Itinerary

Read it and revel in my happiness...this trip is going to kick some serious booty. This is all tentative, of course, but gives a pretty decent idea of what I will be up to!

June 12 Chicago
Depart for Chicago and attend pre-departure orientation. Spend the night at the fab Hilton Chicago O’Hare. Group dinner with my trip peeps.

June 13 Chicago to Hong Kong
Nothing says fun like ~15.5 hours on a plane! Long endurance baby!

June 14 Hong Kong
Arrive in Hong Kong via time travel. Suddenly, it’s Monday!

June 15 Hong Kong
Sightseeing – check out Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay, Stanley Market, Aberdeen
Fishing Village, and the Giant Buddha

June 16 Bus to Shenzhen, fly to Giulin
Visit to the Planning Building, Xiasha Urban Village, the Central Business District, Overseas China Town, Dafen Oil Painting Village, and Dongmen

June 17 Giulin
Longji Terraced Field (yes!!!) and the Zhang and Yao Minority Villages

June 18 Giulin to Yangshuo
Boat cruise, West Street, and a school visit

June 19 Yangshuo to Giulin (by bus), fly to Nanjing
Check out the Xingping fishing village

June 20 Nanjing to Suzhou by bus
Gate of China, Memorial Hall to the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River

June 21 Suzhou
Lingering Garden, local tea house and folk music, Silk Institute Museum, paddle-wood-boat tour (any bets on me falling out of the boat?), silk factory and a silk fashion show, Guan-qian Street

June 22 Suzhou to Shanghai by bus
Shanghai Museum, Bund, Ming Dynasty Yuyuan Garden, Nanjing Road, Night cruise in the Huangpu River

June 23 Shanghai
2010 Shanghai World Expo, baby!

June 24 Shanghai
School visit in the morning, free day in the afternoon! First free day of the trip…what to do, what to do…

June 25 Shanghai to Xi’an via plane
School visit in Xi’an, Ancient City Wall, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Grand Mosque, Imperial Dumpling Banquet Dinner, Traditional Tang Dynasty singing and dancing show

June 26 Xi’an
Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum (I could pee my pants in excitement about this), Hing Jia village, Noodle-making performance, art ceramics factory
June 27 Xi’an
Shanxi Provincial Historical Museum and another free afternoon

June 28 Xi’an to Beijing by plane
Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Peking roast duck banquet dinner

June 29 Beijing
Temple of Heaven, practice taichi, Summer Palace, Olympic Park, Hot pot dinner

June 30 Beijing
Largest jade center of Asia, Great Wall (!!!), Ming Tombs/Changling Exhibition Hall, farewell dinner

July 1 Beijing
Free study day (AKA get last minute shopping done!)

July 2 Flying home
This time, only around 13.5 hours! It’s a miracle!