Taiwan

Taiwan - Chinese Culture and Kung Fu 

Taiwan is a beautiful island. located in the eastern mainland of China.

Since the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese emperor began to rule Taiwan. In 1949, the Kuomintang lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communist Party, and then the Kuomintang and their soldiers moved to Taiwan. That is why Taiwan is now called the ROC (Republic of China) and the mainland is called the PRC (People’s Republic of China). That is, Taiwan is still part of China.

Taiwan's official language is Chinese. They retain the traditional Chinese characters and mainland China uses simplified characters. In fact, in Taiwan one can experience some traditional Chinese culture that one can see fewer and fewer in mainland China.

The trip

The journey starts in Taipei, which is the capital of Taiwan, where we have to stay in a hotel close to the night market. The food at the night market is known as the best in Asia. At the night market you can also find clothes, toys, headgear etc. But it is precisely in Taiwan that one can experience the traditional and modern China side by side. From tall buildings and large shopping malls to traditional morning gymnastics and busy businessmen.

In Taipei we will visit the world's 12th tallest building, which is called "101 building". We take the world's fastest elevator to the top, which is over 500 meters high, and enjoy the great views of the entire city. At our friendship school, you meet students who are at your age and see how they live their lives and have their daily school life.

You will also have the opportunity to try your hand at all sorts of different techniques in the Kung Fu training center. In addition, we make a trip to a museum in the Forbidden City and you will be amazed at how beautiful ancient Chinese art is.

After 3 days we head towards Tainan, which is Taiwan's oldest city. You will find many interesting stories about dragon carving, yellow glazed tiles, gray wall and a lot of other exciting things in the old part of town. We are also going on a hike on a mountain and getting to know more about Chinese health with a trip to a traditional Chinese medicine factory.

The journey ends in Kaohsiung - a port city located in the southwest of Taiwan. The city has a tropical climate, so you can easily find fresh, tropical fruits like mango or various fresh seafood for your meal. Here there is time for a relaxed beach trip and we will also experience Taiwan's most famous Buddhist sites where you can feel greatness, tranquility and wisdom.

The subject

Taiwan - Chinese culture and Kung Fu is a professional discipline. You should not only choose Taiwan because of the trip, but because you also want to learn Chinese language and Chinese culture.

Chinese culture contains both the past with the emperor and Kung Fu, silk and temples, but also Chinese medicine, family life, work, environment and politics.

Some of the classes will be taught in the classroom, while other classes will be spend on cooking chinese food or doing Tai Chi and Kung Fu. We are going to choose two of the UN sustainability goals as themes for our projects. While working with goal no. 11 "Sustainable Cities and Municipalities", students must choose an area of interest, e.g. how China protects the cultural relics in modern cities. Working with goal no. 3 "Health and Well-being", you could explore e.g. why chinese families eat a lot of dishes in the evening (sometimes as many as 5 dishes for a family of 3) while still remaining thin, or maybe how to eliminate smog in the big cities.

If you are fascinated by the East - from the mountain to skyscrapers, from cooking to Kung Fu, and if you want to meet the Chinese youth, then choose Taiwan.

Vaccinations

Diphtheria, Tetanus, Hepatitis A

Teachers

Ning Xu xn@ranumefterskole.dk

Terms and economy

Self-payment app. 8.500 DKK.

+ possibly a collective cancellation insurance - 350 DKK. Visa included, if you have a danish passport.

Pocket money: App. 1.000 DKK recommended

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