The area in and around Shanghai offers an excellent setting for students to gain an appreciation of old China, current China, and future China.

Located midway along China’s eastern coastline, Shanghai has over the past 170 years grown to become the economic, financial, and transportation center of mainland China.  It is a city with a prolific history, where the cultures of East and West became intimately engaged and where colonialism and its defeat left indelible marks.  The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, the American International Group, and the Chinese Communist Party were all born here.  Shanghai was the “Paris of the East,” where adventurers from all over the world flocked to try their luck, and the setting for the unforgettable epics of many of modern China’s leading politicians, intellectuals, artists, and entrepreneurs.  Today it is as ever before a rendezvous for Chinese and Westerners, a mosaic of cultural conflicts, and a city of style and glamour.

In Shanghai you can walk from the ultra-futuristic financial district with the third tallest building in the world to the former French Concession with its colonial-era villas, art galleries, museums, shops, and restaurants, and visit the former residence of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, father of modern China, and the site of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

Less than two hours away from Shanghai lie Suzhou and Hangzhou, two of the most important cities in Chinese history.  A famous Chinese saying declares “Above there is Heaven; on Earth we have Suzhou and Hangzhou.”  Suzhou, famous for its classical gardens, pagodas, canals, silk, and embroidery, was the most important commercial and cultural center in the Ming Dynasty.  Hangzhou, now a thriving commercial hub, was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty and the southern terminus of the Grand Canal, and is renowned for the picturesque West Lake, which is the subject of extensive Chinese poetry.  Both cities present outstanding opportunities for a study of how Chinese art, literature, religion, architecture, and urban life have developed over 2,500 years.

During explorations of Shanghai, and visits to Hangzhou, Suzhou, and a traditional water-town in the Yangzi River Delta, students will be able to add a real-life dimension to what they have learnt in classes, workshops, and other program activities as they re-trace the pedigree of China’s cultural heritage.  During our three-day excursion to Hangzhou, students can choose to stay at the homes of teenagers from some of Hangzhou’s leading high schools, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the lifestyles, concerns, and aspirations of local Chinese families.