Love Boat (study Tour) - History of Program

History of Program

The program was first started in 1967 by the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission in a joint project with the China Youth Corps. The primary goal of the program was to acquaint, or re-acquaint, young people of Chinese descent living in other parts of the world with Chinese culture and language. Thus, participants take brief courses in language and arts, attend lectures, and take scenic tours of Taiwan. This however, is the popular perception of the program. The alternate and original purpose for the Taiwan Government's subsidizing of the program was to shore up overseas support for its cross-strait political policies, particularly those of the Kuomintang (KMT) party in regards to its tense relations with China. Accordingly, participants were to attend lectures on cross-strait relations which others might perceive as propaganda. Beyond this, the study tour is most famous, even infamous, for what goes on at night, after the classes and sightseeing take place.

It is rumored that some participants engage in sexually promiscuous activity although several eventually ended up marrying each other (hence the Love Boat nickname). Several unplanned pregnancies were documented on the 1996 study tour which resulted in more stringent rules for subsequent tours; including rules against the opposite sex being present in the same dorm room and more strictly enforced curfews. The tour is currently overseen by a dozen or so counselors whose responsibilities include rule enforcement, event planning, herding the program participants around on outings and rousing them from their sleep in the mornings. However, repeated violations of the rules sometimes turned some of the counselors apathetic; without choice, they often had to turn a blind eye to inappropriate minor misdeeds as the sheer volume of these violations became simply unmanageable. People have been sent home if the violations are significant enough.