Category Archives: Uncategorized

  Brent and Rajit: We stayed at the home of Mr. Guo, whose sixteen-year-old sister Nancy came to his apartment to live with us for the two days.  We had met Mr. Guo previously, as he had been driving along … Continue reading →

There is no student-written blog entry today because the boys all scattered to their different homestay locations this morning.  Ms. Bai and I explored the city all day today, mostly on foot.  The highlight was finding and wandering around the … Continue reading →

By Rajit Khanna: The boys enjoyed their latest morning of the trip, waking up for a 10:30 brunch containing delectable shao mai. Duer (our head tour guide in Inner Mongolia) even said that the relatively cheap shao mai elicited much … Continue reading →

Here’s a list of the things we did today: We woke up for the last time (during this trip, at least) in our cozy yurts in the grasslands. We ate our last breakfast in the grasslands in the big dining … Continue reading →

We had a quite a birthday celebration for Ms. Jin last night  in our dining yurt.  Not only did the dinner feature a magnificent whole roasted lamb and a specially ordered cake from Hohhot, but there was much singing — … Continue reading →

The following entry was written this afternoon by Brent Gorton: On Tuesday morning, we visited a two hundred-year-old Tibetan Buddhist temple.  It resembled the temple we had seen in Hohhot very closely because it was the summer palace for the … Continue reading →

Lwazi Bululu (’20) wrote today’s blog post!

Everyone woke up refreshed and energized after having had the chance to sleep for at least nine hours last night (the first time this has happened the entire trip). Our day started off with a trip to a farm, which … Continue reading →

Since we didn’t finish dinner this evening until shortly before 11:00 PM, I’ve decided to let the boys retire to their yurts so that they can get to sleep at a reasonable hour. We slept last night at a  comfortable … Continue reading →

Since we stayed in the desert last night, an update was not able to be given and thus this entry includes two days of activities. On Friday, we ate a quick breakfast at our hotel in Ordos, then loaded the … Continue reading →

Today w as full of excitement and adventure. We started off the day with an exquisite breakfast in the Phoenix Hotel in Hohhot, which marked the beginning of our journey into the grassland. Having traveled for an hour and a … Continue reading →

Today the group had an early start with an 8am buffet-style breakfast. Afterwards, we headed to the Inner Mongolia Museum where we met some high school seniors who would accompany us through the rest of the day. A tour guide … Continue reading →

I’m writing a brief update now since it’s quite late (nearly midnight) and I’m running out of battery on my laptop (and my charger plug won’t fit in the outlets here). We had a very pleasant journey from Beijing to … Continue reading →

The day began quite early today with the group waking up at around 6:30. This was the last morning in Beijing. After a quick breakfast consisting of bao zhi with various desserts and a ridiculous fee of 90 yuan for … Continue reading →

Today the boys had an early breakfast (at 7:30) before making the half-an-hour drive to the Summer Palace. The group  was accompanied by local students who explained the historical significance of the place. After ambling about the empress’s quarters and enjoying … Continue reading →

Yesterday night we met up with a few Groton families to watch a comedic play at the Haidian theater, and we enjoyed this morning our latest wake-up time since we arrived in China: 7:00 am to get ready for breakfast. … Continue reading →

We made it safely to our hotel in Beijing earlier this afternoon.  The drive back to the big capital city from the mountains was quite easy.  No hiking this morning.  Instead, we were allowed to sleep in (much appreciated by … Continue reading →

 As it turns out, there were still PLENTY of dumplings left for everyone!

Day two, beginning as early as day one had at 3 a.m., would be filled with a hike along a different section of The Great Wall and some cleaning up along the way. However, a lot of us students, except … Continue reading →

We have had an extraordinary day already today — and it’s only 10:00 AM Beijing time!  Here’s a summary of what happened. We got to our guest lodge in Xizhazi (about 65 km from the center of Beijing) last night … Continue reading →

GEO China prior to their 5:45 AM departure. Watch this space for future postings.

The three trip leaders (Ms. Jin, Ms. Bai, and Mr. Fry) are meeting right now with Mr. Das  to talk about various details related to our upcoming trip.  Only four days until we leave the USA!

           Today when five of us sitting at Fridays in Beijing having our last meal, sharing our reflection and highlight of the trip, I suddenly felt that everything seemed really unreal to me. After nearly a year of preparation, Groton China Trip … Continue reading →

We woke up early in the morning as usual and headed to the worksite. With the help of local teachers and students, the road was pretty much done. So we continued on painting the wall. It’s getting really hot in … Continue reading →

Day 6 These past two days have been a blast. I don’t know where to begin. Vicky, Byanka, and I have definitely been spoiled. Every morning for breakfast we’ve enjoyed Zongzi, a steamed rice triangle wrapped in corn leaves with … Continue reading →

We woke up in time for breakfast, a great feat for mankind and a giant leap for the volunteers. Breakfast was scrumptious as usual, but with a side dressing of Kael who refused to sit with us and eat, and … Continue reading →

       This morning was a doozy. Mr. Lamont’s voice permeated window. Wake up! We could all hear him in our rooms and awoke quickly. Oversleeping had not been a problem for us yet but I reckon the hard work took its … Continue reading →

We woke bright and early and had another wonderful meal. We eagerly headed to Zhongyingzi Primary School where we were greeted with a happy school yard chant. Our objective at the school was to make a drive-way leading to the … Continue reading →

  Our arrival toBeijingInternationalAirportwas pleasant. Passing through customs was a breeze. Lines were quick and the transaction went smoothly. I was happy to give a rating of “Excellent” when I was surveyed about my customs experience.   Mr. Lamont, Byanka … Continue reading →