- China
About Program
Experience life along Asia’s longest river: live with families on the Tibetan Plateau, learn about interconnected environmental realities at the Three Gorges Dam, explore the world’s largest port.
From its headwaters in the highlands of Tibet to the delta in Shanghai, this program follows the Yangtze River as it rushes nearly 4,000 miles across southern China. Asia’s longest river has shaped China’s cultural traditions, agricultural practices, regional politics and industrial development for thousands of years. Students on this course will gain firsthand insight into the lives of the estimated 550 million people who live along the banks of this vital waterway.
Video and Photos
Diversity & Inclusion
BIPOC Support
LGBTQIA+ Support
In some cases, students may be advised not to speak about their sexual orientations and/or gender identities with local contacts (such as homestay families, ISP mentors, language teachers, and guest speakers) due to safety concerns. Likewise, transgender and non-binary students may have to choose to present outwardly as male or female in certain contexts during the program. In other cases, “coming out” to some or all host community members may be a safe choice.
Neurodivergent Support
Accessibility Support
Impact
Sustainability
Ethical Impact
Learning Service is a holistic experience that combines an intimate and authentic engagement with the local community, the study of effective development, and the contribution to an established community-driven project. It is the process of living, working alongside, and humbly absorbing the culture of those being served while coordinating closely with project managers to understand the trajectory of the project, from inception to completion and beyond. It is an acknowledgment that often it is the volunteer who stands to gain as much or more from the work. And it is a commitment to making contributions that create positive impacts in the communities coupled with the humility to always listen and learn first.
We offer comprehensive, personal home visits so that we can answer your questions in person. One of our expert staff members will present on our program options and share stories from their own formative Where There Be Dragons program. To request a home visit in less than 2 minutes, fill out this form.
Program Highlights
- Engage in issues involving development, energy and environmental issues, water, land-use and resource management, ancient and modern history, political studies, ethnic and regional diversity
- We engage in basic Mandarin, Chinese dialect, and Tibetan language study
- Introduction to Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Marxism.
- Unique rural home-stay (subject to change in the event of governmental restriction).
- Extensive train and bus travel, hiking, remote village stay. Opportunities to hike in Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Yunnan.
Scholarships
Where There Be Dragons Financial Aid & 529 Funds
Where There Be Dragons offers need-based financial aid to students that demonstrate reasonable financial need and are excited to engage with communities around the world.
Questions & Answers
Location
China is the most populous country in the world and has one of the fastest-growing economies. China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. China has over 34,687 species of animals and vascular plants, making it the third-most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Colombia.
