Trip to Zhengding, Hebei Province —Kaimuru, Anne Waigumo, MSF Class of 2022

From June 4 to June 6, the International Student Office of RUC organized a two-day trip to visit Zhengding in Hebei Province. When I first heard about the trip I was very excited since I loved travelling and interact with new people from other provinces.

I lived on campus last year in September and because of the COVID-19 pandemic and my classmates were unable to come to campus. It had been a very challenging time and the school trip came as a huge break for me. It was also the first time in more than a year that I had been able to travel outside Beijing. My first impression about Zhengding was that it was a peaceful place and was less busy than Beijing. Zhengding is a national historical and cultural famous city and together with Beijing and Baoding were called the Three Grand Town in Northern China. The hotel was situated in an ideal location and we were able to have a view of the Shijiazhuang Airport.

We visited the Zhengding Ancient City on the first night and were able to view the magnificence of the city. The Ancient city seemed to come alive at night and there were so many events that were happening at that time. The lighting was also amazing and it made the different places look very magical. The people there were also very friendly and seemed to be having so much fun.

On Saturday morning we were able to visit Xibaipo Memorial which was constructed in 1977 and was composed of Site of the Central Committee of CPC, the Display Hall, the Park of Stone Inscriptions of Calligraphy and the Traditional Education Venue. During my Chinese Politics Class I had learned a lot about what happened before the birth of the New China and I was able to visit the place where the last meeting before the birth of the new China occurred and also see the residences where the key leaders who had been very instrumental in the birth of the new China like Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De had lived and had offices during the period between 1948 to 1949. We were able to see the maps and telephones they used, the books they had written on and even the artillery.

On Saturday afternoon we were visited Tayuanzhuang Village which is where the rural revitalization starts from. We were able to see different prototypes which were aimed at improving the lifestyle of the people who lived in the rural areas as well as the elderly people. We saw how innovation was being used to better the lives of the community as well as making sure that the elderly people’s lives were made very convenient for them.

Sunday was our last day of the trip and the day was crowned with a visit to Rongguo Mansion which is an archaic construction group that has the cultural background during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. It is a tourist spot and very many TV dramas and movies were filmed there. After our visit to the mansion which was very memorable we went for lunch and travelled back to campus.

The trip has been very memorable to me and I was able to try new Chinese dishes during the trip, learn about Chinese culture and history, make new friends as well as discovering new places. I would really like to thank the School of Finance and International Student Office for providing me this opportunity to join such an enjoyable trip.