For most execursion members this was their first time in China, and got to experience the country with its amazing culture for the very first time. 

No need to say that the chinese culture differs a lot from the norwegian, and this trip has been an amazing opportunity to get a taste of the chinese culture for the students.

Both the academic program from IPIT and the cultural program included a lot of cultural themes, like visiting a tea plantation, learning to draw chinese characters, and of course in the form of chinese food. 

When going to a restaurant in Norway, everyone usually order themselves a dish. In China the students learned this is different. Already on our first night, dinner was served at a big round table with multiple smaller dishes for everyone to eat from. It’s possible to spin the table around so it becomes easy for everyone to reach the dish they want to it. We are accustomed to pick out what we want and fill our place, but we quickly noticed you only pick out what you are going to eat right away and instead you take several “servings”. Don’t be scared of this round table way of eating as you can get normal À la carte if you want.

As rest of asia China uses chopsticks instead of forks and knives, for many this is their first time using chopsticks on a regular basis. At first it can seem impossible but it’s fascinating how fast you learn when you use them for every meal every day. The technique was shown and teach for us by the first students we meet in Nanjing and after that it was much more easy.

In Beijing we got to taste the traditional chinese dish Peking Duck together with representatives from Tsinghua University. Peking Duck is a dish with roots back to China and during the 1200’s.

One dish definitely hard to find in Norway is insects and spiders, which can be found on various street markets of China. This photo is from a snack street in Guilin, where they serve a variety of insects.

At Tsinghua University, the students were taught to write chinese characters with ink and brushes.

Some students got to visit a tea plantation were we got to pick tea-leaves, learned how traditional tea is made from the leaves, and got to attend a chinese tea-party.

Some students got to experience and try on traditional chinese wedding clothes at the rice fields near Guilin.

Food in China is cheaper than Norway, this gives the opportunity to eat some very expensive food cheap if you want. The following pictures are from the restaurant at the top of the Zifeng Tower: