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In September, we once again hosted 3 student groups from Leman International School (Chengdu). This year we added two more destinations to our student trip tour products: Shangri-la and Songpan.
This student trip was designed as a cultural and service tour. Our goal was to help the students to develop a sense of responsibility for community service along with an introduction to Tibetan culture, history and lifestyle. The students explored the old city together, visited Songzanlin Monastery, and made a trip to the Shambala Tibetan Cultural Museum. At the Thanka painting center, the students had a chance to try their hand at traditional Thangka painting and to learn about the history of Tibetan Buddhism.
One of the highlights was helping a local farmer pick potatoes. They prepared for the trip by fundraising in order to buy food for the Shangri La Orphanage. At the orphanage, they enjoyed playing, dancing and talking with the kids. This trip helped the students gain an appreciation for their own life and it developed in them a consciousness and eagerness to help others.
Grade 8-9 student trip to Amdo Tibetan area of Heishui was a rewarding trip. Our goal of the trip was to help the students develop their outdoor survival skills along with their knowledge of Tibetan culture and geography. The students thrived on the challenge of setting up camp for the first night and cooking their own food over the campfire.
They visited a local Tibetan Buddhist monastery, ate lunch with a local Tibetan family, and experienced the beauty of Heishui Glacier Park by taking a gondola to the base of the glacier at 4,800m. A particular highlight at the glacier park was snow, which some of the students had never seen before! While their bodies struggled to find oxygen at this elevation, they had a lot of fun making snowmen and throwing snowballs!
Grade 6-7 trip to Muni Valley was a huge success. Our goal was a fun adventure that exposed the students to new environments, ideas, and plenty of culture! Over four days the students visited the memorial museum of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Taoping Qiang Village, Muni Tibetan valley, Zhaga waterfall, and Songpan old town. They enjoyed the unique cultural experience of staying at a local Tibetan family’s guest house, and they helped the family make a traditional dinner.
They also helped the family pick mushrooms and vegetables from a nearby mountain field. Experiencing such a different environment was stretching for some of the kids, but they quickly learned to adapt and appreciate a lifestyle that is more common than many of them realized. Along the way, they gained more awareness of the diversity of Sichuan’s local cultures as well!