“Explore the Charm of Silk and Find the Beauty of Songcheng” 2024 Fall Experiential Study Trip for International Students was carried out successfully on October 25. More than 100 international freshmen from nearly 30 countries (e.g. the Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Bangladesh, Liberia, etc.), went to China Silk Museum to experience the profound silk culture which it is rich in. They also visited Songcheng, where the ancient and the modern are intertwined, to know more about the history of beautiful Hangzhou, and gain a deeper understanding of China through the experiential study trip.

In China Silk Museum, international students entered a legendary silk world and witnessed the wisdom and charm of silk culture. From exquisite ancient silk products to modern and innovative silk crafts, each exhibit tells the long history of Chinese silk culture. Through the rich collections from different countries and detailed documents, the students have a more comprehensive experience of the culture of the Silk Road and acquire a better knowledge on the protection and inheritance of human civilization.

In order to explore and understand the profound cultural accumulation of Hangzhou, learn about urban culture in Song Dynasty and Chinese traditional culture, international students also visited Songcheng, a theme park full of Song Dynasty style and reflecting the culture of Song Dynasty. The diverse elements of traditional Chinese culture, such as ancient architecture, traditional performances, and folk art such as sugar painting and paper-cutting, provide students with an opportunity to know more about Chinese culture and enrich their knowledge and broaden horizon.

The students also watched the significant performance "The Show of Songcheng." Combining advanced sonic and photoelectric technologies with historical stories, the performance brings the audience a feast of vision and hearing. Students seemed to travel through time and space and experienced the thousand-year changes of Hangzhou in person.

The experiential study trip is one of the series activities for the education on China’s national conditions for international students with the goal of looking at Zhejiang from the perspective of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. The activity this time provides an opportunity for international students to experience the silk civilization and Chinese culture, helps them deeply understand the essence of Chinese culture and build respect and cultivate appreciative ability for Chinese culture. As the bridge of cross-cultural communication, international students can tell the world what they have seen and heard in China in a more real and vivid way, enabling the international community to understand a diversified and well-rounded China.