CCI China Trip 2019
10 June 2019
In April 2019, a group of 15 students took part in the Cardiff Confucius Institute China Trip.
Each year Cardiff Confucius Institute organises a trip to China for students on part time Chinese courses for adults or Languages for All Chinese programmes. The trip is an opportunity to travel to at least two cities in China, to learn and practice the language first-hand, and to experience life on a University campus.
This year, 15 students took park in the 14-day trip, spending the first ten days living on the Xiamen University Campus, learning Chinese and experiencing life as a student in China.
Following their time in Xiamen, they visited Shanghai for three days during which they undertook sight-seeing activities and put into practice their newly acquired Chinese vocabulary.
Susan Glendinning who is studying Chinese through the University's adult education programme said "the trip was a perfect balance between being a student and being a tourist; we had some language lessons, with homework to test out what we had learnt on unsuspecting students, and on days we went sigh-seeing or off campus we could try out our Mandarin on locals and street vendors. I even had a go at bargaining for a rather extravagant shirt!"
You can find out more about what the students got up to by watching our China Trip Video 2019.
One of the students, Wayne Donovan, enjoyed his experience so much that he has since decided to apply for a scholarship at Xiamen University: "I personally enjoyed my time so much that I am applying to study here full time. I want to improve my Chinese and while I was at Xiamen I introduced myself to the admissions office. They kindly showed me some courses that I might be able to apply for and encouraged me to come back. So I'm in the process of submitting my application..."
The China Trip is a fantastic way for students to immerse themselves in the language that they are learning and to learn more about the Chinese culture and way of life. With the support of Hanban and Cardiff University, Cardiff Confucius Institute hopes to continue to provide such opportunities to Chinese language learners for many years to come.
