Common activities for Austinites during spring break consist of a cool dip into Barton Springs, frolicing throughout Zilker Park, and watching Longhorn basketball and baseball either in person, or at one of the many amazing local restaurants. However, this wasn’t the case for over 20 St. Stephens students who participated in the 2026 China Spring Break trip.
Students took off on their 12 day voyage the first weekend of the spring break and participated in numerous activities, all immersing them within the unique Chinese culture.
Students got to hike around the Great Wall of China, enjoy numerous Chinese art shows, and sit down at many local restaurants! I got to catch up with Junior Josh Goldenberg to hear about his favorite part of the trip and overall experience. Josh stated, “My favorite moment was visiting a school and getting to meet Chinese high schoolers because we got to learn about their lives in China and practice our language skills. My overall experience was great because we got a good amount of freedom to explore on our own and we ate a lot of good food.” Students thrived in personal connection with other students around the world who, despite being the same age, have had totally different life experiences, participate in different cultures, and are fluent in the language that St. Stephens scholars are studying. It truly is a once in a lifetime experience to be able to experience this first hand! One thing that makes this journey to South East Asia even more unique is the amount of China that students get to experience. This wasn’t a stationary retreat to a singular city, no, scholars went to Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu and Shanghai! When Sophomore Keenan Hardy was asked what his favorite city was in China and why he responded with “Beijing, because we got to see the Great Wall, watch a really cool Acrobatics show, and buy hot chocolate with chocolate croissants.”
Whether it was good food, good friends, or good photos it’s safe to say the St. Stephen’s China trip of 2026 was nothing short of a success! From The hill to Asia, no participants will be forgetting this trip anytime soon!