The Summer Study in China–Chinese Language Program is sponsored by the Asia Council ofthe University System of Georgia (USG). It is an intensive six-week language program, which offers three courses with 9 semester credits in Chinese language and culture, language & cultural practicum, and Chinese for Business & Technology. The courses are taught by the program teachers and teachers of Yangzhou University. Students study in small classes of three to four people in the morning and do practicum in the afternoon and evening. Students are required to write a 200-character journal entry four times a week based on their experiences while in China. In addition they attend lectures on different topics of Chinese culture, have business site visits, and cultural activities. They participate in weekend excursions to Beijing, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Suzhou, and Shanghai, and also participate in a long free weekend for their own travel plans.

The program begins with a long weekend in Beijing touring many historical sites in and around the capital including the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Tian’anmen Square. From Beijing, students travel via overnight train with soft sleepers south to our beautiful host city of Yangzhou on the Yangzi River in Jiangsu Province. Students live and attend classes at the Overseas Students Residence on campus. The residence includes a cafeteria, classrooms, laundry facilities, and a small kitchen. The double rooms are comfortable and equipped with air-conditioning, beds with sheets and blankets, desks, ample closet space, and an attached bath (toilet, sink, and shower) with Western fixtures. The rooms are pre-wired and internet-ready.

Over the past eight years, the program had almost 100 participants from eleven state and private universities and colleges in Georgia and Alabama, and about one fourth of the participants returned to China to either teach English or do business. This program is open to all university students in Georgia. We hope to see students from more universities in the coming year. For further information, please contact Dr. Dan Paracka at [email protected] or the program director Dr. Yan Gao at[email protected].