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5/6/12

After a long, long trip we finally made it to Beijing. We were all taken aback by how hazy it was at first, and even more so when Vanessa told us that it was a relatively clear day. We took a bus ride to the hotel, but I promptly fell asleep on it so I don’t know how long it was. The hotel seems really classy; it’s in what seems to be a gated community and has a nice park nearby. We went out to dinner with some students from Tsinghua and the professor who is running the program China-side. We had a lot of delicious food but we were all so exhausted it was hard to keep track of what we were eating. We got back to the hotel round 9:30 Beijing time and all promptly dropped like stones onto our rocks…I mean beds. Woke up at like 530 am local time and watched some Chinese TV while waiting for breakfast.

5/7/12

Today we went to a lecture about Chinese history. We learned about the different Chinese dynasties. After that we walked down to this shopping mall and ate some delicious food. Beef, bacon, mushrooms, Sichuan peppers and some other stuff all cooked together in one bowl. When we got back we left to visit Tsinghua University. First off, when I found out that the school was more than 3 times the size of Pitt I was dumbfounded. 50,000 students…it’s ridiculous. Their campus is also GORGEOUS. Ponds and old, gorgeous, historical buildings everywhere. The headmaster’s office was actually in an old palace. We got back to the hotel and all immediately dispersed to our rooms to rest up for the night ahead. When we got back that night we all went out to Korean barbeque, an experience all on its own. None of us speak mandarin and we knew it was going to be an adventure when we had issues communicating that we had 16 people with us. The next thing we found out is no matter how loud and how slow you speak, you aren’t helping the other party, one of the first times I’ve been on the receiving end of it. After attempting to order, we found out that we have to order certain things first, and it was a fiasco. Finally the food came, and to our surprise it was raw meat…then the waiter lifted a hatch on the table and we discovered that we had to grill our own food. After grilling some of the meal ‘Merican style, the waiters eventually got fed up and came over and grilled it for us. It was all good natured and smiles and laughs, with as little words as possible exchanged. We got back to our hotel a little shaken but happy that we were able to eat.

5/8/12

I’m starting this out by saying one thing. The Forbidden City is ACTUALLY A CITY. I thought it was going to be a palace, a couple of buildings for servants and like some gardens. After passing through the first three gates, and finding out we were nowhere near the main palace I was floored. It just keeps going on and on and on. That being said the Forbidden City is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. All I want is to just have an idea of SOME of the things that those walls have bared witness to. Before we saw the Forbidden City, we were in Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen is really cool, but underneath all the history and monuments, it has a really sinister undertone. To be honest, as an American, Tiananmen was really, really intimidating. After the Forbidden City and Tiananmen we went to an authentic Chinese hot pot. Hot Pot was fun, but I’m really getting sick of these places where you have to cook your own food. Not because I’m lazy, and not because it wasn’t delicious, because it was really good. But I simply don’t trust myself to cook these things through enough where I’m not gonna get sick from eating them.

5/9/12

MOTHER.F***ING.PANDAS. One of the major things that I was looking forward to this trip was going to the zoo and seeing the pandas. I can never ever top my girlfriend who got to work on a panda reserve and feed some (if only) but these pandas were so adorable. I was not expecting to see the striking similarity in the pandas to how cats they carry themselves, but now the Chinese name for them (bear-cats) makes a lot more sense. After the Beijing zoo we went to this shopping area that was INCREDIBLE. I’ve never been in such a crowded, bustling, yet oddly organized place. The fervor with which the vendors try and sell you their wares is incredible. There is absolutely nothing like it in the states, not even in Chinatown in NYC. That night we went out to this restaurant district by the lake and went to this really nice rooftop bar. We all just hung around and sat and had a drink and talked, it was really nice and was a very good opportunity to get to know everyone on the trip. After a long evening of talking some of the group decided they wanted to try some fried scorpions. After seeing how big a deal we made out of the scorpions, one of the workers offered to eat a live scorpion for 10 RNB, so obviously we paid up. 5 min later, a decent ways down the street, we all had a laugh as he, predictably, pushed past us to get to the bathroom. Walking back to the bus around the lake was really pretty. There were lots of live music being played at the restaurant section.

5/10/12

In place of going to Hyundai, who was tuning up their assembly line, we elected to go to a Karaoke bar. Karaoke was SO.MUCH.FUN. We all had an amazing time hanging out with each other, DR. Gao, Vanessa and Vivian and Ruby. After a long (I have no idea how long we spent there) time singing along with each other, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. That night we all went out with Vivian and Ruby and had an amazing time.

5/11/12

The Summer Palace was gorgeous. These Chinese names are so misleading. Summer Palace to me is the building that the Emperor spends his vacations at. The second half of that is right, however it isn’t just a building. It’s 4000 acres. 4000 acres…it’s good to be the Emperor. When we walked in we saw the stone boat, which I found to be hilariously awesome, I mean it’s very obviously made of stone, yet it’s just sitting there in the river floating all like “yeah I’ve heard of physics, but I like to ignore that stuff.” After walking for hours and seeing all of this beautiful architectureI decided that after the zombie apocalypse happens (or another situation in which I can skateboard on national landmarks without getting arrested for something or other) I’m going to come back to the summer palace with my skateboard and go wild. We finally made our way to a market. However, this wasn’t any ordinary market. This was along a canal that ran into a river which ran all the way to the Forbidden City. The market was awesome, yet very scary simply because there were no railings along the water, and some of the corners were incredibly tight with two way traffic going around it. After walking for hours I got back to my room and rested up from 6pm to 5am.

5/12/12

The Great Wall is stunning. We hiked for miles and miles up and down crazy stairs. All I could think about was how built those guards who had to patrol up and down those stairs every single day of their lives must have been. Getting to the top was an incredibly rewarding experience even though I didn’t make it to the top top as some of our group did, but I was happy with where I was. We hike all the way back and a little ways past where we came up to take one of the funnest things we did in China. The Great Wall has a, wait for it, SLIDE all the way back down from the top of the mountain to the market you walk through to get to the wall. It’s maybe a 10 minute ride on these tiny little sleds but it is AMAZING. The view is simply stunning and whipping around turns and having Chinese workers yell at you in Mandarin is a unique experience. The slide back down was exhilarating and I think that it should be a more employed method of getting down from the top of things.

5/13/12

The peal market was an experience all of its own. Even the shopping area we went to after the zoo pales in comparison. These vendors will literally grab you by the arm and try and drag you into their section to try and sell you things. However the closer you get to the top floor, the classier and classier the stores get, until you finally get to the top and there are legitimate jewelry stores up there. You know they’re legit when you try and bargain with them and they laugh at you and don’t try and call you back when you walk away. The water cube was fucking gorgeous and amazingly fun. Being in the same building as Olympic athletes was an experience all of its own, and the waterpark that they have there now isn’t half bad itself. But actually the water park is amazing, we all had an amazing time and the slides were amazing.

5/14/12

I was bored to tears by the lecture on Chinese Economics. It wasn’t anything to do with the professor who came in to teach it, all I’m going to say is that there’s a reason why I’m an engineer and not a business student. Afterwards we had our first company visit at Tsinghua Solar. Tsinghua Solar was very interesting however it was very obvious that the guy they got to do the presentation was not comfortable at all in talking to us. Their products and relationship with the government was surprising to me. It’s a very interesting show of how the Chinese Government functions. Every new building needs to incorporate a Tsinghua water heater on it. If the US government tried to tell people that they had to put ANYTHING on their stuff, no matter what it was, people would be rioting in the streets about personal rights. In China, they tell you to put this water heater on your new house, BOOM there it is, albeit they do offer cash compensation but still, it’s the principle of the thing.

5/15/12

Seeing the Birds Nest was interesting. Sure it was cool that this was the building that all of EVERYTHING from the 2008 Olympics took place there, but it really didn’t have the same resonation that the Water Cube had, maybe it’s because I’m not into the track and field events but who knows. Our second company visit at Capital Bio was incredible. From the moment we walked in I knew it was going to be very different then Tsinghua solar. Touring their facility and seeing one of their research labs was definitely one of the top moments of my trip.

5/16/12

Because Hyundai was still tuning up their assembly line we went to two different company visits instead. Frist up was a Baijeo distillery. Seeing the ancestry of the distillery was pretty interesting, but it wasn’t my favorite company. Next up was Jangho, a curtain wall manufacturer. Seeing their manufacturing plant was pretty neat. After getting back from Jangho’s plant we went out to lunch with local Government officials. After lunch we went to Fragrant Hill, a giant mountain (it seemed like a mountain) with a temple on top. Once we made the trek to the top it was completely worth it and simply breathtaking. It was a gorgeous day outside and we could see for miles. Beijing is the biggest collection of buildings I’ve seen. It was insane, and I live right next to NYC.

5/17/12

Our last company visit was to Lenovo, the company that I was most looking forward too. Their facility was completely state of the art; however the tour was really disappointing. It was a sales pitch rather than a company tour. I understand that they are a huge company and can’t be giving groups of college students tours in the same way that the other companies did, but it was a little over the top with all the “LOOK AT THIS COOL STUFF WE MADE.” After Lenovo we went out to the most delicious meal I’ve had in a long time. Peking duck was incredible, the restaurant was fancy as can be and it was the most enjoyable meal we had, in my opinion.

5/18/12

Friday morning we had our final lecture of the trip. The teacher was the sweetest old Chinese woman who taught us about social policies in China. She also showed us pictures of her family and told us stories about living in China in the 20^th century. After we got out of dinner we had some free time which I utilized to finish up some blogs and pack. After the down time we went out to have our farewell dinner. It was really strange to see how far we had come as a group and how comfortable we were with eating Chinese style, everyone shares courses which are kept on a lazy-Susan on the middle of the table. After we finished eating we all said our goodbyes and took our last pictures in preparation for waking up and going to the airport.