October 2025 Study Tour Announcement

Have you heard about the USCCA's Study Tours? Since its inception in 1989, the US-China Catholic Association has had the blessing of bringing church leaders, scholars, graduate students, journalists, and other interested individuals to China with the purpose of helping them better understand Chinese society and the circumstances of the Christians who live there. Today, we are glad to share that a Study Tour is being planned for October 2025.

Study Tours include opportunities to visit churches in China

This Study Tour will include 15 days (October 11–23) in mainland China. Food and lodging will be organized as part of the Study Tour; travel to Beijing (from each participant’s home country) and from Beijing (returning to each participant’s home country) are the responsibility of each participant. The mainland portion of the trip is beautifully described by the Verbiest Foundation, who will be facilitating the USCCA trip in conjunction with a group from Brussels:

The journey begins in Beijing. There will be a visit to the tombs of Ricci, Schall, Verbiest, and others. Of course, the former Imperial Palace, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven are also on the program, as are the Beijing National Stadium, the North Cathedral (where we will attend mass) and the old Verbiest Observatory, the Great Wall of China, and others. And of course we will also feast on the famous glazed Peking duck!

VF PhotoArchive - The Tiger Valley (Laohugou)

We will travel by bus to Chengde (Rehe), halfway between Chaoyang and Beijing, which is another 230 km. Here we will visit a beautiful summer palace built by the Manchu emperors. The emperors resided here from May to October. A visit to Laohugou is also planned, a small Catholic village in the direction of Beijing, the place where Theofiel Verbist, founder of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM), died of typhus in 1868. He was buried there along with other Scheut fathers. His body was later transferred to Scheut-Brussels. As we do elsewhere, we will contact the local Christian community to show our solidarity. We will also visit the Tibetan Bodala Palace in Chengde.

The visit to the city of Chaoyang is entirely in the context of the history of the Scheut fathers in China: a visit to the former main post and later seat of the diocese, Songshuzuizi. Even today, the Verbiest Foundation supports various initiatives of the Catholic community in this region. It is a nice introduction to the North Chinese countryside and its inhabitants.

VF PhotoArchive - The Church in Xiwanzi today

The journey continues to western Liaoning, an area where the Scheut fathers worked from 1865 to around 1950, as in neighboring Jehol. In Fuxin, we will visit the church community.

We will travel to Shenyang, the capital of the southern province of Manchuria, by high-speed train. A visit to the imperial palace, built in 1635, reveals the nomadic past of the Qing emperors.

After that we will travel on to Xi'an, where we will visit Xi'an Cathedral, the city walls of Xi'an, the museum of the Qin Shi Huang terra-cotta army, and others. We will also watch a Chinese classical dance performance from the Tang dynasty.

In Zhangjiakou, we plan to visit Xiwanzi, the village where Theofiel Verbist (the founder of CICM) began his missions in China.

Since the Foundation does not have a travel license, the trip will be organized by a recognized travel agency called China Commercial International Travel Service. The trip will be accompanied by an English-speaking tour guide. Accommodation will be in standard three- or four-star hotels; meals will be adapted to Western travelers. The price of the trip (full board, excursions, transportation by airplane, train, bus and entrance fees included) is approximately 2220 EUR per person for a twin room. For a single room, the price is 2910 EUR per person. The prices do NOT include the flight tickets...These must be purchased on your own initiative.

Are you interested in joining us? Click here to register for the October 2025 Study Tour today!

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