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China
China's Silk Road
June 11-23, 2009
Itinerary
This 12-day seminar begins in Xi'an and ends in Lanzhou, and travels through Dunhuang, Turfan, Urumqi, Kashgar and Southern Gansu Tibetanregion. Click here to see the Summer 2009 Seminar itinerary.
Please note that this seminar is a traveling study tour and involves constant moving from city to city and includes visits and overnight stays in rural locations. It is designed to get the most out of a short visit and is oftentimes physically demanding. It is recommended that you be in good physical condition prior to participating.
Seminar Fee
CIEE Member: $3,300 Non-Member: $3,500
Academic Content (please note this is tentative and subject to change)
Lectures
- Overview of Chang'an and the Silk Road
- Rural-Urban Transformation and Economic Development in Northwest China
- The Treasure House of the Mogao Grottos
- Significance of the Silk Road to China and the West
- Religion and literature along the Silk Road
- Social Issues concerning Ethnicity in Xijiang
- Tibetan Buddhism off the Silk Road in Southern Gansu
Co-curricular Site Visits & Field Trips
- Xi'an: Tomb of Qin Emperor, Terracotta Warriors, Shaanxi History Museum, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda
- Dunhuang: Mogao Caves, Dunhuang Museum, Crescent Moon Lake and the Singing Sand Hill by camel; Jade Gate Pass and Han Dynasty Great Wall
- Turpfan: The Grape Valley, earthen ruins of the former capital Yarkhoto, and ancient Karez irrigation system
- Ürümqi: Urumqi Museum, Xinjiang University
- Kashgar: Mal Bazaar livestock market, Id Kah Mosque, the old town, camel ride in desert, Uygur Music performance, local hospital
Rationale
The Silk Road, the ancient braid of caravan trails stretching for more than 7,000 km from China to the Mediterranean, served as a transportation highway for much more than its famous merchandise of silk and tea; for centuries it was also the principal conduit for the exchange of religious, cultural, and artistic ideas between East and West. This seminar introduces participants to cross-cultural encounters between China and the West by following the Silk Road, arguably the world’s most important pre-modern trade route, as the historical backdrop to understanding important contemporary issues that have emerged in western China as a result of these encounters.
The major themes of the seminar are: history of the Silk Road; Chinese history, arts, and religions (Buddhism and Islam); cultures and peoples of Central Asia; and contemporary social issues in Western China (urbanization, rural education, economic disparity and ethnic diversity).
Participants will meet in Xi'an, China's capital at the height of the Silk Road trade, and then follow the old camel trails and cart routes to Dunhuang, an oasis in the desert and treasure trove of Buddhist cave murals and relics. The seminar continues along the northern route of the Silk Road on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert to the cultural center of Chinese-Muslims in Turfan and the regional capital of Urumqi, before reaching the desert city of Kashgar, the final outpost on the frontier of Central Asia. The seminar will conclude in Xi'an.
Sponsor Institutions
Northwest University (Xi'an) was founded in 1902 and is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Northwest China, and it is also a national key university.
Dunhuang Research Academy is a national academic institution devoted to the conservation, management and research of the grottoes in Dunhuang with offices in Lanzhou and one based at the Mogao Caves.
Northwest University of Nationalities (Lanzhou) is the primary university for ethnic minority students in Northwest China.
Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences (Urumqi) is a state-run research institution formed in 1981 under the direct supervision of the Autonomous Region Communist Party Committee and Autonomous Region Bureau of Information. It is composed of six research centers and 48% of the ranking officials in the academy are composed of eleven ethnic minorities.
Xinjiang University (located in Urumqi) was founded in 1930, and it the leading comprehensive University in Xinjiang, and is one of the 211 national key universities.
Gansu Minorities Teachers College is located in Hezuo City near Xiahe. Over 70 percent of its 4,000 students are ethnic minorities. The college trains teachers for minorities, especially Tibet.
Seminar Leadership
Dr. Yanfeng Li received his M.A. and Ph.D. (2005) in Chinese literature from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His dissertation and forthcoming book focus on linguistic and graphic manipulation in traditional Chinese poetry. In addition to formal training in Tang poetry and classical philology, Dr. Li is an avid reader of post-Cultural Revolution Chinese fiction. He taught Chinese language for four years at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the CIEE Study Center in Shanghai, where he is the Academic Director of the Advanced Chinese Studies program, and teaches both modern and traditional Chinese literature.
Click on the links below to learn more about participating on an IFDS.
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