International Students Embark on a Spring Cultural Field Trip to Yixing

On March 28, the Chinese Language Division at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University organized a cultural field trip to Yixing, Jiangsu Province, for nearly 60 international students. The off-campus activity focused on site exploration, hands-on experiences, and cultural immersion, guiding students to step out of the classroom, improve their Chinese language skills in real-life contexts, and gain a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese culture.

In the morning, the group arrived at the Yixing Bamboo Forest Scenic Area for a hands-on bamboo shoot digging session. Guided by staff, the students searched for and dug bamboo shoots in the forest. Moving from tentative first attempts to greater proficiency, they experienced spring farming activities and the beauty of nature. Interacting with local farmers on site gave them valuable opportunities to practice their spoken Chinese and further deepened their appreciation of traditional Chinese bamboo culture.

At noon, the group had lunch at a local farmhouse restaurant, where they sampled stir-fried bamboo shoots, black rice, specialty soups, and other seasonal local dishes, experiencing the authentic food culture of Yixing. Having taken part in the manual labor themselves, many students came to appreciate the hard work involved truly and proactively took leftover bamboo shoots from lunch to go—demonstrating respect and care for the fruits of labor.

In the afternoon, the group visited the Yixing No. 2 Pottery Factory to learn about and try their hand at the traditional art of purple clay (zisha) pottery. Each student received a piece of purple clay and independently crafted a purple clay tray, experiencing the unique charm of this craft and gaining an up-close understanding of Yixing’s intangible cultural heritage.

Francesco, an Italian student studying Chinese in CLT001, mentioned that classroom learning only allows him to practice with his classmates and teachers. He finds activities like this innovative and rich in content — they help him relax while genuinely testing his Chinese communication skills. For example, today he picked up two fun slang expressions: "duó sǔn" and "tài sǔn le" (meaning something like "that's brutal" or "that's savage").

The accompanying teacher Haixia Wang remarked that language and cultural learning should not be confined to textbooks. Stepping out of the classroom and into real life, where students can use Chinese and experience culture in authentic situations, is a more vivid and effective way of teaching. This field trip to Yixing allowed the international students to directly experience the essence of bamboo culture and the art of purple clay, deepening their understanding of traditional Chinese culture. The students’ respect for the fruits of labor also fully reflected the activity’s success in fostering cultural appreciation and positive values.