BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Before coming to Inner Mongolia, 21-year-old Avalon Owens was both nervous and excited. She said she had been looking forward to discovering the mysterious land, but worried that there might be no hot water or air conditioning.

But after spending a whole week in the vast autonomous region in north China, the Harvard student came away with a new perspective regarding the seemingly undeveloped region.

Owens's summer tour is part of the Harvard-Beijing Academy (HBA), a program sponsored by Beijing Language and Culture University and Harvard University that allows students from Ivy League universities who are interested in China to experience the country for themselves.

Established in 2005, the HBA program takes Ivy League students on a nine-week tour of the country that includes intensive language class, as well as a weeklong social study project that gives them the chance to conduct social research in a location of their choice.

Owens and fellow students Amy Sparrow and Ashley Wu elected to conduct their research in Inner Mongolia, as they were curious about both the region's exoticism and its actual conditions.

Owens said she was surprised to discover modern cities like Baotou and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, as she previously believed the region was significantly undeveloped.

She said that although she was not shocked to see a lack of bathing facilities in the yurts, or tent-like housing units used by herdsmen, she did not expect to see modern domestic appliances or private cars, which some herdsmen own.

"It turns out that life there carries both traditional and modern tunes," she said.

Sparrow said that while chatting with local herdsmen, she learned that most of them are eager to send their children to schools to obtain a good education.

"They told me that the Chinese government encourages younger generations to attend school for a better education," Owens said.

"Many young people I talked to have independent ideas about the outside world, so it's truly inspiring," Sparrow added.

"Seeing is believing," Sparrow said. "This experience has really broadened my horizons. I'm looking forward to conducting more surveys of this kind in other places in China."

Wu, a U.S.-born Chinese woman studying at Yale, said she also gained a greater understanding of China after her experience.

"After I go back to the U.S., I will tell my friends about the real China I saw," she said.

Other students have chosen the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an as their destinations. Stefano Gandolfo, a Greek student majoring in philosophy and economics in Yale, said his social survey in Shanghai gave him new ideas about China's economy.

"I was quite surprised by the fact that so many people in Shanghai are buying luxury products during the global economic downturn," Stefano said. "That's quite contrary to my initial idea."

Kim Seo Yeon, a Harvard student from the Republic of Korea (ROK), conducted a survey regarding Chinese attitudes toward death in Xi'an.

She said people readily answered her questions about the subject, which is considered to be highly taboo in Chinese culture.

"Before I came here, I thought the Chinese were not so easy-going, because that was the impression I got from the media, but my experience proved me wrong," Kim said.

The program is a wonderful opportunity for students to get to know the real China, said Professor Liu Lijia, director of the HBA program.

She said the program is unique in that it not only provides Chinese language instruction to foreign students, but encourages students to experience cities that represent multiple aspects of Chinese society.

"Language programs in China traditionally consist of traveling, but that doesn't give students a deep understanding of China's real situation. The HBA social study project allows them to immerse themselves in China's regional culture and helps them gain new insights about the real China," she said.