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>> Basically, Study China, it was a three-week long programme for us to go
and travel to China, take language lessons, and just find
out about the culture over there.
It's quite an eye-opening experience,
and very interesting.
>> I was surprised by just how friendly and warm people
are, and they're very proud of their country.
I think they have reason to be, especially in Shanghai.
>> There were about 110, 120 people on our course.
>> We got to know each other really well 'cause obviously we're not
just spending class time together.
I mean, we're going off exploring the city together.
Like in evenings we'd go to bars together,
and we were all staying in the same hotel.
So yeah, I made some really, really good friends.
>> I was actually quite surprised
to find I've only known them for a few weeks, 'cause it felt
like I've known them for quite a few years.
>> There were volunteers
from the Chinese university over there.
>> A lot of them haven't had the chance to go abroad,
so we were the first opportunity for them to get
to know what it's like outside of China.
So they were really keen to show us around.
>> We got really close to them.
They, you know, they really
dived into the whole experience with us.
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>> In the mornings we would take Mandarin classes.
We'd be split into different levels.
>> I was in the beginner's class, and I was actually quite surprised how everyone
in the class picked up quite a lot
of Mandarin phrases quite easily.
>> Hello you two, say hello. >> Ni Hao
>> And then in the afternoons we'd go sightseeing,
go to the museums, just explore the city.
>> Hi, we are just on our way to have lunch and we're on
a little moped in Shanghai Check this out.
>> That's our driver.
>> Hopefully we'll get there in one piece.
>> In the evenings you had free time to do anything.
I think my most favourite thing I did was go
up to the Oriental Pearl tower.
You get a beautiful view of the whole city, and Shanghai -
people definitely like their lights.
So if you thought the London lights were impressive,
you need to go to Shanghai.
I was expecting to see more
of the traditional Chinese culture there, but there wasn't
that much there except old buildings that still existed like the temples.
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>> I think with Shanghai it's
completely different from the rest of China.
It's a lot more, I guess, multi-cultural.
There are a lot more foreign people over there, especially
areas like the Bund,
so you have very much a city of the world.
>> You only saw the traditional side, I think,
when we went to the waterside village.
And even that was very touristy.
>> We spent a weekend in Hangzhou, so we got away
from the city, got away from Shanghai
for one night and two days.
And yeah, when it got to evening time me and some of
my friends, we hired some bikes and just went cycling
around the lake, and it's absolutely beautiful.
You could see the moon and the reflection, and there's lots of,
you know, couples sitting on the benches.
I've never seen anything quite so beautiful really.
There were just so many new experiences.
It's so tightly packed in that, you know,
every day I couldn't count the number of
new things I saw, the new things
that I discovered that I had never realised or thought about before.
>> You don't necessarily have to know a huge amount about China
or the language at all.
But if you're just interested in travelling abroad and just
to get an insight into this really diverse country,
I think it's the best opportunity you could take.
>> I had an absolutely amazing time,
and I recommend everybody to apply.
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