Announcing the Yoyo Chinese China Immersion Trip (Join Us!)

JASON SCHUURMAN | NOVEMBER 15, 2019

** UPDATE: Thank you all for the incredible response! We've been overwhelmed with applicants and are so excited to start planning our trip. Due to such a high number of interested travelers, the application for this trip has been closed for the time being. We definitely plan on organizing more trips to China in the near future though so if you missed out this time, make sure to follow us on social media and keep an eye on your email inbox!

Intro

Last summer eight Yoyo Chinese students joined us on an amazing adventure to China for the first ever Yoyo Chinese China Immersion Trip!

This is something we at Yoyo Chinese have wanted to do for a very long time and so we were thrilled to finally make it happen this year - and with such a great group of students to boot!

In this post, we’ll tell you all about our time in China this summer, as well as how YOU can join us for the next trip in 2020!

Why We Created the Yoyo Chinese Immersion Trip

As you know, Yoyo Chinese is all about helping students learn Chinese using our online video courses and interactive review tools. Our aim is to offer the best courses available and make sure you’re able to go from a Chinese language beginner all the way to truly proficient and beyond.

That being said, we also know there is nothing more satisfying than being able to take your Chinese language skills out into the real world and actually use them, especially in China! Not only is it fun, but it’s also challenging and rewarding - the ultimate culmination of a language learner’s journey.

So we started thinking, ‘How can we help our students practice their Chinese with real Chinese people in China? We experimented with trying to partner with travel agencies and schools in China and have them design our trip, but eventually realized that in order to make sure it was truly a Yoyo experience, we’d have to do it ourselves.

And thus, the Yoyo Chinese China Immersion Trip was born!

Where We Went in 2019

The 2019 trip took us to three unique and exciting cities across China. We started in Beijing, the capital city. From 故宫 (gù gōng)

- the Forbidden City and 天坛 (tiān tán)

- the Temple of Heaven through winding alleys - 胡同 (hú tòng)

- and all the way out to the Great Wall - 长城 (cháng chéng)

, we explored it all!

Our second destination was the ancient city of Xi'an. Home to the Terracotta Army, some of the tastiest cuisine in the country, and the culturally unique Muslim quarter, Xi’an was a real highlight for the history, culture, and food buffs of the group!

Finally, our trip ended in the fast-paced international city of Shanghai. We strolled through the streets of the French Concession, checked out the bright lights of the Bund on a Huangpu river cruise, wandered the famous Yu Gardens, and so much more. Shanghai is ‘have to see it to believe it’ kind of city, and see it we did!

Travel + Language Learning + Cultural Immersion

Rather than just send our students off to China as tourists, it was extremely important to us that the trip included a strong language learning component as well. To accomplish this, we incorporated four important elements:

language guides
classes & workshops
practice opportunities with locals
immersive cultural experiences

The language guides on a Yoyo trip include tour guides trained specifically for helping with your Chinese, locals like college students who are studying to become Chinese teachers, and our very own Yoyo Chinese staff.

The native speaker guides are always with you as you travel, so you are able to ask any Chinese questions you might have, as well as practice your speaking skills with a friendly partner any time. The non-native guides (that’s me!) are there to help provide some extra non-native perspective, which can come in handy when you’re surrounded mostly by native speakers.

Our China Immersion Trip also includes a number of classes and workshops. Some of these may be led by our staff and include lessons that help prepare you for an upcoming tourist destination or activity, while others may be taught by actual Chinese professors from prestigious Chinese universities. The goal with these lessons and workshops is to make sure you’re not only practicing, but continuing to learn while on the trip. Our students loved them this year!

We also wanted to make sure that the trip was peppered with fun activities and experiences that encourage you to interact with locals. From language challenges that ask you to strike up conversations with strangers, to just ordering food or talking with sellers, when on a Yoyo immersion trip our goal is to make sure you are speaking Chinese as much as possible.

Finally, we also strived to make sure that each Yoyo trip would include immersive cultural experiences like singing karaoke, practicing traditional Chinese exercises, writing calligraphy with water in the park, and more. Our next trip will have you making dumplings by hand, practicing ink and brush calligraphy with a master, learning to how to play mahjong, and more! Speaking of our next trip...

Join Us in 2020!

That’s right! We’re gearing up for our next trip in 2020 and we would LOVE for you to join us!

This next trip will take students all the way to the northeast of China in Shenyang, and then down to the ancient capital Nanjing, and finally - Shanghai. This trip promises to be a language learning experience you’ll never forget.

To pre-register, fill out this form here!

(Plain text link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/chinatrip2020)

Space is limited so it’s important to make sure you let us know soon if you’re interested.

We hope to see you next year on our journey to the Middle Kingdom! 加油 (jiā yóu)