Excursions

All of Lotus's Immersion Programs include trips to various monuments and testimonials to traditional Chinese culture.During our guided tours we do our best to provide our students with an insightful, detailed understanding of the significance of the places they visit.

The Lama Temple 雍和宫

Today, the Lama Temple or Yong He Gong stands as one of the largest and most important Tibetan monasteries in the world. This trip is included in all our packages, no matter the length of time you plan on staying in China. Our Beijing Staff provides a guided tour through the many halls and pavilions that boast a Han-Tibetan architectural style. Our staff focuses their tour on the influence of Buddhism in Chinese history. For instance, we begin every tour by asking our students why Chinese say "embrace Buddha's feet." It doesn't take more than a few minutes before our students join in with other temple visitors, lighting incense and learning traditional prayer hymns. We end the excursion with a delicious vegetarian lunch at a nearby restaurant.

"The Lotus organized excursion to the Lama Temple with a vegetarian lunch afterwards was one of the many highlights of my time in Beijing. The Lotus staff acted as our personal tour guides providing interesting information about the temple's history and Buddhism's history in China. The staff went above and beyond by making the tour fun with games and prizes. The restaurant we ate lunch at was also excellent!"-- Emily Ow, from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, joined our College Program in the Summer of 2005.

The first weekend of my stay coincided with a Lotus excursion to the Beijing Lama Temple. Lisa Sheng and her staff ran an excellent tour. As a guide Lisa not only explained to us the significance of what was there, but also illustrated how the practice of Buddhism has influenced Chinese language and culture. In a short visit such as it was, I learnt a great deal. And something I couldn't but notice was the character and motivation of fellow Lotus students. I thought it reflected well on Lotus." -- Thomas Smithurst from Australia joined Lotus in the Winter of 2006.

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Badachu 八大处

Autumn is the best season to go hiking in Beijing's Western hills and Badachu Park is the place to do it. Nestled between Cuiwei, Pingpo, and Lushi hills this beautiful park attracts massive amounts of visitors (foreign and local) each year. Badachu means Eight Great Sites, and refers to its' eight well preserved ancient Buddhist temples and nunneries. These ancient temples and nunneries were built at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and were later renovated during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Lotus staff provides an informational tour through Badachu every study session.

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The Great Wall 长城

A trip to China would not be complete without a visit to the Great Wall. Built, rebuilt and maintained from the sixth all the way to the sixteenth century, visitors from all over the world come to China to walk along this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Almost all our students, no matter age, language level or area of interest end up visiting the Great Wall during their stay.

The Peking Opera 京剧

Extremely prevalent during the Qing Dynasty, this form of traditional Chinese theatre attracts students and travelers of all ages and interests. We give our visitors a chance to get back stage and view the actors and actresses preparing for the performance.

Forbidden City & Summer Palace 故宫和颐和园

The Forbidden City acted as the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Have an interest in Chinese history? It's a must see!

Summer Palace is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value. It is one of the most popular tourist destination, the scenery is so beautiful you will want to stay there whole day.