Guangzhou – Canton. While Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an feature prominently in most standard China school trips, Guangzhou frequently misses the list. Though it is mostly overlooked by students and schools when they take a field trip to China, historians of China will know that this is a change in what used to be the status quo. Before the economic rise of Hong Kong and Shanghai, there was Guangzhou! However, here we have discussed the School Trips in Guangzhou for you along with other details.
Here are some quick and fun facts about Guangzhou:
- Central in the historical maritime silk road
- A lot of foreigners lived there. There were entire Muslim districts that were self-governed communities
- The city straddled a trade route that spanned the oceans until modern day Mozambique
- Its main trade in its heyday was ceramics
- It is one of the largest port cities in the world
- Captured by the British during the first Opium War
- It has really really really expensive real estate
- Birthplace of Dim Sum
Ask us about our in-depth historical Guangzhou itineraries by sending us an email (education@wildchina.com)
Guangzhou schools have the advantage of being in one of the most interesting urban areas of the world ever in existence. We could argue that Guangzhou trumps even Shanghai for sheer historical diversity. In addition, Guangzhou has an amazing array of nature getaways within the city limits. We’ve listed a starter-kit for school trips in Guangzhou below. WildChina has about 50 different programs designed for our Guangdong schools (including Guangzhou) and their yearly residentials or field trips so please do get in touch if you’d like to find out more.
Best School Trips in Guangzhou
STEAM Programs
There are two programs within Guangzhou city that we most recommend to schools. The first is go-karting! There are a few places around Guangzhou city where your students can go go-karting. It’s an excellent weekend outing for your family but when we take our students to the tracks, we work with the students to figure out how the engines work so that we can try and build our own. Of course, we make sure to get a few good rounds of racing in too.
Another STEAM program in Guangzhou city that is especially perfect for younger students is based at a 3D printing factory. We learn about how 3D printers are created and programmed and then materialize our own designs using them. A highlight for all of us is seeing, and tasting, the chocolate 3D printer in action.
Service Learning
Guangzhou has a lot of service-learning trips to offer, but our favorite organization to support is a live-in agriculturally centered community for people with mental disabilities. Our students learn about a different perspective as they get to know the farmers who call the community home; we work alongside them throughout the duration of the service program to cultivate the fields and take care of their farm animals.
Duke of Edinburgh Programs and hikes, hikes, hikes!
Call us old-fashioned, but we prefer the mountain trails without the concrete steps (or escalators). There are so many different trails we can scout out within the Guangzhou city limits: One example is in Conghua where we’ve taken literally hundreds of students hiking on 8 different routes at the same time! If your students have successfully completed their bronze journeys and are physically qualified for a challenge, there are copious numbers of game trails that students can bushwhack through as well everywhere around Guangzhou.
City Programs
Guangzhou city offers a lot of options for school field trips. There are a lot of options within Guangzhou that warrant a traditional ‘sightseeing’ tour. The Canton Tower, Baiyun Mountain, Shamiandao etc…
However, at WildChina Education we try and find the extra ‘experiential’ component at every place we go to. For example, Guangdong is known for its annual Canton fair but our approach to exploring the subject is through an immersive, theatrical experience where we use the Canton fair as a medium of studying market economics.
Another historical detail that we dive into about Guangzhou is into the diversity of its history. Our ‘Peoples of Guangzhou’ program examines the historical roots and the modern-day blended cultures of the Hui people in Guangzhou as well as the established west African populations.
Other notable and fabulously fun programs include our Cantonese Dim Sum Workshop where students learn the basics of Guangdong cuisine and partake in a unique master chef competition with our expert Cantonese chefs. A Huangpu Old Port historical scavenger hunt where students learn about the island’s significance as a trading post, its importance during the second opium wars, and when it was divided into concessions, given to both the British and the French. Finally, we have a culture day dedicated to traditional inks, and the uncommonly fine craft of Olive Pit Carving.
