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Welcome to 桃花岛 (Taohuadao) — the penpal room on the second floor of the school building.
A large green mailbox sits by the window. In spring, peach petals from the backyard tree land on the sill.
Here, inMountains students write anonymous English letters and look for penpals near and far. Host 黄狗 reads every letter for safety and quality before any sharing.
Penpal Bridge
This room helps you write a safe, warm English letter for someone outside your usual circle. We begin with trusted school connections and use the school’s existing Facebook page only if you choose the public-sharing option.
Write honestly in Chinese first, then prepare the English version. Host 黄狗 helps you keep your own voice, improve the letter, and remove private details before it enters a sharing queue.
Rules
- Use a nickname only — not your real name.
- You may name a broad city or province. Do not share an exact address, school name, phone number, WeChat, QQ, email, or any plan to meet in private.
- Photos may show handwriting, books, crafts, pets, or a broad city or life scene. Do not show uniforms, name tags, address signs, or QR codes.
- Replies must stay anonymous, kind, and safe.
Example Letter
Dear friend,
My nickname is River. I live in a city in southern China. I am learning English because I want to understand more people and more stories from the world.
After school I often feel tired, but I like walking near the river and taking photos of clouds. I wonder what the sky looks like where you live.
Do you have a small place that makes you feel peaceful? I would be happy to hear about it.
Your friend,
River
What to Expect
We cannot promise that every letter will find a penpal or receive a reply. We can promise that your letter will be reviewed for clarity, privacy, and safety before it enters a sharing queue.
Bridge letters are for paying students, and every letter and reply receives careful review. If a message includes private details or raises serious safety concerns, 黄狗 keeps those parts out of anything shared and may replace them with ***. When needed, the school safety team is notified.
黄狗欢迎你
Welcome to 桃花岛 (Peach Blossom Island) — the penpal room on the second floor of the school building. 桃花岛是山水学堂的一个教室，位于二楼，因为我们的后院多年前自己长了一株桃树，春天开满桃花，从二楼窗户就可以看到外面桃花朵朵，所以罗老师就给这个笔友会取名为桃花岛笔友会。
什么叫做笔友会？就是通过写信的方式，来与天南海北的陌生朋友谈心、交流，尤其是那些与自己同频的、现实生活中不会对自己形成压力的纯粹精神交往的朋友。对很多有个性、有特殊兴趣爱好或者有特殊烦恼的人来说，身边往往很难找到一个同频的朋友，父母家人或者普通朋友因为没有这种特殊兴趣爱好或者特殊烦恼，所以永远不能理解和真正支持自己，有一个真正懂自己的笔友能够让焦虑和迷茫减少一些。
同时，对很多没那么特殊，只是对未来世界充满好奇的同学来说，与异国他乡的笔友交往是一个性价比很高的活动，基本上不需要花钱，对方的语言也不需要精通，就能够与远在遥远的地球另一边的一个朋友交流。不仅仅锻炼了英语写作能力，也能在繁忙的工作学习过程中，缓解一下精神压力。
我们这里不使用信箱，我们使用你的电子邮箱。请确保你的电子邮箱你还记得账号与密码，如果不确定，就先去登录一次，查收看看有没有未读邮件。
我叫黄狗，是这里的邮递员。请放心，我会检查每一封来往信件，确保不会有对未成年人或者成年人不合适的内容，不会泄露写信者的个人隐私，避免被会坏人利用。同时，我也会检查错别字，检查事实错误，主动进行纠正。纠正的结果会发到你的电子邮箱。
Here, inMountains students write anonymous English letters and look for penpals near and far. 黄狗 the mail carrier reads every letter for safety and quality before any sharing.
- Nickname only: never your real full name. Give only a broad region (for example “a city in southern China”), never your school, estate or street.
- No contact details at all: no phone, WeChat, QQ, email, social accounts or links, and no plans to meet or move to another app. Letters with these are held back until you remove them.
- Every letter is reviewed: before sending, always, replies included. A letter sent back from review tells you what to change.
- No photos either way: describe yourself in words; do not ask for the other person’s photo.
- Write something real: share your own life and thoughts and ask one specific question. Nothing insulting, frightening or uncomfortable.
- If something feels wrong, tell us: if a letter makes you uncomfortable or keeps asking for private details, you do not have to reply; tell the school through the help link on the page.
- Night rest: sending pauses at night. You can keep writing; your draft saves automatically and can be sent the next morning.
Fees and how to join are on the fee page.
International Penpal is a place to write letters in English. Your letter goes out without your real name, like a message in a bottle, and is picked up by another English learner; you can also pick up someone else’s letter, read it and write back. Some replies come from penpals overseas.
For your first letter, the page walks you through five questions, one at a time: your nickname, roughly which region you live in, an ordinary day in your life, what kind of penpal you hope to meet, and one question you want to ask the world. Your draft saves automatically as you write.
Every letter is reviewed before it is sent: the English is checked, and so is anything that looks like contact details, such as a phone number, an address or a social account. Only after review does the letter go out. Letters written to you appear in your Inbox; read them slowly, and reply from Write.
Letter writers are of all ages, and the English site is mostly children. Your letter does not need to be perfect; honest and specific is enough.
Writing a first letter (content is only an example)
- Q1 Nickname: Little Bamboo
- Q2 Broad region: I live in a city in the south of China.
- Q3 An ordinary day: After school I feed my two goldfish and draw comics. My favourite food is noodles.
- Q4 The penpal you hope for: I hope to meet someone who likes drawing or animals.
- Q5 A question for the world: What does the sky look like where you live today?
You tap Send for review. If you had written your school’s name in Q2, the letter would come back asking you to remove it; you fix it and send again. Once it passes review, the letter goes out.
Some time later a reply appears in your Inbox: Hi Little Bamboo! Today the sky here is grey and rainy. I have a dog, not fish. What comics do you draw? You read it, go back to Write, answer the question in English and ask one of your own.
- 桃花岛笔友会首页 | Find an International Penpal
