When the two-week Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP) virtual study trip to 
China pulled the curtain down on July 15, more than 1,500 secondary school 
students from 64 schools across England had completed the online summer camp of 
learning Chinese and Chinese cultural under four themes of panda zoo, sport and 
modern life, Chinese campus, history and cultural heritage. 

Supported by Chinese peers, UK students had immersed themselves in Chinese 
through live classes, video tours, folk experiences, concerts, family visits 
and other interactive activities which were designed by 16 host institutions 
from 11 Chinese mainland cities. As the host institute in Chengdu, capital city 
of China's southwest Sichuan Province, teachers from the Department of 
International Chinese Education, Southwest Jiaotong University designed the 
panda themed part of the immersed activities of the intensive study and leaded 
them to a journey with giant pandas. 

The camp started from a virtual tour in a panda zoo in Chengdu, the hometown of 
pandas. British students asked panda experts various questions in this tour, 
made paper panda dolls and created stories by what they made followed the tour. 

During this two-week online summer camp, British students also visited Tianfu 
Greenway, the longest city greenway, the Sanxingdui Museum which is about 
ancient Shu Dynasty dating back 3,000 years and Daoming Bamboo Art Village, a 
bamboo woven intangible cultural heritage spot. "Pretty", "cool" and "colorful" 
were top three words on their minds about Chengdu, of course, after the word 
"xiongmao" (panda).

With scenery and heritages of the city lingering on their minds, British and 
Chinese students designed electronic posters about the Greenway, painted masks 
from Sanxingdui Museum together. More admirably, students learned to weave 
bamboo crafts after a skillful inheritors of Sichuan Intangible Cultural 
Heritage. Also in the live room, several student representatives from schools 
in Chengdu shared their school life with British peers and guided a visit to 
the family of one Chinese student. 
 
"The MEP virtual China trip was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that allowed 
me and my classmates to communicate with other students our age while learning 
mandarin! My favourite thing was when we made stop motion stories about pandas 
we had crafted from paper! Although it was very different from going to china 
in real life, it was still incredibly enjoyable," said Francesca Walton, a 
ninth grade British student.

Highlighting the importance of the programme to the UK, British Council 
Director China Matt Burney said: "I'm delighted to see that through our 
Mandarin Excellence Programme, we are connecting the young generation of people 
in the UK and China through language learning. Mandarin Chinese is the most 
widely spoken first language in the world. I look forward to seeing more UK 
pupils acquire the skill of Mandarin language and work together with their 
Chinese peers to deepen the trust and understanding of our two countries."

Funded by the Department for Education (England) and delivered by University 
College London (UCL) Institute of Education in partnership with the British 
Council, the MEP is a unique intensive language programme that started in 2016. 
There are now around 8,000 pupils enrolled on the programme in 75 schools in 
England. This virtual visit to China, as the important part of MEP programme, 
offers students a real-life focus on learning Mandarin Chinese and aims to 
foster cultural understanding and mutual appreciation.

Source: Southwest Jiaotong University