What is this country, and who are these people that, from a standing far behind in the race, and greatly helped by our Western consumerism and technology, have fought their way ever closer to the front of the pack, and now are slated to play a dominant role in every conceivable way as this century progresses?  Shouldn’t we be interested, even eager to feel its pulse and understand what drives this enormous population in their unstoppable surge for progress?  A people endowed with a certain genetic wisdom, industrious by nature, that greatly values education and discipline can only shine in competition with the West, where these values increasingly seem to lose their luster. It’s only by integrating the past and the present of this remarkable destination that we can hope to gain a better understanding. Only by breathing the air, feeling the dynamic and sharing the space can we hope to see beneath the modern veneer-clad images the media are able to convey. Though essential to attract visitors, merely depicting China’s romantic past of the Great Wall and Forbidden City doesn’t sufficiently allow us to touch its soul and feel its pulse.

Don’t we owe it to ourselves to try to better understand these people, to see beyond the external changes and the popular notion that China is merely the sweatshop of the West? Isn’t China, after all, our major competitor, not only for global natural resources but also in budding technological advancement? Wouldn’t we want to know them better? And what better way to do that than from the comfort and pampering of Seabourn Pride, without the need to schlep from crowded airport to crowded airport, hotel room to hotel room, restaurant to restaurant?

I think these are the real reasons why travelers should use the opportunity to sail with Seabourn Pride, explore China, and also Korea and Japan, both of which are in different stages of a similar (re)evolution. We all live in the age of Asia… Let’s experience it now.

Seabourn Destination Master Peter Cox gives some insight below on why a cruise to China should be in your future…

Although China has this incredible and ancient civilization that flourished when the Greeks and Romans enjoyed theirs, and there certainly remain many sites that represent this rich heritage all over China, a coastal cruise – with the exception of the pre/post Beijing stay – will hardly bring guests near those sites that filled the Beijing Olympics media travelogues. Yet, it is China’s coast that gave birth to and nourished this awakening giant, which came out of the post-Mao dark ages only a few decades ago.

While, centuries ago, the centers of civilization flourished inland, it’s the fertile flood plains of the Yangtze River delta that fed those civilizations, thanks to the Grand Canal, this amazing lifeline, over 1100 miles long and dug at the time civilization was just dawning in Europe. It is on the coast that foreign concessions flourished after the Emperor was forced to open up to foreign trade following the Opium Wars. And, in recent times, it’s again China’s coast that has absorbed the millions of workers migrating from the interior countryside to feed the needs of an exploding industrial revolution that has stunned the world. While we will enjoy Beijing for its cultural and historical significance, we especially will explore the coast, with its glossy Western veneer, in search of a better understanding of China — a nation that will somehow affect each of us personally in the decades ahead.

Peter Cox

Peter A.M. Cox is Seabourn’s Director of Itinerary Planning and Development.  He is one of the most experienced, knowledgeable and insightful destination experts in the world. Originally from The Netherlands, Peter started his travel career as an enthusiastic amateur, hitchhiking across North Africa and traveling in Asia during the off-season from his summer jobs as a tour director in Europe. His itineraries included South America and the United States as well (he once spent three and a half months driving around the U.S. in an old Ford Falcon.)

His seagoing experience began in 1974 as a tour manager on world cruises aboard Norwegian American Line’s Sagafjord, and diverse summer itineraries on Vistafjord. Peter “came ashore” in1980 to begin researching and planning itineraries and land programs for Pearl Cruises, a pioneer of year-round Asia cruises with Pearl of Scandinavia, based in Hong Kong and San Francisco. Six years later Peter moved to cutting-edge expedition cruise operator Society Expeditions in Seattle, planning itineraries for World Discoverer and Society Explorer, the leading expedition-style vessels of the time, carrying intrepid travelers on all-inclusive adventures from the Arctic to Antarctica, the Amazon to the South Pacific and beyond. Peter joined Seabourn in its San Francisco headquarters in 1993, and has been planning the cruise itineraries and land programs since then.

Peter has agreed to provide for us some expert insights into Seabourn Pride’s cruises in Asia: why you should want to visit Asia, and what to expect when you do. We will post them in two parts, Wednesday and Friday.