7 to 13 April 2026 – Ateneo de Naga University students from Junior High School and Senior High School traveled to China for the seven-day “International Chinese + Intangible Cultural Heritage” Program. Hosted by Quanzhou Normal University (QNU), the program was an outcome of the partnership between QNU and ADNU, which continues to create opportunities for educational and cultural exchange between the two academic communities.
Located in Fujian Province on China’s southeastern coast, Quanzhou is an ancient maritime port shaped by centuries of movement and exchange along the Maritime Silk Road. Its temples, traditional neighborhoods, museums, and living cultural traditions reflect encounters among different peoples, religions, and cultures over time, making the city a fitting setting for a program centered on language, heritage, and intercultural learning.
Beyond First Impressions
Some of the students came with curiosity, others with caution. Their initial ideas about China had been shaped by news reports, encounters closer to home, stories from family and friends, popular culture, and the political tensions that often dominate conversations about relations between countries.
Throughout the week, the ADNU contingent studied basic Chinese and calligraphy, learned about the Maritime Silk Road, experienced Minnan martial arts and dragon and lion dance, and interacted with students from QNU and Quanzhou No. 6 High School. Their learning also took them beyond the classroom to historical and cultural sites around Quanzhou and Jinjiang, including Kaiyuan Temple, West Street, museums devoted to maritime and intangible cultural heritage, and Xunpu Fishing Village.
Memorable Reflections; Changing Viewpoints
Months after returning home, SHS participants Gavin Bonnevie, Gil Bitara, Sabella Nagales, Sofia Tiay, and Arwynne Vasquez looked back on their personal experiences. They revisited the lessons, the places, and the activities, but they also shared the less visible: how some of the assumptions they had brought with them changed once they encountered China for themselves.
Tiay was candid about her initial perception. “At first, I had a negative impression. I thought they might not be very nice or approachable,” she recalled. Nagales, who described herself as not being a frequent traveler, also arrived with some apprehension about being in an unfamiliar country. For Vasquez, much of what he knew about China had come from media portrayals of the country and its political system. Bonnevie likewise acknowledged that his views had been influenced by tensions between the Philippines and China, encounters closer to home, and even a previous negative experience his father had while traveling in Shanghai.
Encounters with the Ordinary
For Bitara, hospitality revealed itself through simple gestures. “I realized that they are good people. They were very hospitable and generous. They would even give us cakes for free,” he recalled. His curiosity about China had partly been encouraged by popular culture, including The Apothecary Diaries. But once there, China was no longer something he encountered only through stories or a screen. It became a place of dynamic conversations, gestures, and people.
Tiay found something unexpectedly familiar in the warmth of their hosts. “They were very hospitable. In some ways, I could relate them to Filipinos and our generosity toward international visitors,” she said. The experience eventually left her with a lesson that extended beyond China itself: “Do not limit your perspective based only on what you see or hear about other people.”
For Nagales, exploring Quanzhou made her more conscious of how easily unfamiliar behavior can be judged according to one’s own expectations. “It opened my mind. I realized that there are different perspectives and that people follow different rules and ways of doing things,” she explained. The unfamiliar also became less intimidating as relationships formed. “They were very hospitable. They treated you as a friend.”
Bonnevie described the change more directly as the breaking of stereotypes. “The stereotypes were broken because I felt their gentle spirit,” he said. What stayed with him were the gestures of generosity from the people they met. “They would offer us gifts, and they even gave us parting gifts before we left.” Simple as they were, these moments gave him something that secondhand impressions could not: his own experience against which to understand the people he was meeting.
For Vasquez, the trip brought an important distinction into focus. “They were very hospitable, and it did not feel like they were forcing themselves to accommodate us as international visitors,” he shared. His encounters in China eventually led him to one of the group’s most striking reflections: “I realized that the government is not the same as its people.”
Realities and Relations
That distinction is particularly meaningful for Filipino students encountering China at a time when political and maritime disputes often shape how the country is discussed at home. A week in Quanzhou did not erase those realities, nor did it need to. Instead, the experience added another layer to their understanding: relations between states are one reality, while encounters between ordinary people can reveal another.
The students also had to navigate a more immediate challenge: language. Chinese characters filled signs and public spaces, sometimes with little or no English translation. At first, this created moments of uncertainty, but they gradually learned to work through them. As one student reflected, “The language was a challenge, but it was not enough to hinder the experience. It was actually fun, and in the end, we were still able to communicate.” The basic Chinese lessons at QNU helped, but so did gestures, patience, humor, and a willingness on both sides to keep trying.
Much of what they learned, then, was not necessarily written into the program schedule. One student returned with a deeper appreciation for how much the Chinese value their history. Others remembered the friendships they formed, the joy of discovering another place together, and the gentleness and sincerity of the people who welcomed them.
Even joining the program required a willingness to venture into something unfamiliar. Several students credited their parents for encouraging them to participate, while Nagales also pointed to information shared online that helped convince her to take the opportunity. Having returned home, they now hope that what they learned can travel beyond the five of them. They expressed interest in sharing the experience with fellow SHS students—not only the places they visited and the photographs they took, but also the assumptions they questioned and the perspectives they gained along the way.
A Better Understanding; A Wider Perspective
For Bonnevie, Bitara, Nagales, Tiay, and Vasquez, China was no longer simply a country encountered through news reports, family stories, social media, or popular culture. After seven days in Quanzhou, it had acquired faces and friendships, unfamiliar characters and attempted conversations, generous hosts and unexpected gifts, moments of uncertainty and discovery.
They went to China carrying impressions. They came home carrying experiences.
And somewhere between the two lies perhaps the most valuable lesson of their journey: understanding another culture sometimes begins by allowing a real encounter to complicate what we thought we already knew.
— from the Global Engagement Office
