On February 7, students from the upper secondary Geography and History classes were joined by the year12 Chemistry students for a very unique trip.

In Fuling, East of our location in Chongqing, there are two one-of-a-kind locations.

Our first stop of the day was to the decommissioned 816 Nuclear Military Facility. A relic from the 1970’s, designed to provide nuclear power and more importantly, nuclear armaments to China.

The facility is also known as the world’s largest man-made cave. The power plant was built in a hollowed out mountain in Fuling. After being cancelled in the late 1970’s when political relationships with the USA improved, the plant was decommissioned and opened to the public.

Having been honoured with being the first ever international school to visit the site, we moved on to the White Crane Museum.

The White Crane Museum is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world’s first underwater museum. The underwater section protects carvings and statues which are 100’s of years old. Originally above the water, the area was flooded due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam and the museum was built to protect it.

The Geography and History students are going to write personal blogs detailing their experiences at the nuclear power plant after this meaningful trip.

Moreover, students will be following this up with class-specific projects concerning the impacts of different energy resources on the local area and the impact of nuclear armaments on international relations.