While the rest of Harvard jets south this Spring Break, President Neil L. Rudenstine will be heading east, on a historic week-long swing through East Asia.

Rudenstine will spend the week visiting universities and alumni groups in mainland China, Taiwan and the newly-Chinese province of Hong Kong.

Rudenstine said he had been contemplating a trip to East Asia for some time, intending it as a complement to a trip through Western Europe last year.

He said plans for this trip began to solidify after he received an invitation from the President of Peking University to speak at the institution's 100th anniversary celebration.

This invitation was extended a year and a half ago, according to Rudenstine, but he said the association between the two schools extends back to 1898, when Harvard faculty and administrators assisted in the founding of Peking University.

Rudenstine said he will speak to an audience of about 800 faculty and students during the centennial celebration, before leaving Beijing to visit universities in the Chinese cities of Fudang and Tsinghua.

He said it was unclear whether he would be able to meet with Chinese President Jiang Zemin while in Beijing. During his November visit to Harvard, Jiang invited Rudenstine to make a reciprocal visit to China.

"It's possible [that the meeting will take place], but it's not clear [whether] he'll be there," Rudenstine said. "We'll have to wait on his schedule--most of his itinerary is already set."

Other stops in China will include Beijing's historic Forbidden City, archaeological excavations and speeches to Harvard alumni groups in the Chinese capital. Rudenstine will meet separately with two alumni groups, divided into those who graduated before the 1948 communist revolution and those who graduated after.

When his plane lands in Beijing, Rudenstine will become the first Harvard president to visit China while in office.

"From the University's point of view, it's historic," he said. "I think this is probably the most extensive East Asian trip [for a Harvard president]."

After leaving China, Rudenstine will makesimilar stops in Taiwan and Hong Kong, visitingmuseums, alumni groups and other universities.

Rudenstine said he plans to make another EastAsian trip later this year, visiting South Korea,Japan and the northern Chinese city of Shanghai.

He will be accompanied on both trips byProfessor of History William C. Kirby and FordProfessor of the Social Sciences Ezra F. Vogel.Vogel oversaw Jiang's visit and is currentlydirector of the Fairbank Center for East AsianStudies