page_title: Love Boat (study tour)
section_title: Changes from 2013 to current program
hierarchical_section_title: Love Boat (study tour) / Changes from 2013 to current program
caption_attribution_description: English: A typical Study Tour mandarin language class.
context_page_description: The Overseas Compatriot Youth Taiwan Study Tour to Taiwan, informally known as the Love Boat, is currently a three-week summer program for about 70 to 100 College-aged Overseas Chinese and Overseas Taiwanese. In Chinese, it is also colloquially referred to as Měi-Jiā-yíng – “America and Canada Camp” – a reference to the origin of most participants. The program is held at the Chientan Youth Activity Center in Taipei which is not to be confused with Jiantan subway station.
context_section_description: The documentary "Loveboat Taiwan" further goes on to describe the dwindling number of students attending the Study Tour during the late 2000s up to the last larger-scale Study Tour year in 2013 which numbered at about 350 participants.  The number of Study Tour attendees dropped drastically after that year and currently sits at around 70-100 students accepted each summer.  Ironically, the current Study Tour being organized annually is similar in size to the very first Study Tour held in 1967 and is currently named "Overseas Compatriot Youth Taiwan Study Tour."  It is now solely run by the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) of Taiwan and according to its official website the Study Tour is now only a 3 week long program with an age group of between 18 and 25 years old.  It is also just one of the OCAC's many "expatriate" programs it runs for visiting international students in the summer and throughout the year. Due to the shorter period of time, language training is less stressed than in previous years and with comparatively less emphasis on cross-straight relations.  With far fewer cultural classes offered as in past Study Tours due to the much smaller number of students, the current Tour focuses on introducing participants to Taiwan history, culture, landmarks, and also includes "participation in earth environmental activities and charitable activities" as described in the OCAC's application form. Participants also get the unique opportunity to visit the Office of the President of Taiwan, re-establishing the important historical link between Overseas Chinese and Taiwanese to Taiwan's goal of establishing greater international support and recognition.
  Even though Chinese communities in North America now enjoy greater mainstream acceptance than they did over 50 years ago, and despite the fact modern Chinese North Americans youths may take associating with each other for granted as well as an unquestioned way of life, the goals and endeavours of the Taiwan Study Tour remain the same.
caption: A typical Study Tour Mandarin language class