Description

Through our combined China and India Study+Travel program, students will not only explore a new world but will also, experience a great diversity of land, people and cultures.

While in Kunming, students availing this program, can transfer academic credits through our university partner. During weekdays, students will attend Mandarin Chinese classes in the mornings and will engage in volunteering activities or participate in language exchange sessions with local Chinese students in the afternoons. Volunteering will primarily revolve around working with underprivileged children in local non-profit organizations.

Over the weekends, students will visit fast growing metropolises, ancient towns, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and participate in rural homestays. We believe this diversity of excursions not only gives participants a balanced perspective into the rapidly modernizing urban China, but also, into rural society where the majority of the people in China still live in.

In India, our programs are based in Kolkata, the country's 3rd largest city and a place considered by many as the country's cultural capital. As an integral part of our programs in India, students will explore major metropolitan cities such as Delhi as well as small Himalayan towns in India's North-East, famed for their diverse tribal communities and breathtaking beauty.

In both China and India, students will participate in cultural activities to get an in-depth understanding of the ways of life of the local people. These activities include attending performances from local ethnic musicians and dancers, visiting local museums, and going to sites of local interest.

Minds Abroad has two locations in Asia: i) India: a) Kolkata, the 3rd largest city and cultural capital of India and ii) China: b) Kunming, the cosmopolitan capital of Yunnan, famous for its year-round, spring-like weather, excellent air quality and striking cultural diversity.

i) India

The beauty of Kolkata lies in its quintessential traditions of food and fanfare as well as cultural offerings. One of the most populated cities in the world, Kolkata is home to 15 million people from diverse backgrounds and has innumerable tourist attractions, including its colonial masterpieces. During weekends, Minds Abroad organizes trips to Delhi, the country's capital and Darjeeling, a picturesque Himalayan town and Lonely Planets #1 Top Pick in India. Darjeeling is located in northeast India, which encompasses a vast land of diverse people, languages, adventures and geography.

ii) China

Unlike most Mandarin-speaking cities located in China' north, Kunming enjoys warm winters and cool summers, making it an ideal place to study Mandarin. The city's average summer temperature ranges between 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degree Celsius) and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), whereas its average winter temperature fluctuates between 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius). Kunming's air quality is the best of all large cities in China according to UN's climate monitors. Yunnan is in fact China's most ethnically diverse province with 25 unique ethnicities, from Thais to Tibetans and has an astounding variety of climates, from tropical rain forests to Himalayan mountains. Some of the places of interest that participants of the Minds Abroad programs will visit are large coastal cities of Beijing and Hong Kong, ancient, walled city of Dali, small villages like Weishan and Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.