Educational Groups at The Schoolhouse

Since our inception The Schoolhouse has welcomed qualified educational groups from schools around the world with special rates and programs.

We organize village tours, home visits, and hikes with guides and interpreters. We put together interviews with local residents with interpreting or for students to practice Chinese. We provide noodle-making demonstrations and classes. We offer art glass demonstrations in our hot glass shop.

Our partners and senior managers speak to student groups on appropriate topics ranging from sustainable tourism to doing business in China.

We provide gratis use of meeting facilities to educational institutions in conjunction with food and beverage service whenever possible within our over-all business requirements.

Read below for additional programs and activities and for testimonials.

Please contact us at education@theschooolhouseatmutianyu.com for assistance in putting together a custom visit to The Great Wall for your educational group.

Student Programs

Elementary & Secondary. We have created nature classes aimed at elementary student and can teach the classes. See the Teaching Guides. We also offer a human geography class aimed at secondary students. We have helped a number of schools create special study tours, including arranging for local accommodation.

University & Graduate. Many students are on short trips which offer no other opportunity to connect with rural China -- still 70 per cent of this country -- than a country drive to Mutianyu and a stop in our village under the Great Wall. This can be a real eye-opener and a life-changing experience for young people from other countries.

We also find that students on a tour are often pretty tired of tourist-style Chinese food and are ready for a break. Our Western group meals, especially simple burger grills, are very popular.

All of our menus include vegetarian options and we are very happy to accommodate special dietary requirements such as for celiacs or for those with other food allergies and sensitivities.

Year 10 of Dulwich College Beijing -- Mutianyu and Schoolhouse Field Trip
On Thursday last week, Year 10 students enjoyed a beautiful walk along the Great Wall at Mutianyu and an interesting series of presentations on village culture from representatives of the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu. The students visited the dwelling of a local 91 year‐old lady, Zhang Enron, who had had her feet bound between 1915 and 1925. The village 'barefoot doctor', Liu Chunxinag, told of how she had been nominated as the doctor in 1975 with no medical training but had since delivered countless babies and treated a full range of illnesses with success. We also heard of the aspirations for the village from a younger man, LihaiXin. The afternoon was rounded off with an overview by Jim Spear, a long‐time resident in China whose sustainable approach to the local economy and environment made quite an impression on us all.
27th October, 2006 Newsletter 8, Volume 3

EMBA & MBA. Many graduate programs in business include China study tours with a stop at Mutianyu Great Wall and The Schoolhouse. This can include cocktail receptions, entertainment, and deluxe meals. What better way to end up a whirlwind China visit than unwinding at the Great Wall?

"Thank you to The Schoolhouse for making our visit to the Great Wall and to Mutianyu such a great experience. The students had a wonderful time, and as always, thought it was simply a perfect ending to our China experience."
Dr. Nancy Nix, Executive Director, EMBA Program, Professor, Supply Chain Practice,Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University, Forth Worth, Texas U.S.A.
May 2010

"I can say with great pleasure that our visit to The Schoolhouse was a real highlight of the overall trip. The students kept commenting on how much they learned and enjoyed their visit with you throughout the rest of our itinerary to Shanghai, Suzhou, Suzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. It was truly unique among the range of experiences MBA students have in visits to China, which as you know are filled with company visits. Based on their comments, I believe they appreciated the opportunity to learn about something very different, but which they had no idea they might encounter in China. Julie Upton-Wang's presentation was extremely well received. So, I very much hope to make this a regular part of our program in the future. Please thank all your staff on our behalf for making this such a success for us."
John Thomas, Professor of Operations Management and Strategy, Director-HSBC Center for Global Business Leadership,Dean Emeritus, School of Management at the State University of New York at Buffalo

"In June 2009 we had another great visit at The Schoolhouse. Jim Spear's talk to the MBA students was really, really good, sharing his insights with great candor. We shall return!"
Chris Carr, Associate Dean and Professor of Business Law & Public Policy, Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business

"On behalf of the entire MBA group from Cal Poly, Ashley and I would like to thank Jim for hosting us for the afternoon at the Schoolhouse. Not only were we lucky enough to enjoy beautiful blue skies during our walk along the Great Wall but the lunch that was served was delicious. In addition, your talk on business in China and the personal experiences you shared regarding your time in Mutianyu were both interesting and entertaining. Please extend our thanks and warm regards to your staff and to the people that shared their homes with us as well, we very much enjoyed the tea and fresh-picked cucumbers.
Best regards,"
Ashley Breneman & Cece Reyes, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Administration Programs

The Schoolhouse and our other venues make excellent sites for meetings and retreats, whether for one day or overnight, for departments, administration teams, and boards.