The China Dialogue of Civilizations spent the last week on the road. They had the opportunity to visit the Panda Preservation Center in Chengdu, Sichuang province.

There, they saw pandas of all stages of life – adult, young adult, baby, and new born.
That afternoon, they visited the Colossal Buddha at Leshan. This is the largest rock carved Buddha in the world. The next day), they took a high-speed train from Chengdu to Chongqing, the mountain city and war time capital of China during the Second World War.

After leaving Chongqing, they flew to Shanghai. Shanghai is a modern metropolis and the most westernized city in China. Students enjoyed the excellent collection of Chinese art at the Shanghai Museum , the bustling life in the City God Temple area, and the fantastic view of high-rises in Pudong from the colonial period Bund.

They then took a high-speed train from Shanghai to Mount Yandong, where they stayed in a Buddhist monastery – the Nengren Monastery – for three days.

In the monastery, they experienced all the major ceremonies – the morning awakening bell run, the evening drum for rest, the morning and evening services, etc. They hiked in the spectacular mountain, and saw four famous waterfalls that had been referenced in numerous pieces of classical Chinese poetry and literature.

Students had lessons on Confucian Chinese archery at the Yanshan Academy. That evening, evening, they had an unforgettable meeting with the abbot of the Nengren Monastery Master Liaofa. There was a conversation on Buddhist philosophy and practice, and they enjoyed tea made by the abbot and guqin playing by Prof. Yu.

They headed back to Beijing to spend their last day at the famous antique market at Panjiayuan in Beijing (IMG_3313 copy ). From there, they made their way back home to Boston.