Staff and students travelled to Beijing in June to find out about job opportunities in hospitality and tourism management in the city. It proved a fascinating journey – and not just because of the unique chance to meet so many recruiters. The cuisine – including duck tongue soup – was novel to say the least and, admittedly, a challenge for some!

We were a group of 15 students and eight staff travelling to Beijing for a week of meetings with potential employers, visits to cultural sites and, yes, unexpected culinary adventures.

Being open to learn not only about hospitality and tourism management, we also decided to try some local specialities - everything from braised beef tendons and frogs’ legs to duck tongue soup and bamboo worms. It has to be said that a few of us came down with upset stomachs (“Beijing belly”, as it is sometimes called) but if some spent their time craving a good steak and fries, others before the end of the week learnt to like the food.

But the trip was more than just sampling local “food and beverages”. Staying at the Kunlun Hotel, we also visited the Intercontinental, the Grand Hyatt, the Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski and the Loong Palace Hotel; all lavish and very motivating for students planning their future careers. We also had very interesting visits to The Central University of Nationalities and Beijing University where we had lunch with students.

Wednesday was the big day – the Career Forum. We welcomed over thirty recruiters from sixteen hotels located all over Beijing and all on the look out for young, qualified hotel and tourism management staff. After hours of interviews and meetings, several students had been invited for a second round of interviews while some even walked out with a job offer. An alumni dinner at a local restaurant completed the day.

Visits to the Lama Temple, Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and of course, the Great Wall rounded off an incredible trip. In between the recruiters and the cultural visits, we shopped and came back with some great clothing bargains including beautiful tailor-made suits.

“Beijing belly” or not it was a fantastic experience and everyone hopes more successful events like it will be on the agenda.

Photo Gallery