Day 2 · June 22, 2026
Landing in Guangzhou, and the Camp Begins
Baiyun Airport & GCC
The doors of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport slid open, and the summer of the south met us all at once, warm, humid, and heavy with the smell of rain. After the long flight from the UK, none of us minded. We were finally here.
Student hosts from Guangzhou College of Commerce were waiting for us the moment we came through arrivals, waving and helping us with our bags. That first night they took us out for street food, and somewhere between the noise and the neon we stopped feeling like visitors and started feeling like guests.
The Opening Ceremony
The next morning we gathered in Classroom 202 of the 8th Teaching Building for the opening of the 2026 Cantonese Rhyme and Tech Innovation Guangzhou Study Tour Camp. Mr. Zhou Peng, Vice President of GCC, welcomed the three partner universities, BU, GCC, and DSU, into one room. Dr. Danni Liang of Bournemouth University spoke next, and it felt less like a formal address than a promise of the weeks ahead.
On the Steps, and Around the Table
When the ceremony ended we spilled out onto the steps of the International College for group photos, Chinese, Korean, and British students packed shoulder to shoulder in the bright morning light. Nobody was quite sure where to stand, which somehow made the pictures better.
A welcome dinner followed. Seated around one big round table, passing dishes we did not yet have names for, we found that shared food translates faster than any language. The trip had only just begun, and already it felt like something we would remember.
