GAIN insight into Chinese culture and religion on a tour of China led by author and UCLA professor Robert Buswell.
Buswell teaches Chinese and Korean Buddhism, directs the Center for Buddhist Studies at UCLA and practiced as a Buddhist monk for seven years in China, Thailand and Korea.
The 17-night tour departs April 18 and travels from Beijing to Shanghai. The itinerary features a three-night cruise of the Yangtze River and a stay in Tibet.
Sites around Beijing include the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square. Participants walk a part of the Great Wall, which stretches nearly 4,000 miles from the East China Sea to Central Asia, and ride rickshaws through the city's warren of old alleyways, where traditional communal neighborhoods still exist.
They'll see the life-sized terra-cotta warriors and tour the Shaanxi Provincial History Museum in Xian and tour the Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Chengdu.
The group's visit to Lhasa, Tibet, includes visits to a monastery, temples and the home of a Tibetan family.
They cruise the Yangtze from Chongqing to Yichang, through the Three Gorges and view the Three Gorges Dam.
In Shanghai, tour participants tour the Shanghai Museum, view the architectural gems of the Bund and take in a performance of acrobats.
Cost: $4,895 per person, double occupancy ($1,395 single surcharge), including round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, internal airfare, hotel and cruise accommodations, meals, sightseeing and entrance fees.
Contact: UCLA Alumni Travel, Westwood; (800) 825-2586, www.uclalumni.net.
CALIFORNIA
Yosemite with gourmet chefs
FEED your senses on a three-night culinary tour of Yosemite National Park that begins Jan. 28.
Activities include cooking demonstrations by guest chefs from around the country, including Neal Fraser of Grace in Los Angeles.
Participants enjoy a five-course dinner at the venerable Ahwahnee Hotel -- a National Historic Landmark -- a chefs' reception and the sights of Yosemite in winter.
Cost: $685 per person, double occupancy ($100 single surcharge), including ground transportation from Southern California, accommodations at Yosemite Lodge, classes, reception and gala dinner.
Contact: Glendale Community College, Community Services Education; (818) 240-1000, Ext. 5048, www.glendale.edu.
MEXICO
Pre-holiday
family cruise
