Welcome to another week of highlights of our intermediate Chinese-learners’ adventures in Xi’an, China! This week, students settled into their daily routines with host families, mastered their commute via bus or subway, and delved even deeper into Chinese language and culture.
Monday and Tuesday afternoons were packed with special classes on Chinese pop music and ancient Tang dynasty poetry. By the end, students were able to sing two 1980s classics and recite three 8th-century poems from memory.
Scholars discovering their appreciation for 1980s Chinese love ballads (Johannah, Jovanna, Gillian, Maureen, Logan, Nina)
Each group that came to the front to perform tried to out-do the others with their slick moves.
On Wednesday, our scholars visited the best-preserved city wall in all of China, right here in the heart of Xi’an. Most of them chose to bike atop the wall, 8.5 miles in length all the way around.
Scholars in downtown Xi’an, where ancient meets modern (Jacqueline, Gillian, Logan, Maureen, Phillip, Amaya)
Getting ready to climb the city wall (Stephanie, Kayden, Cole, Sam, Ben)
Our dragons in front of the South Gate of the city wall, which has been a central feature of Xi’an since the 6th century CE.
Xi’an city wall and South Gate in the evening
There is no “i” in “team” when biking the wall!
Later in the week, NSLI-Y scholars met with their language partners again to compete in a scavenger hunt. Students were tasked with finding locations around campus, posing for pictures with strangers, and collecting garbage along the way.
Amaya and her language partner in front of the “Respect Teachers” stone
Johannah and her language partner near the site of an ancient shrine on campus
Phillip and his language partner (and Nina in the background) in the university park
#TrashTagChallenge with language partners at Northwest University