Prior to beginning a graduate degree at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Kate Murray was a Manager of Entrepreneur Selection & Growth at Endeavor, Detroit, a global nonprofit that supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets worldwide. Kate enjoys working in the world of economic development, but her one true love will always be the fascinating relationship between the United States and China.
Kate learned her first Chinese words at age ten from a “Big Bird in China” song. Since then, she spent ten years studying Mandarin in the classroom and one semester living in Beijing during her junior year of college. She dug further into U.S.-China relations during her senior year, researching and writing a thesis titled Bashful or Brash: An Examination of the Chinese Response to the Pivot.
Today, Kate tries to keep up with her Mandarin as much as possible, and to use her understanding of Chinese language, culture, and politics to help the entrepreneurs that she works with.
Kate is a proud Boston College Eagle with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Chinese.
Prior to beginning a graduate degree at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Kate Murray was a Manager of Entrepreneur Selection & Growth at Endeavor, Detroit, a global nonprofit that supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets worldwide. Kate enjoys working in the world of economic development, but her one true love will always be the fascinating relationship between the United States and China.
Kate learned her first Chinese words at age ten from a “Big Bird in China” song. Since then, she spent ten years studying Mandarin in the classroom and one semester living in Beijing during her junior year of college. She dug further into U.S.-China relations during her senior year, researching and writing a thesis titled Bashful or Brash: An Examination of the Chinese Response to the Pivot.
Today, Kate tries to keep up with her Mandarin as much as possible, and to use her understanding of Chinese language, culture, and politics to help the entrepreneurs that she works with.
Kate is a proud Boston College Eagle with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Chinese.
St Canice's Parish Tour of China
late April 2020
Join us on a journey through China's religious and cultural history!
What is this wonderful opportunity?
The parish of St Canice's, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney has asked Sino-Immersions to construct a parish pilgrimage for them to China.
Leading pilgrimages through-out China is one of our strengths, and the tour will be led by Dr Jeremy Clarke, PhD, who has a doctorate in Chinese history and has published much about the history of religion in China, including of the Jesuits. Parishioners of St Canice may also remember Jeremy's mother, Elizabeth Clarke, who worked in the parish in the early 1990s, with Fr Donal Taylor SJ and Fr Steve Sinn SJ.
Fr Frank Brennan SJ has accompanied Jeremy on a personally guided tour and says of our Director:
"“Jeremy combines learning and pleasure, putting the anxious and curious equally at ease.”
Other reviews can be read on this page. (Click the underlined text)
This unique opportunity will take place in late April 2020, and the group will visit Macau, Zhuhai, Shanghai and Beijing.
The tour covers Catholic/Christian history, Jewish history, Buddhist history and the role of the emperor as the Son of Heaven. It is also obviously an engagement with the China of today.
We visit hard-to-get-to sites like the beach where St Francis Xavier died, as well as such cities as Macau, Shanghai and Beijing, all rich with Chinese Catholic stories. We tour the Jewish museum in Shanghai, as well as have mass in the French Concession. We stroll along the Bund and see the Church of St Ignatius. We pray before Jesuit missionary tombstones in Beijing, as well as climb the Great Wall and visit the famous Buddhist Lama Temple. We catch ferries, planes, a high-speed train, the metro system and also have our own private buses en route as well. We dine in street-side restaurants as well as gourmet haunts. We engage with history as we brush up against the China of today: vibrant, bustling and fascinating.
Proposed Itinerary: APRIL 13 TO APRIL 24
Day #1 Sydney to Hong Kong, then straight to Macau
Day #2 Day in Macau, St Paul’s and Jesuit/Catholic history
Day #3 Half-day Macau, then across to Zhuhai
Day #4 All day to Shangchuan Island, where Xavier died, then back to Zhuhai
Day #5 Fly to Shanghai, evening river cruise
Day #6 Full day Shanghai, Xujiahui/Jesuit history
Day #7 Full day Shanghai, plus Jewish Museum
Day #8 Morning train to Beijing,
Day #9 Full day Beijing, Jesuit cemetery, Forbidden City
Day #10 Full day Beijing, including Lama Buddhist Temple
Day #11 Great Wall, and then Temple of Heaven
Day #12 Day of exploring in Beijing, with various options.
Late night plane to Sydney arriving next day.
Macau = 2 nights; Zhuhai = 2 nights; Shanghai = 3 nights; Beijing = 4 nights.
Likely Cost
Per person 12 days fully inclusive: $8199 twin share; $8599 single supplement.
Inclusions:
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all transport (incl. economy return airfare) plus transfers,
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all hotel rooms in central locations,
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all meals,
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all entrance tickets,
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all tips (that is, once in China you will not have to tip, unless you choose to do so, as we do it for you
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full accompaniment by Sino-Immersions staff and local guides,
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expert guiding & translation, pre-departure advice and help with visa applications.
Exclusions:
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alcohol,
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gifts and souvenirs,
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costs incurred in own hotel room as laundry etc,
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snacks and drinks outside of meal time,
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anything not covered in inclusions.
NB: Sino-Immersions will provide, for a separate fee, a visa application and delivery service upon request.
[The tour is open to all. However, Sino-Immersions reserves the right to refuse certain bookings. All travellers must be able to walk 1kilometre unaided, wheeling their own bag, and all travellers must be able to climb and descend 2 flights of stairs by themselves, unaided. What is at issue is not speed but rather the capacity to walk along with fellow travellers at a commensurate pace. Where an individual needs greater assistance, they may be able to join the tour if they provide their own carer, who travels at full price.]
What to do now?
There will be an information session held at St Canice's ParisH, all are invited. Fr Chris will organise the time.
The tour will only take place if there are a minimum of 8 pilgrims. The tour numbers are also capped at 18.
Contact the parish, or Dr Jeremy Clarke, PhD, for further details jclarke@sinoimmersions.com.