The first Haileybury Rendall School China Study Tour
20 students and 4 staff left Australian shores in September on the last day of Term 3 for a 9-day tour taking in Beijing and Tianjin. Little did we know that we were in for such a deep and authentic learning experience.
A highlight for staff was watching the group of Years 9-12 form positive relationships not only with one another, but with their new friends and buddies from Haileybury Tianjin.
There is nothing like living in a boarding environment together to ignite learning and laughter. Watching students eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together all the while using a mixture of English and Mandarin in order to communicate with one another was a great example of the experiential learning that HRS deeply values.
But don’t take it from me…here’s what our students had to say:
“China was a pretty big culture shock, but we got used to it!”
“A highlight was the Tiananmen Square Flag Raising Ceremony, which regularly turns out over 60,000 people! This has happened every day since 1st October, 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was first established.”
“The amazing Forbidden City, which has been the home of countless Chinese emperors since it was built over 604 years ago. Covering a staggering 720,000 square meters, it is built on the direct centerline of Beijing. It was my highlight!”
“Something really unique to Beijing were the Hutongs, which are narrow streets filled with rich history and culture, and even more crammed with people living the traditional Beijing way. There, we met a lady who is incredibly skilled in the traditional Chinese game called Jianzi. This was followed by a nail-biting ride around a lake on a trishaw.”
“We were all excited about visiting one of the 7 new wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China. The Chinese have a saying, “If you don’t visit the Great Wall, you’re not a hero.” It’s easy to feel like one while you’re standing on top of history. Getting off the wall was possibly the most fun we had all day, where we tobogganed all the way down!”
“My favourite destination of the trip was the Summer Palace. To put it into perspective, the Summer Palace is four times larger than the Forbidden City, and was a gift from a Chinese emperor to his mother, the Dragon Lady. This put my Mother’s Day gifts to shame! The palace brought upon a sense of both history."
"We were all so excited to attend Haileybury Tianjin, where we got paired up with our buddies. My buddy was Louis, who tried so hard to help me understand even little parts of the class. I was totally out of my depth but had a ton of fun!"
Since Tianjin does VCE just like us, their classes were incredibly similar to how ours are administered. However, what I really took note of was the fact that there were designated sections of the school that were “English only.” I was also pleasantly surprised by the proficiency of the students’ English, and we were able to effectively communicate with each other in both English and Chinese. Overall, I think it was helpful to all of us that went.”
“After classes finished for the day at 4.00 pm, we all went out to the sports area and taught our new buddies how to play AFL; which was much harder than expected. I don’t think they got the concept of handballing. Despite a few hiccups with the rules, we had plenty of fun with our weird NRL/AFL amalgamation of a game, since they didn’t have goalposts. Every night after afternoon activities, students have compulsory night study from 7 o’clock to 9 o’clock, which will never make me complain about staying back after school for Maths or English help ever again!”
“Day 7 was real fun, with us all being able to dress up in traditional Chinese royal attire. Beauty does come at a cost though, because let me tell you, it was HOT in those things. We went out to Beihai Park for our little outing, catching the attention of dozens of locals. I thought that the photos were bad enough while we were out in public wearing normal clothes, but this was next level.
“Leaving Beijing was quite bittersweet, as we had made so many friends, learned a variety of things about the world and its history, and seen and experienced a different culture in such a rich way.”
“It was such an amazing experience that we are both so grateful to be able to experience, and we would like to thank Ms Pearson, Mr Shangguan, Mr Zeng and Ms Barry for allowing us to experience such a rich and vibrant culture. It’s something that none of us will ever forget!”
Thank you, wonderful students!