East Asian Quarter - 1989 Augustana college
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August 29 Depart from Chicago August 30 Arrive in Tokyo Tokyo is the world's most populous metropolitan area and the heart of modern Japanese culture, business and government. The city is an extraordinary mix of the latest global trends and ancient Japanese traditions, a bustling urban center whose neighborhoods retain some flavor of small villages. Scholars at The International House of Japan will give us an orientation to Japanese culture. We will attend a performance of traditional Japanese kabuki theater and use Tokyo's excellent subways to visit areas such as the exquisite grounds of the Imperial Palace, the quiet of Zojoji temple, the frenetic business of the Tsukiji central fish market, and the vibrant Shinjuku area. We will meet with some Americans doing business in Japan. Our accommodations will be at the rebuilt National Olympic Memorial Youth Center adjacent to the Meiji Shrine. September 4 Arrive in Akagi We will spend three days about seventy miles north of Tokyo at Akagi at the base of almost 6,000 ft. Mt. Akagi. From our accommodations at the Akagi Youth Center, we will explore some villages and natural areas of rural Japan. On our return we plan to stop at Nikko, a beautiful large national park surrounding the Toshugu Shrine, mausoleum of Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the dynasty of military leaders who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867. September 7 Return to Tokyo September 14 Arrive in Kyoto Spared from World War II bombing, Kyoto, the national capital from 794 until 1868, retains its classic beauty and its place at the heart of traditional Japanese culture. We will visit many "living monuments" to Japan's cultural, artistic and spiritual past, including Heian Shrine, Ryoan-ji Zen gardens, the Golden Pavilion, Kiyomizu Temple, and Nijo Castle. Traveling on the high speed shinkansen, we will take a one-day trip to Hiroshima to view the Atomic Bob Museum and Peace Garden. Our accommodations at the family-run Higashiyama Youth Hostel in an older neighborhood help students feel at home in this contemplative city, and a week-end homestay with a Japanese family in the Kyoto-Nara-Osaka-Kobe (Kansai) area provides a first-hand encounter with contemporary Japanese lifestyles. September 28 Arrive in Taipei This bustling city is the political and commercial capital of the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan, one of Asia's "little dragons" as a center of rapid economic growth and mushrooming international trade. Symbolizing this growth is the impressive World Trade Center which we will visit. In the midst of its modern façade, Taipei preserves China's traditional past. We will visit the world famous National Palace Museum, Fu Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy, the Chiang K'ai-shek Memorial, and Taipei Ho Ping Hospital which uses both modern and traditional Chinese medicine. We will participate in the official festivities for Double Ten (October 10), the national holiday which celebrates the founding of the Chinese Republic with a major parade, cultural performing arts program, and spectacular fireworks display. Faculty from Academia Sinica and Taiwan National University will give lectures to our group. Our accommodations at Chien Tan Overseas Youth Activity Center are within easy access to important sites. A field trip is planned to the port of Keelung and the national park at Yeiliu on the beautiful north coast. October 12 Arrive in Hong Kong Since July, 1997, Hong Kong has been adjusting to its new status as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Under the "one nation, two systems" policy, Hong Kong still functions as one of the world's major capitalistic trade, financial and industrial centers. This cosmopolitan city of over six million people has one of the most beautiful urban settings in the world with its impressive skyscrapers standing near water or mountains. We will take field trips through the harbor (one of the world's busiest container ports) and through some public housing estates, the type of housing used by almost 50 per cent of the city's population and considered by some a model for high density urban living. Some students may take a day trip to Macao S.A.R. We will stay at the twenty-story YWCA Guest House in the Kowloon section of the city. October 21 Stop in Guangzhou Only 100 miles from Hong Kong and linked with it by high speed rail service, Guangzhou is the hub of Guangdong Province, a centerpiece of China's economic reform policy and one of the fastest growing commercial areas in the world. It was the only port open to Western commerce from 1759 to 1842 and a focal point of the first Opium War (1840-42) between Britain and China. We will visit historic Shamian Island and the Qingping market and observe the modern landscape that now dominates Guangzhou. October 21 Arrive in Guilin Founded in 214 B.C., Guilin is nestled in the midst of specatacular tower karst (limestone) formations. We will enjoy a 50-mile boat trip on the Li River as it flows past the mountains and terraced agricultural fields that have inspired painters and poets for centuries. We will visit a southern Ming imperial tomb and a traditional Chinese cemetery. Staying at the Li Jiang Hotel in a centrally-located parklike setting near the Li River, we will have good opportunities for hiking to city sites and biking to the countryside. We will travel to Wuhan by overnight train. October 25 Arrive in Wuhan This capital of Hubei Province, situated at the confluence of the Han and Yangzi Rivers, Wuhan is a large industrial city with some important twentieth century historical sites. We will visit the huge Wuhan Iron and Steel Company which employs about 120,000 people, Hua Shan township village, the new Hubei Provincial Museum, Hubei Traditional Chinese Medicine College and the Wuhan Performing Arts school. At Huazhong Normal University, with which Augustana has an exchange agreement, we will listen to a guest lecture and have informal conversations with Chinese students. Our lodging at the Holiday Inn - Riverside overlooks the wide and busy Yangzi River. October 30 Arrive in Suzhou Founded in 514 B.C., Suzhou is a city of rivers, canals, and gardens. In Chinese history it became a city of culture, the home of many scholars, writers, artists and aristocrats who constructed villas and gardens as retreats where they could pursue their interests. Its Gardens, which frequently were copied elsewhere in China, have been described as "works of art - a fusion of nature, architecture, poetry and painting designed to ease the mind, move it, or assist it." While Suzhou has been modernized, its core area still has white-washed housing, cobbled streets, treelined avenues, canals, bridges, and gardens. Our lodging at the garden-like Nanlin Hotel gives us close access to the city's famous sites and pleasant urban environment. November 2 Stop in Shanghai Before leaving the lower Yangzi River delta region we will spend a half day in Shanghai, the largest and most important commercial city in China. Our visit will focus on the area near the Huangpu River, including the historic Bund which was the center of European commercial activity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the impressive new developments along Nanjing Road and across the river in Pudong. November 2 Arrive in Xi'an This city, whose name means Western Peace, is the capital of Shaanxi Province and was intermittently the capital of the empire for over a thousand years. At times it was one of the largest cities in the world, and its classical Chinese urban design became a model for other cities. Imperial tombs of eleven dynasties extending from the 12th century B.C. to the 8th century A.D. are near Xi'an. Its major landmarks are the Terra Cotta Army figures near the tomb of the dynastic unifier of China, Qin Shih Huangdi (one of the most important archaeological sites in the world), the city wall, the bell tower, the Moslem quarter, and one of China's best provincial museums. November 4 Arrive in Yan'an We will travel by bus north of Xi'an through the loess plateau rural landscape which shows its almost 4,000 years of intensive use. Yan'an, located in the north-central part of Shaanxi Province, during the 1937-45 era became a center of wartime resistance and the base from which the Communist movement extended its power. We will visit the sites of Mao's agrarian reform and resistance movements and observe the unique cave homes dug into the thick loess deposits. November 6 Return to Xi'an November 8 Arrive in Chengde Located about 130 miles northeast of Beijing beyond the Great Wall, Chengde was established primarily by the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors during the eighteenth century as a summer retreat. It is one of the largest complexes of imperial palaces, gardens and temples in China. Most often these structures, many of which are restored, were modeled after Tibetan temples, such as the famous Potala temple in Lhasa. On the bus trip back to Beijing, we will see and hike on the Great Wall at Jinshanling near Gubeiko, one of the most important passes in the wall. November 9 Arrive 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, and the Summer Palaces. As we travel to and from these sites, we will experience the new commercial and residential buildings and congested roads which characterize this rapidly modernizing world-class city. Our lodging will be at the centrally-located Qian Men Hotel. As our last stop in China, Beijing provides good opportunities to reflect on the blend of past and future which characterizes so much of China and East Asia. November 15 Arrive in Honolulu Back on American soil and in the midst of a large Asian-American population, we will use this stop to help us re-enter our own culture, review our experiences in Asia and enjoy some rest and recreation. November 20 Arrive in Chicago |
