Wellington Today Wellington Today 2018 en | Page 23

2018
WELLINGTON SCHOOL LIFE
EXEPDITION AND EXPLORATION
A CHINESE CULTURAL
TRIP TO YANGLIUQING
BEIDAIHE SAILING TRIP
Wellington College International Tianjin
Wellington College International Tianjin
In order to raise pupils’ interest in exploring the richness of
traditional Chinese culture, the Mandarin Department at
the College organized a cultural trip for pupils from Year 10
(Mandarin learners) with a visit to Yangliuqing Museum in
Yangliuqing Town,Tianjin on April 26th, 2017.
During the summer half term break 2017, thirty pupils went on
a five-day sailing trip to Beidaihe China’s 2008 Olympic sailing
venue. This was the College’s 6th annual sailing trip. Our hosts,
Beijing Sailing Centre, have an excellent beachside location, and all
pupils and staff had an educational and fun-packed week.
Yangliuqing Museum also known as the Residence of the Shi
family is the former residence of Shi Yuanshi, the 4th son of
Shi Wancheng, one of the eight great masters in Tianjin. Now
it serves as a folk custom museum, which has a large collection
of folk art pieces like Yangliuqing New Year pictures and brick
sculptures. Yangliuqing New Year Picture is one of the three
famous New Year Pictures in China, which first appeared in
Yangliuqing Town in 17th century.
The College’s young sailors had a chance to develop skills in sailing,
windsurfing, paddle-boarding and kayaking and the progress made
over the week was impressive especially considering the unusually
unpredictable weather and strong winds. Many congratulations go
to Leo in Year 10, who achieved his Gold IYT Certificate and also
to all the sailors who achieved their bronze IYT certificates.
In addition to the sailing we had some stunning beach evenings
playing beach football, volleyball and a bonfire BBQ night. The
whole trip fostered friendships, developed team and leadership
skills and will have embedded rich memories that pupils will
cherish for many years to come.
The tour benefited the pupils by bringing them closer to
traditional Chinese culture.
The days were busy and packed with interesting trips, including
Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace the Tower of London and
the Science and Natural History Museums. We even had time in
the itinerary to take a journey south to Portsmouth to see the
Historic dockyards and the remarkable flagship of Lord Nelson,
HMS Victory.
We had fun too, particularly with trips to Legoland, London Zoo,
Harrods the world-famous store, including Cadburys - one of
the famous chocolatiers in the UK. A trip on the London Eye and
the Emirates Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth gave us wondrous
views of both cities.
YEAR 6 TRIP TO
THE UK
Wellington College International Tianjin
Year 6 pupils from Wellington College International Tianjin
embarked on an exciting adventure to England. Over 11 days,
both educational and fun activities were planned, including visits
to famous landmarks, shops and museums. Over the course
of the trip we took in sights around London, stretching to the
south coast of England. Rounding off our stay in England with the
last and most educational part of the trip - a visit to Wellington
College to meet with both teachers and pupils - where we
learned about the rich history of the College.
43
Towards the end of the trip we ventured down to Covent
Garden and then to the West End of London, arriving just in time
to take our seats for the magnificent production of the Lion King.
It was truly an amazing show.
Wellington College was one of our last visits but was truly
inspirational. We had an in-depth tour of the college and learned
about the wonderful history, the pupils were in awe of both the
size and the facilities. The pupils were invited into the office of the
Master, Mr Thomas who gave them a great welcome and a gift to
bring back as the class mascot to Tianjin.
We were so very proud of all the wonderful compliments we
received regarding our pupils on their patience, good manners
and exemplary behaviour everywhere they went. The staff,
although exhausted, could not have asked for a better group
of pupils.
44