The week-long Irish Secondary School Principals Trip to China, organized by UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland, came to a successful end.

The five principals of the delegation represented an excellent cross section of secondary schools in Ireland- fee-paying and non-fee-paying; male, female and mixed. It's the first time for all of them to be here in China. They firstly visited Hanban. Director Ms. Chen Mo and Program Officer Ms. Zhang Huan of Division of New Initiatives and International Exchanges, Confucius Institute HQ, welcomed the Irish guests with enthusiasm. The Irish principals enthusiastically participated in cultural interaction and exhibition hosted by Hanban. This was followed by a lecture delivered by Dr. Kan Wei from Beijing Normal University on China's elementary education.

On the following days, the delegation paid visits to three major secondary schools in nearby city of Tianjin, namely Tianjin No. 55 High School, No. 20 High School and Chonghua High School. The principals were greeted with great warmth and enthusiasm by their Chinese hosts in each of the schools visited and leaders of Tianjin Education Commission. The Irish delegation particularly enjoyed observing the Chinese students in class, and took advantage of every chance to chat with the students about their studies. Both sides were happy to understand different educational systems and students' learning modes of each other. The Chinese schools visited all expressed particular interest in the Transition Year modules in Irish schools, while the Irish principals were very curious about school and class sizes, moral education, timetables and the working hours of their counterparts in Chinese schools. The Irish delegation marveled at the scale of the buildings and numbers involved, the schools having between 2,000 and 2,500 students each. Both sides explored into ways of enhancing cooperation and communication and Irish principals extended invitation to their Chinese counterparts to visit Ireland.

Of course, no trip to China would be complete without experiencing the culture of this ancient civilization, and the delegation took in such sights as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, and more, and feasted on many of the various regional cuisines in China. They're truly impressed by understanding about China's educational system and experience in Chinese culture.

This delegation was the second of its kind organized by UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland. The UCD Confucius Institute will continue to organize such event once a year to give further play to its active role as the bridge and bond between two countries and enhance cooperation and communication on all fronts.