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| East-West sent a teacher and three students to China this year. From China 2011 |
As a member of the Confucius Classroom Network, East-West was able to send three students and a teacher to China for ten days to travel and learn more about Chinese culture and history. Here is an excerpt from their experience, courtesy of Mr. Bantz, the supervising teacher:
"Our first full day in China has come to an end. Everyone is doing well and things have been smooth. It's hard to believe that we only arrived yesterday as we have already done so much.
After breakfast at the hotel, we took our charter bus to Beijing's Hutong district. The Hutong district is reminiscent of typical old Beijing: residences are centered around courtyards, which are connected to each other by narrow alleyways which are only navigable by bicycle or on foot, creating maze-like neighborhoods (do a quick Google search for Hutong to find out more).
We paired off and took bicycle rickshaws through the narrow streets of the Hutong area, where buses cannot travel. We were guided around a typical courtyard area, but the students were more interested in peering down the many narrow alleyways that we were not shown as we passed by in the bicycle rickshaw. We also visited the Beijing Confucius Temple, where the students appeared impressed by the traditional architecture of the temple complex buildings and the layout of the space between the buildings.
After a lunch of typical Chinese dishes shared by passing around a Lazy Susan, we visited the headquarters of Hanban, the sponsor of our trip. At Hanban, we explored interactive exhibits about Chinese culture; students generated paper-cut animals based on their birth year, tried on Peking Opera costumes, and rang old Chinese bells, among other activities."
View more photos from their trip! This album will be continually updated during their ten day stay.