Hello, my name is Gionni Gutierrez, and I went on the 2024 China Immersion Trip in July, and today I will be telling you about the greatest experience I have ever had.

Great Wall

When we went to the Great Wall, we started at tower 5 and went all the way to tower 20. We walked for a few hours, but it was worth it. We got to see stunning views, the higher we went. We also signed our names on a board in tower 16. When we got to tower 20, we were all excited that we completed the journey, but soon realized going back down would be a challenge since it is easier going up the Great Wall. Also, a great tip, bring a lot of water when you go to the Great Wall, and be prepared to walk 17,000 steps.

Forbidden City

In the Forbidden city, we saw many temples and learned about many people. One of the people we learned about was the creator of Kung Pao chicken, Ding Baozhen, a governor of the Sichuan Province.

Pandas

We went to the enclosure and were immediately amazed at all the pandas. We saw red pandas, regular pandas, and even a black bear. Many pandas were either eating bamboo, roaming around their habitat, or there was one panda who was climbing trees. We also, all got panda shaped ice creams.

Train Rides

The train was the down time for us, we could either read a book, or write in our journal, with questions provided by Mrs. Lu about our day. Also, during this time Mrs. Lu would send us options for our meals and she would have it delivered to the train then we would eat what we chose. Some of the options were, McDonalds’ chicken burgers, KFC chicken burgers, or Subway sandwiches.

Food

The food was very exquisite and delicious. Our favorite food was the Kung Pao Chicken, because it was very fresh and well cooked. Another food we really liked was the beef with bell peppers.  When we ate lunch and dinner we would always eat on a roundtable, with chopsticks. We also ate Hotpot, and we mainly liked soaking our meats in the hot sauce. I even tried pig intestines, which is not as horrible as it sounds, since it is mainly crispy. Other exotic foods I tried were donkey meat, rabbit meat, and tripe.

Student and teacher reviews

Sam Creington ’26 upon reflecting said: ” The China trip was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and left me with lifelong memories. Whether it was going to schools to talk with Chinese students, or eating amazing, true-to-culture meals, we were always on the move, getting to truly experience the beauty and diversity that China has to offer. This trip is truly unique in that you have amazing tours given to you by true Chinese citizens of the cities you are visiting. All the tour guides were very informative and knew of all the best spots to visit and how to avoid the clutter of crowds. However, it’s also important to note that we students were given multiple opportunities to explore shopping centers and little towns in little groups with our friends which gave us a lot of freedom to explore on our own and buy souvenirs, clothes, food, etc. Of course, also, you can’t forget the amazing monuments and locations you visited. Because of the many cities, some including Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu, you get to see the varied nature of China’s vast, interesting geography, culture, traditions, and way of life. Each city presented unforgettable experiences such as the Great Wall of China, the very tall Shanghai Tower, a giant panda zoo, the beautiful water system and dam location in Chengdu, and so much more. I truly cannot express how amazing this trip was and would recommend it to anybody who likes to learn about different cultures and would like to immerse themselves in Chinese traditions and ways of life. I can guarantee you will come out of it with a wealth of lifelong memories.”

Mrs. Lu said on the greatest group ever:” I first, I definitely appreciate the chance to travel with our Jesuit boys. think the biggest takeaway is, do not underestimate any of your potentials, so I see the changes throughout the whole trip. For example, someone at the beginning, was like, quite conservative, and do not like to try things, but through the whole trip, they start open more and would like to try, not only the food, but also start talking to more people and try more activities. And also how another takeaway is how friendly and polite our students are, like they learn some tradition, culture from China, from local places, and they use it in the daily activities, like they learn how to serve tea, right? So every meal, they will serve tea to all the teachers, and they’re always local people try to talk with them, and they will try their best to interact with them, no matter the no memory or not, no matter what great they are like, they are all super friendly, and when people ask to take pictures with them, they, most of them are willing to take pictures and smile. So, I think this is the formation that our school always try to cultivate for our students to have.”

Thank you for reading about the 2024 China Immersion trip! Stay tuned to the Roundup for more Immersion trip coverage.