Clovis Unified college students spend spring break touring by way of China

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) — A bunch of Clovis Unified School District college students skipped staying dwelling and traveled abroad as an alternative for a nine-day journey to China.

The group contains 10 college students. Among them are Buchanan High School senior Linkin Phimphisane, and sophomore Matthew Maxon.

“We did a lot of sightseeing and we ate a lot of unique dishes,” Phimphisane mentioned.

All of the scholars on the journey have studied Chinese as a overseas language below instructor Lili Wong.

She mentioned touring to China provides college students the possibility to use what they’ve discovered within the classroom.

“They have to interact with the local people, just improve their pronunciation because they self pronounce – self correct – the pronunciations after hearing the local people,” Wong mentioned.

According to Wong, the expertise immerses college students in Chinese tradition and historical past by way of journey, meals and firsthand remark.

The group’s itinerary contains visits to Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai, in addition to well-known landmarks such because the Great Wall of China.

“Seeing it is like completely different than just like seeing maybe a picture or reading about it,” Maxon mentioned.

The journey holds particular which means for Linkin, who’s touring alongside his father and grandmother. His grandmother was born in Southeast Asia, however had by no means been to China.

“She lost all her heritage, so bringing her here for the first time was very eventful for her,” Linkin mentioned. “She gets to experience her roots, and I also get to to experience half of where I came from.”

His father, Mike Phimphisane, mentioned he was grateful his mom was in a position to make the journey.

“I’m actually happy that she gets to experience this,” he mentioned. “She’s pretty old age, and she’s able to walk and travel with us pretty well.”

In addition to sightseeing, college students, relations and academics have participated in cultural actions, together with a conventional tea ceremony and calligraphy.

“They’re really learning some life-long experiences, and I hope this is an incentive to – a motivation for them to continue this language, learn more about the culture and to broaden their views about the world,” Wong mentioned.

The group is scheduled to journey to Shanghai on Friday, the place they’ll go to one of many world’s busiest procuring streets and the Shanghai Silk Museum earlier than returning dwelling Sunday.

For information updates, observe Jessica Harrington on Facebook, X and Instagram.