China 2005: A New and Ancient World

Tentative: Sept 2-16, 2005*

  Estimated cost: $2799

 
(including all hotels, land costs, most meals and 6 flights inside China!!-excluding internat’l airfare   –   Cost is based on a group of 11 to 15 participants, double occupancy-for a group of 6 to 10, the cost will be $2949.   –   Single supplement: est. $475.)

*(An optional extension in Shanghai is possible.)

TENTATIVE ITINERARY:

Beijing: Here the new and ancient worlds collide. Amid the bustle of a vast and modern city, there are some of the most astonishing and beautiful manifestations of the past. You will visit The Forbidden City to glimpse the opulent life and traditions of the Ming and later Qing emperors who ruled into the 20^th century. Sacred sites, such as the Yong He Gong lamasery, will introduce you to some of the powerful spiritual traditions of Chinese culture. You will explore the narrow alleys of some of the old hutong neighborhoods and dine in style on delectable Beijing duck and other culinary specialties.

Chengde: A real jewel, overlooked by most foreign tourists in favor of the sights in Beijing, Chengde was a sleepy village until just over 300 years ago, when Emperor Kangxi decided to build a summer villa in the mountains to escape the bustle of the city. The charms of the hills, lakes and gardens were not lost on Kangxi’s successors, and by the time the great emperor Qianlong completed his additions, the walled compound was bigger than Beijing’s Forbidden City and Summer Palace combined and was surrounded by a dazzling array of magnificent temples. We will leave our heavier luggage in Beijing and take overnight bags for a stay in a charming, traditional-style courtyard hotel adjacent to Puning Monastery.

Xi’an: Long before Beijing became an important city, Xi’an was the center of the Chinese world for many centuries. It certainly rivaled Rome and Constantinople as the greatest and most cultured city in the world. It is the only large Chinese city with nearly intact city walls, originally from the Tang dynasty about 1500 years ago. More than 2000 years ago, Emperor Qin Shihuang unified all China for the first time and ruled from here. (Film buffs should see the recent movie Hero, which fictionalizes events surrounding the ascent of this emperor.) Near his tomb, a peasant digging a well in 1974 made one of the 20^th century’s most important and amazing archeological discoveries-the buried army of at least 8,000 to 10,000 life-size warriors and horses, fashioned of terra cotta and outfitted with arms and
even chariots.

Guilin: In and around Guilin, we will begin to experience the lush southern reaches of China. The entire region, especially along the Li River, is studded with incredible karst peaks which jut vertically from landscapes of rice paddies, scenic villages, and farmers driving their water buffalo ahead of them. At every turn, the scenes are like classic Chinese paintings, come to life. One day, we will also drive through the bamboo forests in the mountains to see amazing vistas of rice terraces like steps to the clouds and to visit some of the many ethnic minorities of the region: particularly charming are the women of the Yao villages with floor-length hair and rich musical and handcraft traditions.

Lijiang: Yunnan Province in the Southwest of China is amazingly varied. It includes many minority nationalities and vastly different landscapes, from jungles along the Burma border to high mountains near Tibet. It is impossible to see everything in one trip, but we will take time to explore carefully one of the most beautiful regions. Lijiang lies in the far northwest of the province and is the home of the Naxi people, an ancient and strongly matriarchal group descended from Tibetan tribes. The old city is a maze of winding, cobbled lanes, gushing canals, stone bridges and low-slung wood-and-tile houses. This area may have inspired the fictional “Shangri-La,” and you will venture out to see some of the towering peaks, deep valleys, and mountain meadows where yaks are the local livestock.