According to Frommer's guide to China, the fall is the time to go. I can't compare, but the attractions we visited were relatively uncrowded and the number of Americans we encountered were few. Unlike travel in western Europe where signs of American culture are everywhere, China remains very Chinese. While present in Beijing, McDonalds and Starbucks were not very prevalent; and when I did make one early morning foray into a Starbucks it was surprisingly empty. Few people we encountered spoke English, and,with just a few exceptions, most that did, did not speak it well. The traffic in Beijing was terrible, but except for the complications caused by the bicycle traffic, not appreciably worse than NYC or LA. I can't imagine what it must be like during the high tourist season-- or what it will be like during the Summer Olympics next year.
Beyond checking things out prior to the arrival of the students, Jarin and I held several meetings to discuss the future of MV/YUAS relations. No decisions were made but a number of proposals were discussed-- these include: MV hosting Chinese students on a Winterim-like experience in the spring; YU hosting a group of MV students/families for an intensive cultural summer experience; YUAS sending more students to MV; and MV becoming a "Confucius School." We will explore and discuss these options, and others, in the coming weeks and months before coming to any decisions.Before we left for our return trip, Zequen gave me a disk of over 1500 photos taken by the students. I haven't seen them all-- Jarin claims to have viewed them on the plane trip home-- I am including a handful in this post.
Trying to be good sports while at the same time not making total fools of ourselves, the Americans responded to the request by our hosts for a song by singing "This Land is Our Land."
