Upper School Chinese Students Visit Flushing

On Thursday, March 31st, eight students in FA Chinese classes traveled to Flushing, Queens with Upper School Chinese teacher Dr. Zhong and World Languages and Cultures Head, Dr. Duke. Flushing is home to one of the largest Chinatowns, representing the largest Chinese population of any U.S. municipality other than New York City in total. While there, the students participated in many cultural activities for an immersive learning experience.

Their first stop was Michelin-recommended “Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao” to try their famous Shanghainese dim sum. The group continued their tour by walking through “Chinese Manhattan,” an area that surrounds the popular intersection of Main Street, Kissena Boulevard, and 41st Avenue. During the late morning, the students visited “Fang Gourmet Tea,” a tea house that offers different teas, tea accouterments, and traditional tea ceremonies. 

At noon, the group engaged in karaoke at Wave KTV. This form of entertainment is popular among young Asians, particularly in China, Japan, and Korea. To finish off the day, the students and teachers went to a hotpot restaurant for lunch. Hotpot is a cooking method that originated in China; it is prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock at the dining table, in which diners cook a variety of authentic Chinese ingredients, before dipping them into spicy sauces. “Everyone was enamored with the Hotpot food and wanted to stay put!” said Dr. Zhong. “On our way back, in the bus, we passed by the Flushing Quaker Meeting House. What a nice coincidence! It was a precious opportunity to bond as students and teachers and to engage in cultural activities that could have taken place in any Chinese city.”