Cultural Exchange Trip to China is Packed Full of Fun, Culture and Learning

Twenty-two students and two faculty members, myself and Upper School Science teacher Xiao Zhang, traveled to China from Friday, March 20 to Sunday, April 5. 

Some of the highlights of this trip included taking a campus tour of Peking University, one of the top two universities in China and a top-ranked research university in the world; visiting the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, the political center of China since the 13th century; climbing the Great Wall; exploring the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding; having hot pot in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, where hot pot started, and taking a Sichuan cuisine cooking lesson; viewing an estate in Hangzhou that has been growing tea continuously for more than 300 years; and admiring the West Lake in Hangzhou, famous in China for its scenic beauty and inspiring many works of poetry. 

On this language and culture exchange trip, students experienced China, both “old” and “new,” “north” and “south,” “coast” and “interior.” All four cities we visited have thousands of years of history with traditional architecture and modern city centers and business districts. Students took a bullet train from Ningbo to Hangzhou, completing a 90-mile trip in 50 minutes. Students sampled four different styles of cuisine, with Beijing in the northern interior, famous for its Peking duck; Ningbo on the east coast, known for its seafood and Tangyuan (a glutinous rice ball with various fillings); Chengdu in the interior Southwest, recognized for its Sichuan cuisine and spicy hot pot; and Hangzhou in eastern China, very close to the coast, celebrated for its tea. Students enjoyed tea at a teahouse with the locals in a public park in Chengdu, renowned for its slower lifestyle than its coastal peers. And who can forget using a squat toilet and a bidet on the same day?

A five-day homestay with host families in Ningbo was the undisputed central event of this trip. Each student started talking to their host exchange student and family months earlier. During the homestay, each host family took their visiting Parker student to various cultural and nature attractions in Ningbo. Parker students also experienced two days of classes with their host students, including special music and calligraphy classes planned by our host school, Yinzhou High School; school lunches; and science demonstrations. After a friendly basketball game with Yinzhou High’s school team, both schools’ students jointly staged performances for the farewell party and made dumplings together. 

There were also many spontaneous opportunities for language and culture exchange with the locals on public transportation and locations we visited. A highlight was our chance encounter with school field trips in Chengdu when our students got “mobbed” by the 2nd graders. 

For many of us, the trip ended too quickly. But I am working on facilitating an exchange for host students to visit Chicago so we can return the hospitality we received in China.