Welcome to Beijing! The tour leader and language instructor will start the day by leading a program orientation, consisting of a crash course in Chinese culture, as well as outlining of some of the program's goals and methods. Today's language objectives are self introductions. During today's visit to Tiananmen Square, the epicenter of Beijing's governmental activities, students will be expected to practice their self introductions with local Chinese visitors. Once inside the Forbidden City, the once exclusive residence of China's most powerful emperors, your tour guide and language instructor will be on hand to describe the history behind the sights, and help with any language questions that likely to arise.

Welcome to Beijing! The tour leader and language instructor will start the day by leading a program orientation, consisting of a crash course in Chinese culture, as well as outlining of some of the program's goals and methods. Today's language objectives are self introductions. During today's visit to Tiananmen Square, the epicenter of Beijing's governmental activities, students will be expected to practice their self introductions with local Chinese visitors. Once inside the Forbidden City, the once exclusive residence of China's most powerful emperors, your tour guide and language instructor will be on hand to describe the history behind the sights, and help with any language questions that likely to arise.

After arriving back in Beijing, we'll learn sentences used to express our feelings, and compliment today's lesson with a history seminar at one of Beijing's finest landmarks: the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was Emperor Qian Long's recreation of the beautiful landscapes found in southern China's Jiang nan region. In the evening, we'll have the privilege of attending a Peking Opera performance, which combines stylized acting with singing, dancing, musical dialogue, martial arts, colorful facial make up, and fantastic costumes.

We'll be up early this morning practicing Tai chi with the locals in Ritan Park. In accordance with our morning exercises, today's language lesson will be focused on the human body, as well as common phrases used to describe one's actions. We'll follow the lesson with a bike ride around Beijing. Bicycles are by far the best way to truly experience this amazing city. After dinner, we'll transfer to Beijing West Railway station and take an overnight train to Xian.

Upon our early arrival in Xi'an, we'll check into our hotel and have a short tutoring session with our language instructor. Today's language objectives will consist of practicing what we have learned throughout the previous days. We'll follow our tutorial with a tour of Xi'an's impressive city walls. The city walls of Xi'an were first built during the Tang dynasty (618-907), during the period when Changan, as the city was formally known, was the capital of the entire country.

Today, our main focus is witnessing firsthand the greatest discovery ever to occur in this historic city: the Terra Cotta Warriors. Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE – 210 BCE) was believed to have commissioned the creation of thousands of life size warriors, in an attempt to protect himself in the afterlife. A local archeologist will guide us through this impressive labyrinth of clay statues, and teach us some useful vocabulary when digging for treasures in China. We'll also study how to recognize important signs, such as enter, exit, and where it's prohibited to take photos.

In the morning, our language instructor will disclose to us common phrases used about the city, including how to order food and bargain for gifts and souvenirs. We will follow our lesson with a tour of the city, stopping off at a splendid mosque and local bazaar. The mosque was built in 742 AD and is situated in Huajue Xiang, the Muslim district of Xi'an. After lunch, we'll have an afternoon flight to Guiyang, and then transfer to Kaili.

From Kaili we'll venture off to Nan hua village. Nanhua village is a Miao minority village that is situated on the bank of the beautiful Bala River. It is widely known for the impressive silver dress accessories and headgear that are produced here. The Miao's often wear these adornments during weddings and festivals, and it's likely we'll be in town during such a celebration. We'll follow our walk around the village with a visit to a local primary school. Here we'll interact with the students, and practice our language skills. We'll have dinner and spend the night with a local Miao family.

After a half-day of exploring the surrounding villages, we will meet back at midday to attend a lecture on "Minorities Cultures in China." With over 56 minority groups spread throughout the country, the issues facing these cultures are tremendously relevant, and vital in truly understanding China as a whole. Afterwards, we'll be traveling back through Kaili and on to Zhaoxing, a Dong minority village.

Today, we will spend a full day in Zhaoxing, strolling about the village's drum towers and along the river bank. The drum tower is an important cultural symbol of the Dong minority people. There are five drum towers in Zhaoxing village, and they were all designed by local architects. The drum towers are completely supported by fitted timbers, with no nails or rivets used in their construction. Today's language lesson is focused on descriptive words, and in particular, phrases that describe feelings or sentiments. In the evening, we'll assist a lecture on "Important Minority Languages in China."

Early this morning, we'll catch a bus to Sanjiang County, an area particularly famous for its unique layout and architecture. The Dong erect "Wind and Rain" bridges that are built with beautifully adorned roofs to provide shelter from the elements. We will have today's language lesson in the pavilion of one of these wonderful bridges. Our presence is likely to stir up some commotion with the locals, so it will be an ideal opportunity to practice our skills. Afterwards, we'll have a few hours before dinner to hike the surrounding mountains.

This morning we'll transfer to Guilin. Guilin's stunning landscape is displayed in thousands of travel magazines throughout the world. Its funky shaped karst hills are blanketed with thick vegetation, which makes them truly an impressive sight. During our excursion through Guilin's underground caves, we'll make some time to conduct our language lesson. We'll practice phrases used in describing the natural environment, including weather descriptions and geographic features.

In the morning, we will cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo, which is located 65km (40 miles) southeast of Guilin. Yangshuo is a great place for exploring the countryside by bike. In the afternoon, we'll have some free time to relax on Yangshuo's West Street. For dinner, we'll attend a cormorant fishing show. Cormorant fishing is the technique of using a bird to catch fish, and is an amazing example of the distinct culture in southern China. Our language objectives will be to review everything we've learned up to this point.

We'll be heading back to Guilin to catch our flight to Shanghai. Shanghai is China's largest city with over 15 million inhabitants. In the evening, we'll make our way to Xintiandi. This district is a posh area converted from a historic shikumen residence, the traditional stone gate style of housing in Shanghai. Tonight, we'll have a party celebrating our fantastic 14 days together. The only catch is that we can only speak in Mandarin!