An old Chinese saying tells us “read 10,000 books, travel 10,000 miles.” Indeed, many Chinese consider reading and traveling inseparable companions. One group of Minhang parents is active pursuing this idea. They encourage their children to read during the school year, then take them on out-of-town trips during holidays.

Traveling thousands of miles.

On February 14, just ahead of this year’s Chinese New Year, the parents took their children on a nine-day journey to visit ethnic minority communities in the southern province of Guizhou.

One of the parents, Su Yi, posted photos and information about the trip on her WeChat site called Mi Xing Tian Xia, which literally means “Xiao Mi’s Worldwide Travels.”

Su began taking her daughter Xiao Mi on trips when she was only 2 years old. She said it is a good way to expose her child to new experiences, people she has never met and customs she has never seen.

The trip to Guizhou was designed to give the children a look at how people in other places of China celebrate the traditional Spring Festival holiday.

The touring group had 31 members, with 12 children from 11 families. The oldest was in junior high school, the youngest still in kindergarten.

The first challenge the group faced was getting itself in order. Some of the members didn’t know one another well and had different ideas about how the trip should be structured. To make the youngsters a cohesive group, the parents came up with individual “passports” for each child, listing itineraries, times and information about each step of the journey.

At the airport on the first day of the trip, the children all met, some of them for the first time. They seemed to hit it off well. Each child had to follow the instructions on their “passports.”

The leader of the group had arranged visits to host families in advance.

For Lunar New Year’s Eve, the children and their parents visited the home of a family of the Dong ethnic minority. They helped buy provisions for the holiday banquet and assisted in food preparation.

Traveling in new places always runs the risk of fatigue or even illness. The climate and food in Guizhou were so different from Minhang that some discomfort was inevitable.

Wang Xiaomi’s mother, for example, experienced dizziness one day because she is allergic to ginger, which was used in a meal. The other members of the group quickly rallied to her care. From then on, whenever they ate in restaurants, they asked the chef not to use ginger in any of the dishes.

Little Dou Dou contracted a fever and vomiting after eating too much sticky rice, and he was forced to stay at the hotel for rest with his mother. Other members of the group asked the hotel to cook a bland porridge for him.

Luckily for the harmony of the group, the children all got on fabulously, playing together without disputes. The older children looked after the younger ones, and all the children helped their parents when necessary without complaining.

(February 14)

The children had a pretty hectic day of travel, but they showed good spirit and adaptability once they all got acquainted and the trip was underway.

This afternoon, we headed for the Miao ethnic minority village of Langde, where all of the buildings have a history of over 100 years. The village has a tranquil landscape with flowing streams, exquisite bridges, farmhouses and the curls of cooking smoke in the warm sunshine.

A village official hosted a sumptuous feast of traditional dishes for us. Miao women in traditional dress proposed toasted to our good health.

(February 15)

We got up early morning and headed for the Miao village of Xijiang. The local people showed us warm hospitality. We sat at a long banquet table for lunch and were entertained with dancing and singing. We learned a lot about the Miao culture.

Today the children also received their first mission: making a silver accessory on their own. With instruction from the local craftsmen, each child accomplished the task.

(February 16)

The theme for today’s leg of the trip is growth. The children were shown the craft of hand-knitting. They even managed to make their own small, knitted handkerchiefs.

Later we visited the peasant painter Li Yufu, who portrays distinctive local folk culture with his brush. We also visited the home of a well-respected village elder in his 90s. The old man actually sang for us.

The smallest children are adapting well to the trip. They are no longer picky about what they eat.

(February 17)

After breakfast, we left the Miao village of Xijiang for Yangwu Township in Danzhai County. We visited Yang Fangjia, a celebrated wax-print artist of Guizhou Province.

After practicing some wax printing ourselves, we visited Kara Village, which is known as a “village above the clouds.” The art of making birdcages has a long history in this village, which sits on a mountainside. We had to help each other on the climb up to the village because there were no carved-out steps. We took some glorious photos from up there.

The kids, who had to leave their digital toys behind, were content playing traditional childhood games with their parents. It was nice to see them playing outdoors, which doesn’t happen much when living in the big cities of today.

(February 18)

This is Chinese New Year’s Eve. We arrived in Zhaoxing, a small cluster of Dong ethnic minority villages in southeastern Guizhou. None of us felt lonely so far from home in Shanghai. We cooked a traditional dinner with a host family. The children helped out. Everyone was smiling.

We spent New Year’s Eve with the villagers of Zhaoxing. We were also invited to a New Year parade of 2,000 people singing and dancing.

(February 19)

Today we attended an ethnic Dong wedding ceremony. The wedding clothes were all made of colorful materials. We were told it takes more than a year of dying and weaving to make the bride’s dress. At the wedding banquet, we were given gifts of rice and meat.

(February 20)

As special guests of the bridegroom, we helped him deliver a truckload of gifts to the bride’s family home in the village of Xiage.

After lunch, we trekked to Dong village of Tang’an, about 1.5 kilometers away. The terraced landscape was breathtaking. The village had sweet spring water, stilted houses, cheerful children and abundant hospitality.

(February 21)

We were invited to a Dong singing competition where locals entertained us with their vocal skills.

We ate a local fish delicacy called hehua, raised in the local paddy fields.

(February 22)

We were set to return home. The children, who were by now good friends, were sad to part at the airport. As we said our good-byes, we parents couldn’t help but think that our children had grown up a lot since the start of the trip. They have learned things that will stay with them forever.