Thirty-one overseas students from well-known colleges including Harvard, Yale and Duke universities recently enjoyed a 12-day trip to Shandong province.

At the invitation of Yantai's foreign and overseas Chinese affairs office, the group had the chance to visit several popular cities in Shandong, including Jinan, Qufu and Yantai, which gave students the chance to learn about different elements of Chinese culture such as martial arts, paper-cutting, Peking Opera and dough sculpturing.

Cheng Zhihao, a student from Stanford University in the United States, spoke highly of the activity and said that through the trip he was able to improve his Chinese and gained a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese culture.

Sponsored by the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China, the event aims to help more overseas students learn about traditional Chinese culture.

Overseas students learn about traditional Chinese characters and paintings during their trip. [Photo/yantai.sdchina.com]