Shenzhen, China & Singapore

Shenzhen & Singapore: Two Models of Innovation

Q: Is Shenzhen & Singapore: Two Models of Innovation the Right Fit?

Which students thrive on this program? Students who want to argue a real question in the places that answer it. Singapore had no natural resources. Shenzhen was a fishing village. Both became global hubs inside 40 years by opposite methods, and students spend 13 days deciding which method they would choose. Who might this program not suit? This program has no community service component. It is urban, fast-paced and corporate, built around company and university visits rather than fieldwork. Students wanting service hours should look elsewhere in the catalogue. Shenzhen in late June and July is monsoon season, routinely above 33°C with high humidity and afternoon storms. Singapore is equatorial year-round at similar temperatures. Both halves are walking-heavy across corporate campuses, university grounds and gardens. Families with heat or mobility concerns should call Admissions before enrolling.

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Shenzhen & Singapore: Two Models of Innovation is a 13-day program for high school students ages 14 to 18. Students go inside DJI, Huawei, BYD and the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, then cross to Singapore for the City Gallery, BLOCK71 and the National University of Singapore.

Singapore had no natural resources. Shenzhen was a fishing village. Both became global hubs inside 40 years, and they did it by opposite methods. Singapore planned everything. Shenzhen was given permission to stop planning.

Students carry one question across both cities: both approaches worked, so what does that say about how innovation actually happens? On the final evening in Singapore, each student argues which model they would choose for a city founded today, using what they saw rather than what they read.

Quote by: Scott Ingram Director of Admissions

Program Tuition

$13,680

Excluding international flights + enrollment fee. Payment plans, financial aid, and scholarships available.

Full refund until midnight ET on March 31, less the non-refundable enrollment fee

Scott Ingram

Director of Admissions

At Rustic since 2018

Not sure yet?

Email Rustic Pathways

Talk to a personal travel advisor: +1 (440) 975-9691

Schedule a call

View program itinerary

UN SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

UN SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals

155,829 students since 1983 · 38 countries

What Does a 13-Day Program Include?

A typical small-group teen travel itinerary. Activities may be adjusted as needed due to logistics, weather, or local factors.

Departure Day

Day 1 is a travel day. U.S. students can join a chaperoned group flight from Los Angeles with a Rustic Pathways Flight Leader. International students book their own flights, and Rustic Pathways staff meet every student at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport.

Independent arrivals should land between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM on Day 2.

Objective: arrive with the trip’s question already in hand. Singapore planned everything, Shenzhen was given permission to stop planning, and both worked.

Arrive Shenzhen

Arrive at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport and transfer by private coach to a centrally located hotel in Shenzhen. Welcome dinner and ice-breaking session with the full group.

Evening night sightseeing at Lianhuashan Park, looking down the central axis at a skyline that did not exist when the students’ parents were their age.

Objective: orient to a city of 17 million people that did not exist in 1980.

Engineering at Scale

Morning at the Western Artificial Island of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a mega-infrastructure project holding multiple world records, with a multimedia exhibition on the engineering behind it.

Afternoon at Splendid China and the China Folk Culture Village, crossing a miniature map of the whole country to see its landmarks and its cultural range in one afternoon.

Objective: read infrastructure as a political statement, not only a transport solution.

DJI and Craft

Corporate visit to DJI headquarters. Tour the exhibition hall, trace drone evolution and industrial application, hear how DJI describes its own corporate culture and innovation, and take part in a hands-on flight trial.

Afternoon at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Hall at Futian Cultural Hall, with master-guided paper cutting, traditional dough figurine crafting or Chinese calligraphy.

Objective: hold a company founded in 2006 and a craft practised for centuries in the same day, and describe what each one preserves.

SUSTech and BYD

Academic visit to the Southern University of Science and Technology, founded in 2011. Students interact with faculty and current students on cutting-edge research and campus life.

Afternoon corporate visit to BYD: the exhibition hall, innovations in new-energy vehicles and energy storage, and a ride on BYD’s autonomous Cloud Rail monorail. Evening virtual reality experience, “Horizon of Khufu”, a 45-minute journey inside the Great Pyramid.

Objective: explain how a research university gets built in 15 years, and what that costs.

Huawei and the City’s Own Story

Corporate visit to Huawei’s Bantian campus, the operational core of a global technology company.

Afternoon at the Shenzhen Museum and the OCT-LOFT Creative Culture Park, tracing the city’s rise from fishing village to technology metropolis and the artistic life that followed.

Objective: compare how a company tells its story with how a city tells the same story.

The Pivot

Check out of the Shenzhen hotel. Morning Rustic Pathways working session on the Shenzhen argument, then private transfer to Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport.

Afternoon flight from Shenzhen to Singapore, about 4 hours. Evening arrival at Changi and transfer to a centrally located hotel in Singapore.

Objective: state the Shenzhen argument in one sentence before seeing the counter-argument.

Welcome to Singapore

Jewel Changi and the Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, dropping 40 metres inside an airport.

Hotel check-in and welcome dinner.

Objective: name what Singapore chose to build first, where a traveller cannot miss it.

The Master Plan

Singapore City Gallery: the full national planning model and interactive exhibits, where planners mapped every square metre of the country.

Afternoon at Gardens by the Bay, reading sustainability, public space and national identity as deliberate policy. Evening return visit to the gardens after dark.

Objective: find the moment in the plan where Singapore decided something Shenzhen never decided.

Exchange and University Life

Visit to a local international school for student exchange and shared activities.

Afternoon campus tour of the National University of Singapore. Evening at the Night Safari, a tram ride through nocturnal habitats.

Objective: compare the National University of Singapore and SUSTech as two answers to the same question.

Sustainable Manufacturing

Morning at the F&N Experience Centre: the Magnolia Fresh Milk production journey, food innovation, nutrition and sustainable packaging.

Afternoon workshop at GreenLab on eco-friendly products, sustainable packaging and creative reuse. Evening in Kampong Glam.

Objective: distinguish sustainability at product scale from sustainability at city scale, having already seen BYD.

Design Thinking and the Ecosystem

Design Thinking and Innovation Workshop: empathy, ideation, prototyping and testing.

Afternoon visit to the BLOCK71 startup hub on entrepreneurship, incubation and innovation culture. Evening capstone presentations and the Rustic Ties ceremony.

Objective: contrast a state-backed incubator with companies that grew out of a supply chain.

Botanic Gardens and Departure

Hotel check-out. Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the National Orchid Garden.

Early dinner, then transfer to Changi Airport for the afternoon flight home. Students arrive in the USA on the same calendar day.

Objective: argue which model you would choose for a city founded today, using what you saw rather than what you read.

What’s Included

Included: accommodations · all meals · in-country transport including the Shenzhen to Singapore flight · all activities and corporate visits · 24/7 staff supervision · medical support

Not included: international airfare · travel insurance · enrollment fee · personal spending money

How Does Rustic Pathways Handle Safety?

24/7 Support

In-person staff + US emergency line

Maximum Students Per Staff Member: 7:1

Background-checked, first-aid certified, deep local knowledge

Licensed & Insured Transport

Risk management plans for every program

Gender-Separated

Rooms with staff on site

Learn more about Rustic Pathways safety protocols.

What Should Parents Know?

Is Shenzhen & Singapore: Two Models of Innovation the Right Fit?

Which students thrive on this program?
Students who want to argue a real question in the places that answer it. Singapore had no natural resources. Shenzhen was a fishing village. Both became global hubs inside 40 years by opposite methods, and students spend 13 days deciding which method they would choose.

Who might this program not suit?
This program has no community service component. It is urban, fast-paced and corporate, built around company and university visits rather than fieldwork. Students wanting service hours should look elsewhere in the catalogue.

Shenzhen in late June and July is monsoon season, routinely above 33°C with high humidity and afternoon storms. Singapore is equatorial year-round at similar temperatures. Both halves are walking-heavy across corporate campuses, university grounds and gardens. Families with heat or mobility concerns should call Admissions before enrolling.