A group of Shanghai University foreign students on Confucius Institute scholarship visited Tai'an and Qufu in Shandong province, Nov 18-21, to see its landscape, scenery, and culture.

They stopped first in Tai'an, and then toured the Dai Temple, where emperors held sacrificial rites, and said they were amazed by its history and style.

On Nov 19, the 52 students went to Mount Tai, a natural and cultural heritage site where they faced the chilly air and steep steps up the great mountain, taking an hour and a half but enjoyed the view. In the evening, they visited a Taishan shadow puppetry theater and watched an exciting performance by Fan Zheng'an, a puppeteer in his 70s, who put on some traditional puppetry as well as humorous, English-speaking sketches that made everyone laugh. The students then got up on the stage to try their hand at puppetry.

The next day, they paid a visit to Taishan University, where they watched a series of shows put on by students from the literature and media school, with distinct ethnic elements. Afterwards, they put on a show with their own songs and dances and joined the Chinese in singing the Jasmine Flower song. The Chinese students also showed the foreigners around and introduced to them traditional culture and folk customs, while they took group photos to record the event.

Then they left for Qufu, home of Confucius, and visited the local Confucian Temple, the biggest of its kind in China. They said they were fascinated by the characters and paintings in the temple and some of them bought folding fans and jade seals as well as local souvenirs. They said they would give them to their friends to give them a taste of traditional Chinese culture.

Students visited the Kong Family Mansion and the Cemetery of Confucius the last day. They paid their respects and expressed their gratitude to the Confucius Institute for giving them the opportunity to study the Chinese language and the country.

They said the four-day trip left a deep impression on them and they would study the Chinese language more and hopefully work in China in the future to experience China's nature and scenery, and customs more.