Being a University teacher, specialized in Cultural Heritage Conservation Theory, I know the “working holidays” of the National Trust in Britain. During an international exhibition, organized by Shanghai Ruan Yisan Foundation we met Fabrice Duffaud, in charge of Rempart International Cooperation, who told us of the summer work camps in France, particularly intended for young people. We sent six volunteers to France, who supported their flight to France. Meanwhile 8-10 French friends were invited to take part in workcamps in Suzhou and Liangcun.
We were offered 3 sites for our 6 volunteers (architectural and business students from Tongji University): Coucy, near Paris, Bordeaux downtown and the Château de Portes, which was the toughest one. The hot weather forbade us to work in the afternoon, so the working hours were 6.00am to 1.00pm. It meant a long and boring afternoon in a remote small village. And the volunteers there were much younger than those in Coucy and Bordeaux (19- 20 years old) and half of them were unable to speak English, and neither were we. But we overcame all the difficulties with the help of our French friends. In the kitchen of our dormitory, we found a Chinese national flag along with a Japanese and a Russian one. President Nils Pedersen took this initiative to make us feel a big international family.
The communication in English was possible as everyone tried his best to communicate with us. Most of the volunteers were architectural students and we had common interests such as Le Corbusier and Mies Van De Roche. Our French friends wanted to know about Chinese traditional culture, such as the Kung Fu Panda. The Chinese volunteers were from Southern middle class families and had never worked so hard. A girl with long black hair, who had come carrying a heavy suitcase, was shocked with the work they had to do there: digging holes and cleaning old tiles in the windy weather. Later she got used to it and, with another Chinese boy, cooked Chinese food for all in Portes, which she seldom did at home. Her cooking was very popular and everything was gone in 15 minutes.
In the afternoon the volunteers had many activities: swimming in the cold river, watching films, a picnic in the traditional garden of the old town and taking part in the performance in the courtyard of the castle. Vice-president Heidi Klein was a kind and warm-hearted lady who welcomed the Chinese volunteers in her home to make them observe traditional French lifestyle. Portes was a precious and colourful experience for us.
