PARIS — Oxford Hills students who recently traveled 7,000 miles to cities in China described the experience as breathtaking, life-changing and incredible.

Last week, 11 Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School students and three staff members arrived home with mementos and memories from a two-week adventure to China that, for many, altered their perception of the world and their own lives.

“I grew up with maybe a slighted worldview and going to China really opened my eyes up to how modern and strong other cultures are and how similar they are to American culture while still maintaining some of their own ideas,” junior Finnian Williamson of Oxford said.

Williamson, along with students Kim Smith, Ty Wyman, Jacob Caron, Christian Ricci, Heath Whitman, Hannah Mathieu, Prentiss Kurtz, Alexander Newell, Austin Gagne and Nicholas Soucy, boarded a plane at the Portland International Jetport on April 10 for the first leg of their trip to Jinhau, China. They were accompanied by teachers Craig Blanchard and Michele Bouchard and Assistant Principal John Springer.

The trip from their small towns to a city of more than 1 million people was an eye-opener for most students.

The students spent three nights at their sister-school, Zhejiang Normal University High School, in Jinhua, living with host families and conversing in a Chinese household. They attended classes where they spoke to Chinese students about American culture and spent the next two weeks visiting sites in Shanghai, Jinhua, Xi’an, Datong and Beijing.

“In a general sense, many of the students on the trip just haven’t traveled much outside of our own country,” Springer said. “Giving them an opportunity to experience other cultures as they look toward their futures will hopefully open up a way of thinking that is more vast and encompasses a perspective that includes endless opportunities as they move forward after their time at OHCHS.”

The trip to China was the fifth one students, teachers and administrators have taken since establishing a sister school and exchange teacher program in Jinhua almost a decade ago.

Negotiations for what was believed to be the state’s first Chinese-Maine teacher exchange program were concluded in April 2007. The delegation was led by former School Administrative District 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman during a 13-day trip.

He and other officials, including Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Principal Ted Moccia and and high school social studies teachers Blanchard and Jason Long, traveled to the Zhejiang Normal University Middle School in Jinhua to make the arrangements.

The negotiations created a sister school and provided for a Chinese language teacher to come to Maine for a year or two to teach Mandarin and for SAD 17 students to go to China, in part, to stay with host families from the school.

Blanchard, who had extended stays in China, learning its customs and protocol and who earned a master’s degree in Asian studies, is considered the driving force behind the success of the plan.

“When I was in college, I became interested in learning more about Asian religion and philosophy,” Blanchard said. “Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism fascinated me. I also believed then, and still believe, that Americans need to learn more about Asia in general and China in particular. China will be a global superpower in the coming decades and good relations are essential between the U.S. and China if our two countries want to continue to prosper.”

Springer said the trip gives students an opportunity to experience firsthand a different culture, to see how China has grown in comparison to the U.S. and how the two are interrelated in influence and culture.

By touring rural areas such as Datong and urban cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, he said the students were exposed to China’s cultural, political and religious history.

Students agree the trip was life-altering.

Hannah Mathieu, a senior from Hebron who is heading to the University of New Hampshire this fall, said one of the best experiences for her was living with a host family in Jinhua.

“I was actually born in China and I was adopted by my parents when I was 1 year old,” she said. “For me, staying with a host family was important. It gave me a chance to see how I might have lived my life if I hadn’t been adopted and brought to the U.S.,” she said.

Mathieu said she was asked frequently by Chinese students why she looked like them.

“A lot of the kids at the sister school asked me why I looked like them and I had to explain to them that I was adopted. After I told them, one kid told me, ‘China will always be your first home.’ It meant a lot to me that he said that, but I kind of felt like a phony,” she said.

“Their way of life is so different from what I’m used to, and I’m not quite sure yet if I would have been able to live that life or not,” Mathieu said. “I’m honestly without words. It’s really hard to describe what I was feeling there. (It’s) almost like I had an obligation to them to learn more.”

Mathieu said one of the most unexpected results of the trip was the bonds and friendships she developed with fellow students.

“It’s almost like summer camp, where we’re all stuck with each other for a long period of time and we learn to get along and grow to like each other,” she said. “We’ve all shared moments together that no one else would understand, and I’m very thankful for the relationships I’ve developed with these people.”

Christian Ricci of Oxford, who hopes to major in cellular biology pre-med and become a doctor, said it was tough to put into words how great the trip was.

“Highlights for me include climbing a much less traveled and unrestored part of the Great Wall, and Eastern-style group meals that stretch our normal tastes and facilitate bonding among peers,” he said. The trip has opened up new possibilities for his future as a doctor — perhaps someday he will practice abroad in a country such as China, he said.

Like Ricci, Williamson said the highlight of the trip was seeing the unrestored part of the Great Wall.

“We took this pretty steep hike up through the woods and when we arrived, it was really just breathtaking,” he said. “The view was incredible. There weren’t any tourists or really anyone aside from our group up there. It was a beautiful and absolutely the best part of the trip.

“One thing I learned was how similar and modern other cultures can be,” Williamson said.

The trip has inspired Williamson, who wants to be a journalist, to write and travel more, he said.

The trip cost $3,200 per person and students raised most of the money, Blanchard said. Students also had to complete a three-page application and write two essays to be eligible. Each student either enrolled in Blanchard’s AP World History or took Mandarin with Chinese guest teacher Nina Ying.

[email protected]