Testimonials

“The Pu’er Bicyclye Challenge was a fantastic trip. I’ve been Head of Year to many of those students for a while and I was amazed at the way they all showed genuine grit and determination. I saw a side of the students that they have never shown at school. Sometimes it takes years for students to reflect on how great their school expeditions were but I think this group all already know that they have just experienced something special that they had to work hard for.”

Mr. Alex Murchie
Harrow Internationl School
Head of Secondary and Sixth Form

“I am writing to say how much I enjoyed the itinerary and the trip prepared by The Hutong.  It was a busy four nights and three days with a variety of activities that were educationally valuable for our students.  The students were taken to see desertification in a variety of areas and were introduced to local ‘experts’ and the information was translated to our non-Chinese speaking students.  The timetable was jam packed which is a great way to help students not stay up too late whilst away from home.

The Hutong staff were fully organised. They always consulted with the teaching staff about the next activity and they were checking that this was appropriate for our students and relevant to the information that they had covered before leaving BCIS.  The train journeys, buses and tickets and all planned events were appropriate and at no time was I wondering ‘what was going to happen next.’ I knew in advance.

A job well done The Hutong and I would happily be included in another excursion under your planning.”

Lea Grinter
Language Teacher
Beijing City International School

“The hands-on focus of the activities that The Hutong provides to our students enhance both the lessons that we teach in the classroom as well as their understanding of the culture that they live in. The programs that The Hutong offer, allow our students the opportunity to interact with the subject matter that we present in the classroom in a way that they are able to conceptualize their understanding in a manner not available within the classroom.”

Brian McManus
Grade 9 Teacher
International School of Beijing

“Contributiing positively to a community and learning to face challenges with determination were skills we developed on the trip. As students we also demonstrated leadership. On many of the activities we worked together as a group with no help from the teachers. At first there was a lot of arguments and disagreeing, but we soon learned how to work together. Even though my team didn’t win in the end, we learned how to work as a team. It was a great experience for me. Overall we had a brilliant time. We tried new things and saw things we had never seen before.”

Grade 8 Student
Beijing City International School

“I take our Cal Poly MBA students to The Hutong in Beijing for a half-day of tea tasting, neighborhood treasure hunt, and a team cooking compeition. This visit is one of the highlights of our annual MBA trip. The format also allows me to become more invisiible as their professor and let them personally experience Chinese culture, history, and some of the remaining hutongs of old Beijing. It also allows them to deep their relationships with memories of China with each other, to compress from our hard days and nights of travel in China, and to eat delicious food prepared with their own hands. Further, consistent with our education mission, our visit to The Hutong takes place under the bigger context of informal business discussions, relationship building, and Q & A with our hutong hosts. My students love The Hutong and it has become a must stop on our annual study tour.”

Chris Carr
Professor of Business Law & Public Policy
California Polytechnic State University