On the Road

We will arrive in Lanzhou on Saturday afternoon, June 5th, and spend the evening in a city hotel. The next morning we will meet our Tibetan guide and depart by mini-bus for Xiahe, site of Labrang Monastery. On the way we will stop for lunch at Linxia, an historic Hui Muslim town.

After two days in the Xiahe area we will depart for Langmusi, another Tibetan monastery town, on Wednesday, June 9th.

On Friday afternoon we arrive at Jiuzhaigou National Park, a Unesco World Heritage site, where we will spend two days hiking and exploring. Sunday will find us at the small Tibetan town of Songpan, where you can hike or horseback ride. The next morning we will take a day trip to Huanglong National Park.

Our trip ends on Tuesday afternoon, June 15th, when we arrive at Chengdu, in Sichuan Province. The next morning we will return to Beijing by air.This will provide you with a free day in Beijing to shop, pack, or just relax after life on the road, before departing for the US on Friday afternoon, June 18th.

Itinerary for Borderlands 2010: May 29th -- June 18h

Plan on arriving in Beijing on Sunday, May 30th (this means you need to depart the US on Saturday afternoon, the 29th). You will be met at Beijing's International Airport and escorted to our city hotel. After checking in, you can rest after the long flight before our 'welcome' dinner.

After a brief city orientation on Monday morning, we will visit Tiananmen Square and the National Museum. The afternoon is free for you to explore Beijing.

On Tuesday, June 1st, we will visit the National Minorities Institute, where faculty members will discuss state policies and answer your questions about ethnic relations in China. In the afternoon we will visit the Lama Temple, the most famous Buddhist temple in Beijing.

On Wednesday morning, June 2nd we will visit the Forbidden City as well as Jingshan Park, located directly behind the City. The afternoon will be free. Thursday morning is our expedition to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, approximately two hours north of Beijing. Following this, you should start packing for our field journey. After checking out of our hotel on Friday afternoon, June 4th, we will depart for Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, by train, a journey of approximately twenty hours. But don't worry; you will have comfortable sleeping accomodations on board.

While travel in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) requires special permission for foreigners, other areas of what is historically cultural Tibet are relatively open. This broader region encompasses parts of Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu Provinces. On this field study we will visit Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Gansu.

Would you like to experience travel in cultural Tibet this summer? Consider this short-term abroad program:

Ethnicity, Identity and Social Change on China’s Cultural Frontiers
May 29th – June 18th, 2010

This one credit field research program focuses on the status of minority peoples in Mainland China during the country’s ongoing social, economic, and cultural changes. We will examine how non-Han citizens of China have been historically defined within the Chinese cultural world, both by state authorities and within popular culture, and how various groups react to and contest these perceptions. After this, we will turn to the large and growing Chinese domestic tourism industry centered on cultural border regions, and how encounters between Han tourists and minority peoples influence Han perceptions of non-Han peoples.
From May 30th until June 4th we will stay in Beijing, where we will visit cultural sites in and around the city such as the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. In addition, we will visit the National Minorities Institute and take part in discussions with Chinese scholars.
On Friday, june 4th we travel by overnight train to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province in Northwest China. We will then travel overland through the Amdo and Kham regions of historic Tibet. Our first stop will be the Tibetan pilgrimage town of Xiahe, site of Labrang Monastery, a key intellectual center for the Gelukpa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. We will then continue by road to the Tibetan towns of Langmusi and Songpan via Jiuzhaigou National Park. This journey will finish on June 16th at Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, in Southwest China. The group will return to Beijing by air and students will depart for the USA on Friday, June 18th.
A field research fee of approximately $2,,240 covers all lodging in China, local transportation in Beijing and in the field, rail and flight tickets within the country, admission fees to cultural sites, most meals, supplementary insurance, and all costs associated with the overland travel package. The Gansu and Sichuan field travel will include ‘rough’ portions at elevations of 10,000 feet in places, so participants should be in good physical condition.

Space is limited, so apply now!

For Information Contact: Dr. Robert Shepherd [Anthropology Department, The George Washington University in Washington, DC]; rshepher@gwu.edu