The Northern Illinois University Alumni Association is sponsoring tours to the Orient and Europe for DeKalb residents and NIU students this spring, and the association has dubbed the European trip “Monuments, Masterpieces and Old Master.”

Ross Guest, NIU professor emeritus of geography, will lead the tour to China’s capital Beijing, the Forbidden City and Shanghai April 5 to 25.

“We will travel not as tourists but under the sponsorship of the Chinese Ministry of Education. That status accords us both a special welcome and rates well below what the comparable commercial traveler would pay,” Guest said.

Susan Lund, executive director of the alumni association, said some alumni visited China 18 months ago.

The chinese tour costs $3,625 for members of the NIU Alumni Association. Non-members will pay $3,835.

The Greece and Holland tour costs $2,125 for contributing alumni and $2,200 for non-members.

Both tours require a $200 deposit.