Cheyenne and Amber on Mt. Cangshan, Dali. Cheyenne writes:

On our last full day in Dali we went to New Century School where we met an old friend. The school is so much bigger than ours, I was really intimidated at first. But then after Amber, Holly and I presented our powerpoint to an English class, it was really fun. In the English class the students were more nervous than we were, especially when they were trying to ask questions. We also sang and taught them to sing the Vermont state song, “These Green Mountains.” Many of the Chinese students have studied English for five or six years and were actually pretty good!

After our school visit we went to Changshan Mountain. I was able to see a huge Chinese Checkers board from the gondola. When we went on the board ourselves, I found that the pieces cannot be pickedup by one person, they were made out of plaster so they were pretty heavy. We climbed up a lot of stairs and got a great view of the mountain which reminded me of the landscape painting I studied for my China presentation. Like the traditional landscapes, the mountain was huge and the people on it and the steps are so small. That is a classic Chinese landscape painting.

After dinner we were able to walk on a wall that surrounds Dali. On the wall we could see the Old Town of Dali which to me is looking out into the past. I thought that was so sweet because I love history and it was overall a good chance to see Dali in a different perspective.

When we arrived at New Century Middle School in Dali students and teachers were lined up for morning announcements.

AACE toured the chemistry lab at NCMS.

NCMS

AACE students join in Morning Exercises at NCMS.

Luke, Jackie and Naomi present their powerpoint on American Student Life.

AACE students are given a dance lesson.

After an excellent lunch in the school cafeteria we exchanged gifts. In this photo Principal Kang asks Scott to deliver a gift to Ed Metcalfe, Dr. Kang's host when he traveled to Vermont in February.

Cang Shan the Grand Canyon of China. Students hiked up this trail! The scenery looked just like a Daoist painting. Click the Cangshan Mountain link above for more info about this popular Chinese destination. You can see AACE hikers if you look carefully in the middle of the photo.

Alex practicing Chinese calligraphy with the help of his new friends in the Dali New Century Middle School (which is the same ages as US high school). Alex writes:

Today we visited our second school called the New Century Middle School. Maguang, one of our friends who visited us in February showed us around the school. We presented our American culture powerpoints to the Chinese classrooms. Along with Russell and Rachel I presented American Poets and Poetry. After the presentations we sang the Vermont state song. In the second classroom after our presentation I was asked to sing and sang “Lean On Me” to the entire class.

After a tour of his really big and beautiful campus, Maguang accompanied us to Cangshan Mountain where we took a long gondola ride up to steep and narrow stairs. Even after climbing for an hour we were still far from the top. But the views were beautiful and pools and waterfalls and hanging bridges made for an unusual afternoon.

We were sorry to say goodbye to Maguang, but dropped him off at his school and went on to dinner. At dinner we were served a whole fish with the head still on. It was really good. After dinner we went for a walk on top of the city wall and did a little shopping. It was a really fun day.

Student Art gallery at New Century Middle School

Pergola at NCMS, near their greenhouse.

Sharing and Question /Answer session with Principal Kang and Vice Principal Bai at NCMS.

Alex, Russell and Rachel present their powerpoint on American Poets to a class of English language students.

A student dance group performs for us.

Later in the day AACE hiked Cang Shan Mountain crossing
this suspension bridge.

Ms. Sopper writes:

We are so delighted to be at the New Century School, Dali. We received the warmest greetings from Principal Kang and were happy to see Maguang again. One of the things I absolutely love about this school is their lamp posts. Does that sound weird? It is true. Their lamp posts are shaped like seagulls in flight –or, depending on how you look at them- like open books. This is truly a beautiful school and we were treated to a fantastic dance performance by a student group who then invited our guys to join them. Some picked it up right away (Jackie!!) but all tried and had a blast up on stage.

Our students were then sent off in groups to visit classrooms. I was exceptionally proud of Amber, Cheyenne, and Holly who presented their Vermont PowerPoint to an English class with great poise and presence. After the presentation –which went flawlessly- our students taught the Chinese students the Vermont state song, writing the lyrics on the board and leading the students through it. They took questions from the students ranging from who they would vote for in the upcoming presidential elections to what kind of music they liked. Our students projected competence and clarity and affection. It was a wonderful sight to see and very much appreciated by our Chinese hosts.

A little rain did not keep us from enjoying an extremely long cable car ride up Cangshan Mountain and climbing (must have been thousands!) narrow stairs up the mountain, past an enormous –larger than life-sized- game board, emerald pools, and across swinging wooden bridges. One student noted that she felt like we were inside a Chinese landscape painting. I couldn’t possibly say it better.