We can’t quite remember the exact day it happened, the moment we stopped flipping through our textbooks and notes. Perhaps it was when we realized that Britain itself had become our greatest textbook: vivid, three-dimensional, and alive.
In the autumn of 2025, twenty-four SCIE students, along with our economics teachers Ms. Allen, Ms. Shiwei and Mr. Alex, guided by London’s rain, York’s wind, and Cambridge’s sunshine, began writing this unique travel diary together.
London: The Pulse and Depth of a Global City
At dawn, the City of London hums like a perfectly tuned machine.
Morning light glances off the glass façade of The Gherkin as we wander through the narrow, centuries-old streets of Bank and Threadneedle. Well-dressed commuters hurry past, coffee cups in hand — their brisk movements framed by both ancient stone walls and modern towers.Our guide’s voice echoed in our ears: “For centuries, this city’s rhythm has never slowed.” In that moment, we understood London itself is the living definition of energy.
Inside the Bank of England Museum, time suddenly felt tangible.
The instant our fingers touched a cool gold bar, history stepped out from the pages of our textbooks. Faded stock certificates in glass cases looked like letters sent from another century. As we stood before a 19th-century painting of citizens exchanging gold, we found ourselves quietly discussing how trust in value was once something profoundly real and sacred.
And when night fell over the West End, it felt like stepping into a dream that never ends.
As the neon lights outside Her Majesty’s Theatre flickered on and the crowd gathered, we joined them with Hamilton tickets in hand. Inside, the golden glow of the theatre wrapped around us, and as the curtain rose, we understood that some experiences simply can’t be replaced. When the show ended, the streets still buzzed with life; restaurants and pubs overflowed with laughter. A true cultural icon, we realized, is one that can light up an entire city block long after the night begins.
York: The Fragrance and Memory of an Ancient City
At York Minster, we touched the epic story written in stone.
Standing beneath the soaring arches, we were awed by humanity’s determination to reach for faith and eternity. Learning that the cathedral’s construction was intertwined with the prosperity of the medieval wool trade, we suddenly understood: every greatness that transcends its time is rooted deeply in the soil of its own era.
At York’s Chocolate Story, sweetness filled the air.
The scent of cocoa led us to a chocolate workshop, where we tied on aprons and became “chocolatiers for a day.” Watching cocoa beans transform into smooth, liquid chocolate inside antique machines, then pouring it into molds ourselves, was pure delight. The anticipation as it cooled and the satisfaction of tasting our own creations felt unlike anything you could buy.
In an age that prizes efficiency, we were reminded that the process of creating something by hand carries a value all its own.
We also found ourselves time-traveling back to a Viking marketplace.
Seated in the “time car” at the Jorvik Viking Centre, we were surrounded by the sounds and smells of a city from a thousand years ago: earth, smoke, merchants’ calls, and villagers trading silver for pottery. It struck us that York’s commercial heartbeat began beating long before the modern era. History never truly disappears; it simply lives on in new forms, echoing through the streets of today.
Cambridge: The Starlight and Scholarship of the River Cam
With a long pole in hand, we drifted deeper into the heart of academia.
It was perhaps the most poetic morning of our journey. Reclining on a flat-bottomed punt, we let the boatman glide us gently down the River Cam, through a scene that felt like a living painting. King’s College, the Mathematical Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs. Xu Zhimo’s poetry suddenly took shape before our eyes.
Our punter, a Cambridge student, chatted casually about college life, sharing how many alumni’s research had gone on to become real-world innovations. Knowledge, we realized, flows quietly like the Cam itself, nourishing faraway fields beyond the university walls.
We also met with a SCIE graduate Allison, who is now studying Economics at Cambridge University. She shared the story of the Mathematical Bridge and her learning experiences in Cambridge.
Epilogue: What We Took With Us — and What We Left Behind
We brought back the hurried footsteps of the financial district, the cathedral’s serene stillness, the chocolatiers’ patient craftsmanship, and the shimmering ripples of the Cam. We learned that every great city holds both the drive to create wealth and the warmth to nourish the soul.
We learned to see the stories behind ancient stones, to feel the emotional bonds beyond a football match, and to appreciate the patience and precision hidden in a single piece of chocolate.
This journey reminded us that the world is far broader and more fascinating than we ever imagined, and that the best kind of learning always happens on the road that leads toward that wider world.
- Article / Economics Field Trip Team
