Loongbridge China Summer Camp Programs 2009
Loongbridge China Summer Camp 2009
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Day-by-Day Itineray in China Insight Camp




Day 1:Take off from home country to Beijing

Day 2: Arrive at Beijing.
Find our greeting staff with big sign of LoongBridge logo. Get accommodating, settle down, get around campus, and shopping for daily necessities.

Day 3: Orientation; Tian'anmen, Forbidden City
Morning: Orientation and introduction. Get to know the staffs and other campers.
Afternoon: after lunch, take a walk in Tian'anmen the most sizable square located in the center of Beijing. Visit Forbidden City, home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the largest ancient palatial structure in the world. Return to the camp site for dinner and have a good rest, hopefully no jet lag after a full night sleep.

Day 4: Great Wall, Peking Duck dinner, Watch shows of Peking Opera, Tea-art performance etc.
Today, we're climbing up the Great Wall! The Great Wall, extending 4,000 miles westward, was first built in the 7th century B.C. to protect the Chinese Empire from invaders north-side. Climb up the Great Wall and learn some history. We'll then have Peking Duck for dinner as a reward. After dinner, we're going to Laoshe Teahouse to watch amazing shows as Peking Opera, Chinese acrobatic, Tea-art Performance and more.

Day 5: Language class, China Geography; Capital Museum, Urban Planning Museum
Morning: First day Chinese language class starts. You'll also learn some knowledge on Chinese geography and several wonders of China.
Afternoon: Take a tour in Beijing Capital Museum to see the ancient bronzes and treasures, and learn about the thousand years of history about Beijing and China. The next stop is to visit Beijing Urban Planning Museum to understand the development of the city and find all places we are about to visit from the huge but very detailed models of a whole Beijing city.

Day 6: Language class, 1-on-1 Study with Chinese Buddy; Erhu (2-string fiddle), Chinese brush painting, Paper-cutting
Today, we'll stay at the camp site for a full day. First, Chinese class in the morning. Then meet your buddy for Chinese study from our host school. The buddy will help you practice Mandarin skills and you can also talk for the purpose of culture exchanges. After that, enjoy the chance to practice several Chinese Traditional Art skills: Erhu (2-string fiddle), Chinese brush painting, Paper-cutting.

Day 7: Language class, 1-on-1 Study with Chinese Buddy, Kung Fu class, Beijing Cloisonné Factory, Summer Palace
Morning: Chinese language class and study with help of your Chinese buddy. Today, you'll meet the instructor teaching Chinese Kung Fu.
Afternoon: Visit Beijing Cloisonné Factory to watch the fascinating process and making of cloisonné, the most traditional handicraft art. We'll then visit the Summer Palace to see the huge garden where the Imperial Family used to stay in the hot summer. It's the best preserved imperial garden in the world.



Day 8: Language class, Chinese music, Kung Fu class, field trip to Panjiayuan Flea Market, Beijing hutong walk, eat in one resident's home,Wangfujing Night Market
Morning: In today's class, besides language study, you'll also learn a popular Chinese song and get to know some Chinese top pop stars and their music. Before lunch, there is another class on Chinese Kung Fu.
Afternoon: We go to Panjiayuan Flea Market where sells Chinese arts, crafts, souvenirs etc. Shopping or not, practice your bargain skills there! After that, we'll walk in Beijing Hutong to learn traditional lifestyles of Beijingers and eat in one resident's home for dinner and hear their stories in Hutong. Then, we'll walk in Wangfujing Night Market for street snacks and shopping, as well as have a glimpse on the Beijingers' colorful nightlife.

Day 9: Language class, Calligraphy, Visit home of a Chinese Buddy, Learn Tie-dye to make an art work.
In today's Chinese class, you'll try the fun of calligraphy: use ink brushes to write Chinese characters and your name. After the class, you'll leave in groups with some of the Chinese buddies to their homes. Talk more to these Chinese students about how his/her student life is in China, see how it looks like inside home of a typical Beijinger's family and have a lunch with his/her parents. After returning back to the camp site, we'll learn an exciting skill "Tie-dye": design a coloring pattern, and make a unique style scarf or handkerchief or T-shirt by yourself.

Day 10: Morning park visit, Visit Children in Sun Village and give some hands. Visit Olympic Park and/or the 798 Art Zone if time allows.
Today is a special day that we will visit the Children in Sun Village located in rural area of Beijing.
Before leaving for the village, we'll have a short visit to a local park where most senior people gather for Tai-chi, opera, dancing, and board games. Talk to them or even join in their activities.
With a couple hours' bus trip, we'll get the Sun Village, a village founded for providing foster care and education for the children of convicts to grow up happily and healthily. You'll meet with other LoongBridge volunteers there. We'll have a lunch with these altogether and work with our volunteers together including having recreational activities with the children, giving hands to staffs, working on the orchard farms etc.
On the way back to our camp site, we will visit a couple of sites if time allows: Olympic Park and/or the 798 Art Zone. China was the host for 2008 Olympic Games. We'll walk on the large Olympic Park square and see the Bird's Nest, and the Water Cube stadiums. The 798 Art Zone used to be a military factory zone built by the Russians in early 1950. Since 2002, artists moved in this area and built individual workshops and studios. It has now become a huge center for contemporary arts including sculpture, paintings and architectures.

Day 11: Graduation Ceremony; Leave for Xi'an, Luoyang and Zhengzhou
Morning: Graduation ceremony and activities with local students.
Afternoon: get packed for the trip to Xi'an, Luoyang and Zhengzhou by train.

Day 12-15: Xi'an, Luoyang and Zhengzhou
This is an eye-opening tour to ancient capitals of China, Xi'an, Luoyang and Zhengzhou.
In Xi'an, the capital of at least 13 ancient Chinese dynasties, you will see Emperor Qin's 8000 Terracotta Warriors and horses, walk down or along the most complete ancient City Wall build 700 years ago in Ming Dynasty, watch the music show at the Music Fountain in Big Wild Goose Pagoda square, visit Drum and Bell Towers for drum and bell shows, take a tour of Shaanxi Historical Museum to learn more history of China.
In Luoyang, capital of 13 ancient Chinese dynasties since Xia, you will visit Longmen Grottoes, one of China's three most precious treasure houses of stone sculptures and inscriptions.
From Zhengzhou, we will visit Shaolin Temple, Pagoda Forest, and watch Martial Arts Performance by the Shaolin Monks.



Day 16: Back to Beijing, shopping, farewell party
Arrival back to Beijing. Today is a shopping day. We'll visit Liulichang Culture Street and Hongqiao Market where you may buy jewelry, antiques, ancient calligraphy and paintings, toys, clothes or any other souvenirs. In the evening, we'll have a Farewell Dinner and Party.

Day 17: Departure back to home country.

*Note: Occasionally, under the condition of minimum or no changes to class contents, the schedule of the courses and tours maybe subject to change for unforeseen circumstances, such as restrictions of weather, local event, short term regulations and other unforeseen cases.
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