Aug 2, 2014, it was still rainy in the morning but turned sunny in the afternoon. Looked as if it was arranged intentionally because it was Keats School’s large event day. Long expected, the event was held more successfully than we imagined. All the teachers and the students were invited to a daytrip to the famous Golden Temple, located in the northeast of Kunming.
Around 2pm, all the guests arrived at the Golden Temple by bus. Once we got off the bus, we were fully attracted by the traditional Chinese ancient-style gate that was standing upright in front of the green mountain. Excited and amazed, many students were busy taking pictures. One of the teachers who served as a tour guide joked “Our goal today is the Taihe Temple on top of the mountain. Let’s save some strength for the challenging climbing.”
Although it was not a long way from the foot to the top, the steps were rather steep. The rarefied air caused by the Yun Gui Plateau may make people quickly tired, but Keats teachers and students seemed to enjoy the climbing very much. One student told us that nobody would feel tired as the scenery was so beautiful along the way that they almost forgot everything else. In order to reach the mountain top, we had to go through three gates. We left students with enough time to learn about each gate with its history and culture. With the help from the teachers, the students had a chance to read the traditional Chinese characters carved on the stones.
Time flies and we were already at the mountain top. We originally planned to take a rest once reaching the top, but we were surprised to see the dazzling beautiful surroundings. Forgot about taking a rest, students started to take pictures. When we finally arrived at the Taihe Temple, the Keats tour guide carefully introduced its origin, structure, history and all background information. Looking at the construction with more than 300 years of history and built with 100% copper, the students were thoroughly engrossed in the incomparable beauty of the temple. The teacher invited all the students to touch the copper as it would bring us good luck. Many students and teachers used their own way to touch, to feel and to experience. One Australian student said that he was not into architecture at all, but now amazed by the wisdom of ancient Chinese people applied in the architecture. He learned much more about Chinese culture and history than he thought he could.
The Events Planning Team at Keats also prepared various wonderful little games. The students enjoyed the game time a lot and we attracted many Chinese visitors’ attention. They were invited to join us to play games. We once again had an opportunity to learn how friendly Chinese people are.
One returning student told us that one important factor to make the traveling more exciting is to feel the process, not the result. The people, the scenery, and the time we spent together made our trip to the Golden Temple a unique experience that only belongs to Keats teachers and our students.
