BEIJING, Xi'an and Hong Kong were all visited. We studied Mandarin, Chinese and experienced Chinese culture whilst enjoying ourselves immensely too.

The first stop was Beijing where the 2008 Summer Olympics are set to be held.

On the first day we visited Beijing's most renowned sights. These included Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Square translates to The Gate of Heavenly Peace. It was built in ten months in 1957 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Chinese Revolution and is the largest open, urban square in the world.

The Forbidden City was the home of the Emperor and his household for almost five centuries, and was the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.

On the next day we climbed part of the Great Wall, situated in Badaling, 50 miles from Beijing city.

Here we met an Olympic procession with the official mascots putting on a show. We may have ended up on Chinese television as we were asked to pose with them.

The views from the Great Wall were astonishing and it easily lived up to our expectations.

The following day we saw another of China's treasures, the Giant Panda, in Beijing's Panda House.

Afterwards there was a hairy rickshaw ride through Beijing's old town to visit a traditional Chinese house. Like many buildings in China it was built in accordance with Feng Shui principles.

We also had a tour of the Olympic village and saw the Beijing National Stadium. This has been nicknamed the Bird's Nest because of its next-like skeletal structure.

Many in our group, however, thought it looked more like a silver Pringle!

Often old and new are found side by side in Beijing. In this spirit this was followed by a trip to a Buddhist Temple. This particular one housed the largest wooden Buddha in the world. It stood at 26m and was carved out of a single tree!

That night we took the overnight train to Xi'an. Unexpectedly the air here was far more polluted than in Beijing.

Most people's spirits were lifted, however, when they spotted a MacDonalds and Starbucks within close vicinity to the hotel.

After eating traditional Chinese food, including jellyfish, which was likened to a rubber band, for every meal since we arrived, a change was much welcomed.

Over the next few days we had our Mandarin lessons at Xi'an University and visited the idyllic Huaqing Hot Springs and the Terracotta warriors.

The warriors date back to 210 BC and were found by a local farmer who we had the chance to meet.
We visited the Great Mosque of Xi'an, which is the oldest mosque in China and saw a traditional Chinese dance.

We then flew to Hong Kong, which means Fragrant Harbour in Cantonese, and saw Aberdeen fishing village and Jumbo, the world's largest floating restaurant.

We also walked along the Avenue of Stars and saw Jackie Chan's house. Much of our spare time was spent in the district of Mong Kok which is the highest population density in the world and is famous for fast food and shopping.

In all we spent ten days in China and learnt some Mandarin as well as a lot about Chinese culture and way of life. We had fun bartering with street vendor and experimenting with Chinese food.

All of us felt very fortunate to have been given this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Harrogate Grammar School offers many travel opportunities from the exotic – the Galapagos, Iceland and, of course China – to the close to home, such as Venice, World War sites in France and Belgium and skiing in Austria and Italy.

There really is something for everyone!