Author Archives: Nick Nemtuda

China Study Abroad 2018

Beijing May 8-9th

The Forbidden City was very interesting and a lot larger than I thought. It was very cool to think that an emperor lived where I was standing. It was also very interesting to me that the entire city was built without a nail. The history of the Forbidden Kingdom was astounding. Just to think that only a little over 100 years ago I would have been killed for being there and now we could walk freely through is amazing. The next day we visited the Great Wall. The section of the Great Wall we climbed was very steep and over 94 floors according to my iPhone Health App. Mao Zedong said that whoever climbed the wall is considered a hero, so I am very proud I completed the climb. After the Great Wall, we went to the Olympic Park. At the Olympic Park we went inside the Bird’s Nest or the National Stadium which fits 80,000-90,000. This stadium is very large and has an interesting design on the outside that I appreciated. After the National Stadium we saw the Water Cube and other structures in the Park.

 

Dalian May 12-13th

In Dalian, we visited the Rockwell Automation Office. There, we learned what Rockwell provides and how they work. We also presented a speech on cultural differences between the United States and China. After Rockwell we took a tour of Dalian. Dalian is a beautiful kind of beach area. The park we stopped at had an amusement park and a nice view of the Bay. There were many young people there hanging out and skateboarding. This place seemed to be the equivalent of the New Jersey Boardwalks. The next day we visited No. 7 Middle School in Dalian. When we arrived, the students were waiting for us outside with flags and flowers. We all matched up with one or two Chinese Students. The student who I got paired with was about 6’8” and his name was Bruce. The Chinese students [reformed a couple acts for us and we got a lesson in Chinese from the teacher. After we left the Middle School we took a flight from Dalian to Xian.

 

Yangtze River Cruise May 15-19th

We boarded a hard-sleeper train from Xian to Yichang. This train ride took about thirteen hours. Once we got to Yichang we boarded our cruise ship, the Century Legend late at night. We disembarked from the ship early in the morning to go see the Three Gorges Dam project. The Dam is the largest hydroelectric project in the world and that was not even its main purpose. The thousands of kilograms of concrete’s main purpose is to prevent flooding. The Dam is one of my favorite engineering wonders we saw. The next morning we left the cruise ship and boarded smaller boats to sail through the Shenlong Stream. The views were breathtakingly beautiful. Every picture I took there I wanted to frame. Once we got back on the cruise ship we sailed through the remaining two gorges. The whole region was breathtaking. In the morning we were supposed to visit the Shibaozhai Pagoda but unfortunately due to heavy rains it was cancelled. Instead, in the afternoon we visited the Fengdu Ghost Town which was a bit of a hike up but well worth the view.

 

 

 

Huangshan May23-26th

We had a bus tour to Huangshan and checked into our hotel. A small group of us explored the city after we checked in. It amazed me that I did not see a traffic light anywhere in the city and there were no traffic accidents.The next day we woke up early to visit the Huashan Mystery Cave outside the city. When we arrived we had to walk across a long suspension bridge. The cave itself was large and winding. When we left we enjoyed various carnival style games and rides. After the cave we visited Old Street and did some light shopping. The next day we visited Xinli’s hometown. This was one of my favorite days because we got to see the rural lifestyle. Xinli’s uncle gave us a demonstration of calligraphy. We had a great meal and met Xinli’s family. Xinli gave us a tour of his childhood home. After dinner we set off fireworks on the bridge then went back to the hotel. Following the lightshow.

 

at,

one of Xinli’s relatives’ house to see how renewable resources are used in middle class society in China. It is amazing how they use different forms of renewable energy. After that we watched a video on the Hangzhou Bay Bridge.

 

Shaghai May 28-30th

Today we took a long bus tour to Shanghai. On the way there we went over the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which was even more incredible in person. After driving all day, we finally arrived in Shanghai. I was so excited because Shanghai is the biggest city in the world and I have always wanted to visit. The Next day we woke up early to go visit the Dongtan Eco-City Project but it was under construction. So instead we got lunch and went to a bargain market all afternoon. After that we visited the Shanghai Tower which is the highest observation deck in the world and rode the fast elevator in the world to get there. The following day, Today we visited Disneyland Shanghai. It is the newest Disneyland and has many cool attractions and rides. My favorite ride by far was Pirates of the Caribbean. We spent all day there and stayed for the lightshow at the end