A few months ago this trip seemed only a fantasy, a mere ripple in reality. And then, I found myself boarding the plane for a trip to the lush Shennongjia Mountains, to teach the kindest and happiest kids I...

When I first walked into the girl’s dormitory, I was surprised at how spacious and clean it was. Later, I realized that our dorm was slightly wider than the students’ dorms. Our dorm consisted of four bunk beds; the...

Each class period lasted 40 minutes long, but Yujia and I (we usually taught together) often started 5 minutes early so that each student to give a brief introduction of themselves. These introductions helped warm the class up so...

Hi, my name is Emily Xu or 徐一苇. I was part of the 9-member group of ABCs (American born Chinese) sent to Shennongjia, China, to teach. We taught at a boarding school for two weeks with a 5-day vacation...

Our first evening at the school was uneventful. We missed the scheduled dinner, so the school cooks prepared extra food for us that we could not eat by ourselves. We then spent the entire rest of the time in...

We had two groups that met up in Shanghai and Beijing, before departing as a whole to Yichang. At Yichang, we met with the other group and embarked on the 5-hour drive to the school. The drive was enveloped...

My name is Austin Yao, 姚奕洋, and I was one of the 9 students who took part in the “1000 Mile Initiative”. In this editorial, I will be constructing my narrative and opinions about the adventure, as well as...

Scenery When we had first driven those 4 hours to Shennongjia (from the airport), I remember literally waking up to huge mountains around me. It was absolutely unreal, it was as if I had been carried to a completely...

Teaching Experience At the end of the day, we had a group meeting discussing how everyone’s first classes went. Elizabeth and I talked about the successes of our lessons, as well as areas for improvement. These group meetings occurred...

First Time Teaching Class Our first class began the day after our arrival, and I still remember the slight nervousness I had towards how the students would react to us. This included thoughts of: would they be judging our...