This week grade 9 and 10 students from our school took a field trip to Hei Shui, a mountain in Tibet, China. We departed last Sunday, September 13th, at 8:30 A.M. The trip was very educational and fun, and I learned many new things about Chinese culture. I dozed off for the first two hours or so of the bus ride, and after 30 more minutes, we arrived at our first stop: a small village called Wenchuan.

We walked up to see the earthquake museum, which was very interesting but also a bit depressing. Man    y shops bordered the paths we walked, mostly selling jewelry and traditional clothing. I was nearly famished, and my heart sank when I discovered what we were eating for lunch.

It’s not that there was anything wrong with the food, but due to my tendency of being a picky eater, the food didn’t particularly hit the spot. Most of it was very spicy, and did not seem very appetizing to me. I still remained open-minded and tasted everything.

We drove for another 45 minutes to Qiang village and hiked up countless stairs to the lookout over the village. Mr. Brian and Ms. Sering taught us about the geography. We learned that earthquakes occur when two continental plates slide against each other and how scientists know mountains used to be underwater because they can find water fossils on the land. After that we ate dinner and talked to each other on the rooftop until the sun went down. We stayed the night in a large traditional style home-stay.

The next day, we ate breakfast–more Chinese food–and another 4 hours driving to Hei Shui. I mostly talked to friends and slept until we arrived. The hotel was very nice, and after getting settled, we piled into 5 vans that brought us up to a fascinating Tibetan monastery. We learned about Buddhists and their religion, including all of their Buddhas.

On the last day of our trip, we went farther up the mountain. We drove 30 minutes or so to a gondola that brought us up to a neat glacier. The gondola ride was breathtakingly beautiful. After learning about glacier formations, we went back down to shop a little before going to the village park to watch traditional Chinese dancing. Many of the students joined in too and had a lot of fun!

I learned a lot on this trip and I am very happy I had such a wonderful opportunity. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back on this wonderful adventure!