On April 11, YAO Hui, YAN Jia, MIAO Yu, PAN Xiaofei, and LU Ye, instructors from the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University, led a joint field trip for international students in Level 2 and Level 3 Chinese classes. They visited the Jiangnan Center of China Film Archive and the Yipu Garden in Suzhou, where they experienced the multifaceted charm of Chinese culture across time and space.
The group first attended the “Princess Meets the World: Jiangnan Center’s International Screening” event, co-organized by the Jiangnan Center and Duke Kunshan University’s Language and Culture Center, where they watched Princess Iron Fan, China’s first feature-length animated film. Shot in 1941 under challenging conditions, the film adapts “Sun Wukong’s three attempts to borrow the Banana Leaf Fan,” marking a pivotal moment in Journey to the West’s cinematic legacy.
The instructors integrated film appreciation with language and cultural teaching by converting the lines in the movie into Chinese subtitles suitable for the students’ varied levels of proficiency. A character relationship diagram was created to help them better understand the film. YAO Hui provided a pre-screening introduction and facilitated a post-screening discussion, guiding the students to further explore the film’s history and significance.
After the screening, the group toured the special exhibition “The Spider Cave: The Cultural Journey between West and East” at the Jiangnan Center. Students enthusiastically exchanged stories and versions of Journey to the West they had seen, and gained deeper insights into the Journey to the West universe as well as the early history of Chinese cinema.
Following their immersion in film culture, the group strolled through the streets to their next destination—the Yipu Garden—to experience the spring scenery of a typical small-scale Suzhou garden. The instructors introduced key components of classical Chinese gardens, such as “framed views” and “borrowed scenery,” explaining the ingenuity in garden design. The students also discussed the textbook content from Perform Suzhou, practicing on site how to use the Chinese they’ve learned in class.
During this event, students engaged with film artistry through film appreciation and a special exhibition, and immersed themselves in the beautiful spring scenery of the Yipu Garden. After the trip, many students chose to write down their experiences into their bi-weekly Chinese Comprehensive Tasks, transforming their sensory impressions into unique written memories.
This joint field trip was made possible thanks to the support of the Language and Culture Center and the Office of Student Experience at Duke Kunshan University. We also extend our gratitude to LI Wenjin and ZHU Yinzhang at the Jiangnan Center of China Film Archive, whose expertise and coordination were instrumental to the success of this trip.
Author | YAO Hui
China Film Archive Photography | ZHU Yinzhang
Yipu Garden Photography | LU Ye, MIAO Yu
