Below is a summary of our trip to China as we toured educational facilities throughout China and promoted American Education, the Northland Pines School District, Nicolet College and the Wisconsin International Student Program (WISP) partnership.
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China Trip October 27 - November 5, 2017
Team members included:
1. Mike Richie, District Administrator Northland
Pines School District
2. David Weber, School Board Member, NPSD and
Business Owner
3. Kate Ferrel, Vice President of Student
Affairs, Nicolet College
4. Di Wu, Instructional Designer, Nicolet College
5. Xiaodong Kuang, WISP Executive Director
6. Jack Palmer, WISP Vice President
7. Simon Shi , WISP Investment Partner (Simon
lives in Beijing and met us there)
Travel Distance:
Drove from Eagle River
to Chicago 350 miles
Flew from Chicago to
Beijing 6,603 miles
Round trip drive from
Beijing to Great Wall 100 miles
Bullet train round
trip from Beijing to Langfang 98 miles
Flew from Beijing to
Wuhan 655 miles
Round trip drive from
Wuhan to Boy Scout Camp 150 miles
Flew from Wuhan to
Chengdu 607 miles
Flew from Chengdu to
Wuxi 963 miles
Drove from Wuxi to
Shanghai 95 miles
Flew from Shanghai to
Chicago 7,087 miles
Drove home from
Chicago to Eagle River 350 miles
Total miles traveled
during trip 17,058
Population and links of the Chinese cities we
visited:
- Beijing - 21.7 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing
- Langfang – 4.35 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langfang
- Wuhan – 10.6 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuhan
- Chengdu – 14.42 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu
- Wuxi – 6.37 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxi
- Shanghai - 24.15 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai
China Population - 1.4 Billion
US Population - 345
Million
Wisconsin Population
5.44 million
Eagle River 1,398
Largest Cities in US
New York City 8.17
million
Los Angeles 3.79
million
Chicago 2.69 million
Friday, October 27th:
The team left Chicago O’Hare Airport on Friday, October 27, 2017
on a 12:30 pm United Airline Flight for the 7000 mile 14 hour flight. We landed
in Beijing at 3:00 pm Saturday afternoon October 28th. China has one time zone and is
13 hours ahead of Central Time Zone.
Saturday, October 28th:
On the plane we read, watched movies and prepared our
presentation for the trip, tried to sleep a little but it was difficult. We will
be doing 13 presentations and school tours over the next 8 days, along with
some site seeing. When we landed it was 3:00 p.m. Saturday, October 28th,
in Beijing. Once at the airport we went through customs and exchanged our US
money for Chinese money...YUAN. The Exchange rate was about 6.2. So $20 in the
US is worth $3.22 and $100 US is worth $16.12
We stayed in Beijing for 3 nights at the Beijing RHX Courtyard
Hotel.
Saturday evening we enjoyed a great Chinese dinner at Beijing
DaLong Roast Duck Restaurant. Alisha’s (our WISP student) parents met us at the
hotel and had dinner with us as well. They expressed their gratitude to
everyone that is making Alicia’s education experience at Northland Pines a
success.
Sunday, October 29th:
Got a great night sleep as we were very tired. Walked to
McDonald’s in the morning for a cup of coffee. In China, tea and warm water are
the drinks of choice. It can be difficult to find coffee.
We did two presentations on Sunday. One at the Global Family and
Children Recruiting Agency. This presentation was done virtually as 300
families across China were listening to the presentation. Our second
presentation was at the Physical Education University of Beijing. Both
presentations went very well. We walked to a restaurant for dinner and called
it an early evening as we were all exhausted.
Monday, October 30th:
Got up early and headed to the Great Wall of China! It was about
an hour and half drive from the hotel. The traffic and driving is crazy; there
is no other way to explain it. Constant beeping of horns, drivers do not use
signals, cut each other off all the time, and utilize alleys as main roads,
park anywhere they see fit. The other difficult part of driving is that you
have mopeds and bikes weaving in and out of traffic in both directions. This is
extremely dangerous. Many people in
China do not drive because it is so difficult and there is literally nowhere to
park! It is unbelievable! Our driver Simon did an incredible job getting us
there and back.
The Great Wall of China was an incredible experience and chance
of a life time. We climbed for about 45 minutes, took some great pictures and
videos. Definitely worth the visit! I cannot imagine constructing this structure.
We had to hustle back for a 2:00 p.m. meeting at the US Embassy
for a meeting with Nancy Chen, First Secretary Education Officer and a few
staff members. It is hard to imagine we visited the Great Wall of China and the
US Embassy in the same day! We had to show passports to get in to the Embassy and
even after doing so, it was difficult to get in. No computers, Ipads or backpacks
allowed. We were able to bring in our phones but could not take any pictures.
The focus of the meeting was to introduce WISP to the Embassy
staff and make them aware of why WISP is different than other international
programs with our 3 plus 2 program concept. The meeting went very well as they
now have a good understanding of our WISP program. They also shared some ideas
with us on how our students will have a better chance of getting their Visa’s
approved at the Embassy.
Embassy of the United
States of America:
We ate dinner at a restaurant called Hot Pot. You had your dish
and burner in front of you on a big table, and you ordered a broth for the soup
off the menu. They brought out many meats, vegetables, and other food items and
you put it in your own soup as you like. It cooked in front of you and you
dished it out (yes with chop sticks). It
was very good.
Tuesday, October 31st:
This was the toughest day of our trip so far. We got up early so
David and I could WeChat with the Northland Pines School Board members at the School
Board Meeting. Due to the time change, 7:00 a.m. in China on Tuesday morning is
really 6:00 p.m. Monday evening back in Eagle River, Wisconsin. It was great
that David and I could chat with the Board about our experiences here in China,
as they were 7,000 miles away. We gave the Board a quick report about what we
were doing and what we observed during our presentations.
Left our hotel and headed to the subway station. Today we will
have traveled by foot, subway (twice), bullet train, car and plane.
We toured Huayou Rudder Primary School, a K-6 building in
Langfang, did a morning presentation to a group of parents and school administrators
regarding the WISP program. Had a great lunch with a dozen people including the
principal and Chairman of the Board of Huayou Rudder Primary School.
Late afternoon we visited a 21st Century English Education Media
Newspaper back in Beijing. This paper is printed in English. Focus is on:
1. English education solution provider - print
media, online media, teaching research, projects, and student training.
2. Print media - student media, high school
edition, senior and junior international public speaking ranging from preschool
to college
3. English Language International Teaching
Conference
4. Think like Elite Forum
5. Chinese and Foreign Principals interaction
6. Paper also includes bilingual student
reporters network, editorial department
7. Paper would like to do a follow up story of
our WISP student Alicia regarding her school year in USA. Also, they encourage
Alicia to submit writings to the paper.
21st Century English Newspaper Beijing China:
Took the subway to the Beijing airport and caught the 7:25 pm
flight to Wuhan. This was a 2 hour and 20 minute flight. Spent two nights in
Wuhan stayed at the Lamtin Longwin Hotel. This was a very nice hotel and really
enjoyed the morning breakfast the hotel provided. It was great because they had
coffee there. We were able to enjoy eggs, toast and fruit. They did also have
cereal but the milk was warm. The Chinese drink most of their drinks hot or
warm. The breakfast also included noodles, rice, and lots of vegetables, which
is very common in China for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.
Wednesday, November 1st:
After breakfast at the hotel, we drove about 2 hours to an area
in Wuhan that is being developed into an Ecological Culture Town in Tuanfeng; we
toured the site. The purpose of this endeavor is to serve as a Boy
Scout/Educational Camp along with an exclusive family resort area with an
environmental, natural resources focus. This is very unique to China as there
is not much land available to construct a site like this. Most land in China is
leased which is the case as well for this parcel of land. The investors of this
project are very interested in our WISP program. We were treated to an organic
lunch where everything we ate was grown on the land with no preservatives
added. We exchanged gifts before we left which is a Chinese tradition when
guests are present.
Wednesday evening we gave a presentation to students and parents
at a business office in a high rise building. Parents asked many good questions.
The message was loud and clear from the parents that Chinese students get way
too much homework and the school day is way too long, not uncommon for a school
day to begin at 7:00 or 7:30 am and end at 4:00 or 5:00 pm, and then add 3
hours of homework. The parents and students do not like this. Lots of stress is
put on the students. Students from all grade levels will stay up until midnight
working on homework.
After our presentation
I did an interview with a Chinese television station.
The focus of the interview was defining the key differences
between the Chinese and US Educational system, the purpose of the trip and what
makes our school district so successful.
Thursday, November 2nd:
We had a very busy day today. We took the subway to Wuhan Experimental
Foreign Language School; this school houses elementary, middle and high school
students. It serves over 5,000 students. We had a meeting with the principal
and a few other staff members, did a presentation and toured the school. This
was a great experience as this is one of the top schools in China.
Homework here is much different than the other Chinese schools,
as a lot of the focus at this school is on the well-being of student and less
emphasis is placed on homework. Some students still take the Gaokao (national
college exam) or study abroad or get recruited from other colleges. Many
students from here go to the top universities in China. The students here are required to participate
in clubs or activities, again very different from most schools in China.
After we left the school we took the subway back to a business center
and then went to lunch with administrators from a private school, and their
headquarters administrators. Again we talked education public verses private
and about our educational strengths in the US. We left Wuhan and took a 6:30
flight to Chengdu. Had a great flight to Chengdu and the hotel was awesome! We
stayed at the InterContinental Hotel. When we looked out our hotel window, we
looked directly at the New Century Global Center which is the largest building
by square footage in the world. The size of this building is over 18 million
square feet. It is an amazing structure and site!
Wuhan Experimental Foreign Language School
Gaokao
New Century Global Center
Friday, November 3rd:
Had a wonderful BIG breakfast at the hotel and then off to an
office complex where we met with the general manager, Juli ZHU and her staff of
the Sichuan Hongtu Shengda Overseas Affairs Service. This is a recruiting
agency that places students in overseas educational opportunities. This is a
very successful company that has placed students in excellent high schools and as
a result those students have attended very prestigious universities all over
the World. We explained the WISP program to this team and how it is different
than other international programs.
We walked to lunch in downtown Chengdu. After lunch we drove to
and toured at No 1 Experimental Middle School Attached to Sichuan Normal
University. We had a meeting with the principal and talked about education and
the WISP program. This is a new private 7-8 grade boarding school. Phase 2 will
include high school in 2019. About 1,000 7th and 8th graders attend and over
10,000 students apply per year to get in. The admission rate is about 10%. Very
young teaching staff. The focus of this school is much like American schools.
Less homework, emphasis on academics, clubs, activities and sports. Dave and I
were able to play pin-pong with one of the students here.
Xiaodong, Jack and I addressed the students in the auditorium
and showed them the Northland Pines video and Alicia’s video of what her
typical day is like. We discussed the difference between the American
educational system and the traditional Chinese system. This school was
incredible.
Our third stop, tour and presentation of the day was at Huayang
Vocational High School. This is a 10-12 grade high school with an enrollment of
1,765 students located in the Tianfu New District which was founded in 1985.
The school has 193 staff members. They offer 53 classes within six majors.
Students pick a major of study and focus their career within that major.
1. Marketing
2. Computers Network
3. Infinite Education
4. High-class hotel management
5. Mechanical Technology
6. Electronics Appliance
This is a great model and it provides an opportunity for
students that may not go on to college and want to focus on a career. It also
allows for opportunity for the students to continue post-secondary training in their
specific career area.
Saturday, November 4th:
Got up at 4 am and headed to the Chengdu airport and flew to
Wuxi. Had to wait over an hour on tarmac due to very heavy fog/smog.
Once we landed in Wuxi, we visited the Wuxi Foreign Language
School. This is a public school that serves students in grades 1-12 with an
enrollment of about 7,000 students over four campuses. This is also a boarding
school for most of the students. Very high achieving school and score high on
the Gaokao. Quality teachers and school has won many awards.
International Division established in 2014 has introduced the
international curriculum. 70% Chinese education and 30% international
curriculum. China is trying to reform education; however, only a few schools
each year are allowed to reform.
I was honored to sign a partnership agreement between the
Northland Pines School District and the Wuxi Foreign Language School. Our two
schools will work in collaboration and share resources to help each other grow
in education. http://www.wxfls.net/
Had lunch with the administrative team and then checked in to
hotel. Stayed at the Grand Park Hotel in Wuxi. Finally had 2 hours of free time,
so we took a taxi to a market area in Wuxi. This was a historic area on
Nanchang Street and its history can be traced back to the 10th
century AD. It was a post road set up in the northern Song Dynasty. It connects
Suzhou in the south, Changzhou in the north and parallels with the water
courier route Ancient Canal. This street has
many little shops and restaurants.
Before we headed back to the hotel, we were treated to a boat
ride through the canal in Wuxi by Laurence. Laurence owns an agency that places
Chinese students in other international programs like WISP.
Nanchang Street in
Wuxi
Sunday, November 5th:
Left hotel at 10:15 a.m. and headed to the Shanghai airport; it
was about a 2.5 hour drive by van. Had lunch in the airport and met with one
last potential recruiter named Alex who does business in both the US and China.
Alex’s daughter attends Madison Edgewood High School in Madison, WI. She is
hoping to attend Duke next year.
Travel in China
The people in China were amazing! Everyone we met was extremely
friendly. They could not do enough for us and their hospitality was something I
will never forget. Facebook, FaceTime Google, Twitter, Instagram and Blogs are
all prohibited in China. WeChat is the main social media platform; everyone has
it. Our entire team loaded it on our phones before we left the US and we used
it quite often. It is like texting, Facebook, FaceTime, Twitter, Apple Pay, and
Google all in one. It’s used in lieu of credit cards and also serves as an
I-pass for the toll roads. Smog and the lack of clean water tend to still be
two major obstacles for the country. Hundreds of sky scrapers were being
constructed while we were there. The number of cranes you see is unbelievable.
We had great weather; it was in the 60’s the entire trip, did
not rain at all and there was very little smog. We did not have to wear our
masks once! Overall the trip was very productive as we introduced our WISP
program to students, parents, administrators, the US Embassy, TV station,
newspaper and recruiting agencies. Needless to say, the schedule was action
packed and grueling with very little down time. Had a great flight back to
Chicago. Returned home at 12:30 a.m. Monday, November 5th.
Looking forward to our WeChat conversations with our new friends
in China over 7,000 miles away and our partnership between the Northland Pines
School District and Wuxi Foreign Language School.
Short Video's of China 2017 Trip:
Dave Weber Playing Ping Pong
Crossing Street in Beijing
