Mike Burton, Head of Modern Languages and International Links Coordinator visited Shiangliu Experimental Middle School (Chengdu, China) from Saturday 13 October 2007 till Saturday 20 October 2007.
Opening thoughts
The scale of development in China is well reported but must be seen to be believed. Construction cranes crowd the skyline in the main cities including our host city of Chengdu in the south-western Province of Sichuan.
The welcome at the airport with a reception party of 4 teachers and a huge bunch of flowers was so friendly and then we drove straight to the school to be met at the entrance by Senior staff, local officials and a 30 ft banner of welcome to my 'honourable' self as the school gates were opened by the uniformed guards. Maybe the royal family do this sort of thing all the time but this was obviously going to be something to savour for me.
Travel
Outward - Sat October 13 2007. Inward - Sat October 20 2007
KLM flight Birmingham via Amsterdam to Chengdu. A 10 hour flight from Amsterdam and they are 7 hours ahead. It was good to have Sunday to get over the jet lag which really hits you going west-east.
Accommodation 
A great deal was made of my reception in the top hotel in Chengdu- the Tanghu hotel. There was a welcome dinner with staff and local officials. My room for the week included internet access and my request for a laptop was responded to immediately. On top of this a member of the school staff had a room near mine in case I needed anything overnight. Bed and breakfast was at the hotel and all other meals were paid for by the school in restaurants or in the school canteen. Eating out is very much a way of life in Chengdu and not expensive.
Chengdu and Shiangliu
The Shiangliu Experimental Middle School lies in Shiangliu, a suburb of Chengdu. Chengdu is a huge city of 14 million inhabitants and you are immediately struck by the scale of the shopping areas complete with 'high-street' type stores in pedestrianised streets; you are struck by the huge number of people in the streets at any time of day.
You notice areas of construction including huge stockpiles of raw materials - wood, steel - as you drive around the suburbs. People transporting some of these materials piled high on bicycles or rickshaws join with the chaotic flow of motor traffic. You can't help notice people sleeping rough in tents or make-shift temporary constructions on the roadside or under bridges; a strange mix of extreme poverty and emerging wealth on a big scale.
Shiangliu Experimental Middle School
The school has 2,300 fee-paying students in grades 7-9 (12- 15 years old).They prioritise Chinese, English, Maths and Science; they have 6 hours per week of compulsory English in Shiangliu Experimental Middle School. The school building is impressive architecturally- on several floors around a central quad. There is a large sports field and an impressive accommodation block for boarders.
The classrooms themselves are well equipped though not better than the best of UK schools; the lessons I observed used projectors although not all rooms are as well equipped. The school is equipped with computers for students; these are in ICT rooms and access for students is by booking as in many UK schools. The English Department teachers whom I met are split into teams for each year group- having their own office and work area. All departments were well equipped; the Science prep rooms had some amazing models and specimens ready for use.
Lessons
I observed English, Art and PE lessons. One lesson was an English lesson with 60 students and seemed destined for disaster when they all piled into the room- no uniform, chatting loudly amongst themselves and clattering clumsily into their seats on the hard floor. But then the lesson started and they all calmed down and remained on task for 40 minutes. A traditional, teacher-centred lesson based on some simple sentence structures did not have any WOW factor but the pupil engagement was unquestioned.
I later realised that this 40 minute lesson was one of 8 in the week- 6 hours per week compared to our 2.5 hours per week for Modern Foreign Languages. The Art lesson was a masterclass in traditional Chinese painting and all the students seemed expert in wielding the brush to paint lotus flowers. I later took part in a PE, a Kung Fu lesson, rejecting the leather sofa which had been put out for my benefit. My hamstrings complained for days after the misguided decision to join in.
The raising of the Chinese flag
This is an important weekly ceremony. All 2300 students assemble on the school sports field and attend this military ceremony. From a Western perspective this seemed an impressive reaffirmation of traditional Chinese values. Yet the nearest thing we have in the West is the school fire drill!
Visits and sights in the Chengdu area
During my stay I visited the Panda Research Centre just on the outskirts of the city. This was an amazing experience 
especially the sight of the baby pandas in the nursery and gave a real insight into the Chinese commitment to conservation.
The Dujjiangyan Irrigation Project is a World Heritage Site and it's ancient river system provides a focus for educational projects in the Sichuan Province.
The Chinese opera with a Tibetan slant in this province was a treat on typically vast scale; the stage, cast and production were as good as anything in the West End.
The highlight of the stay in China was the trip to the Nine-Village Valley, again a World Heritage sight. This was a beautiful mountainous area, comparable to the English Lakes and in it's Autumn colours was a photographer's paradise. The special blue colours of the water were unique. The visitor centre has a laboratory dedicated to sustainability in the environment.
It became increasingly clear that this theme could form the focus for our Joint Curriculum Project.
The Partnership Ceremony 
The Ceremony and the hotel meal which followed formally closed the visit to Chengdu. The Partnership Ceremony was attended by local Education officials and the Agreement was signed by myself and the Headteacher, Mr Gao who will return to visit Haybridge in the New Year.