School Language Trip to Beijing

A Mandarin school trip to Beijing will not only provide invaluable exposure to the language and culture, it also offers your students unforgettable experiences!

Our school trip to Beijing is a great opportunity for your students to immerse themselves in everyday life. The inclusion of two afternoon sessions with a local school and its students will allow your group to practise their language skills in order to converse with their Chinese peers.

Choosing Beijing as a destination will allow your students to jump into the rich history of Chinawith visits to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and, of course, the Great Wall of China. You’ll also have time for some bartering at the Silk Alley – another chance for your students to practise their Mandarin!

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1

Afternoon

Overnight flight to Beijing

Day 2

Morning

Arrive in Beijing and transfer to hotel

Afternoon

Visit the Summer Palace

Evening

Evening meal

Day 3

Afternoon

Visit to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs

Evening

Evening meal

Day 4

Morning

Visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

Afternoon

Afternoon in local school to practise language with students plus a calligraphy lesson

Evening

Evening meal

Day 5

Morning

Shopping at Silk Alley and the Friendship Store

Afternoon

Afternoon in local school to practise language with students

Evening

Evening meal and acrobatic show

Day 6

Morning

Breakfast and check-out

Afternoon

Flight back to the UK

2 afternoon sessions in a local school to practise language
4 nights' full-board accommodation
Airport transfers in resort
Calligraphy lesson
Detailed information pack
Evening acrobatic show
Excursion to the Great Wall
Free staff place ratio 1:10
Itinerary planning service
Return flights inclusive of tax
Summer Palace
Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

Curriculum

A Level

Changes in contemporary Chinese society
Education and the world of work
Traditional Chinese culture and festivals
Movies, TV, music and literature
Internet and social media
Environmental issues
1978 opening up of China
Megacities

GCSE

Food, drink and eating out
Daily life and free time activities
Customs, celebrations and festivals
Home, town and neighbourhood
Travel and tourism
Sport and music events
Understanding Chinese culture and identity

Accommodation

Beijing Feitian Hotel

The Feitian Hotel is located close to the city's central business district, approximately 6km from the Forbidden City. The Jingsong subway station is close to the hotel, offering easy access to the rest of the city. There are two restaurants - one specialising in Chinese cuisine and the other in Western cuisine. There is also a teahouse, coffeehouse and bar.

Beijing Rainbow Hotel

The Beijing Rainbow Hotel is a modern hotel with a traditional feel. All rooms are decorated in a traditional style with wooden furniture. Rooms benefit from air-conditioning, tea and coffee-making facilities and a satellite TV. The hotel also offers a number of restaurant/cafe options, plus shops and a spa.

Dongfang Hotel

The Dongfang Hotel offers 288 rooms in a refurbished 1918 historic building of four connected wings. There is an indoor swimming pool and tennis court, fitness room and sauna. Restaurants offer a range of International and Asian cuisine.Guestrooms are clean and spacious, with plenty of natural light. Amenities include private balconies, cable/satellite TVs, minibars with refrigerators, air conditioning, desks with direct-dial phones, and complimentary high-speed Internet. All rooms also have coffee/tea makers, bottled water, and in-room safes. Bathrooms provide slippers, hair dryers, and shower/tub combinations.

Holiday Inn Express Temple of Heaven

This hotel features 316 guest rooms equipped with a 32" LCD satellite TV, WiFi and in-room safe.Facilities within the hotel include complimentary use of computers in the business center, a meeting room, self-service laundry, vending machines and a Foreign Currency Exchange. Breakfast is included.

Tour highlights

Visit the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is somewhat of a misnomer, as it would more accurately be described as a collection of fortification systems. The beginnings of the Wall lie in the fortifications built by the Han, Qi, Qin, Wei, Yan, Zhao and Zhongshan states during the Warring States Period and developed over the centuries to protect China from invaders and to protect the Silk Road trade route. It’s believed that the length of the entire Wall measures over 21,000km and it is considered one of the greatest architectural feats in human history.

Did you know?

While the Wall is believed to be well over 2,000 years old, the bit we all think of as the Great Wall of China – the stone fortifications around Beijing – are only around 500 years old, having been built during the Ming dynasty.

Visit the Forbidden City

This spectacular palace complex lies at the heart of Beijing and consists of 980 surviving buildings. The largest building in the complex is the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Once the tallest building in the city, it was used for state occasions, such as the emperor’s birthday. The focal point of the building is the impressive Dragon Throne, which sits on a 2m high white jade dais and is backed by carved gilt screens. The world’s largest collection of well-preserved medieval wooden structures, the Forbidden City is a magnificent example of traditional Chinese architecture and is rich in symbolism, with plenty of dragons, phoenixes and lions on roofs of the most important buildings for prosperity and good fortune.

Did you know?

The Forbidden City is the largest palace complex in the world and is three times the size of the Louvre!

Visit the Summer Palace

One of the most beautiful royal parks in the world, Beijing’s Summer Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is home to 3,000 man-made structures. The tallest building in the complex, the Tower of Buddhist Incense stands atop Longevity Hill, looking out over Kunming Lake. Other well-known attractions include the impressive Marble Boat, a lakeside pavilion in the shape of a European-style paddle steamer, and the colourful Long Corridor, constructed to provide the Emperor’s mother with a covered walkway to ensure she could enjoy a walk in the gardens while protected by the elements.

Did you know?

The Four Great Regions, a series of temples that are architecturally quite different to the rest of the park, were modelled on the Samye Monastery in Tibet, the first gompa (Buddhist monastery) built in the country.

Educational Activities

Ming Tombs

The Ming Tombs are a collection of 13 imperial tombs of Ming dynasty emperors.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is instantly recognisable to all as a symbol of the People’s Republic of China.

Cultural Activities

Chao Yang Acrobatic Show

A Chinese acrobatic show is something that must not be missed by any visitor to Beijing!

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City stands in the centre of Beijing as a monument to the city’s imperial history and rich cultural legacy.

Summer Palace

Beijing’s Summer Palace is one of the loveliest royal parks you are ever likely to set your eyes on.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China stretches 5,500 miles across northern China, from Shanhaiguan in the eastern province of Hebei.

Supporting you every step of the way

Creating your perfect trip

Your quote will be put together by an experienced Tour Adviser who’ll be an expert in the subject area and will know the destination really well too. They’ll work with you to create a trip to suit your group’s needs and meet your learning objectives.

Launching your trip to parents and students

The next step is to get your trip approved and then get students signed up to it. Our ‘Trip Launch Pack’ will help you with this step. This is full of resources (all free to download) designed to make your life easier at this crucial point in the trip planning process.

After you’ve booked

Once you’ve booked, your dedicated Itinerary Coordinator will start work on the finer details. They’ll make sure your itinerary makes the most of your time and they’ll take on most of the admin tasks for your trip (freeing you up to do what you do best – teach).

Support while you’re away

From lost property to properly lost, we’ll always be on the end of the phone while you’re out on the trip. You’ll get a final info pack before you go, as well as access to all your trip documents via the Vamoos app.

After your trip

We’ll ask you for feedback, so we can improve our service. Let’s start planning your next trip too, so parents have plenty of time to pay (and so it’s less stressful for you). And don’t forget to head to our resources hub to continue the learning back in the classroom.