2025 China Program 2 Application: Climate/Environment Emphasis
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In Summer 2025, the Baucus Institute will bring up to 15 students from Montana-based colleges and universities to China for this month-long program. Students will be hosted on Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic’s campus in Hangzhou, bookended with trips to Beijing and Shanghai. (Yes, the Beijing part usually includes a visit to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.) This program has an emphasis on learning about China’s sustainability efforts, with lectures and site visits. Students will also participate in several cultural courses and day trips to culturally and historically significant sites.
Please complete this short application (contact details and 300-word essay) and submit it no later than midnight on Thursday, January 23, 2025. See program details below.
Program Dates: June 29 to July 26, 2024. (Participants should plan to arrive in Beijing on or before June 28, and depart from Shanghai on or after July 27.)
Host: Hangzhou Wanxiang Polytechnic and the Max S. Baucus Institute
Destinations: Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, China
Program: NOT for credit, but for cultural exchange and learning about environmental and climate issues. To download an example itinerary from a previous year, please click here.
Expenses: Almost none. Nearly all expenses are covered, including flights to/from China, in-country travel, lodging, travel insurance, and most meals. Participants will need to cover personal expenses such as souvenir purchases and snacks.
Requirements: Have a passport that does NOT expire before January 2026. Be in good academic standing and enrolled at a Montana-based college or university in Spring 2025.
Other details: This program has an emphasis on learning about China's sustainability efforts, with lectures and site visits to power plants, EV battery manufacturers, and the Wanxiang Innova Smart City project. Students will also participate in several cultural courses, likely including tea ceremonies, martial arts, language classes, calligraphy, making incense art, and woodblock printing. Day trips usually include visits to a silk museum, the Xixi wetlands, a tea farm, and an evening canal cruise through Hangzhou. Lunches and dinners are group events, creating informal opportunities for American and Chinese students to learn about each other over shared meals.
If you have questions, please contact the Baucus Institute at hello@baucusinstitute.org.