Recently the grade 11s spent a delightful afternoon going on a storied walk with Mr. Milne through the old French concession area of Shanghai. While enjoying the beautiful weather and European architecture, the grade 11s also expanded their knowledge of Shanghai’s rich history. Canace compared her trip to being “a kid finding presents on Christmas day.” Out of all the places they went to though, Ba Jin’s house seems to have stood out. Ba Jin is one of China’s most important and widely read authors of the 20th century. As the students walked in, they were greeted by a cute cat. John also remembers seeing “a library on the third floor, old furniture and a picture of Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb.” The picture relates to Ba Jin’s writings which advocate peace. The class also got to see Tang Chao Yi’s house. He was the 1st Prime Minister of the Chinese Republic. The students were left with goose bumps when they learned that he was murdered in that very house. Reflecting back on the trip, students described how the trip gave then a deeper sense of how people lived and thought differently in the past.
A Storied Walk – with Mr. Milne
