She leaves the country tomorrow and she hasn't thought much about what she's going to pack in her bags.

But the Year 13 Otumoetai College student supposes it will all become real when she arrives in a city where the whole of New Zealand could probably fit.

A total of 10 students are going to Nanchang in China on Monday.

Shevaun Harley departs for Nanchang in China at 10am tomorrow. She's travelling with eight other girls and one boy from Otumoetai College, Te Puke High School, Bethlehem College, Aquinas College and Mount Maunganui College.

They'll each spend a month in the world's most populous country, going to school, seeing the sights and experiencing a totally different culture.

'All the girls are pretty excited to go shopping – but I'm pretty excited to do the Tai Chi,” says Shevaun.

'We're all going to get up early and go to the Tai Chi classes – but my host family's willing to take me to the zoos. Seeing a panda will be pretty cool.”

They'll also be able to bite into some very different cuisine. And chopsticks. 'That's going to be interesting.”

The trip is part of a one-month research scholarship, funded by the New Zealand China Friendship Society Simon Deng Cultural Exchange Fund. Each student has been granted either a journalism, art, or horticultural scholarship. Shevaun's is a journalism scholarship. She'll focus on the traditional cuisine and look at how it's reported in the media.

Shevaun knows there's going to be a big difference between the way we eat dinner, to the way the Chinese do.

'They put all their food in the middle of the table and you're expected to help yourself. 'Here, we have someone who dishes the food for you and you have that portion.”

She's expecting school to be a lot harder too. 'I'm excited. It's going to be cool to see a different aspect of school. It might be a bit harder but I'm keen to give it a go.”