Chinese students visit High Desert

BARSTOW • Chinese students got a glimpse of college life in Barstow as a group of exchange students visited Barstow Community College Tuesday.

The college hosted a presentation about education in America for 14 students studying at Xi’an University of Finance and Economics in China.

The students, who flew into Los Angeles Monday, will be touring the High Desert until Feb. 1, visiting several organizations and companies to learn about American culture.

Cindy Vance, a coordinator at Educational Resource Development Trust, said the students will be learning about education at Barstow Community College, health at St. Mary’s Hospital and Merrill Gardens Senior Center, public safety at Apple Valley’s Fire Department and Victorville Police Department’s Gang Unit, public service at a water company and volunteerism at a senior citizen center. The group will also be learning about American family values while living with their host families during their sociological research trip.

“We try to connect them to anything that will help them understand our culture,” Vance said.
The students will have a class every morning for three to four hours comparing and contrasting the American culture to the Chinese culture. At the end of the month, they will give a presentation on what they have learned.

Vance added that there will be a little fun along the way for the students as they will have a shopping trip to the Tanger Outlet Shopping Center as well as a trip to Disneyland.

One of the exchange students, Liu Hanyu, a statistics major, said she really wants to improve her English while visiting the states.

“I want to know more about America other than what I know from the movies,” Hanyu said, adding she often watches “Big Bang Theory,” her favorite American TV show.

The students were given information on several of the services Barstow Community College offers during their trip and discussed transferring, counseling, financial aid and tutoring.

Zhenying Jiang, a health instructor at the college, addressed the students in Chinese about different colleges in America as well as other practices America uses in its education system.
Several students expressed interest in attending college in the United States.

“We learn so much from them,” Vance said. “It’s designed for them to learn, but all of us gain from it.”


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