Campers attend the Refugee Camp Challenge in the summer camp at United World College Changshu.[Photo provided by Ideas]

Zhao Qing attends the Affiliated High School of Peking University. She says the attraction of camp lies in the activities that require teamwork and developing a sense of achievement from effective collaboration in solving practical problems.

In the Refugee Camp Challenge, her group played refugees and the camp mentors played officials from the government and social institutions. The mentors gave them bamboo poles, woven bags, rope, tape and other tools. The group had to design a large tent to accommodate them all for a night.

It brought home the hardships facing real refugees and she improved her understanding of "leadership".

"In school and daily life, teachers and parents also emphasize leadership, but they usually focus on whether you are elected a class monitor or course representative," says Zhao. "I liked the free environment where we had no designated leaders, but we helped each other to make the most of ourselves. I think real leadership means helping others to be better people - not necessarily someone with a title."

John Jorgenson, president of the International Camping Fellowship, says there is a consensus among educators internationally on the limitations of formal education and the values of nonformal education.

Jorgenson has been to many Chinese schools and talked with many Chinese parents. He notices that educators and parents are seeing deficits in noncognitive skills of their young people and are looking for tools to help create more well-rounded learners.

"I found that in China, there is a growing interest in what the children are doing outside the school. Camping has caught the attention of Chinese educators because it offers powerful lessons in teaching the soft skills needed to flourish in the future," Jorgenson says.