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Brooke 4-H Members Visit the Far East

Teens in the Brooke County 4-H program experienced another culture — including its 13-hour school day — when they visited China this summer through the West Virginia University Extension Service.

McKenzie Cross, Dante Johnson and Mikayla Wood said their 10-day visit to China is something they will never forget.

“It was crazy. I’ve always wanted to go there. I really like meeting people from new places,” Wood said.

He noted the three and two other 4-H members from Fairmont and Morgantown and three adult WVU Extension agents embarked on a 13-hour flight from Washington, D.C., to reach Beijing. “I didn’t sleep the entire way there,” Johnson said.

While in China, the teens visited the Affiliated High School of Shanxi University, a public school with about 3,000 students, where each was paired with a Chinese student who gave them a tour of the five-story building.

Johnson noted the school day runs from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, with the students gathering to exercise on a large field at the start of the day. Cross said the students live in dorms there on weekdays, often returning home on weekends.

“We got to hang out with them for a little while,” she said, adding, “They were kind of like us.”

The 4-H members rode one of China’s high speed bullet trains, capable of traveling at 186 mph– for a three-hour trip to Taiyuan, the modern capital of the province of North China.

The teens also took a cable car ride to visit the Great Wall of China, toured the 3,000-year-old city of Pinyao, visited China’s National Stadium — built for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games — and got the chance to see Mount Wutai and its hanging Buddhist temple, which is suspended by wooden poles chiseled into cliffs more than 200 feet from the ground.

The teens said they also learned of different eating customs at Chinese restaurants. For example, the Chinese prefer their drinking water hot because they believe it’s better for one’s digestive system, said Cross.

Wood noted the use of chopsticks in many restaurants though other utensils are available.

“I didn’t how to use them the first day, but by the last day, I knew how. You have to ask for a fork, and I didn’t want to be that person (to ask for one),” she said.

Jason Rine, coordinator of he Brooke County 4-H program, said to help fund the trip, the teens held spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts and other fundraisers and received donations and support from the Wellsburg Kiwanis Club, Family Roots Farm, Brooke County Federation of Democratic Women, Wellsburg Moose Lodge, Brooke Hills Park and many residents.

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