School Lunches

My grandson wondered what Chinese students had for school lunches, so here is what I found out. Students may bring lunch from home, purchase lunch in the dining hall or go home for lunch if they are within walking distance. If they bring their lunches from home, common items include pot stickers, rice noodles with vegetables such as eggplant, lotus stems, broccoli, and carrots. They would usually have fresh fruit such as watermelon, dragon fruit, bananas, papaya. Common school lunches would include fired rice, or rice and a meat such as pork or duck, rice noodles, and fruit. 

Visit to Middle School & High School

Outside the school, which was built in 2001 with only a couple hundred students

Signage to remind students of important school values. 

These signs were placed throughout the campus.

This morning we visited Guilin Experiemental School Affiliated to Capital Normal University in the city of Guilin. This was our first time to visit a middle school and high school setting. The school is in a beautiful natural setting and serves 2100 students in grades 7-12. They have 42 classes and 140 teachers. We heard the principal speak about their philosophy which I found very interesting. They seem to emphasize things like manners and the responsibility to take care of themselves, their families, their society and nature. They believe students should have a good command of knowledge so that the knowledge can be applied in real life. It is important to them that their students represent the school in a positive manner and that they develop as a world citizen. I have noted that there is significant emphasis on the affective in the schools we have visited. I guess I expected the emphasis to be more on content and knowledge development.  The faculty at this school seemed concerned about the students’ mental health. The students are very stressed as there is a great deal of pressure on them to do well.  They go to school 5 days, but most students take additional special classes in the evenings and weekends to  be competitive. Many teachers supplement their income by teaching these special classes. The scores they earn on the college entrance exams determine which schools they can attend.  This was a private boarding school, so parents pay all expenses to send their children here. If students come from a distance they stay in dorms for many weeks without going home. Guilin students go home on the weekends. Teachers have living quarters on campus.  

Students were very welcoming and wanted to interact with us. They seemed very much like our teenagers. They want us to take their pictures. Even at this level, they take about a 10 minute exercise outdoors between classes.

One of the high school boys showing us his basketball moves.
His friends were off to the side and giving him a bit of good-hearted teasing.