Travel briefs

Gain insight into Chinese culture and religion on a tour of China led by author and University of California, Los Angeles, professor Robert Buswell.

Buswell teaches Chinese and Korean Buddhism, directs the Center for Buddhist Studies at UCLA and practiced as a Buddhist monk for seven years in China, Thailand and Korea.

The 17-night tour departs April 18 and travels from Beijing to Shanghai. The itinerary features a three-night cruise of the Yangtze River and a stay in Tibet.

Sites around Beijing include the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square. Participants will walk along part of the Great Wall and ride rickshaws through the city’s warren of old alleyways, where traditional communal neighborhoods still exist.

They’ll see life-sized terra-cotta warriors, and will tour the Shaanxi Provincial History Museum in Xian and the Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Chengdu.

The group’s visit to Lhasa, Tibet, includes visits to a monastery, temples and the home of a Tibetan family.

Participants will cruise the Yangtze from Chongqing to Yichang through the Three Gorges and view the Three Gorges Dam.

Cost: $4,895 per person, double occupancy ($1,395 single surcharge), including round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, internal airfare, hotel and cruise accommodations, meals, sightseeing and entrance fees.

Contact: UCLA Alumni Travel, Westwood; 800-825-2586, www.uclalumni.net.

Saddle up for vacation at castle in Ireland

Gallop through the woods and sleep in a castle in the foothills of Ireland.

The seven-night equestrian trips, which are offered year-round, are based at Kinnitty Castle. Riders venture out on the 10,000-acre estate’s trails. The castle is in the Slieve Bloom Mountains west of Dublin.

Optional activities include golf, fishing, falconry, game hunting, tennis and hiking.

Cost: $2,380 per person, double occupancy ($395 single surcharge), including accommodations, some meals, guided rides, horse and tack. International airfare is not included.

Contact: Cross Country International, Millbrook, NY; 800-828-8768, www.equestrianvacations.com.

Travel classes, seminars

Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door hosts free travel classes from 10 to 11:30 a.m. most Saturdays at the Edmonds Theater, 415 Main St., Edmonds.