Greetings from Hong Kong and the Yew Chung International Schools.

We are pleased to announce the Summer 2005 session of the annual Beijing Yew Chung International Summer School for the study of Putonghua Mandarin Chinese to be held from July 3 - July 24 for students aged 8-18.

This is a unique and cultural experience which focuses on speaking and listening comprehension of Putonghua Mandarin Chinese in a combination of language lessons, supporting practical activities, arts and cultural studies, and excursions to significant sites in the history of China. Students will not only acquire new language skills but also have the opportunity to choose in-depth study of a Chinese musical instrument, martial arts, Chinese folk customs, calligraphy, brush painting, dance, amongst others.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEAK CHINESE TO ATTEND THIS SCHOOL. All students will be placed according to ability, from complete beginners to intermediate and advanced speakers of Chinese. Students will be grouped with peers of equal ability. Over the years, students have come from England, France, Spain, Australia, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

This year, our most popular 3-week program (July 3 - July 24) will include a five-day "Summer Adventure in Xi'an" in Shaanxi Province, where students will discover the ancient Chinese capital city Xi'an. Xi'an is home to the Qin Terracotta Warriors, considered to be one of the greatest archeological excavations of the 20th century. An alternative to this program is our shorter 2-week program from July 3 - 17, where students will take in just the historic sites of Beijing.

I would be very grateful to you if you could share this information with your parents group or students that may be interested. If you are interested, I can send you some posters, brochures and promotional VCD material can be distributed for more details. Similarly, information on our program can be found on our website at this link: www.ycef.com/summerschool. Our promotional video can also be viewed online at: mms://218.188.16.132/summerschool