Learning Chinese Beyond the Classroom: GCI Students Explore Shanghai and Hangzhou

For the participants, the journey offered an opportunity to take Chinese beyond the classroom and experience different aspects of Chinese culture, society, and everyday life firsthand.

At Fudan University, students learned practical expressions for travelling and everyday communication and explored the rhythm and beauty of the Chinese language through Chinese songs.

By the final class, each student was able to give a short presentation in Chinese about their journey, sharing memorable experiences and personal impressions. What they had learned in the classroom gradually became a language they could use to describe their own experiences.

The programme also included a wide range of hands-on cultural activities, including Chinese calligraphy and painting, lacquer fan making, cloisonné enamel art, Chinese cooking, dragon and lion dance, sword practice, and Chinese film appreciation. Through these activities, students encountered Chinese culture not simply as something to observe, but as something they could create, practise, and experience for themselves.

Beyond the university campus, Shanghai and Hangzhou became another kind of classroom.

In Shanghai, the group visited SAIC Volkswagen to learn about modern automobile production and international industrial cooperation. In Hangzhou, a visit to Tongqu Technology offered students a closer look at technological innovation and the role of digital technology in contemporary Chinese society.

The group also explored cultural and historical landmarks, including the East Building of the Shanghai Museum, the Bund, Yuyuan Garden, Zhujiajiao Ancient Town, West Lake, Lingyin Temple, Feilai Peak, and the Longjing tea fields.

Moving between modern companies, museums, ancient towns, temples, city skylines, and tea fields allowed participants to encounter the diversity of China firsthand, from traditional culture to modern urban development, and from fast-paced city life to the quieter landscapes of Hangzhou.

The Summer Camp concluded on August 21 with a closing ceremony at Fudan University. Students reflected on their two-week journey in Chinese and shared performances to celebrate the end of the programme.

Professor Hu Wenhua, Deputy Director of the Confucius Institute Office of Fudan University, noted that a shared passion for Chinese had brought the students together in China and highlighted the role of language in promoting communication and mutual understanding between cultures.

On behalf of GCI, group leader Liuqing Yang thanked the Center for Language Education and Cooperation for its support and Fudan University for its warm hospitality and careful organisation. She encouraged the students to continue learning Chinese and to share their experiences in China with their friends and families after returning home.

This was the first “Chinese Bridge” student Summer Camp hosted by Fudan University for GCI since Fudan University joined the cooperation supporting the Institute. More than a study trip, the programme gave students the opportunity to connect what they had learned in the Netherlands with real experiences in China.

For more information about the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp or activities at the Groningen Confucius Institute, please contact info@confuciusgroningen.nl.