Please Note: The May 2019 Alumni and Community trip to China with Carole Lee, associate professor of science education, and Linda Beck, associate dean of experiential & global education and professor of political science, has been canceled.
Trip Highlights
- Tour Tiananmen Square and Six of China’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites: The Great Wall, the Imperial Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Dynasty Tombs, and the The Terracotta Army at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum
- Visit the Hutong District of Old Beijing that has been threatened by urban renewal
- Sample Chinese culinary delights at renowned restaurants
- Try your hand at Chinese calligraphy and participate in Tai Chi
- See below for a preliminary day-by-day itinerary
Program Leaders
A veteran leader of UMF travel courses, Linda Beck has taught Chinese politics at UMF since participating on the University’s faculty exchange program with the Beijing University of Technology in 2011. Fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, Carole Lee was born and raised in Hong Kong and has traveled extensively in mainland China. Together they will provide UMF alumni and friends with a rich historical, political, and cultural overview of China. Logistics and a local English-speaking guide will be provided by the China Culture Center, a renown Beijing-based cultural education organization.
Trip Requirements and Fees
All participants must be able to carry and manage their own luggage. Trip leaders are not available to serve as porters. The trip involves up to five miles of walking each day. Participants must be able to move under their own power for two continuous miles. If you wish to participate but have trouble walking, you will need to hail taxis independently to reach the trip’s many daily destinations.
The program fee of $2,900 includes all entrance fees, local guides, in-country transportation, accommodations, and breakfast and lunches, along with a Peking Duck dinner. The fee does not include all other dinners, the trans-Pacific flights to Beijing and other personal expenses.
At this point, we are surveying for preliminary interest in the May 2019 UMF Alumni and Community Trip to China. If you are or may be interested in participating, please complete this online pre-registration form. Completing the pre-registration form is non-binding, and no payment or deposit is required at this time.
Yes, I Am InterestedIf you have questions, please contact Linda Beck.
Preliminary Day-By-Day Itinerary
Day 1–2: Travel to Beijing. Participants will meet up in Beijing as they may join the group from various parts of the U.S. (or the world). Professors Lee and Beck will fly out of Boston, joined by those from New England who prefer to travel together.
Day 3: Tour of Beijing. Our first full day in Beijing will start off with a pedicab ride in the Hutong District in the very heart of old Beijing City. We’ll get a glimpse of life in the local hutongs, a network of narrow streets and alleyways that make up a preserved neighborhood of old Beijing, where some of the old courtyard houses remain intact. We will have tea and a chat with local family. After the Hutong District, we will visit a local market where you will have an opportunity to have your name written in Chinese calligraphy or purchase a lovely painting of China’s vast landscape.
Our activities in Beijing will include visiting a local market where you can have your name written in Chinese calligraphy.
We will then have lunch at Beijing’s famous Laoshe Tea House followed by a visit to neighboring Tiananmen Square to take a guided tour of the Forbidden City, the former Chinese imperial palace from the Ming through the Qing dynasties (1420–1912).
Day 4: Greater Beijing Area. On our second day in Beijing, we’ll take a day trip to two of China’s most famous World Heritage Sites, the Great Wall and the Imperial Ming Tombs. The 500 year-old imperial tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of China’s Ming dynasty. After visiting Ming Tombs, we will stop for lunch at a Chinese restaurant near the base of Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. While Mutianyu requires a more rigorous climb than Badaling, where most tourists visit the Great Wall, it is far less crowded and the views are well worth the climb. For those who are not up for a 40-minute hike up the mountain side, you will have the option of purchasing a ticket for a five-minute cable car ride to the top. You may enjoy the views from there or take a walk along the Wall itself. This requires a lot of hiking up and down if you wish to visit the several watchtowers in the area and gain additional viewpoints. You will have the option of descend by foot, by cable car or take an exhilarating toboggan ride at an additional cost. Upon our return to Beijing, we will enjoy the Capitol’s world famous dish, Peking Duck, and then visit the neighboring Hua Men night market where you can sample various exotic foods — everything from scorpion to starfish.
On our second day in Beijing, we’ll take a day trip to the Imperial Ming Tombs, a 500 year-old collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of China’s Ming dynasty.
Day 5: Beijing. We will continue our exploration of Beijing with a visit to the Temple of Heaven, one of China’s most impressive examples of imperial architecture and landscape design. After discussing the history and the architectural symbols of the Temple of Heaven while walking around the grounds, we will learn the ancient practice Taichi with a Chen style taiji master in front of the main building of the Temple of Heaven. After the Temple of Heaven, we will have a picnic lunch at the imperial Summer Palace where we will take a boat cruise on the Kunming lake and enjoy the vast imperial guardians of the Qing dynasty as well as the famous marble boat of Empress Dowager Cixi. After dinner, we will take in one of Beijing’s world famous acrobatic shows.
Day 6: Beijing. Tea-drinking is a significant part of Chinese culture. During our stay in Beijing we will enjoy a tea-tasting at China’s largest tea market, Maliandao, in the southwest Beijing — a long street lined with thousands of wholesale tea stores. We will sample high grades of fresh white, green, oolang, and Pu’er teas, while learning about tea origins, processing, and the kung fu tea ceremony. At the end of the tour there will be free time to shop for tea, tea sets and gifts. In the afternoon, we will explore another aspect of Chinese culture through a calligraphy workshop with the China Culture Center.
Day 7: Travel to Xi’an (Central China). The capital of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an was the terminus of the Silk Road. We’ll begin our first day there with a bike ride (or walk) atop the Ancient City Wall. After lunch, we will travel just outside of Xi’an to its most famous site, the Terracotta Soldiers, one of the greatest archeological finds of the 20th century, accidentally stumbled upon by a local farmer. Constructed over two thousand years ago, the more than 8,000 life-size terracotta warriors and horses were built to guard over the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shihuang in the third century B.C. If you aren’t too tired after the long day, we can take in the Tang Dynasty Dance Theatre, a fabulous show with traditional Chinese music, dancing and magic.
While in Xi’an (Central China), we will visit the one of the greatest archeological finds of the 20th century, the more than 8,000 life-size terracotta warriors and horses built to guard over the tomb of the Emperor Qin Shihuang in the third century B.C.
Day 8: Xi’an. On our second day in Xi’an, we will visit the Small Goose Pagoda and the Shaanxi History Museum, which houses more than 370,000 items, including murals, paintings, pottery, coins, as well as bronze, gold, and silver objects. While there, we will visit the city’s Muslim quarter, including Xi’an’s Great Mosque, where we will have lunch. After lunch, we will visit the the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and charming Musical Fountain, before heading back to the hotel to prepare for our luggage for departure.
Day 9: Return travel to the U.S. We will fly back from Xi’an via Beijing.