Primary and high school group tours are forbidden in many provinces in China due to safety concerns. But in the city of Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, learning-through-travel programs are in full swing.

At the end of 2012, Hefei was named one of the first batch of pilot cities to launch the learning-through-travel pilot program, which aims at encouraging primary and high schools students to learn through travel. Since then, thousands of students have joined the 'industry tours' program. They visited companies like Meiling, one of the most famous electronics manufacturers, to explore how to make a refrigerator and Yili, China's top dairy suppler, to experience milk production.

A survey to 4,000 students in 50 primary and high schools in Hefei showed that 93.2 percent of students are interested in taking part in industry tours.

'We hope students can view travel as the starting point, but not the end, to gaining knowledge,' said Wu Yingming, vice-headmaster of Hefei No 1 Middle School, highlighting that the school usually organizes students to do research on the destination from landscape to history and culture before departure.

The school also organizes essay, speech, painting and photography competitions once students are back. The students may get 2-3 credits per trip.

Though students who go on an overseas trip for 7-15 days will also be eligible for credits, the pilot program focuses on local tours within Anhui province and in neighboring provinces, hoping to offer students a real-world experience on subjects they are taught in school, such as history, science, technology, ecology and Hui culture.

Travel agencies that arrange tours for students must meet 4A standards and are required to buy travel insurance, with the minimum coverage of personal accident insurance at 250,000 yuan ($41,000) per person.

By Huang Pei

Edited by Michael Thai