Team leader outgoing exchange
AIESEC Malta

I started my experience with AIESEC earlier this year working in a team that helped other people to go on AIESEC internships. Then I thought – why don’t I do it myself? So I decided to take the opportunity, and before I knew it I was packing my bags for Beijing.

I made amazing friends with volunteers from around the world

China is a spectacular place. I left on June 28 and I remember coming out of the plane in Beijing after 14 hours and thinking I had landed on another planet. The sights, smells and feel of the most simple things where astoundingly different.

I had to connect to Wuhan where I had my training for my teaching internship in central China and I made the most amazing friends with 20 AIESEC volunteers from around the world.

I spent my days teaching in a little rural village in Bo Wang in the An Hui province. It was a breathtaking place on a plain surrounded by lush mountains and endless rice fields.

I spent two weeks teaching English at a school to the village children and I learnt more from them than I could ever teach them. Their way of life expressed through their cuisine, their culture and their people was amazing.

We got the opportunity to eat meals with a native Chinese family and the local cuisine was definitely an experience to remember with vegetables, spices and local delicacies.

We also visited the local temples which where beautifully ornate and housed a golden Buddha at the centre, always presented with freshly cut flowers .

After my time teaching and alot of heartfelt goodbyes, four AIESEC volunteers and I embarked on what would be the greatest journey around China ever.

Our first stop was Beijing, after a five-hour journey on the new G train, which was impeccable and took us from Nianjing to Beijing at a speed of 300km/h.

We stayed in the centre of the city. This gave us the opportunity to visit the major sites such as the Forbidden City, Tianan’men Square, the Summer Palace, and further out to the Great Wall of China.

Our trip to the Great Wall was mesmerising. The wall faded into the horizon and we spent at least two hours hiking along the mountains.

Our visit to the Summer Palace also left us stunned by the immense beauty of the lake covered with lotus flowers and drifting Chinese rafts, with the temple perched on top of a promontary.

After our stay in Beijing we took the G train to Shanghai where we spent our last two weeks experiencing life in the Bund. Shanghai is an international city and the city has some amazing nightlife to offer which caters for all.

Needless to say, I recommend a visit to China as it is such a beautiful and spectacular country, with thousands of years of history, incredible culture and, most of all, amazing hospitality.

All these opportunities were made possible thanks to AIESEC Malta. If you are a student at tertiary level and would like to experience such exchanges, please visit www.aiesecmalta.org or e-mail info.malta@aiesec.net.