Nov. 3  Wuhan to Xi'an on Hainan Airlines 625 5:40 - 6:40 p.m.
Nov. 3-4 in XI’AN
The name of this city means Western Peace.  It is the capital of Shaanxi Province and was intermittently the capital of the empire for over a thousand years.  It is the location of the imperial tombs of eleven dynasties extending from the 12th Century B.C. to the 8th Century A.D.  Its major landmarks are the Terra Cotta Army figures created by the Qin dynastic unifier of China, Qin Shih Huangdi (who joined segments into the First Great Wall of China just before 200 B.C.), the city wall, the bell tower, the Wild Goose pagodas, and one of China's best provincial museums.

Nov. 5  Xi'an to Yan'an by charter bus
Nov. 5-6 in YAN'AN
Located in the north-central part of Shaanxi Province, Yan'an during the 1937-45 era became a center of wartime resistance and the base from which the Communist movement extended its power in the 1940s.  We will visit the sites of Mao's agrarian reform and resistance movements and explore the unique cave dwellings in the thick loess deposits.  Returning to Xi'an by bus, we will observe a rural landscape which shows its almost 4,000 years of intensive use and some examples of recent energy and transportation developments.

Nov. 7  Yan'an to Xi'an by charter bus
Nov. 7-9 in XI'AN

Nov. 10 Train trip to LUOYANG on Train 201 10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 11 in LUOYANG -- then by bus to Zhengzhou
Luoyang and its surrounding area have been heavily populated since the Neolithic era.  Beginning in the eleventh century B.C. and continuing off and on until 937 A.D., settlements in and around Luoyang served as capitals of many dynasties.  The White Horse Temple is built on the site of the first Buddhist Temple erected in China in 68 A.D.  At the end of the fifth century A.D., when Buddhism was flourishing in China, many temples were constructed and work began on the Long Men Caves, an artistic creation which would continue through seven dynasties.  There are more than 1,300 caves, 40 small bas-relief pagodas and almost 100,000 statues of Buddha.  These caves and stone sculptures, some of the great remaining masterpieces of Buddhist culture in China, will be the focus of our studies here.

Nov. 12 Zhengzhou to Beijing oil China Southern Airlines 3115 8:30 - 9:30 a.m,
continue by charter bus to Chengde -- main luggage stays in Beijing
Nov. 12-13 in CHENGDE
Located about 130 miles northeast of Beijing, beyond the barriers of the Great Wall, Chengde was established primarily by the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors during the 18th century as a summer retreat.  It offers visitors the largest complex of imperial palaces and gardens in China, many of which have been restored.  Most often these structures were modeled after Tibetan temples, including one which is a copy of the Potala temple in Lhasa.  On the bus trip to Beijing we will see and hike on the Great Wall at Jinshanling near Gubeiko, one of the most important passes in the wall.

Nov. 14 Chengde to Beijing by charter bus (with stop for hike on Great Wall)

Nov. 14-19 in BEIJING
Beijing first became the capital of China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and achieved its current capital status when the People's Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949.  We will visit Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, and the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Our lodging will be at the centrally located Qian Men Hotel.  As our last stop in China, it will provide a good opportunity to reflect on the blend of past and future which characterizes so much of East Asia.