Dutch Jesuits traveled far and wide across not only China, but South America, Africa, Japan, North America and others, and with over 250,000 logs in the University closed stacks we were not short of routes to choose from. The Jesuits whose route we will follow are Albert d’Orville and Johann Grueber who traveled together from Beijing, through Tibet and into India where d’Orville died. Unfortunately, wandering into Tibet and India unannounced would be much more difficult for us today, than it was for the Jesuits; our own journey will have to cease it’s westward progression at the boarder of Tibet near Larung Gar.
Our journey will begin in Beijing, and on the way to Larung Gar we will visit the Huang He river, the great wall and the Tangut region. Larung gar is home to one of the the largest and most influential centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in the world and is in great danger. The Chinese Government plans to destroy half of the settlement in 2017, displacing approximately 5,000 monks and nuns. Read more about the past destruction of Larung Gar and the future plans on Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/06/09/china-buddhist-monastery-faces-demolition
After leaving the valleys of Larung Gar we will head back east. On this second leg of the journey we will stop at various locations such as Chengdu, Xi’an and Wuhan on our way to Shanghai.
