The last two days have been a whirlwind of sightseeing, class projects, celebrations, and other Kodak moments (meaning tons of photos in this blog post--see below)! On Thursday and Friday, students did not have regular class, and instead engaged in a two day-long project on the Forbidden City (Gugong). On Thursday, students spent all day at the Forbidden City, and on Friday, they made presentations on their chosen topic about the Forbidden City.
On Thursday morning, students had tai-chi class (for the East China students, this was their last tai-chi class) and then boarded the bus for the Forbidden City. After a long and crowded walk through Tiananmen Square, we finally made it to the Forbidden City, an imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty until the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was built in the 15th century and its architecture is exemplary of Chinese palatial architecture of the time. Before touring the huge site, students attended an academic lecture by an expert from the Palace Museum. Students learned about the history of the site, the architecture (including the imperial axis, who could go through which gates, etc.), the celebrations, and more. They also became experts at identifying pebble mosaics which had everything from pumpkins to bicycles on them. Many of the images stood for harmony, power, and most importantly, longevity.
On Thursday morning, students had tai-chi class (for the East China students, this was their last tai-chi class) and then boarded the bus for the Forbidden City. After a long and crowded walk through Tiananmen Square, we finally made it to the Forbidden City, an imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty until the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was built in the 15th century and its architecture is exemplary of Chinese palatial architecture of the time. Before touring the huge site, students attended an academic lecture by an expert from the Palace Museum. Students learned about the history of the site, the architecture (including the imperial axis, who could go through which gates, etc.), the celebrations, and more. They also became experts at identifying pebble mosaics which had everything from pumpkins to bicycles on them. Many of the images stood for harmony, power, and most importantly, longevity.
Afterwards, students formed groups based on four themes concerning the Forbidden City: Architecture and the Forbidden City, Chinese Culture and the Forbidden City, Forbidden City as Home, Forbidden City as Seat of Power. Each group of 3-4 students was accompanied by a teacher. From there, they were given three hours to explore the Forbidden City as well as complete a photo scavenger hunt on their chosen theme. Students utilized their Chinese skills in asking for directions around the huge and very crowded site.
After the scavenger hunt, the students met at the back of the Forbidden City to head back to the Yucai School.
On Friday, students met at school and had about two hours to meet with their groups and prepare a presentation on the Forbidden City and their experiences of life in Beijing. Students collected photos and each student wrote up their portion of the presentation entirely in Chinese. With the help of the Chinese teachers, they incorporated recently learned vocabulary and grammar structures into their presentations.
On Friday, students met at school and had about two hours to meet with their groups and prepare a presentation on the Forbidden City and their experiences of life in Beijing. Students collected photos and each student wrote up their portion of the presentation entirely in Chinese. With the help of the Chinese teachers, they incorporated recently learned vocabulary and grammar structures into their presentations.
 |  |
Some students took a break to embark on a fish-saving mission in the pond by our classrooms!
Then at 10 AM, the presentations began. All the students did a wonderful job speaking entirely in Chinese and according to the teachers, you could see how far the students had come in just two weeks of language classes!
 |  |
 |  |
Afterwards, the departing East China students were each presented with a surprise gift--their own calligraphy work matted and made into a scroll!
 |  |
As this was the East China students' last day at the Yucai School, there were many hugs and goodbyes, both between East China and Beijing students and between East China students and their teachers.
Then students headed to lunch, to be met by yet another surprise--cake for Abby and Olivia's birthdays! The students and teachers all sung Happy Birthday to the twins in Chinese.
 |  |
Finally, the students left the Yucai School to spend their free afternoon at the park, shopping, or at the museum. Outside the school, the Beijing and East China students snapped pictures with each other, as many would not see each other for the next two weeks.
RSS Feed