June Huang and Michael Selfridge chaperone the US Collegiates Entrepreneurship tour in China for 15 young college students.
Michael joined the group traveling from Los Angeles and June met them in Beijing.
They went for a lunch of Peking Duck and then visited the Forbidden City to learn about 5000 years of Asian Culture.
On day 3, they visited the Great Wall of China and learned about China’s ancient architectural wonders.
Airline Ambassadors International recognizes the benefits of travel for cultural exchange and business, which is why we were excited to team up with the New York Institute of Finance to make the Collegiates Asia Entrepreneurship Tour possible. The adventurous college students that joined us on this inaugural trip experienced firsthand the deep cultural history of China, visiting many sights such as the Forbidden City, Great Wall of China before voyaging to the port city of Tangshan.
In Tangshan, they met with peer college students, forging new friendships that promise to last a lifetime. When not studying entrepreneurship courses presented by New York Institute of Finance at the Tangshan Normal University Campus, they had the opportunity to study ceramics painting, Chinese calligraphy, Peking Opera and many other subjects embedded within China’s deep cultural history. They also took advantage of opportunities to visit some of the regions industrial parks obtain a broad overview of international manufacturing and overcoming some of the associated challenges. Additionally, they visited museums to observe the city’s evolution from a mining town to a international commerce hub.
As we successfully conclude this inaugural trip and look forward to future trips, we consider some of the feedback we received from some of the participants and their family. One of the students commented after the conclusion of the trip:
“I am so grateful to have been fortunate enough to go to China and to have experienced the wonderful trip with you and everyone else. :).” Adding “I miss Michael’s cringe dad jokes already”
Another student commented Another student commented:
“You took such great care of us all and went above and beyond to make sure everything ran as smoothly as it could.”
A parent of one of the student’s commented:
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving my son the opportunity to go with you to China! He really enjoyed himself and has told us a lot about the trip. Please extend my thanks to those who organized the trip and accompanied the kids. I appreciate the work that went into it and the good care they took of him. Thank you again!!”
Day 4 – They traveled to Tangshan, interacted with local university students and toured the campus.
Day 5 – They visited Chinese ceramic art and experienced the charm of China’s porcelain capital.
Day 6 – The team visited the National Mining park, learned about China’s changing energy structure & took courses from New York Institute of Finance. (NYIF)
Day 7 – They visited the Tangshan Caofeidian Port to learn about energy, transportation and supply chain management as well as courses from NYIF
Day 8 – They visited the Luanzhou Ancient City and experienced the traditional culture of ancient Northern China.
Day 9 – They visited the Tangshan Earthquake Ruins Memorial Park to learn about the history of this great earthquake.
Day 10 – They participated in a closing Ceremony and most departed for home. Some stayed another two days to participate in a traditional Tea Ceremony!
Here is a few quotes from Kassidy, Hannah and Sofia…to see their full quotes go to this LINK:
Kassidy – who helped with translation on the trip:
“As the school year begins, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the incredible opportunity I had this past summer. Thanks to the Collegiate Asia Entrepreneurship Tour, I challenged myself to use Mandarin Chinese in a business setting. This fully funded trip was organized by the non-profit Airline Ambassadors International, affiliated with the United Nations and the New York Institute of Finance. During the two-week tour, I visited Beijing, Tangshan, and Fuzhou.
Hannah:
“This trip was really something special. I love getting to travel, but this was my first time to China and it was so cool to get to see the country and especially to meet the local students. I think that’s the main thing that made this trip so unique; that we got to build relationships with students to learn what their lives are like and see China through their eyes. If I had been traveling alone, I may have gotten to see the sights, but I wouldn’t have gotten those rich perspectives and relationships….:
