Tea & Silk Intangible Cultural Heritage Camp

Destinations: In-depth Longjing tea garden field study

Tour Features:

Longjing tea culture and Hangzhou silk culture are representative intangible cultural heritages of China, carrying thousands of years of southern Chinese craft wisdom and traditional life aesthetics. This 5-day intangible cultural heritage experience camp focuses on hands-on traditional craft inheritance, allowing international students to integrate into traditional Chinese cultural life through immersive experience. Students will go to Longjing tea garden for in-depth tea picking and tea plantation observation, learn professional tea ceremony etiquette and standard tea art performance from intangible heritage inheritors, experience traditional hand-thread silk weaving craft and ancient silk dyeing production process, and create exclusive handmade silk and tea art works. Matched with traditional craft scenario-based immersive Mandarin courses, students can master practical traditional skills, systematically understand the inheritance and innovation of Chinese intangible cultural heritage, and deeply perceive the elegant and exquisite aesthetic value of Jiangnan traditional culture, gaining unique artistic and cultural portfolio experience.

Core Highlights

• In-depth Longjing tea garden field study, tea picking experience and professional tea art training
• Authentic traditional silk weaving, dyeing and handmade craft creation experience
• Face-to-face learning and cultural sharing with intangible cultural heritage inheritors
• Traditional craft scenario-based targeted Mandarin immersive courses
• Exclusive handmade tea and silk art works as personalized camp souvenirs

Who It Fits

Suitable for international students aged 12–18 who love traditional crafts, intangible cultural heritage and Jiangnan aesthetics. Ideal for art and culture-loving students who need to enrich artistic creation experience and cultural inheritance cognition. Open to all Mandarin levels with no prior craft experience required.

Package Includes

Traditional craft-themed Mandarin courses and intangible heritage popular science lectures, Longjing tea garden admission and tea art training fees, full silk craft experience and handmade creation material costs, professional inheritor guidance fees, full local transportation, secure accommodation and three daily meals, 24-hour multilingual safety supervision, personalized handmade souvenirs and official intangible heritage experience certificate. Excludes international round-trip airfare, China visa fees, personal travel insurance and private shopping expenses.

Itinerary:

Day 1｜Camp Arrival, Check‑in & Orientation

• Afternoon：Student arrival at the designated camp accommodation in Hangzhou. Complete registration, room assignment, receive camp kits including study notebook, craft‑activity supplies and camp handbook. Multilingual camp counsellors greet and settle students into safe, shared student accommodation.
• Late Afternoon：Full camp safety orientation. Cover campus rules, activity schedules, emergency protocols, daily safety reminders for outdoor garden visits and handicraft workshops. Ice‑breaker group activities for international students to meet peers, counsellors and instructors.
• Evening：Welcome dinner featuring authentic Jiangnan‑style local cuisine. Opening briefing introducing the 5‑day camp theme: Chinese intangible heritage of Longjing tea and Hangzhou silk. Short preview lecture outlining core learning goals. Overnight at camp accommodation.

Day 2｜Theoretical Foundation: Mandarin Immersion & Heritage Background Lectures

• Morning：Scenario‑based Mandarin themed courses. Vocabulary and conversational practice centred around tea culture, silk craftsmanship and Jiangnan daily life. Classes are tailored for mixed Chinese‑language proficiency levels. Interactive group discussions about craft traditions across different cultures.
• Afternoon：Intangible‑heritage popular‑science lectures. Learn the origin, history and modern‑day inheritance of West Lake Longjing tea; trace the thousand‑year‑old story of Hangzhou silk, from ancient sericulture to traditional weaving and dyeing techniques. Watch short documentary clips and photo materials showing master inheritors at work. Q&A session with camp cultural instructors.
• Evening：Group reading & journal‑writing session. Students record their pre‑camp expectations and take notes for upcoming field‑work activities. Free supervised leisure time. Overnight at camp accommodation.

Day 3｜Longjing Tea Garden Field Study — Picking, Processing & Tea‑Ceremony Basics

• Morning：Private coach transfer to authentic local Longjing tea garden within West Lake protected zone. Guided field study walking tour across terraced tea plantations. Listen to local tea‑farm practitioners explain growing environments, seasonal planting standards and how high‑grade Longjing tea leaves are selected. Hands‑on supervised tea‑picking experience: students learn to identify and pluck standard tea buds and tender leaves.
• Mid‑day：Farm‑style lunch near the tea garden.
• Afternoon：Visit traditional tea‑processing workshop. Observe and try simple hand‑fixing / tea‑roasting operations under guidance. Then move to the tea‑art classroom for formal training led by an intangible‑heritage tea master. Learn core tea‑ceremony etiquette, vessel recognition, water‑temperature control and standard Longjing tea brewing procedures. Students practise full tea‑making sequences in small groups.
• Evening：Group dinner back at camp. Students organise their picked tea samples and journal their garden‑visit observations. Overnight at camp accommodation.

Day 4｜Silk Weaving & Natural Dyeing Hands‑on Creation, Meet Intangible‑Heritage Inheritor

• Morning：Visit professional silk‑craft workshop. Face‑to‑face sharing session with local Hangzhou silk intangible‑cultural‑heritage inheritor. The master introduces sericulture, silk reeling, hand‑thread weaving history and the artistic features of traditional Jiangzhou silk fabrics. Demonstration of old‑style manual weaving looms.
• Afternoon：Full hands‑on craft creation session. Students take part in two core projects: traditional hand‑thread weaving practice, plus natural‑plant silk‑dyeing experience using local botanical dyestuffs. Under master's guidance each student finishes one personalised handmade silk artwork (such as dyed silk scarf or small woven decorative piece). Students also refine and package their own picked Longjing‑tea samples as another personal souvenir.
• Evening：Rehearsal preparation for Day‑5 student‑work exhibition. Students arrange their handmade tea and silk pieces, draft short sharing speeches. Supervised free time. Overnight at camp accommodation.

Day 5｜Student‑Work Exhibition, Sharing, Certificate Ceremony & Camp Departure

• Morning：Camp cultural‑achievement exhibition. Display all students’ self‑picked tea samples, hand‑dyed silk works and hand‑woven creations. Each student gives a short group sharing speech about what they have learned and experienced during the tea‑silk heritage camp. Group feedback and instructor comments.
• Mid‑day：Closing celebratory lunch.
• Afternoon：Official award ceremony. Every participant receives an official Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Certificate together with their self‑made tea‑silk art souvenirs. Camp learning summary and closing remarks. Students check out accommodation. Transfer to Hangzhou airport / railway station for departure. End of camp programme.