The first of week of October celebrated the Autumn Festival in all of China, and it gave our students the opportunity to travel all over China and explore Beijing even further! Students shared with us how their trip went, how much it cost and what their favorite part of it was:
Amanda C., Amanda C. (Seattle University) and Elizabeth W. (University of San Francisco) traveled to Guilin, Guangxi for six days and were part of an organized tour group. They traveled in hard seat trains, which cost 532 kuai round-trip. Amanda Cotter’s favorite part of the trip was “Traveling to the Longji rice terraces and chopping down bamboo to make our bamboo rice.”
Brendan R. (John Caroll University), Mike H. (Loyola University Chicago), and Jamie C. (Fairfield University) also traveled to the South of China, going to Dali, Yunnan before heading to Shanghai. They spent four days in Dali and three days in Shanghai and their transportation cost was about $600 to $700. “As cheap as we tried to keep the trip, it was definitely worth it to splurge on at least one meal during the week. Also, traveling is best done with some friends to share the experience (and cost),” Brendan said. His favorite part of the trip was that “There was something interesting or incredible around every corner. Dali had amazing natural scenery and Shanghai’s cityscape was surreal from the rooftops. Exploring the city for cool places to eat, drink, or just hangout always kept us busy.”
Kate H., Adrienne H. (Seattle University), Liam W., Brian V. Collin L. (Gonzaga University), Reed P. (Boston College), Tyler L. (Le Moyne College), Kaisara W. (Loyola Marymount University), Sarah S. and Almudena R. (Loyola University Chicago) traveled Zhangjiajie National Forest Park for four days. Read more about their trip here!
Some students, including Verica E., Vukica E., Maggie D., (Loyola University Chicago) and Valeria F. (Universidad Javeriana) decided to stay in Beijing and explore its neighborhoods and attractions more. They spent around 800 RMB in food, shopping, and transportation and visited a lot of places, like the Beijing Zoo (which was only 9 RMB!), the 798 Art District, and the Nan Luo Gu Xiang Hutong, where they ate delicious traditional Beijing food. Stay tuned for a more detailed post about their stay in Beijing.
Want to know more? Check out the students’ travel photos!
Over this past weekend, some of our students enrolled at Minzu University of China took their annual Spring Outing – this year, to Gubei Water Town. Situated about a 2-hour drive northeast of Beijing, the April weather made it absolutely perfect to explore for a spring outing. It surrounds various canals and offshoots of Yuanyang lake.
If you ever want to get a taste of Old Beijing, by far one of the best ways is to visit the hutongs. They’ve conceptually been around all the way since the 1200s, and in their most modern forms exist as protected alleyways and streets surrounded by old traditional houses and neighborhoods in the heart of Beijing and are recognized in China to be an important part of cultural heritage in the city.