“Faster than a speeding bullet train” might describe the growth of the concept of camps in China. A country of 1.3 billion with the second largest economy in the world, China is undergoing a drastic transition from a manufacturingbased economy to a service-oriented economy, which will drive a shift across many sectors of the country, including the education system. For more than half a century, camps have been popular in many other Asian countries, particularly Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Malaysia; but camp, as Westerners know it, has only in the past five years become recognized in mainland China. The word, Yingdi, 营地, is a newly coined word representing camp programs for children, and many Chinese are seeking to make Yingdi an essential part of the education of children. The Changing Landscape of Chinese Education During the early years of China’s Cultural Revolution, which began in 1966, many Chinese schools were closed to allow young people to join the Red Guard. Although schools were later reopened, an entire generation was largely educated in heavily regulated ideological curriculum. Since the resumption of public admission to colleges and universities in the late 1970s, there has been a strong emphasis on academics, which was also heavily regulated by the government. Recently, however, the government has taken steps to liberate students from rigid requirements, particularly in the younger grades. Children in grades one through three have no homework, and there are no admissions exams to enter junior high school. Still, a test-oriented education culture is prevalent in the upper grades. Although the total number of enrolled students has dropped, the education system is expanding as demand grows for a wider variety of services. The education industry shows signs of transitioning to a quality-oriented growth sector. While still government regulated, more room for creativity in curriculum development is being encouraged, and private schools have proliferated. In 2011, there were 276 private, international schools serving 144,436 students, and by 2015, the private education sector is projected to reach a market size of $102 billion (Deloitte Research, 2012). Parents have demonstrated their wi l lingness to pay for private education, including test-preparation schools, in order for their children to be admitted to prestigious universities in China and abroad. During the 2012–2013 school year, there was a 21 percent increase in the number of Chinese students studying in the United States, estimated at about 235,000 (Associated Press, 2013). In the past five years, there has been considerable growth in the industry of summer study tours for the children of affluent families, which include visits to North American universities. Many of these tours refer to themselves as “camps.” It was reported by China Daily that one organization in Beijing sent 10,000 students on study tours in 2012. Typical tours last two to four weeks and include university visits, travel, language lessons, and study of local culture, with some including home visits at a cost of $5,000 or more. Chinese parents with financial resources are now showing increased interest in providing overseas travel experiences for younger children, a trend that is impacting summer camps in the U.S. and Canada. The primary appeal to parents of North American summer camps seems to be opportunities for their children to learn and practice the English language, but they also recognize the value of
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