Huangshan Service School Trip: Embracing Culture and Heritage

China’s vast land and rich culture provide abundant learning resources for students’ experiential education. Even in well-known places, there is always something fascinating to uncover about local culture and history. 

Our recent trip to Huangshan with a group of international students is a perfect example of this.

Though the region offers much more than just breathtaking natural landscapes, on this trip, we focused more on the deep-rooted local culture and historical traditions that have flourished in the rich and mystical land of Huangshan.

Alongside locals, students experienced making Huizhou’s traditional food, Huidiao cakes, learned about the craft of making the famous Huangshan Maofeng tea, practiced traditional woodworking and masonry to help restore ancient local buildings, appreciated the unique Huizhou architecture, and created traditional lanterns.

Kevin, the trip leader, recorded these fantastic activities for us. Let’s take a look at the video first.

The Edible “Huizhou Carving”

If you carefully watch the video, you’ll surely be able to answer the opening question. Yes, the special black pastry the students are making is the “edible Huizhou carving” – Huidiao cake, also known as Yuting cake.

Born from Huizhou merchant culture, Yuting cake was a must-have “luxury ration” for merchants on their journeys. It doesn’t spoil easily, is convenient to carry, has a pleasant taste, and is nutritious and filling. The cakes, made using molds from Huizhou wood carvings, have intricate, beautifully designed shapes.The process of making Yuting cake has been recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of Anhui Province. Creating a fine piece of Huidiao cake is no easy task. Ingredients like rice, sesame, osmanthus, and peanuts must be cleaned, dried, roasted, and mixed to form a cake powder. Once cooled, the powder is mixed with syrup, pressed into molds, and tapped out to reveal the fragrant, intricately designed black cakes.

Interestingly, the black exterior of the cakes reflects the style of Huizhou architecture with its white walls and black tiles!

Tea Culture and Folk Experiences

Huangshan Maofeng is one of China’s top ten teas, often regarded as the best of Huizhou teas. The students visited a tea museum, where they witnessed the tea-making process from the picking of leaves to the various stages of spreading, frying, and finally brewing the tea.With expert guidance, the students gradually gained insights into the subtleties of Chinese tea culture.

In addition to this, the students also made traditional Huizhou fish lanterns, which are a vital part of the local Spring Festival celebrations, especially during the Lantern Festival.During this exclusive time, each student expressed their artistic imagination through delicate brushstrokes, enjoying the creative process and experiencing the diverse beauty that folk customs bring to life.

Old Building Restoration

By chance, we discovered an ancient building in Huangshan in need of restoration. Each time we have school programs in Huangshan, we incorporate this restoration service project into our itinerary.The area that needs repair is large, and the work is never completed in one visit, but we hope that through the efforts of different groups of students each time, we can help the local community preserve its cultural significance.

While restoring this wooden structure, the students also had the opportunity to learn woodworking techniques from local craftsmen – how to use saws, how to polish wood, and so on. These exchanges provided the students with a deeper connection to the local community.

In the video, Kevin posed several thought-provoking questions to the students, which is a key aspect of experiential learning. We hope the skills learned through these exchanges and diverse activities will extend beyond this trip and have an impact on their daily lives, whether it’s an open-minded attitude towards learning, curiosity about different histories and cultures, the joy of working in a team or learning to appreciate the beauty that diverse cultures bring to life.