China Trips: Roughing it in Qingyuan (Grade 9)

China Trips have been held annually at AISG and this year, 9^th graders were lucky enough to travel to a nearby town located in Guangdong province which is enriched with local Chinese culture. This town called Qingyuan has ancient architecture and traditions waiting for visitors to explore, as well as fun activities that required some people to step out of their comfort zones. Although this year’s 9^th grade China trip was rough at times, we all had a great time learning and experiencing new things.

During the 5-day China trip, we had a chance to rock climb, hike, camp, cave, bike, go sightseeing, and do community service such as building a library (this was different for each group). For most of the students their favorite activities were rocking climbing and biking. Both of these activities were separated into ability groupings, with the experienced on the hard track and the unexperienced with the teachers. Qingyuan was a great trip for all the climbers and bikers, but for the first group of campers, it was not a pleasant journey since a thunderstorm struck in the middle of the night, forcing everyone to leave at midnight. The second group of campers didn’t have it well either, as they had to sleep on concrete floors due to the flood in the camping area. Although the activities were amazing and overall satisfying, people have different takes on the accommodations in Qingyuan. I asked a few of my friends their thoughts about the hotel and I got mixed responses of, “Oh, the hotel is gross,” or, “Thank god we only had to live there for four days,” and “I really missed home when I stayed there.” For me, I’m fairly neutral on this situation, but I would be much happier and satisfied with this China trip if we could’ve just gotten a better hotel, considering the fact that half of the students’ hotel bathrooms were clogged.

Overall, this trip taught us a great deal about how to expand ourselves, and why we should give back to the community. The Qingyuan trip was not bad, and we are ready to face any challenges the China trip next year will give us.