2 weeks full immersion Chinese training in Chengde

In May I took two weeks of Chinese full immersion courses in Chengde, China, through LTL. This has been an absolutely great experience to test and boost my Mandarin language skills and to get the opportunity to live with a Chinese family and experience their everyday life. For two weeks I did not see or speak to to any western person. In my home stay family I shared the common meals, learned to cook Chinese dishes and to talk about myself and my experiences during my time there. No language other than Mandarin was used except the odd translation of some words.
I took six hours of 1:1 lessons every day. In the two weeks I was there my teacher never spoke a sentence in English with me. Typically we had first ca 1 hour of me telling what I had done the previous day, then reviewing homework, reading and building sentences with the vocabulary and exercises for the new lesson. After lunch we sometimes watched a video sequence and then I had to retell the story. The teacher was patient but also demanding. Really good.
Outside the classes the home stay family invited me to family events with friends and also organised visits to markets, museum, Ping Pong lessons, tea ceremony and to the famous world heritage sites in Chengde.
All of these provided opportunities to practice my Chinese and to get a better view of life in Chengde.
Two weeks were really too short, but that is how I wanted it and for me it has really fulfilled my main objective: I started to use my Mandarin with people. In the lessons, at the home stay and on the streets, restaurants or with the cab driver.
Chengde is a wonderful place to experience China and practice Mandarin. I would always recommend it.