My Experience at Chinese Summer Camp as an ABC

In the summer of 2019, I traveled to China to participate in a two-week summer camp program. During that time, I had the chance to meet new friends, experience the Chinese student lifestyle, and visit many popular attractions. Being in this environment, I was able to improve my understanding of the Chinese language and culture greatly.

While we were there, we lived in the student dormitories with Chinese students and other American students. I remember walking into the small room, with six beds lining the walls and a door leading out to the balcony at the end of the room. For six people, the room was definitely not big enough to accommodate all of us. However, I like to believe that the forced proximity helped us get closer to each other! For meals, we ate at the school cafeteria. My favorite thing about the meals was the variety of food because I got to taste many new dishes native to the area that I haven’t tried before.

The biggest culture shock to me was school life. Unlike a typical American school, where students stay in one building until the end of the school day, the Chinese school I stayed at was spread over a large campus with multiple facilities and a stadium. It reminded me of a college campus because all the students would walk from building to building in between classes. For example, there was a separate building for our classes and the cafeteria. Sometimes, our classes would even be held across the campus, like that time we learned the art of tea making.

Compared to my experience, a real student’s schedule is much more rigorous and demanding. Young students have to recite books of poetry in the morning and older students have to go through hours of military training. Not to mention, the Chinese education system is known to be much more strict, with students having to face endless homework and tests. This puts a lot of stress and pressure on the students.

The two weeks in China were unforgettable and eye-opening. To this day, I still think about the friends and memories I made during my time there. Looking back, I would definitely go back to China again if given the chance to.