Depart From: Departures from North America. Cross International Dateline.

Afternoon: Meet your Group Leader and fellow participants in the hotel lobby at 6 pm. Get together for a welcome meeting.

Dinner: at a nearby restaurant

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Dinner

Fine Arts Museum/ Yu Garden/ the Bund/ Longhua Temple Vegetarian Dinner

Breakfast: buffet breakfast in your hotel served from 6:30 am to 8:30 am.

Morning: Explore Shanghai's fine arts museum, home to China's finest collection of bronzes, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. Audio guides are provided so that you can explore according to your own interests and pace.

Lunch: In order for you to take full advantage of your time at Shanghai's Fine Arts Museum, your Group Leader will provide you with a voucher so that you can take lunch at the Museum restaurant according to your own timing.

Afternoon: This afternoon, depart for the Ming dynasty Yu Garden whose classical pavilions, fountains, and arching bridges exemplify traditional Chinese garden landscaping. After, depart for a walkabout on the Bund, Shanghai's active waterfront that dates from colonial concessions and retains neo classic and art deco buildings considered among Shanghai's lasting treasures.

Dinner: Continue on to Longhua Temple for an imaginative vegetarian dinner prepared under the supervision of monks at Shanghai's most active temple.

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: buffet breakfast is offered at your hotel (6:30 am to 8:30 am). You are welcome to join your Group Leader at 7:00 am for before-breakfast tai ji class.

Morning: At the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, view archival photos and a vast scale model of Shanghai as projected in 2020. Then continue on to Xin Tian Di ('New Heaven Earth'), a fashionable restored district. Explore its lanes, cafes, shops, and a small restored resident/museum independently.

Lunch: Have a lunch of your own choosing in one of the many cafes or restaurants in Xintiandi.

Afternoon: depart for Shanghai Hongqiao Airport for your flight to Xi'an.

Dinner: Dinner is at your hotel.

Evening: Join your Group Leader after dinner for an optional informal Chinese conversation session.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Chinese Cultural History/ Chinese Music/ rest or Optional Muslim Section Walkabout

Breakfast: buffet breakfast is offered at your hotel 7:30 am to 8:30 am. You are welcome to join your Group Leader for optional tai ji class before breakfast at 7:00 am.

Morning: This morning a talk at Xi'an International Studies University discusses Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism as a way of understanding Chinese 'character' and life views.

Lunch: Lunch is in the University Dining Hall. After lunch, join English-speaking students for a look at their campus and for informal chats.

Afternoon: Depart for Xi'an Music Institute for an introduction to Chinese music and a private performance. After, depart for your hotel. Those who wish can join your Group Leader for a walkabout in Xi'an's Muslim (Hui) section.

Dinner: This evening is a chance for you to explore local fare on your own.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: buffet breakfast is offered at your hotel 7:30 am to 8:30 am. You are welcome to join your Group Leader for optional tai ji class before breakfast at 7:00 am.

Morning: This morning visit an army of larger-than-life terra cotta warriors, graceful archers and cavalry that were buried with a Qin Emperor more than 2,000 years ago and only uncovered in 1974 -- considered one of the most astounding archeological finds of the 20th century.

Lunch: Lunch is at a restaurant in the terra cotta museum.

Afternoon: return to your hotel. After a rest, get together for a talk about China's environmental concerns.

Dinner: Dinner is at a restaurant that offers a Xi'an specialty: assorted dumplings of various sizes, shapes and fillings.

Evening: Get together with your Group Leader for optional informal Chinese conversation.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Shaanxi Museum/ flight to Chengdu/ Begin Earthwatch Expedition: On the Trail of Giant Pandas

Breakfast: 7:30 - 8:30 am: buffet breakfast is offered at your hotel. You are welcome to join your Group Leader for optional tai ji practice from 7:00 am to 07:45 am.

Morning: After hotel checkout, depart for Shaanxi Provincial Museum, one of China's finest and which provides a rich window into dynastic China. After, depart for Xi'an airport.

Lunch: Lunch will be at the airport or en route.

Afternoon: Your Group Leader will accompany you to Xi'an airport and assist you there for your flight to Chengdu. (You will meet your Group Leader again in Beijing after your Earthwatch Expedition.) At Chengdu Airport, Earthwatch staff will meet you and escort you to Wolong (about one hour).

Dinner: in Wolong

Evening: Evening session (safety briefing and program introduction). Your Earthwatch project takes place over two Nature Reserves. At the first, Wolong Panda Wilderness Training Base, you'll monitor 'trainees,' record their behavior to assist with their wilderness training and evaluate how prepared they are to survive in the wild. You may even have the opportunity to put on a panda suit and deliver bamboo to these charismatic bears.You'll also survey and monitor wild panda populations in the Wolong Reserve. At the Ya'an Bifengxia panda base, you'll monitor mother pandas and cubs. You'll prepare and deliver bamboo to the captive pandas, and help keep their living area clean. As an Earthwatch team member, you’ll be granted special access to the breeding area and nursery of the panda base, which remain closed to the general public throughout the year. Collectively, your responsibilities will work towards the long-term goal of 'reinforcing' small and isolated populations of wild panda in the region, through the strategic release of captive pandas.

Lodging: Mountain Fungus Inn Wolong

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Earthwatch Expedition: On the Trail of Giant Pandas/ Service Field Work

Breakfast: 7:00 am to 8:00 am at Wolong

Morning: 8:30 am: leave for Hetaoping semi-reintroduction base where pandas are trained to return to the wild. Note: you will have been briefed on the project during the evening session on Day 1 and on the background information of each site when you first arrive at the site. In the field, you will receive training on how to monitor panda behavior and care for panda cubs. You will also learn how to assess video materials and take accurate notes for research purposes. Volunteers will be divided into small groups for collecting data, and groups will switch between research tasks on different days. Your assignments may include: installing and monitoring camera traps; preparing food for pandas; monitoring, recording and sorting videos of pandas in training for release into the wild; patrolling the fence of the reserve while wearing a panda suit to avoid habituating pandas to humans; caring for baby pandas.

Lunch: at Hetaoping.

Afternoon: continue project at Hetaoping. 5:00 pm: return from hilltop training ground.

Dinner: 6:00 pm: at Wolong

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Mountain Fungus Inn Wolong

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Earthwatch Expedition: On the Trail of Giant Pandas/ Service Field Work

Breakfast: 7:00 am - 8:00 breakfast at Wolong followed by 8:30 am departure for semi-reintroduction base where pandas are trained to return to the wild.

Morning: 8:30 am: leave for Hetaoping semi-reintroduction base

Lunch: at Hetaoping semi-reintroduction base.

Afternoon: Continue field work at Hetaoping. 5:00 pm: return from hilltop training ground.

Dinner: 6:00 pm: at Wolong

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Mountain Fungus Inn Wolong

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: 7:00 am - 8:00 breakfast at Wolong

Morning: 9:00 am: leave Wolong for Ya'an Befengxia Panda Base (about 3 hours). Check in to Ya'an Hotel.

Lunch: 12:30 - 1:30 in Ya'an

Afternoon: 2:00 - 4:00 pm: Introduction to Befengxia Panda Base. The rest of the afternoon is personal time.

Dinner: 6:00 pm: dinner at Ya'an

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: IBIS Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Earthwatch Expedition: On the Trail of Giant Pandas/ Service Field Work

Breakfast: 7:00 - 8:00 am: breakfast at Ya'an

Morning: 8:30 am: leave for Befengxia Panda Base. Work will be at Panda kindergarten and at the Breeding Park (cleaning, feeding pandas, monitoring behaviors).

Lunch: 12:00 pm

Afternoon: continue project work.

Dinner: 6:00 pm at Ya'an

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: IBIS Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Earthwatch Expedition: On the Trail of Giant Pandas/ Service Field Work

Breakfast: 7:00 - 8:00 am: breakfast at Ya'an

Morning: 8:30 am: leave for Befengxia Panda Base. Work will be at Panda kindergarten and at the Breeding Park (cleaning, feeding pandas, monitoring behaviors).

Lunch: 12:00 pm

Afternoon: continue project work

Dinner: 6:00 pm: at Ya'an.

Lodging: IBIS Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: 7:00 - 8:00 am: breakfast at Ya'an

Morning: 8:30 - 9:30 am: Wrap-up and evaluation. Depart Ya'an for Chengdu airport.

Afternoon: This afternoon, fly to Beijing where your Group Leader will meet you at Beijing airport.

Dinner: a light supper will be served in flight.

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: 7:30 am to 8:30 am buffet breakfast is offered in your hotel. You are welcome to join your Group Leader for tai ji practice at 7:00 am.

Morning: This morning visit the Temple of Heaven. This architectural masterpiece begun in the 15th century symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth. Choose to walk the extensive grounds or watch the activities of local people as they practice calligraphy and tai chi, play musical instruments

Lunch: at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Explore the Forbidden city, once the seat of Qing Emperors and forbidden to all others. On the way back to your hotel, those who wish can get off at Wangfujing Street, a pedestrian only street popular among locals for food stalls and shopping.

Dinner: This evening, a chance to sample fare of your own choosing.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: 7:00 am to 8:00 am buffet breakfast at your hotel

Morning: Early morning departure for day excursion to the Great Wall at Jin Shan Ling sometimes referred to as 'the Wild Great Wall' as it is not overly restored. Take a gondola lift to the upper part of the wall, then walk along its battlements and through watchtowers to experience magnificent views of the wall as it climbs and descends over the distant mountains

Lunch: A simple box lunch is provided to eat at a spot of your choosing on the wall.

Afternoon: return to your hotel

Dinner: at your hotel

Evening: Get together with your Group Leader for an informal seminar on aspects of contemporary Chinese life such as education, medical care, the growing economy, family planning policies.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: 7:30 am to 8:30 am buffet breakfast is offered in your hotel. You are welcome to join your Group Leader for tai ji practice at 7:00 am.

Morning: Explore 'Old Beijing' on a walk with your Group Leader through hutongs, (small lanes and alleys lined with homes, small shops and street vendors). The activity and color of these traditional neighborhoods are rapidly disappearing as the city modernizes. Stop in at a local Neighborhood Committee Center to learn how it governs the surrounding community. Continue on to Tian'anmen Square, often referred to as 'the heart of China'.

Lunch: take lunch of your own choosing in this area that has western and Chinese fare.

Afternoon: Join your Group Leader for a visit to the Summer Palace or take the afternoon for some individual personal time.

Evening: depart hotel for a Peking Duck farewell dinner.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast

Breakfast: buffet breakfast at your hotel. Your Group Leader will give you further information about airport transfer times. Checkout time for your hotel is 12:00 pm/noon.

Meals Included: Breakfast