Otago Girls' High School and Otago Boys' High School choirs, as well as one pupil from St Hilda's Collegiate School and a teenager who has left school are off to China for the Shanghai Choral Arts Festival next month.
The trip has been organised by the New Zealand China Friendship Society.
There were some cultural misunderstandings to be addressed - Mr Duffy said the choral arts festival organisers had asked if the choir would dress up in ''flax skirts''.
''I had to explain that we weren't traditional Maori schools.''
It will cost $3500 per pupil, aided by grants from the Rewi Alley Friendship Exchange Fund, the Simon Deng Li Fund and the Ministry of Education.
The rest will be made up through pupil fundraising.
Mr Duffy said it was a ''unique opportunity'' for pupils to witness and be part of another culture's art and music scene.
They will have the chance to sing every day.
''It will be a fantastic experience for them and probably a bit of a culture shock.''
The group, including teachers and parents, will stop in Beijing on the way.
''We are going to visit the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, probably singing in places along the way.''
At the end of the trip, pupils will spend a weekend in the homes of pupils from their respective brother and sister schools in Shanghai - Number 8 High School for Otago Boys' and Guangming High School for Otago Girls'.
The group leaves on May 9 and is away a fortnight.
