China Group Events and Activities

 

Preliminary Information on China Travel in Spring, 2006
Students who are studying Chinese language and arts for fall and winter quarter will have the opportunity to go to China in spring quarter, led by faculty member Rose Jang. We may even open this opportunity to other students in the program who have not focused on Chinese studies (except for those who will have already traveled to India with Ratna) during fall and winter but are interested in exploring China for three weeks of intense language study and cultural exposure. I think it will be fair this way since we have quite a few students who looked at China as their second choice of focus at the start of the year.

The deadline for registration and deposit of $150 into a travel account established with our college is January 31, 2006. Note: please don't deposit your money until I announce in class that the account has been established.

SECTION I: MAY 7-28, IN BEIJING, CHINA

The itinerary of the China travel is basically set. We will fly to Beijing, China on Sunday, May 7, 2006, the beginning of Week 6 of Spring quarter. I have established a three-week short-term intense study program with a university in Beijing. . The name of the institution is Capital University of Economics and Business. The address of the institution is 2 Jintaili, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. They also have a web address at www.cueb.edu.cn, but it is useless for you because everything in it is in Chinese.

The official program will start on Monday, May 8 and end on Friday, May 26, and we leave for our next section of the trip on the following Sunday, May 28. The exact calendar of the classes and activities within the program will be listed later in this document. The classes will cover not only intense Chinese language study but also important forum discussions in historical and current affairs of China. Many field trips, to different cultural, educational, artistic and business/industrial sites around the Capital of China, one of the most economically booming and politically active cities of the world, will be interspersed in between classes. In the current calendar proposed by Capital University of Economics and Business, there still exists quite a lot of free time for you to go explore Chinese social scenes and cultural environments on your own, although it is strongly advised that you send substantial time doing your homework, like every good Chinese college student. I will also arrange additional field trips and discussion sessions with you using those free time periods. For tuition and all other expenses, please see below. Students will stay in the dorm rooms provided by the university. These rooms are rather nice facilities, according to the description I have received so far. Each room has air conditioning, TV, phone, bathroom with shower (some with bathtub and some without, depending on the price), security count (I am not sure what it means), internet access (so if you want to bring your laptop along, you may), public kitchen (which means that you can cook some of your own meals in China, using local groceries-that may be fun and adventurous!), and washing machine by coin or card. I am still trying to find out whether these rooms are for single person or two people. My experience is that most of the dorm rooms in China are two-people rooms. You also have the choice to dine in their dining hall, for dinner only. The dinner is really cheap, and I am not sure yet whether it is cafeteria style or restaurant style, with several people in one table ordering different dishes.

The expenses of the program are as follows:

Tuition: RMB 3310/ person for three weeks including all classes and field trips. The exchange rate between RMB and American currency is approximately 1 to 8. So RMB 3310 is about $414 in American dollars. Registration Fee: RMB 330 / person. (about $42)

Room Fee: 1)RMB 82.5 / person / day (with air conditioning, TV, phone, toilet, security count, bathtub and shower (24 hours heat water), Internet access, public kitchen, washing machine by coin or card. (a bit over $10 a day) 2)RMB 41.5 / person / day (with air conditioning, TV, phone (use 201 card), toilet, security count, shower (24hours heat water), Internet access, public kitchen, washing machine by coin or card. (a bit over $5 a day)

Dinner Fee: RMB 58 / person / day (a bit over $7 a meal)

The calendar is tentatively set as follows:

Date Morning Afternoon Evening

Sun, May 7 Arriving in Beijing, China

Mon, 5/8 10 AM Opening Ceremony Free 6 PM Beijing Duck Feast treated by the school

Tues, 5/9 Getting to know Bejing; visiting Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City Morning activities continue Free

Wed, 5/10 8:30 AM Observing Chinese students' regular class Free 7 PM Meeting with Chinese University students

Thurs, 5/11 9-11 AM Chinese language class 1:30 PM Forum on Chinese Population Free

Fri, 5/12 9-11 AM Chinese language 1:30 PM Workshop on Taiji Free

Sat, 5/13 8 AM Field trip to Great Wall, Ming Imperial Grave Field trip continues Free

Sun, 5/14 Visiting Chinese family Visiting Chinese family Free

Mon, 5/15 9-11 AM Chinese language 3:30 PM Workshop on Calligraphy 6:30 PM Watching Chinese acrobatics

Tues, 5/16 9-11 AM Language Trips to Temple of Heaven, Red-bridge Market Free

Wed, 5/17 9-11 AM Language Forum on Chinese Politics Free

Thurs, 5/18 9-11 AM Language Visiting elementary schools Free

Fri, 5/19 9-11 AM Language Free Watching Chinese Opera

Sat, 5/20 Visiting Hu-tong (old-fashioned Chinese alleys) Visiting Hu-tong continues Free

Sun, 5/21 Field trip to Summer Palace Summer Palace Free

Mon, 5/22 9-11 AM Language Forum on Investment in Chinese business Free

Tues, 5/23 9-11 AM Language Visiting Yan-jing Beer Company Free

Wed, 5/24 9-11 AM Language Forum on Chinese Women's Issues Free

Thurs, 5/25 9-11 AM Language Free Field trip to Wang-fu-jing Walking Street

Fri, 5/26 Free Farewell Ceremony Free

Sat, 5/27 Free Free Free

Sun, 5/28 Leaving Beijing, for our next section of tour

One important thing to note is that, although all these classes listed above will be taught by Chinese professors on site, which will definitely entail homework and independent study, there will also be additional requirements in reading and writing, assigned by the faculty of the program, Rose Jang, to accompany these activities. All the specifics of these academic requirements will be announced later.

SECTION II; TOUR AROUND CHINA

From May 28 to Sat, June 3 (the end of week nine of the quarter), we will be traveling around China, visiting different cities of historical and contemporary interest. Xian and Shanghai are already solidly in my itinerary, but I am still working with two other options. I will try my best to get the best service and cheapest package, so the overall cost (lodging, food, and transportation included) will not exceed $1,000 for each individual. I will continue to keep you posted.