Learning about the culture of another country is one thing but being able to go and experience it is life-changing.
Here is an overview of my trip to China after being invited by Xi Jinping.

We set out for our journey on January 22, 2024. We took two flights, one from Chicago to New York, and one from New York to China. Can you imagine being on an airplane for 16 hours? We officially landed in China on January 24, 2024.

On our first day, we went to a giant panda zoo. The pandas weren’t very active but they were adorable to watch. Did you know that China owns all the giant pandas in the world?

After the zoo, we went to the Center for Language Education and Cooperation where we met Chinese students and had our welcome celebration. The vice minister and education minister welcomed us with background information on how China’s relationship started with Muscatine. I was lucky enough to shake the Minister of Education, Huai Jinpeng’s, hand as he welcomed us.

On our second day, we got up early and had to have everything packed. Our plan for the day was to see the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. When we arrived at the Wall it was chilly and very windy. The stairs were very steep and tiring to climb but the scenery was worth it. The Great Wall has been around for nearly 3,000 years, and to be able to see and walk on it was unbelievable. After spending a few hours at the Wall we went to get lunch. The restaurant we ate at was a total of five stories high. We got to eat at the very top. There was a variety of food such as rice, dumplings, noodles, stew, and more.

After lunch, we went to the Forbidden City, the Heart of Bejing. It measures up to 3,153 ft from north to south and 2,470 ft from east to west.
When we finished touring the city we went to the train station where we took a bullet train to Shijiazhuang. We went to our sister school, Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School. We were welcomed with a beautiful performance of our national anthem followed by theirs. The students performed martial arts, opera, and music.

The next day we toured the Shijiazhuang school with the students. Their campus has elementary, middle, and high school buildings. We expolered the school with our partners and then had a meeting where the Vice Governor welcomed us. When the meeting ended we quickly ate and headed to the airport to go to Shanghai.

We spent the last three days in Shanghai. We toured the Shanghai tower which is the second tallest building in the world. That same day we got to explore the World Skills Museum along with an urban planning museum. The Yu Garden was a beautiful historic landmark that we got to see aswell. On our last day, we attended an awards ceremony on a yacht with college students on the exchange program. We met again with the minister of education and college professors.

This trip was such a beautiful and educational experience and I would like to thank all those who made it possible. A special thanks to our chaperones, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Edkin, and Mrs. Freidley. I would like to especially thank Mrs. Kuo for everything leading up to this trip.