On 26 to 28 of October 2018,11 scholars from the Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Program andteachers from the International College office, Zhejiang University visitedseveral places in Zhejiang Province, such as Shaoxing and Taizhou. The 11 scholarshailed from different countries in East Asia (Japan, Korea), Central Asia(Afghanistan), and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore).

    On 26^th October, the teachers and studentsvisited Luxun Native Place to learn and understandmore about Luxun, the pen name of Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 �C 19 October1936). He was highly admired by Mao Zedong whocalled him ��the saint of modern China��. The Luxun Native Place is the place where Mr.

    Lu Xun was born and grew up.It includes the ancestral residence of LuXun, the former residence of Lu Xun, theBaicao Garden, the Sanwei Study, and other places where Lu Xun lived andstudied in his childhood. At the end of the day, we also visited Lu Xun Memorial Hallwhich exhibited the 56 years of Lu Xun��s short but brilliant life and his legacy incontemporary China.

    On the second day of the field trip, the group traveledto Tiantai Mountain in Taizhou. On the way, the group made a stop for lunch ata local restaurant to try delicious localgastronomy. The trip then continued to GuoqingTemple (a Buddhist temple) on Tiantai Mountain. This temple significantlyinfluenced the teachings of Buddhism in several countries in East and SoutheastAsia, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The Guoqing Temple itself wasbuilt in 598 AD in the  influences on Buddhist teachings in other countries.

    The trip ended with a visit toa small village in Taizhou. This village boastsfantastic scenery and has been a centre for practising��Yijin Jing��, a manual containinga series of physical and breathing exercises toimprove the stamina and physical health when practised consistently. Literally in Chinese, yi means ��change��, jin means ��tendons andsinews��, while jing means ��methods��. We had theopportunity to learn and practise the YijinJing directly from anexpert, whois also headof the village. We were impressed with the warm welcome.

    This field trip provided an excellent opportunity to gleana deep understanding of Chinese roots, histories, cultures and communities for us as internationalstudents in China. Each of us has a different background of nationality and culture,but from this trip, we learnt similarities of culture, religion and even humanity. We believe that through understanding cultural roots and histories, we can learn from the past to embrace a better future. Last but not least, Bai Xian��s motto of ��building bridges across cultures�� was successfully reflected in this rewarding field trip.