By now we have left the homestay village. In fact, I am writing this on a train to Dali, but I figured I’d get in one more homestay experience to the Yak while I still can. I returned to my homestay house after a few afternoon activities for......Read More

I’m a loud person, and so among other differences between life in New York and our rural homestay, what stuck out to me the most was the culture of conversation. I struggled for the first few days to fill voids in conversation at mealtimes, trying......Read More

Note: Slackpacking is when you hike to a camping location but you don’t actually carry any camping gear. In this case, we hiked to a cave but some other guys drove our tents there. I have never really been a very physically active person. Sports......Read More

As a frequent tea drinker I have always been aware that the tea I drink provides both a deeply calming and awakening effect. Only in these last few days have I learned that this is caused by a great amount of positive Qi held within the tea leaves.......Read More

I’m writing this on the afternoon of our second full day here at the Miao village, between a tutorial on hand washing clothes and the much needed chance to do it myself (all the host families ended up having washing machines.) Although it is only......Read More

Today is our first day in our rural homestay village, we are living in a Miao ethnicity village high in the Zhaotong mountains. So far the village could not be more welcoming. Our first night here they performed a traditional welcoming ceremony just......Read More

I’m woken early this morning to the croons of dozens of roosters etching out an audio geography in the predawn cool fog of this village. For my morning pee I need to grab a headlamp, try not to step on the half chickens roosting on the rail......Read More

The group has arrived in Beijing and is now headed to their Orientation site on the Great Wall. Wishing them a great start!...Read More

Everyone on our group flight is now gathered in LA! We kicked off the fun with a couple of card games, but we’re just missing Matthew! We can’t wait to meet up with him, Patricia and Maddie in China！...Read More

I can’t wait to go to China and meet all of you! I go to the Hotchkiss School, a boarding school in Connecticut, but I’m from the Bronx. I’m 17 and I’m going to be senior next year. I have two younger sisters and an older......Read More

Hello 你好 my name Jaid i’m 17 and I am from Oklahoma. I have lived in Oklahoma for most of my life however, I attended a co-ed boarding school in Connecticut for two years which is where i began learning 中文. I have recently moved back to......Read More

大家好！Hello everyone! We are all together in LA and excited to meet you very soon! Patricia and Maddie are headed back to Beijing tonight to get everything ready for your arrival and Ian is preparing to meet you at the airport for the group......Read More

大家好！ I’m Josh (中文名字：刘杰), and I’m a sophomore in high school. I’m 16 years old, and have been living and going to school in Massachusetts for my whole life. I have no one in my life who speaks mandarin, but in......Read More