 years, and witness thousands of recent discoveries from a New Stone Age civilization. Visit the Yellow River, the famous river that has been flowing since ancient times. Visit a local high school or university for a cultural exchange in the afternoon. Make friends and exchange emails.

The Henan National Museum, whose modern architecture resembles a Mayan Pyramid, is the repository for 160,000 historic and prehistoric national treasures - including the world's earliest musical instrument, an 8,000 year old, perfectly tuned bone flute. Wander through the fascinating exhibits and then relax and listen to a musical performance on ancient Chinese instruments dating back over a 1,000 years.

Day 7: Enjoy an excursion to Kaifeng, the ancient capital of seven dynasties. During the Song Dynasty 1,000 years ago, Kaifeng was the richest and most culturally diverse city in the world.

You’ll be transported back to that time - when you visit the historical recreation of a Song Dynasty city at Riverside Park. You’ll experience daily Song life as you board an ancient boat, explore the narrow streets, cross the rainbow bridge, try your hand at traditional crafts, participate in ceremonies, and meet “officials” and “residents” in period costumes.

At noon, you can enjoy the traditional dishes of the Baozi banquet. This banquet features many different flavors of the local cuisine.

Kaifeng has a wealth of historical sites. The Buddha of A Thousand Hands and A Thousand Eyes stands in the 1,000 year old Xiang Guo Monastery. The famous Dragon Pavilion was built on the ruins of the Song Palace. It is also called the small forbidden city. You’ll visit the thirteen story high Iron Pagoda, made entirely of wood with a brick exterior. It is called “iron” because this pagoda has miraculously survived many earthquakes and floods for almost one thousand years! (Travel back to Zhengzhou).

Day 8: Today you will travel to the 1,500 year-old Shaolin Monastery, the birthplace of Kung Fu - the original form of all martial arts. This temple is situated at the western edge of the Songshan Mountains. In the Thousand Buddhas Hall, you can still see the footprints of the monks stamped into the floor - a reminder of the intensity of their practice. Here, you will be amazed by a live Kung Fu demonstration performed by the Grandmasters and monks.

Denfeng is also the home of the earliest astronomical observatory. Here a Chinese astronomer, Mr. Guo, invented an official calendar based on his celestial observations. Predating the Roman calendar by two hundred years - his was accurate within one second of the Gregorian calendar. (Bus to Luoyang).

Day 9: Luoyang is the ancient capital of the thirteen dynasties. This city is home to the first Buddhist temple in China, the 900 year-old White Horse Temple.

The most spectacular site in Luoyang is the Longmen Grotto. Carved from a solid rock mountain over 1,500 years ago, this site has over 2,345 caves and more than 100,000 statues of Buddha. Chinese noblemen sponsored the creation of most of these statues, ranging in height from miniature (1 inch high) to giant-size (57 feet).

At night, relax and enjoy the delicious delicacies of the Water Feast, a banquet handed down by the Tang Dynasty empress. Be delighted by the sights and sounds of ancient Chinese instruments, played for you as you end your feast.

Day 10: Nearby Luoyang, you will visit the ruins of the Royal Palace of the Zhou Dynasty where Confucius came to learn the Zhou rites from Laotse. The Chinese believe this to be the most important meeting in their cultural history. (Night sleeper train to Xian).

Day 11: Xian, which was also known as Changan, was a major ancient capital and has more than 3,000 years of history.

At Xian, you will visit the famous Museum of the Terra-Cotta Legion, built as a memorial to Qin Shihuang, the first emperor to unite China. The 8,000 men clay army of warriors and horsemen, complete with weapons, was ordered by the emperor as a young man, and took decades to complete.
Day 12: Visit the Goose Pagodas built by Crown Prince Li Zhi. The Big Goose Pagoda houses the Buddhist manuscripts that Xuan Zhuang, an eminent monk, brought back from an arduous voyage to India. The Little Goose Pagoda, another part of the temple complex, is a depository for many other Buddhist manuscripts.

On your visit to the mausoleums of the Han and Tang Dynasties, you will see the resting-place of Wu Ze Tian, China’s only empress.
Day 13: Walk on the well-preserved Xian city wall and get a bird’s eye view of the city. (Fly to Shanghai). A modern bustling metropolis of thirteen million people in the southeast region, Shanghai is China’s center for industry and commerce. It is called the “Paris of the East,” because for many years the city was home to large numbers of Europeans, giving it an international flavor.

Visit The City God’s Temple (Cheng Huang Miao). This used to be the temple to a local deity, which the inhabitants believed would protect them in every city. The city deities were frequently real persons to whom the town owed something. Today, arts and crafts stores are in the temple. Walk along The Bund, Shanghai’s Wall Street, a place of feverish trading and an unabashed playground for Western business sophisticates. In the evening, take a cruise along the Huangpu River and enjoy the beautiful night view of Shanghai.

Day 14: In the morning, visit Shanghai Old Street, which was opened to the public recently after remodeling. The 825-m long street is divided into eastern and western sections and reflects the Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture. With black tiles and white washed walls, red columns and upturned eaves, it truly expresses the folk styles of Shanghai's old downtown. Here in the street you will find famous hundred-year old stores, such as Tonghanchun, Laotongsheng, Wuliangcai, Wanyouquan, Qiu Tianbao, Old Shanghai Tea House, Chunfeng Deyi Restaurant, Xishi Soya Beancurd Store, Dingniangzi Cloth Store, Rongshun Restaurant and Baoyintang.

In the afternoon, you will visit the newly built Pu Dong area, modern China’s business center. Tour a school or university in the area and exchange ideas with Chinese educators. On the way, enjoy some modern architecture, such as the Shanghai International Convention Center - China's tallest building, and the third tallest building in the world. Also visit the Shanghai Circus City, the building for arts and recreation. By exploring the old town and the new town of Shanghai, you can really witness the modern and changing face of China.

Day 15: Say goodbye to friends in China, and board the International flight back home.

Estimated Price:

For the 15-day tour, it is $3,850 per person in the peak travel season.

Single Room supplement: $1000

Included in Tour Price:

1. Round trip airfare to China. China departure Tax

2. One English speaking guide per bus.

3. Four-star hotel accommodations. (Double Occupancy)

4. Ground transportation within China.

5. All meals in China: American or Chinese breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner.

6. Chinese Acrobatic Show or Peking Opera, ancient Chinese music and Dance show as indicated.

7. All entrance fees for museums, parks and historical sites (does not include admission fees to any privately-owned rides or attractions within these locations).

8. Chinese culture instructional materials.

9. Special dinners as indicated.

10. Limited travel insurance, including emergency medical treatment, while in China. (This travel insurance does not include trip cancellation insurance).

Not Included in Tour Price:

Passport, visa fees, excess baggage fees, U. S. Departure taxes, airline Fuel charges, tips for bus drivers, escorts, and local tour-guides, hotel personnel.

Telephone calls, personal spending money and miscellaneous items not specifically stated as included

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