Yitzchak Isaac Small is a Phd candidate from Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University in USA. He participated in the CESL Chinese Law International Summer School 2025. In this article, Yitzchak Isaac Small shares his experiences in summer school.

When I applied to this summer school, I had no idea what to expect aside from an adventure of a lifetime. What I found, is that this program has opened-up my cross-cultural experience and knowledge of other countries’ legal systems and established many new connections for me both in China and Europe. The fascinating lectures, the top-notch cultural experiences, and the interpersonal connections worked together to make this trip truly special.

As the only American in the program, I was incredibly worried that I would be unable to connect to my fellow students, and I fully intended to throw myself into my studies to compensate. Furthermore, as my Chinese language skills had deteriorated, I was worried that I would be unable to communicate and navigate. However, I could not have been more wrong. This program’s coordinators really took into account every detail. From making sure all the students could communicate well in English, to assigning us student ambassadors who could speak both Mandarin and English to help us navigate, and to ensuring the lecturers spoke in a clear and easy to understand English as well, the program was fully accessible to me.

Not only was the program accessible to me, but it was so much more than what I expected. From the very beginning my student ambassador was a valuable new connection in China, and my fellow exchange students were clearly top-talent to connect with in Europe. My Chinese improved quite steadily, and many new ideas were opened up to me because of it. The lectures were so incredible, first in introducing Chinese law and culture to us, and then explaining the finer points of Chinese legal history, constitutional law, and regulatory schemes. My favorite of these being Professor Zhang’s class on the Chinese licensing regimes, which was a class I would be willing to have taken every day. We even got to experience the process of silk-production in our very own class, something I had only ever read about in books before.

Silk-production was not the only thing I had only ever read about in books before. On our very first outing of the program, we were privileged to visit the National Archives of Publications and Culture. There, I was able to see with my own eyes the written materials and historical artifacts that I had only ever heard about or read about before during my time as an undergraduate student studying history. That one excursion was worth the whole trip to me. But of course, the trip was not over yet. We also got to visit the top law firm in China, several important museums and cultural sites, the headquarters of Xiaomi Corporation, and the Beijing Arbitration Commission at the Beijing International Arbitration Court. Each of these visits built on the information we received in the lectures, and was an invaluable addition to our learning.

The program also did not neglect other aspects of a top-notch experience. The accommodations were high-quality, the ability to purchase food was accounted for with student cards, and free time was allotted to make sure we could explore on our own as well. During this free time, I was able to experience many places both with my fellow exchange students and learn from them, and with the student ambassadors who were truly insightful and illuminating wherever we went. I also got to hear my fellow students, like Mia Knoch at the visit to Xiaomi Corporation, present to us all about the program and their experiences, which was eye-opening to me. Overall, this program is an experience I will never forget and that I will be recommending to students at my school in the future. I do believe that I am not the same person now as I was before this program, and I am grateful.

Photo and text: Yitzchak Isaac Small

Assistant Editor: Wu Xiaochen

Responsible Editor: MA Anna

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