A group of Haimon Dongzhou Middle School students have been in Australia for about two weeks, soaking up Bendigo’s culture and history.

They leave the country on Saturday, but it will not be the end of their time with Bendigo students.

Next month 18 students and two teachers will travel to China for six weeks, thanks to a $90,000 state grant.

The students will spent a little bit of time in Beijing and Shanghai, but most of their trip will be spent studying at Haimon Dongzhou Middle School.

Year 10 student Alex Di Valentine took the trip last year and said students would see a very different culture with a completely different education system.

“One of the students was showing me her maths homework. It was so hard. And she was like ‘this is the easiest problem’,” she said.

Alex said Chinese student began school at 7am, finished at 7pm and often stayed up until midnight to finish homework.

While Chinese students worked hard, Alex said they and their families had been incredibly welcoming.

This year she and her family wanted to return the favour and host some of the same exchange students who had given her a place to stay.

“It was good to do for them what they did for us. I think they were a bit worried at first. They spent most of the first week in their rooms with their phones,” Alex said.

But she said family outings to local tourist attractions had helped bring them out of their shells.

“Mum will be crying when they leave. They’ve really become part of the family in the short time they’ve been here,” she said.

BSE teacher See Tuang Tan said people often noticed a change in students who had returned from China.

“Their attitude changes in the six weeks they are over there. They become more independent, more considerate and more empathetic – and that is what our students’ parents are telling us,” he said.