Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 9/15/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Anna Johnston Field trip - Beijing natives relax and exercise at a public park in this photo taken during last year's trip. Preparations are already underway for another trip next May.

The Great Wall in Beijing, the site of the Terra Cotta warriors in Xi'an, and the Yuyuan Market in Shanghai all have something in common: they are just one of many stops during the annual Henderson trip to China.

Participating in a tradition that began three years ago, the members of the upcoming May 2009 trip will be able to experience not only the historic places previously mentioned, but the Temple of Heaven as well as the Olympic Village.

Any person wishing to join this entourage needs only to have some connection to the school, such as a student, faculty, graduates or family of any of the above.

A concern of many who show interest in traveling out of the country is the language barrier.

"Our tour guide speaks fluent English, and he is with us at all times," said Maralyn Sommer, interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of Ellis College of Arts and Sciences.

Since her first solo jaunt to China inspired her to bring students along for the ride, Sommer has chaperoned the trip each year.

The trip will last from May 9-19, and will cost around $2,750. For full-time students, a considerable amount will be deducted from that fee. The price depends upon the number going and how many other student organizations are planning a trip out of the country.

As of now there are only two other groups committed to a excursion out of the Unites States, so extra funds should be made available.

"The trip is all-inclusive, which means three meals a day will be provided ... a new restaurant every noon and night," Sommer said.

"We even got to use chopsticks," said senior history major Anna Johnston, who went on the May 2008 trip. Although there are many restaurants brimming with Chinese food, there is still the world-wide symbol of those golden arches.

McDonald's may be in every major city around the world, but in China it costs more for a burger and fries than it does a seven- to nine-course meal in almost any other establishment.

One of the many activities provided is a Hutong tour, in which two people are carted around on a bicycle-pulled rickshaw down narrow alleyways through the original old China, complete with the thousand-year old cobblestone alleys.

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