A Southern Arkansas University group tour of China is being assembled for 2018. Dr. Svetlana Paulson, professor of history, said the tour is open to “anyone in the local community or in the United States” who would like to see Beijing, the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors of Xi’an, among other famous sights.
The tour will be May 15-26 and offers students optional course credit in History or Education. Stipends for travel may be available as well as other forms of aid, and anyone interested in joining is asked to begin making applications.
An informational meeting was held recently to prepare a few interested students for the trip. Dr. Paulson as well as Dr. Carla Bryant, assistant professor of education, led the meeting. In previewing the itinerary, Paulson called the tour “nine days of really great stuff – it will be the trip of a lifetime.”
The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square; the Great Wall of China; a dragon boat ride; Shanghai, and the Imperial Palace are among the tour destinations.
Bryant recommended the group bring only one suitcase for the entire trip and be prepared to walk many miles per day. She said good walking shoes “are a must,” and advised each person drink 10-15 bottles of water each day in order to avoid dehydration. Having traveled to China on three previous occasions, Bryant addressed such practical matters as what food they could expect to eat; safety and security issues; weather conditions; the size of the cities they will visit, and how to prepare physically for the trip.
“You will feel like you have gotten your money’s worth,” Bryant said of the nine-day trip.
Anyone interested in joining the group may contact Bryant at cdbryant@saumag.edu or Paulson at sepaulson@saumag.edu.
