http://travel.state.gov/passport/download_applications.html
Generally speaking, if you have a passport that is valid through December 2005, you need do nothing other than have that passport available in a few days.
If you do not have a passport, hit the website http://travel.state.gov/passport/download_applications.html. Details are provided there. To get a passport, you'll need to take two passport-sized photos (available at most quick-copy places, Walgreen's and CVS, Walmart, and the like) to a US Post Office. In Muncie, passport applications are only accepted at the Memorial Drive post office, and only during certain hours. CALL FIRST! You must also take two original forms of ID, such as your original birth certificate (or a certified copy), a previous passport, a military ID card. Click http://travel.state.gov/passport/get_first.html for more details on your first passport.
Passports take time! If you don't have one, you need to apply for one by the end of September. We must have the passports in hand by early December or there's great danger you won't be granted a visa to perform in China!