Sixteen students from the university are spending the four weeks of their winter holiday studying advanced English at the University of Otago and taking in the sights and tourist activities.
Peking University New Zealand Centre executive secretary and group leader Associate Professor of English Hongzhong Liu said it was the first time a group from the university had visited Otago and the students were enjoying learning about China's links with the region.
A Chinese heritage course was provided to students to learn about the links between the two cultures and included field trips to Arrowtown gold-mining sites, she said.
The students were enjoying their homestays and in their spare time were visiting galleries, museums and the Botanic Garden, she said.
However, they found the bus service lacking.
"For such a small city, it is very expensive. It cannot be compared to Beijing."
Geography information system student Leona Wang (20) said highlights were the trip to Queenstown, where she took a jet-boat ride and went paragliding - "it was very exciting" - and the Moeraki Boulders, which were like something from "space or ET".
Stella Tsao (21), an English literature student, was full of praise for the Chinese Garden.
"I never expected to see such beautiful and authentic Chinese gardens outside of China."
University of Otago international pro-vice chancellor Prof Sarah Todd said Peking University was one of the top universities in China and the visit, a first, added to the relationship Otago was building with it through the New Zealand Centre, a centre funded by five New Zealand universities and several government agencies offering elective New Zealand studies courses.
The Chinese heritage course was specially developed for the group and differed from the normal programme offered for short-course international students.
"There is a lot of interest from other Chinese universities."
