Lots and lots of food characterize Chinese weddings. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

By Curtis Chan

For a number of the students, today’s ride aboard a bullet train was their first aboard high-speed rail.

Topping off at 300 kilometers per hour, or approximately 186 mph, the students headed to Anshan, a city approximately 200 miles east of the North Korean border, for a day-long excursion. The ride took an hour.

There, the Penn Staters enjoyed a traditional — albeit ritzy — Chinese wedding in the early afternoon. For the uninitiated, Chinese weddings are typified by lots of food and drink — 18 courses in all with dishes literally stacked on one another.

After the wedding, the students enjoyed a favorite pastime for a number of Chinese — karaoke.

At the end of the day, the students were whisked back to Dalian on a return bullet train.