- Beijing
Our first destination in the program was the city of Beijing, the capital of China. One of my first impressions of the city was that it was nowhere near as polluted as the media had led me to believe it was, which pleasantly surprised me. While in Beijing, we travelled to several historical landmarks located around the city. These tourism hotspots included the National Center of Performing Arts, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Olympic Village, the National Museum of China, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. My favorite stop in Beijing was our visit to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. I really enjoyed hiking up the steep steps as we climbed to the highest fortress. The view from atop the Great Wall was surreal.
Throughout our tour of Beijing, it became evident that history played a significant role in China’s culture. For instance, the symmetry of the Forbidden City outlines the central axis of Beijing from which the rest of the city is built around. Besides the built environment, I was able to experience local culture of transportation, shopping, and martial arts. I was surprised to see the vast number of mopeds on the road. I also found it interesting that most people riding these small motorized vehicles would be wearing jackets and gloves or be covered by a blanket. In Silk Street, a famous mall where prices are negotiable, I got to try my hand at haggling. I don’t think I was very effective at it, but it was a really interesting experience – certainly one I wouldn’t get to try in America. Finally, we watched an acrobat show and a Kung Fu show on separate nights. Both shows featured extremely talented performers and were very well produced performances.
Beijing was a hub of Chinese history and culture where remnants of the ancient world and the expanding modern civilization collide.
2. Dalian
In Dalian we visited our first local company. We were able to receive a tour of the facilities and interact with several employees of the Dalian campus of Rockwell Automation. Afterwards, we travelled to Xinghai Square. This spectacular plaza looks out over the bay and the Xinghai Bay Bridge that crosses it. I felt immediately refreshed when the cool sea breeze poured over the plaza. Before the water there was a large U-shaped structure that people could walk on. Leading up to this was a sculpture depicting 1000 footprints, which happened to be embedded into the ground and surrounded by vibrant flowers. To the left of the “U” there was a small amusement park filled with a variety of colorful rides. Even though I don’t like rollercoasters, the beautiful setting of the bay enabled me to enjoy walking by all the rides and take in all the smiling faces around me.
Both nights in Dalian we were invited to wonderful dinners hosted by Xinli’s friends. The dishes served at the dinner were beyond splendid. We were shown extremely gracious hospitality at both dinners and it was very interesting to learn more about proper etiquette and the dining culture of China.
3. Chongqing
After the five-day cruise along the Yangtze River, we finally arrived in Chongqing on May 19th. Having been stuck on a small ship for the past few days, I was eager to explore the new city. Our first stop was the Chongqing Zoo. I was super excited to get to see the pandas! It was a lot of fun to walk through all of the exhibits and I was able to see a lot of fascinating animals. While in Chongqing we ended up having two free days. I spent both days with a small group of friends at a plaza filled with malls in the Shapingba area. I got to experience the Chinese subway as the mall complex was a decent 20 minute train ride from the hotel. I was impressed by how well maintained the subway was and I appreciated their way-finding system. On the subway, they have a board of LEDs, one at each station, which are lit up a certain color depending on your location. For instance, a station’s LED is red if it has been passed, yellow if arriving at the station, and green if the station is still ahead of the train. This system makes it really easy to figure out the direction you’re traveling in and helps you identify which station you’re at. The map also lists all transfer lines that can be found at any individual station.
Besides transportation experience, I feel like I truly got to experience the food culture of China while in Chongqing. A discovery that I am most proud of is a shop that my friends and I happened upon by chance when walking through the mall plaza. This shop sold massive bowls of delicious noodles for only 6 yuan. For the rest of the program, we would measure every purchase in terms of 6 yuan noodle bowls to determine if the monetary exchange was truly worth it. While exploring the many restaurants on the 4th floor of our hotel, a few friends and I discovered a shop that sold dan-dan mien. This noodle dish quickly became one of my favorite Chinese cuisines. We also discovered highly concentrated plum juice that served as an excellent pairing to dan-dan mien. And of course, one of my favorite aspects of China was the large availability of dragonfruit and the variety of dragonfruit based products. I happily indulged myself in all things dragonfruit. Over the course of the program, I devoured three dragonfruit smoothies, two dragonfruit bubble teas, 6 plates of dragonfruit chunks at a single meal on the cruise, a dragonfruit popsicle and a bucket of dragonfruit chunks along with lychee in Chongqing, a whole dragonfruit in Suzhou, and then a total of four whole dragonfruits – one for each day – during our stay in Shanghai.
And at the end of most days of our stay in Chongqing, I would join a small group of friends to play a few rounds of mahjong before calling it a night.
4. Suzhou
Of all the cities we visited in China, I believe that Suzhou is the one that I find myself most likely to live in. Before attending our scheduled activities, I went for a morning run with Xinru at a park near the hotel. Immediately upon entering the park we were met with the sound of music and a swarm of people dancing. I was surprised to see so many people out and about, getting exercise and enjoying the fresh air so early in the morning. It was very inspiring to see and it made me want to be more active in my daily routine.
Xinli told us that Suzhou was famous for its beautiful landscaping, gardens, and natural scenery. Yet I was still impressed by the beauty of the city when we toured a garden park. The scenery was incredible tranquil. I appreciated how they seamlessly wove the architecture into nature within the gardens.
5. Shanghai
I’ve never been a fan of large cities, but I must admit that I was absolutely captivated by Shanghai. While I loved both Suzhou and Chongqing, I think that Shanghai was my favorite city that we visited. After we departed from our bullet train, we visited the Bund and got to see an amazing view of the city skyline. While in Shanghai, we visited a historic part of the city called Old Street, which was filled with wonderful souvenir shops. Then we got to visit Shanghai Tower and even take the elevator up to the 118th floor, which is the highest observation deck in the world. On our free day, I went with a group of friends to the Shanghai Aquarium. The aquarium easily rivaled the zoo in Chongqing with its spectacular exhibits. Some of my favorite ones were the lionfish, shark tunnels, and jellyfish tanks.
Published by Jason Rainey