Thirty students from Carisbrooke College and the Island VI Form are preparing to set off on a once in a lifetime trip to China this month.

The group, all Mandarin students at Carisbrooke, will spend 11 days travelling overland through four cities, combining language learning with history, culture and adventure.

Trip leader and Mandarin teacher, Joe Briscoe, said the aim was not only to give students the chance to practise their Mandarin but also to broaden their experience of the world. He explained: “This trip is designed to ensure our learners use their Mandarin skills to communicate, but it has also been carefully constructed to offer a range of life experiences and provide first-hand knowledge to complement their studies in history, geography and RE.”

Carisbrooke College has a strong record of offering ambitious overseas trips, winning the School Travel Organiser’s My Best School Trip award last year for its history visit to Vietnam. Staff hope this new journey will be equally memorable.

Students will begin their travels in Shanghai before heading to Xi’an, home of the Terracotta Army, and to Yan’an, a former communist stronghold. The trip will end in Beijing with visits to some of China’s most famous landmarks.

Instead of taking internal flights, the group will cross the vast country by coach and overnight sleeper trains. Teachers say this will allow learners more opportunities to use their language skills in real-life settings and to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.