Itinerary
Day 1 – Tuesday
Location: San Francisco
After meeting and greeting your flight leader and the other students joining the Shaxi Village Service Project, we’re off to Hong Kong! This is an easy, non-stop ride across the Pacific – and most students find that after dinner and a movie, they’re able to manage dozing off to sleep for a while. So sit back, have a chat with your new friends, and enjoy the flight!
Day 2 – Wednesday
This day is ‘lost’ as you cross the International Date Line. But don’t worry– you’ll get it back when returning home!
Day 3 – Thursday
Location: Shaxi
Arrive at Hong Kong International Airport, where you’ll meet your program leaders and have time for a long awaited stretch. You will have a few hours in the airport before connecting onwards. Next, we’ll grab our bags (preferably small and manageable!) and check-in for our connecting flight to Kunming. The flight takes about 1 ½ hours, and then you will be setting down in mainland China! Arriving into Kunming International Airport, you will meet up with the rest of the staff awaiting your arrival, and then catch a flight up to the city of Lijiang. This flight is very short, about 45 minutes long, and as you gaze out the window, you will watch the city of Kunming fade away and be replaced with the lush mountains of Northern Yunnan Province.
Once we arrive into Lijiang Airport, grab your bags, and hop on a private bus to take you to the village of Shaxi. The drive is about 2 ½ hours, and you will arrive in the early afternoon. Once arriving into the village, you will be warmly greeting by our head staff member in the village, Yunxin Wu. Born and raised in the area, Mr. Wu is an integral community member in Shaxi Valley. For 13 years, Mr. Wu was an English teacher at the primary school and most recently been a welcoming friend to local travelers looking to spend a night in this special place, and a proud husband and father.
Settling into the village, you will move into your home while here in Shaxi – a 200 year old monastery restructured to hold Rustic Pathways students during the summer months. Inside the monastery grounds, which are your home away from home, there are 3 main structures. The first is a common area where you will have time to relax, chat with friends, practice your Mandarin that you pick up while here, and discuss the service work you are performing while on this program. The second building is made up of the sleeping quarters, all brand new Western guest rooms with private bathrooms. There will be 2 students per room here, and the accommodations are extremely clean and comfortable. The third structure inside the monastery walls is an ancient traditional Chinese open-air theater, where local villagers have put on performances for the Shaxi people for centuries. This unbelievable “home” overlooks the rolling farmlands in the valley, and is truly a magical place to spend your time here. This first evening in Shaxi, sit down to a welcome feast of local Shaxi dishes (food ethnic to the Bai Minority and considered some of the best food in China!) Vegetarians need not worry, China is known for its savory vegetarian and tofu dishes. Also spiciness can be added or left out at request.
You will have your orientation after dinner, bringing you up to speed on the community service projects that you will be a part of in the weeks to come. As you drift off to sleep, with the peaceful quite of this little village surrounding you, and the stars ablaze above your head, you will truly be part of this special corner of the world. Welcome to Shaxi!
Day 4 – Thursday through Day 9 – Wednesday
Location: Shaxi
The daily itinerary will be mainly the same for your time here in Shaxi, and will run as follows:
Morning:
Waking early, you will sip on some local tea and dine on local Shaxi delicacies (the mushrooms in this valley are world renowned, selling for exorbitant prices but you get them for free and cooked by locals) and some Western dishes, all prepared by the villagers and served in the monastery. If you are up for it, you can lend a hand in preparing these meals, but you will have to be ready to rise very early in the morning! After breakfast each day, there will be a short orientation to go through the day’s activities of service work in the area. Students will break up into groups of 2 or 3, and be paired up with specific Shaxi families with which they will be working on this morning service project. Students will be working alongside families as they perform their daily projects. Each morning service project will run for approximately 3 hours and most often include:
Stalk fortification and Hoeing in corn fields;
Basket Weaving (they sell the baskets);
Straw Shoe Making;
Plum Picking (seasonal);
Grass Cutting (students donate to local families for animals);
Cementing, liming, painting, trimming walls;
Classroom maintenance: Sweeping, painting etc.;
Exterior restoration to entrance way of school;
Chinese Character restoration to entrance;
Fishing with locals for nightly meals;
Environmental preservation and cleanup.
Mid Day:
Taking a break from the morning service projects, return to the monastery to rest up for a bit, grab a shower, take a stroll through the village, hang out with some of the school children and village elders, or just hang out with friends. Lunch will be taken in the monastery, which will consist of traditional Shaxi & Chinese dishes.
Afternoon:
The afternoon service projects will be working directly within the village. These are often designed in cooperation with Mr. Wu; his favorite is to take a short hike up the valley’s gorgeous hills, offering food, materials and goodwill to the “Yi” people, proud bearers of another minority community in the diverse and splendid Yunnan Province. Other times, you will help take elder citizens blood pressure and ask them about their diets. Then later that night you will help cook a nutritious meal for them and then deliver the food to their front door. The following day you will check in with them and g for a walk with them down the road. These comprehensive programs will prove that many hands make for lighter work and you will also gain invaluable experience, understanding how other cultures live, work and think. After your time in Shaxi is complete, you will walk away a more informed and compassionate global citizen.
Late Afternoon/Evening:
After finishing up the afternoon service projects, there are various afternoon activities to choose from in the village. While serving an important role in learning about both the culture of the Shaxi locals, as well as Chinese culture as a whole, these are not primarily community service projects. These optional afternoon activities may include:
Calligraphy and Character lessons
Traditional games: Mah Jong, Chinese Chess and Cards
Musical performance by 7 local musicians
Hike to Temples with Buddhist carvings from the 800s
Ping Pong
Cooking lessons
Market Visit with shopping challenge in which students are given money to bargain for fruit and snacks for the week
Night:
Dinner each night will be as a group in the monastery, and on many evenings there will be locals in the village joining in the festivities. Dining on traditional Shaxi and Chinese dishes, sitting around the table with new friends, the stars above and the quiet countryside surrounding you – this is the Shaxi Village Service Project!
Day 10 – Thursday
Waking up early on this final day, you will pack your things, say your final goodbye’s to the new friends you have made in the village, and hop on your private bus and ride back to Lijiang. Arriving into the city of Lijiang, you will catch a 1 ½ hour flight down to Shenzhen, where an Airport Coordinator will pick you up and escort you to the Hong Kong Airport via bus (approx. 1 ½ hours.) Once arriving into the city of Hong Kong, you will either meet up with your flight leader and board the Group Flight back to the USA, or connect to another Rustic Pathways program. Say goodbye to the friends you have made, the adventures you have had, and the country you have come to know – China!
An Important Note about Schedule Changes:
Rustic Pathways reserves the right to change, alter, or amend the daily itinerary for this trip at any time. Changes can be made for various reasons including changes in flight or program schedules, changes in the scheduless of various external tours incorporated in our trips, the addition of new activities into a trip, or the substitution of an old activity for a new activity. The itinerary shown here provides a good outline of the anticipated daily schedule for this program. As with any travel program, some changes may occur