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January 8-22, 2012
·Itinerary
·Printable program description
·Registration is now closed
PROGRAM LEADERS:
Robert Entenmann, professor of history and Asian studies
Sarah Entenmann, freelance editor
From modern, skyscraping cities to the not-often-seen highlands, this program is an off-the-beaten-path adventure in southwest China and northern Thailand. During our journey, we will explore the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of both countries.
Our discussions start with Hmong history, traditions, and emigration, and we’ll bear this community in mind as we pursue our travels. We begin in Shanghai, China’s largest city and a bustling center of commerce and finance. Boasting both modern skylines and classic neighborhoods, Shanghai is a fabulous place to start our explorations.
From Shanghai we fly to Yunnan province (“South of the Clouds”) in southwest China. Yunnan borders on Tibet, Burma, Laos, and Vietnam and is China’s most ethnically diverse province, home to 25 ethnic groups, including the Hmong. There we will visit Lijiang Old Town — a UNESCO World Heritage site in the foothills of the Himalayas — which is home to the Naxi people.
Kunming, provincial city and terminus of the World War II Burma Road, is our next stop. Marco Polo described it as a “very great and noble” capital city. Our visit will focus on religions, with visits to temples and mosques.
From Kunming we fly to Chiangmai in northern Thailand, one-time capital of the kingdom of Lanna. In Chiangmai we will visit temples and the glorious night bazaar before traveling to the Golden Triangle area, where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet. By longtail boat, we will travel down the Kok River to visit hilltribe villages and stay in a Hmong village near the Mekong River.
Our journey concludes with a stop in vibrant Hong Kong, still a shining example of the crossroad between eastern and western cultures.
Discover China and Thailand
Dynamic by nature and necessity, Shanghai is proof that the world’s most populous city can be livable and loveable. Merchants and tycoons once sought their fortune here and it still has a whiff of opportunism and decadence. Pudong’s cloud-piercing skyscrapers and the flashy malls of Nanjing Lu show where China is swiftly headed in the 21st century. But while Shanghai’s sights are certainly fixed on the future, you’ll still find the glamour of the past along the Art Deco Bund and the former French Concession’s colonial boulevards.
Lijiang, located in the northwest part of Yunnan Province, is home to the Naxi people (who constitute almost 60% of its population) and to a smaller number of Bai, Tibetan, Yi, Mosu, and Han Chinese peoples. Though its history dates from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), its most influential era was when it was governed by Naxi chieftains, during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Lijiang’s old town, with its cobblestone streets, gurgling streams, and Naxi architecture, preserves a modicum of traditional ways, but as Han Chinese merchants move in, catering to tourists, many of the Naxi who still live here (about 6,000 households) are finding their old way of life challenged.
As the capital of Yunnan Province, Kunming, also known as the “city of eternal spring,” was once one of the most pleasant and relaxed cities in China. Today, Kunming’s wide streets, towering office blocks, and giant shopping centers all convey the impression of a modern, 21st century city. A subtropical location and high elevation (1,864m/6,213 ft.) give Kunming a temperate climate year-round. Its days are filled with sunshine, making almost any time good for a visit.
It would be difficult to find a city that reflects more of Thailand’s diverse cultural heritage and modern aspirations than Chiangmai. Long the cultural and religious center of the northern Thai, its heart is its Old City, an area surrounded by vestiges of walls and moats originally constructed for defense. It lies in the shadow of an increasingly expanding city, but narrow streets still feature ornately carved teak houses.
[Above descriptions adapted from frommers.com]
Program Leaders
Robert Entenmann, St. Olaf professor of history and Asian studies, custom designed this Study Travel program using his extensive knowledge of East Asia. Bob’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Washington, with a major in Far Eastern studies. He earned a master’s degree in East Asian studies at Stanford and a doctorate in history and East Asian languages at Harvard, where he was instructor in history from 1980 to 1981. Along the way he spent a year studying advanced Chinese and Japanese at the Inter-University Program in Chinese Language and Area Studies in Taiwan.
At St. Olaf Bob teaches courses on Chinese, Japanese, and East Asian history. Research on the social history of 18th-century Chinese Catholics has taken him to China, France and Italy. Bob has lectured and given papers in China and Europe and has published several articles on this topic. A collection of his essays was published in Chinese translation in 2006.
In May 1997, Bob was a visiting scholar at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, on a grant from the American Philosophical Society. He has served as chair of the Council of Conferences and a board member of the Association for Asian Studies. In 2002-2003 he was the Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor of History at Carleton College. He was president of the Midwestern Conference on Asian Affairs in 2008-2009.
Sarah Entenmann has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia. She and Bob led Term in Asia in 1995-96 for St. Olaf students. They have also led Study Travel for adults: two programs in China, one in Vietnam and Cambodia, and two in Japan. Sarah, who worked at St. Olaf for twenty years, enjoys reading autobiographies of and novels by Asians, studying Asian art, writing, listening to music and meeting new people.
What to Expect
Most of our movement will be by air-conditioned private motor coach. Movement within each city and at cultural/historic sites will at times be on foot. You should be capable of walking up to five miles per day over possibly uneven terrain, of climbing stairs that may not have handrails, of keeping pace with an active group of travelers on long days of traveling (including in the crowded and noisy Chiangmai night bazaar), of dealing with the emotional highs and lows that can occur when experiencing different cultures, and of traveling with a group for several hours each day.
Hotels will be tourist class (four star or superior rating) with private baths, air conditioning, and English-speaking staff.
Temperatures and potential rainfall throughout the program will vary greatly. Averages in January for each stop are:
Shanghai: high 45º F, low 32, rainfall 1.5 inches
Lijiang: high 59º, low 38, rainfall .3 inches
Kunming: high 59º, low 34, rainfall .5 inches
Chiangmai: high 84º, low 58, rainfall .3 inches
Hong Kong: high 74º, low 47, rainfall .9 inches
You should plan on seeing your family physician or a travel doctor at least four to six weeks prior to departure, preferably earlier, to talk about routine vaccinations. For more information on travel health, visit cdc.gov or who.it.
Program Fee
The program fee is $4,370. Based on double occupancy, it includes seminars by Bob Entenmann, assistance by Sarah Entenmann and national guides throughout both countries, internal program flights, all accommodations, breakfast daily and several other group meals, admissions for group activities, ground transportation, and gratuities to guides and drivers. For single occupancy, add $800.
Please plan to arrive in Shanghai on Sunday, January 8 and to depart Hong Kong on Sunday, January 22. For assistance with flight arrangements, may we recommend Noreen Deiss of Travel Leaders / Suntime Travel. She can be reached at 651-429-0039 or noreen@suntimetravel.com.
Forms for registered travelers:
