In a rare and exciting opportunity, students and faculty from the Iowa City Community School District are preparing to embark on an educational trip to China. 

This opportunity was presented and extended from the Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School, a sister school to City High School. The invitation gives 30 students and three chaperones the chance to experience China’s rich history, culture and educational system in person. 

On Dec. 10, 2024, Principal Mitch Gross forwarded a message from the school district about the exciting opportunity to go to China. The message included details like the cost, activities and the deadline for submitting your application. 

While the trip was advertised as all-expenses-paid, students were asked to provide $200. This money would help cover the cost of visas, incidental fees and the trip to O’Hare International Airport. Shijiazhuang Foreign Language School would provide the cost of flights, accommodations and meals during the stay. Students were also advised to bring some money to spend while on the trip.

Students will visit cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hebei in China. In these cities, they will visit major tourist attractions like the Great Wall of China and a panda zoo. Students will also get to experience interactions with Chinese locals throughout the trip. Things like meeting the Chinese students and learning in class with them as well as experiencing a meal with a Chinese family.

CHINA ITINERARY

To be selected to embark on this journey, students had to answer a few questions about themselves. Students were also required to state that if they didn’t have a passport, they would have it by Jan. 10. This date was set in order to have flights scheduled as well as visas for each student and chaperone. Applicants were also asked to write a 200-300 word paragraph on why they wanted to go and why they felt like they should be picked to go experience China. 

With a total of over 300 applicants from the district, the release of the names selected was a bit delayed. On Dec. 23, 2024, an email was sent out with the announcement of the students selected to go. The 10 students from West were Ali Mohamed ’26, Anjali Lodh ’25, Anna Song ’25, Finnley Bonfig ’26, Greyson Reed ’25, Junze Sun ’25, Kellen Craig ’26, Mariah Bruening ’26, Sidney Westgard ’26 and Waad Dafalla ’26.

The relationship between Iowa and the People’s Republic of China is rooted in a longstanding relationship between Sarah Lande of Muscatine and Xi Jinping of China.   

President Xi, the leader of an agricultural delegation, and his members were on a research trip to study agriculture in America. During these two weeks across Iowa, the delegation visited places like Ames, Sheffield, Cedar Rapids and Muscatine, where it all started. This is where Jinping met Lande.

Lande, known for her fantastic people-to-people diplomacy, hosted President Xi when he was in Muscatine. Little to no funding was supplied to provide the delegation with a place to stay and meals, but this wasn’t a problem for the Muscatine community. People like Lande helped host the Chinese delegation, giving them a home for their stay and meals daily. 

As time passed, the relationship between Lande and Jinping continued to flourish. Over the years, President Xi made visits back to Iowa, reuniting with the Lande family in 2012. Again, in 2023, President Xi extended an invitation for them to meet over dinner while the president was at the Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit. 

During the 2023 meeting, Xi expressed the desire to welcome thousands of American Students to visit China. He stated that doing this would promote cultural exchange and a more vast global understanding. The desire to bring students into the country is part of a larger effort to strengthen ties between the two nations through educational experiences. 

In 2024, Muscatine High School was given the opportunity to travel to China on very short notice. Within a week, students from Muscatine were headed to China on an educational trip driven by Jinping’s efforts to bring students from America into the country. This trip was the first of many strengthening ties between China and Iowa.

With the ICCSD educational delegation of 30 students leaving in March, ties between China and Iowa will only strengthen as more and more students take the trip across the globe to experience China’s rich culture and history.