Embraced by the soothing grey of the sky, eleventh-grade students and teachers of SHSID arrived on March 31st, 2021, to Chongming Island with great enthusiasm to participate in the 3-day Global Citizen Day event.

The lush greenery hid the white walls of the village houses as the buses zoomed along the tranquil asphalt roads. Then the road began to narrow, and the car slowed to a crawl. And the students were freed from the cage of the busy city to return to the serene countryside.

After they settled down in their dorms, they gathered in the playground and the coach introduced the schedule for their next 3 days. Without animation, cosplay, or games, they were to learn about how to become farmers and know more about the world, which had made everyone excited upon hearing this. The director of School and Student Affairs Office, Ms. Liu Qin, also gave a speech encouraging students to enjoy the 3-day camp.

After lunchtime, they were split into two groups to start their activities.One group of students went into the fields. The hands that had held pens at school now were picking up shovels and plows, weeding and loosening the soil, and planting and watering garlic, onion, celery, corn, and soya bean seedlings. Their legs got sore and necks stiff, but their hearts experienced a joy they had never felt before.

The other students set out to complete a set of tasks to win points for their teams. The activities included fire-starting, archery, racing, and a treasure-hunt.

Still excited and energetic after dinner, the students got to show off their skills with improvisational performances that embodied the themes of the “Leave No Trace” tourism campaign. It made the students even more excited for the days to come.

The students truly enjoyed the first day of their three-day travel experience. Immersed in the beauty of nature, even the weak Wi-Fi signal on the farm became tolerable.

(Written by Emma Li Picture by Hao Sun Edited and Supervised by Sijia He)