Culture & History: China

Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai each tell a different chapter of China's history, philosophy, art and language.

In Xi'an, students study the Terracotta Warriors and the Silk Road's role connecting China to the wider world. In Beijing, the Great Wall anchors the historical narrative, alongside the influence of Confucius and Mencius, whose ideas on morality, intellect and society still shape Chinese thought and education today. Students also visit traditional craft schools to learn papermaking and woodblock printing directly from practising artisans.

The trip also introduces students to Chu culture, the Three Kingdoms period (220 to 280 CE), the historical Tea Horse Road, and traditional Chinese medicine, connecting centuries of history to how China understands itself today.

In Shanghai, students see how a fast-modernising city sits alongside deep culinary tradition, and experience Xinzhou Daoqing, a traditional Chinese performing art combining storytelling, singing and acting.