In late June and early July 2011, fourteen K-12 teachers from around the country spent two weeks in China on a study tour sponsored by the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA). The theme of this year’s NCTA China Study Tour was "China’s Role in the World." The trip was led by Dr. David Kenley (Elizabethtown College) and Lauren Collins (University of Colorado). In April all of the teachers met in Boulder, Colorado for a three day orientation that included lectures on the Chinese language, Chinese history and contemporary culture, as well as team-building activities. The teachers arrived in China on June 29th and spent a week in Beijing visiting the Olympic Village, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, as well as a visit to a public high school in a rural environment. During the final week of the tour, the teachers visited a rice factory and a silk factory in the city of Hangzhou as well as exploring the city of Shanghai and its many museums. The NCTA coordinating sites at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Colorado co-sponsored this study tour.
The program was supported by a grant from the Freeman Foundation.
For a blog of the tour which includes lot of photos, go to: