China trip
10th UD special China trip with Gao will take place in June 2016
11:12 a.m., Sept. 30, 2015--The University of Delaware has announced the 10th annual special trip voluntarily planned and led by UD faculty members for alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the University and its Master Players Concert Series to visit China, the Middle Kingdom, in June 2016.
The journey will be led by volunteer directors Xiang Gao, UD Trustees Distinguished Professor of Music, and his wife Renee Dong, assistant professor of Chinese in the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures. The deadline for applications is Jan. 15, 2016.
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The trip will include visits to Beijing, where the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven are located; Xi'An, the site of the 2,000-year-old Terracotta Warriors; Shanghai, the largest port in the world and the “Pearl of the East”; and Suzhou, the city of traditional Chinese gardens and birthplace of Chinese silk.
The success of the China trips in the past nine summers was not due simply to the aforementioned world famous sites seen by the group, but also due to the highly educational element and cross-cultural experience provided by the two trip directors.
“This is a personalized VIP tour we designed for the alumni, friends and employees at the University of Delaware, as well as friends of the UD Master Players Concert Series, which I am passionate about,” Gao said.
“We are inspired by our adopted American father, Richard H. Rogel, who is a tireless volunteer promoter of Sino-U.S. relations and leading education partnership between the two countries,” he added. “Rich recently gave a large gift to establish the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at my alma mater, the University of Michigan. Renee and I cannot think of a better way to follow his footsteps to volunteer our time and effort to promote cultural exchange and understanding between the people of the two great nations.
“In 2016, we will continue to try our best to continue to make this trip the most wonderful way to visit China for all people who are connected to our great university,” Gao said.
The participants will learn about the Chinese people as well as their lives, history, philosophy, religion and society with the two professors. The food in China will be another highlight of the trip, as the menu of almost every meal was selected personally by Gao, who admits to being a “foodie.”
Special insights
The trips have benefited tremendously from the fact that professors Gao and Dong are natives of China, which allows them to provide special insights to the tour group. “Because we are both bilingual and bicultural, we know what is most valuable to the travelers,” Gao said. “Plus we have directed the UD Study Abroad China program seven times and the alumni China trip nine times, so we are able to make the trip a true VIP experience for our friends.”
As in previous years, Gao and Dong volunteered as organizers and daily “tour guides” for the UD alumni and friends China trip this past summer. In addition, Gao also arranged and hosted the UD Department of Music delegation (Russell Murray, department chair, and Suzanne Burton, director of graduate studies) to meet and sign agreements with two of UD’s partner universities in China for a joint degree program.
As the founding president of Blue Resources USA, an education consulting firm Gao founded in 2014, he had initiated and served as a volunteer consultant and liaison for this project.
The new UD graduate certificate in performing arts (2+1) joint degree program will welcome its first class of tuition-paying students majoring in music selected from the East China Normal University and the Xiamen University, two of China’s leading institutions in higher education.
Golden Pig Fund
The trip benefited not just the participants; it also served to raise funds for scholarships and research.
Gao said that after many years of successful and well-received trips, the participants established a scholarship fund for UD students called the Golden Pig Fund, as the first trip took place during the Chinese year of the golden pig, to honor the trip and the work of the volunteer leaders.
Many UD students have received the Alumni China Trip Awards, scholarships funded by donations from the Golden Pig Fund. These students traveled to China to study music, language, culture and history. Research on Chinese language/second language education conducted at UD by Dong and her colleagues also benefit from the fund.
Last year, the UD Master Players Concert Series’ Holiday Pops concert was made free of charge to anyone 14 or under, a gift from participants who traveled to China with Gao in 2014.
Gao is also the founding and producing artistic director of the series, which is the fastest growing presenting organization of the tri-state region.
2016 trip being planned
Due to the overwhelming success of the past trips, Gao and Dong are planning another trip for June 2016 at the request of many friends of UD. The 2016 trip brochure, with itinerary and application forms, is posted here. The deadline for application is Jan. 15, 2016.
About Xiang Gao
Born and raised in Beijing, Gao came to the United States to study at the University of Michigan and after graduation came to teach at the University of Delaware.
While teaching in Newark, Gao maintains an international concert career as one of the world's top concert violinists from China. Most recently, Xiang Gao received the Delaware Governor’s Award in the Art for his contribution in the arts and for successfully directing the Master Players Concert Series with innovation.
For more information on Gao's music career, see his website.
For information on Gao's upcoming concert on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 5:30 p.m., click here. To learn more about Master Players, visit the Master Players website or contact the general manager of Master Players Melissa Kitchen at masterplayers@udel.edu or 302-831-2905.