Platteville Middle School eighth-grader Brook Gassman spent 17 days in China this summer.

“It prety much all stands out, especially the Great Wall,” said Gassman of her trip.

Gassman’s trip included visits to Beijing and the Forbidden City. “It’s amazing how large the Forbidden City was,” she said. “I caon’t believe people actually lived that way.”

Gassman’s group went to a public school, which she called “probably one of my favorite parts because we got to see actual Chinese students. If you went to Platteville Middle School, there’d be people talking and everything, but it was very quiet.

“You got to meet with families. The parents couldn’t speak English, but the little kids could.”

The Chinese students and their visitors performed a talent show.

“They were very talented in what they could do as far as singing and playing instruments,” said Gassman.

The trip included a visit to a school that trains children to play ping pong.

“We were crushed by seven-year-olds,” she said. “We were terrible against them.”

The trip obviously included Chinese food.

“They don’t have egg rolls,” said Gassman. “They have a lot of sweet and sour chicken. And they had a lot of fish heads and duck heads, which none of us ate. The thing that sort of disappointed me was they Americanized it — they had French fries and stuff.”

Gassman’s trip was through People to People International.