The vehicles were lined up at the curb near the Claflin University campus as luggage was unloaded.

Ashley Moore, Claflin rising junior and mass communication major, excitedly waved and jumped up and down before giving her friend and fellow rising junior Cortney McEntire a hug.

Despite the summer-like heat, Friday was filled with Christmas-like anticipation as the two girls prepared to embark on a trip of a lifetime to the Far East with 28 of their fellow Claflin University Concert Choir colleagues and 10 adults.

“I have heard a lot about going across the waters,” Moore said. “I am excited about going and just seeing everything. I have never been out of the country. Now, flying I don’t have a problem with, but it is a long period of time. I am very excited. I wish we could go now.”

The choir will be making a 10-day tour of China as part of a pre-Olympic tribute with stops and performances in Xi’an, Shanghai and Beijing along with other choirs from across the state and nation in what is being called a “Stunning Choral Tribute to the 2008 Beijing Olympics: Perform in Harmony with Olympic Spirit.”

The choral tour will be June 8-18 and include stops at Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall of China and the Ancient Warriors Museum, a collection of 8,100 larger-than-life Chinese terra-cotta figures of warriors and horses dating to the Third Century B.C. The students will also be able to experience Chinese culture through the viewing of a Chinese opera.

The Olympic games begin Aug. 8 and run through Aug. 24.

Moore said while she is concerned about jet lag, excitement has prevailed.

“I am so glad to be learning about a new culture,” Moore said. “I can’t wait to see the Great Wall of China and the terra-cotta soldiers.”

The international opportunity, she said, will be a chance to showcase Claflin.

“It will be a chance to say the choir at Claflin is international,” she said. “We can show that we are a big choir and we are doing big things.”

Cortney McEntire, a business finance major and Spartanburg resident, said she has flown to Texas and Minnesota before but such a long trip is the first.

“I want to see how different cultures work,” she said. “It will be a learning experience, really, for all. It is a privilege to be able to represent our school. I hope we will represent well.”

Prior to their departure, the students were treated to a farewell ceremony at Kleist Hall on campus with a Claflin University Concert Choir banner wishing the world travelers zai jian, or “Bye, Bye” in Chinese.

Chinese music and small flags of the nation were joined with periodic hoots and hollers as the students voiced their excitement. Chinese rice was among the dishes served for attendees.

The students assembled on a bus Friday evening for the trip to Atlanta, where they will take a 6:10 a.m. scheduled Saturday flight out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The students will fly to Toronto, Canada for a six-hour layover before heading to China.

The flight to China is expected to be about 15 hours with the entire trip totaling 22 hours. China is 12 hours ahead of Orangeburg.

“It is a dream come true for me to be able to take Claflin’s choir across the waters,” Choir Director Dr. Isaiah McGee said. “It is especially historic because of the Olympics. It is a special time for Claflin University in its history and development. It is a new direction for the institution and one of those directions is an international audience and awareness of Claflin University.”

McGee expressed his thanks to the community for its financial, emotional and prayerful support in making the trip possible.

“I hope they realize the investment they are making is going to go a long way,” he said.

Claflin University President Dr. Henry Tisdale noted that back in 1995, the choir toured Europe. But he said the trip to China is historic in light of the Olympics.

“This is a defining moment in your educational experience,” Tisdale told the choir during the farewell. “We will open the windows to the world in developing men and women of vision able to compete in a global and technological society.”

Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller described the China tour as a “grand experience.”

“You will represent not only Claflin University but the city of Orangeburg,” Miller said. “This is a very, very worthwhile event and one that you will remember for the rest of your lives.”

Prior to the departure, the choir rehearsed and received a crash course in Chinese culture, common phrases in the language and international law.

Information was also available for the students from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, about China and Beijing.

“It is very crash,” Moore said, about the learning of the Chinese language. She said the only phrases she knows are “I don’t know” and “I don’t want that.”

In addition to being excited about the trip, Moore said she is curious.

“I am not too keen on this food situation,” she said, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. “I know they eat every part of the animal. I am not too sure about that.”

One thing that will feel like home, though, is the weather.

Forecasts for the Chinese capital Beijing for the next seven days are that temperatures will be sunny and in the upper 90s.

Mom Bonita Moore said she is excited and proud for all the students.

“I am very excited for them to see another part of the world which may make them appreciate the United States of America,” she said. “I am sure that we will all plan for them to have a safe journey and to come back with more knowledge. This is a South Carolina thing.”

While some have flown, for others it will be their first time on a plane.

Nequasia Reeves, a rising sophomore majoring in music with a concentration in vocals, said she is nervous yet excited and ready for the trip.

“I am just nervous for everything,” Reeves said. “I am the type of person who likes everything to go smoothly, and sometimes it does not happen. I am prepared for whatever.”

Reeves said seeing different cultures will be a great experience.

“I am kind of worried about the food,” she said, noting that some individuals have shed some rather mysterious advice over the past few weeks. “I love food but they have said watch out for this and watch out for that. I really am waiting on to see what we will be able to eat and what we can’t eat.”

Brandon Chandler, a rising junior majoring in management information systems, said the flight will also be his first.

“I am very excited,” he said. “I can’t wait to get on the plane and fly overseas. It is a first-time experience for me. I am definitely looking forward to it. I am not scared at all.”

When asked what he most looks forward to, without any hesitation Chandler said “the Great Wall.”

“I have read up on it, and it took a lot of construction, a lot of manpower to built something of this magnitude,” he said. “I want to take pictures of it and hold it in my memories forever.”

Chandler says he takes the responsibility of taking Claflin pride overseas seriously.

“I want to show them, not only Claflin but Orangeburg and South Carolina ... what we are all about and how we do things at a historically black college and university,” he said. “We want to take what we learn here from them and in return they give us what they know and we all learn from one another.”

While Friday’s departure was a joyous event, the opportunity to make the trip was once in question.

About $200,000 stood between the students and China, but “Claflin Confidence” left little doubt in the minds of the choir members the trip to China would become reality.

Each student had to raise about $1,000 toward the goal, which they accomplished.

“I asked church, family and friends, and I was just blessed enough to get all my $1,000 and more,” said Moore, adding that ever since December she has been aggressively raising money toward her goal.

With this achieved, how would the additional funds be raised?

The choir did what they do best ... sing.

They sang at churches, meetings, breakfasts, reunions and anywhere else they were invited. They sang in the morning, they sang in the afternoon, they sang in the evening.

In between, the choir members washed cars, held bake sales and sold copies of their CD, “Hehleylloyuh.”

Donations were also received from local communities and businesses, including attire, goodwill bags, pharmaceutical kits, luggage tags and name badges.

The university received the invitation to participate in the tour from Dr. Larry Wyatt, director of choral studies at the University of South Carolina, during a spring concert the two universities participated in together. Wyatt is leading the festival.

Claflin is believed to be the only Historically Black College and University to be invited to go to China.

The Claflin University Concert Choir tours annually and has performed across the United States, including New York, Detroit, Ohio and Florida.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551.

You must be logged in to comment.