Alex The Working Man July 5, 2009
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I have returned to America and since have worked at Target Corporate Headquarters doing what every AEM major loves to do: internships!
My first few days of work completed and I feel I haven’t totally messed up and I might just be lucky enough to receive a full time offer from Target.
My whole goal during training was first to remain awake during the entire training session because I haven’t fully adjusted back to America’s time and on top of that waking up early to go to work. My second goal was to ask questions at any large panel discussions to try to differentiate myself from the other Target interns. Both were accomplished and I was even compliment for asking a good question, which made my day. The panel kept their message simple if you work hard give 110 percent, you will get the offer.
I received my intern location working in Merchandise Planning, Cards/Stationary, which I am really excited about. If I had to put merchandise planning simply, it would be watching inventory levels at all Target stores and making sure all the items needed to make the guests’ (customers) experience a good one. It’s still an industry I relatively have no idea about so I will be sure to ask a million questions as they come up.
The environment seemed alot more open and friendly than Ernst and Young, my previous summer experience. There was also a smaller number of interns with E&Y having about 50 with Target’s 250. Target is always preaching their mantra of fast, fun, and friendly and I have to sure I reflect that. Hopefully through this experience, my personality and strengths will be good enough to solidify a full-time offer because I sure could use one in this state of economic chaos and facing the unknown.
Best part of the job is 10% discount on all Target stuff!
Study Break Part 3 June 29, 2009
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The last few days of our adventure were at Hong Kong. Ever since 1997, where Britain gave back Hong Kong to China, the relationship of China and Hong Kong has been very strange. Hong Kong has went from being able to elect their own officials via democratic vote to having a governor appointed by the Beijing government. Many citizens has asked for Hong Kong’s sovereignty, but Hong Kong’s economy is too connected to mainland China to ever separate from China without the country’s permission. We traveled up the Peak Tram to see Hong Kong during the night; the view was incredible. Shanghai still needs some time to catch up to Hong Kong as far as city development. All you can see are these brightly lit skyscrapers. After the view from Victoria Peak, we went to the hotel and rested to prepare for what the rest of the week had in store.
The next day we went to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange often dubbed as the connecting point between Mainland China and the rest of the world. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has high-end technology and is very parallel to NYSE. We got to walk around and see some traders work the floor as they were buying and selling Chinese stocks. There was also a mini-museum where I got to take picture acting like I was part of the Asian Financial Market Crash in 1997. After the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we visited the Hong Kong History Museum to learn a little bit more about Hong Kong’s colonial history as well as mainland China.
During the museum, we learned a lot about how Hong Kong early on had an international influence. At first, countries like Britain just came to exchange silk and tea. Over time, Britain began selling opium to many Hong Kong addicts and Britain soon gained influence over the Hong Kong government. The museum had interesting exhibits including one detailing the use of Chinese propaganda comic books where Chinese superheroes would fight the tyrants of capitalism and democracy. After that, we got a little bit of free time to explore Hong Kong, buying souvenirs and other junk I will later have to struggle to pack when I return to the States.
During the night, we got to experience the expensive nightlife of Hong Kong. Disclaimer: Hong Kong is a trendier city compared to Shanghai! I came to the club wearing a nice pressed shirt with a nice pair of grey slacks and feeling grown and sexy. However, when I went to the club in Hong Kong I felt I was so undressed and felt literally like a bum, because everyone was dressed INCREDIBLE! I’m not usually the self-conscious type, but seeing how fashion savvy Hong Kong young professionals made me feel inadequate. It’s ok, I still was looking nice doing my Chinese squat in my suit if you don’t know what a Chinese squat is I will illustrate using these two pictures.
Picture 1 is a picture of a true Chinese squat; this squat is very useful in many situations including using the bathroom, chilling with friends, having a smoke, or just catching a breath after an adventuresome night at the bar.
Picture 2 is yours truly and another classmate trying to become a real Chinese national and squat comfortable with my dress pants. I still need to practice, but I am way better and way more comfortable getting in a Chinese squat then before I came here.
After a night at the club, I woke up to our free day to explore Hong Kong. We went to the Flower Market and as I was walking to the Flower Market I saw this interesting sign entitled “Sexy”, really don’t what type of establishment this place ran but the name did peak my interest so it can’t be too bad. The last day was pretty uneventful just buying more BAPE bootleg clothes and enjoying the good weather. While Hong Kong was more contemporary than Shanghai, I still missed my small little dorm room in Shanghai.
In the airport, we were given masks because the first case in China of the swine flu was discovered from a flight to Shanghai to Hong Kong. Seeing 30 foreigners coming into the same airline terminal all wearing masks for the swine flu really makes the study abroad worthwhile. After the SARS scare, China takes any televised disease very seriously with all the antibacterial hand sanitizer a foreigner can need. Nothing was like seeing my hard bed in my dorm room at Shanghai.
MTV Spring Break Part 2 cont’d: The gravity defying edition May 13, 2009
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Note: This entry was posted on behalf of Alex, who cannot access his blog from China due to governmental restrictions on the internet. It has not been edited or changed in any way.
As we last saw our hero, he was traveling through Zhuhai learning about different businesses and learning about the Pearl River Delta economy (Zhuhai, Macau, Guangzhou, Hong Kong). We continue our adventure in Macau where Alex did a little bit more play than work.
We crossed the border into Macau, often considered the Las Vegas of Asia. A little bit of history about Macau: Macau is one of two special administrative regions of China along with Hong Kong which in previous years allowed for a more open economy. Macau is the first and last European colony of China, originally under Portuguese control but then relinquished back to China in 1999. Now Macau is a thriving economy with its hotel, gambling, and textile industry and is considered one of the richest cities in the world.
We first ate Panda, not exactly the animal but the Portuguese Restaurant.
After lunch, I did something I would never expect…. Bungee Jumping off the Macau Tower (the Guinness World Record for highest commercial bungee jump standing at a tall 233 meters.) I have no previous experience bungee jumping and while I always said I wanted to do it I never imagined my first bungee would be on the highest tower. The worst part of the experience was the wait, I went along with several classmates and I watched as they jumped one by one. As each person jumped, I became more and more nervous about actually jumping off. When the tied me up to the bungee cord the only thought running through my head was, are these bungee able to support my weight I should’ve lost some weight before I did this. The jump was ammmaaaaaaazzzzzzinnnnnnngggggggg. I still barely comprehend what happened but all I remember was seeing all of Macau in one glance and hanging upside down feeling the wind press down on my skin. It made me officially poor for the rest of my trip costing ($260), but it was an experience of a lifetime, I honestly can’t put into words how much adrenline you feel after the jump. After the jump, I felt invincible like I could jump over everything.
After the bungee jump, we went to our hotel situated perfectly in the middle of Macau and all of the casinos. Being 20 and still unable to gamble in the States, it was great not having to worry about people checking my ID in Macau and being able to legally gamble. We first went to the Venetian Hotel similar to the one in Vegas where I got to welcome an old favorite into my life: Fatburger (if you don’t live in the West Coast you won’t fully grasp the situation.) After stuffing myself in Fat Fries, I went gambling where I proceeded to have the worse luck. I got to watch as my friend won 900 HK dollars on the slots, 3,000 HK dollars playing poker and me with a grand loss of 100 Hong Kong dollars at the slots. Nothing makes you feel better, than spending 300 US Dollars for 10 seconds of bliss and losing 100 HK dollars playing the slot machines!
The next day we traveled to the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino for a presentation and guide of the casino. The casino is relatively new only three years old, but has already established a reputation in Macau as one of the most upscale hotels. Unfortunately, the tour didn’t include free casino chips, which would’ve been appreciated. The hotel is beautiful with a full-scale replica of a Spanish train station, which had an open roof so you can relax in the sun. I will definitely be staying here once I get a good job. After the hotel guide, it was time for part 3 of our trip: Hong Kong.
MTV Spring Break Part 2: Study Tour Edition May 7, 2009
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Note: This entry was posted on behalf of Alex, who cannot access his blog from China due to governmental restrictions on the internet. It has not been edited or changed in any way.
As part of my study abroad program, we take a week break from the repetition of Chinese classes and three-hour Chinese economic lectures to travel around southern China to gain a more hands-on interactive experience of international business. Because it is a week-long break I will break up this blog entry into three parts highlighting some of the best and worst of the trip. (Pictures included)
Saturday, we took a China Southern Airline Flight to Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong province and home to the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family. The Chen Ancestral Temple was built in the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu with the donations of members form the Chen family who lived in 72 different counties in the Guangdong province. What really impressed me about the ancestral temple was the attention to detail with the design of the roof. Towards the top of the roof were designs of members of the Chen Family enjoying a meal and dragons taking flight.
After the Ancestral Temple, we travel to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial which was more like a huge amphiteatre for the departed architect. The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, situated on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, was constructed between 1929 and 1931, a monument to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of Chinese democratic revolution by the people of Guangzhou and overseas Chinese. Inside the memorial was the famous concert hall, which was only reserved for classical Chinese acts for Chinese government officials and elite. After dinner and a much needed nap, we traveled to Shamian Island, a small island in Guangzhou with many restaurants. When I first heard about Shamian Island, being a Californian I imagined more of a tropical beach, however, it was more of a small island with restaurants surrounded by a river with restaurants and tourists shops. Saturday night we got to experience nightlife in Guangzhou where we went to a club called the Cave. The surprising part about this club was that they only played reggaeton and salsa music with a native Puerto Rican DJ. You don’t see many clubs like that in China!
Sunday and Monday, we went to the nearby city of Zhuhai to visit the Canton Trade Fair and a Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory. The Chen Li Ji Medicine Factory was established in Guangzhou in the year 1600 and has received “A Most Richly Historied Firm” award from the Domestic Trade Department of PRC. Within China there are special incentives for Chinese who use traditional medicine, the Chinese government will match 100% any of the medicinal expenses if Chinese nationals use compared to about 40-50% for those who use westernized medicine. Chinese nationals often prefer Chinese traditional medicine, because some can have the same positive attributes as Western medicine without the harmful side effects. We walked around the factory and got to see how the factory first began using a large bucket to create their medicine to today where they use large manufacturing machines to produce their product.
After the medicine factory, we went to the largest import/export fair in China. The Canton Fair hosts hundreds of Chinese exhibitors who are trying to lure in foreigners interested in mass producing products in China. We got to experience talking to the exhibitors and hearing how they would sell their business to possible foreign buyers. The biggest trait from hearing the Chinese exhibitors is their emphasis on price. While they struggled to answer questions about what makes their company for others, one question they answered quickly was how much their products were and asking how many we wanted. I guess they figured we didn’t care about anything else except price. Also, there were a few weird items for sale at the fair. One was basically a weapons outlet, which sold ninja stars for about 75 cents each and other sharp knives, and another was a stuffed animal outlet selling stuffed peacocks for about 1,000 US Dollars each. Nothing like a stuffed peacock to sophisticate an office! Our hotel in Zhuhai was a hotel right next to hot springs where I went to a sauna to sweat away all of the toxins and grease I have been eating so far in China.
The next day, we did two company visits learning more about Zhuhai and Macau. Zhuhai and Macau are different than most other cities in China because they are deemed Special Economic Zones. During the 1980’s when China was opening up these cities were the main cities open to foreign investment. Now with China’s open economy the titles are more of a title of the past. We first traveled to Zhuhai Daily where we had a seminar on Zhuhai and Macau another economic zone nearby. As a local professor explained, Zhuhai was a very successful city in China, because it stood as the goal for China’s development: Zhuhai had a Medicare system, Social Security system, environmentally friendly, and wasn’t too dependent on foreign investment for revenue. There was also mention of Shanghai, which is now dubbed as China’s international finance center replacing Hong Kong. As he described, Zhuhai is situated in a great location within a few hours from Macau, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, which makes it a very attractive city for many companies. The second part was to an Italian Chemcial Company that expanded production in Zhuhai. Zhuhai has also been a place for many manufacturing companies so it was interesting to hear from a transnational company. We learned more about the company and hear about the opportunities China’s market offers to foreign companies. As one representative described, “20% of revenue is from the Chinese market and we are looking to expand.”
Whew, I am exhausted just typing this and so far it’s only been 3 days wait until part 2 to hear more about my adventures!
China Gave John Legend the Green Light April 20, 2009
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Note: This entry was posted on behalf of Alex, who cannot access his blog from China due to governmental restrictions on the internet. It has not been edited or changed in any way.
Having international acts are far and few in between at China especially Shanghai. While many international acts are scheduled to make stops in Mainland China, Chinese bureaucracy always shows up and stops international acts from coming. During the first month, all of the excitement was towards the rock band Oasis arriving to Shanghai to perform in Mainland China. The venue was set and even some of my classmates bought tickets waiting for the band to put on a show. Less than two weeks before Oasis was set to perform in Shanghai, we were given the recent news that the Oasis concert was cancelled. The newspaper cited scheduling conflicts and the venue being adequately prepared for the band. Most expats (ex-patriots, usually foreigners who live/work in China) believe it was for one of the Free Tibet comments one of the Gallagher brothers made over 10 years ago. While the Oasis concert was cancelled, the Chinese government decided to give us some entertainment by allowing John Legend to perform in Yunfang Theatre in China.
The concert was packed, about 75% foreigners and 25% Chinese people. It was a pretty small venue seating only about 1,600, but it was good because it gave even the people in the nosebleed section an intimate feel. He performed all of his hits including, “Green Light, Take Me Away, Good Morning, Ordinary People and many others.” I was just sitting there lip-syncing and dancing with my classmates and other Chinese nationals who went to the concert. It felt just like any other concert in the United States, music overcomes any kind of boundaries because as long as you hear a good rhythm people are going to dance and bop to it.
Along with the concert, we were able to get into the after-party at Mint where John Legend made an appearance along with his entourage. I got to shake hands with him but many of my classmates were able to take pictures with him and one of my classmates was even able to sneak into the VIP section right next to John Legend.
My classmate was able to get us a bottle of premier Vodka from John Legend’s personal stash so we were able to enjoy the night in style. It was a very upscale event with drinks costing up to 80 kuai a cup that is outrageous considering I usually pay 20-30 at a bar. While there were many beautiful ladies in the house, all of them were preoccupied with either John Legend or someone who can actually afford a drink for them, which clearly isn’t me. Another fun night in Shanghai.
Spring Break: MTV China Edition April 16, 2009
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Note: This entry was posted on behalf of Alex, who cannot access his blog from China due to governmental restrictions on the internet. It has not been edited or changed in any way.
Ok, so maybe China isn’t the wildest place you can go to Spring Break as a college student, but China offers its own fun. Being study abroad students afford many privileges including Spring Break; my Chinese roommate is only given a three-day weekend from now until the end of the semester. For my Spring Break, I decided to be the ultimate tourist of China and travel to 西安 (Xian) and 北京 (Beijing) two of China’s historical cities exemplifying a lot of China’s history.
We first traveled to Xian to visit the famous Terracotta Soldiers (兵馬俑), which are the ceremonial clay statues of warriors and horses, which are buried with an ancient emperor used to protect him in the afterlife. Before I arrived at the center, I was expecting maybe 100-200 soldiers, but upon arrival there were so many Terracotta Soldiers there was enough to cover a NFL pro-football stadium. I guess the emperor felt like he needed all the protection in the after-life. What was amazing about the Terracotta Soldiers was that they were made out of a special clay when heated would be as tough as metal, which allowed them to survive the wear and tear of the earth for hundreds of years. The person who discovered the Terracotta Soldiers was a farmer. While digging dirt to plant for the new harvest, he soon found a head for one of the soldiers. For a short period of time, local peasants worshipped the head as a sacrificial item, but the farmer eventually took it to a curator who helped to unearth the other hundreds of soldiers. It is widely known the farmer is considered very lucky and on occasion he comes to the center to shake hands for good luck. I was able to shake his hand for good luck, but unable to take a picture because he is really awkward about photography.
In Beijing, we experienced everything a tourist would want. We climbed up the 長城 Great Wall, walked miles in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace, bought China flags at Tiananmen Square, drank Mango Vodka at Houhai, and live my Olympic Dreams at the Watercube. The first thing we did was set out to go to Tiananmen Square and see the huge picture of Mao there. It was an eerie feeling being only a couple of feet away from the street the tanks rolled past while the students were protesting. To think, they were my age putting their lives on the line for their beliefs, it was quite amazing. The Great Wall was just that, GREAT!!! It was funny seeing me and my classmates fall behind these old Chinese ladies climbing the Great Wall. In my defense, the ladies look like they were in really good shape.
The Forbidden City was gigantic; it has 8,707 rooms and occupies an area of over 720,000. It was the imperial palace of Ming and Qing dynasties and it was said that an emperor of the Ming dynasty lived his whole life within the confines of this Forbidden City. The Summer Palace was just as gigantic with a scenic lake set in the center of the Palace where there were several couples sharing swan boats, very romantic. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anyone to share the romantic experience so we decided to walk around and visit all of the temples and rooms inside of the Palace. On Friday night, we decided to hit the local bar area known as Houhai where there is literally close to a mile of bars back-to-back-to-back. They aren’t even given different names; the bars are numbered from 1 to about 47. We went to bar 28 where we got to enjoy the beautiful weather outside and listen to cover bands and people doing karaoke. The Olympic park was amazing, they built a subway stop specifically for the Olympics and the Olympic park seemed like construction was finished yesterday.
One of the interesting things that happened throughout the whole Spring Break was my celebrity status in China. I took pictures with at least 20 Chinese people who asked to take a picture with me. They were already excited about just seeing a black person visiting China, but once I started speaking Chinese they went into an uproar!!!! I would say something as simple as hello and they would start screaming in excitement. I actually enjoyed giving some Chinese people interaction with a Black person, because while China has made many strides to open up economically, I feel socially its still lagging behind.
Another theme was trying weird stuff during Spring Break. First, I drank ancient Chinese vodka that was used as medicine that had lizards, snakes, berries, and fruit twigs in the bottle. Needless to say it didn’t taste that good. Also in Beijing I tried so many weird things, which was one of my goals coming to China. I ate starfish (tasted too dry for my taste), sea urchin (it had wasabi sauce that made my eyes water and it was very slimy), scorpions (tasted like shrimp), and dog! I’m sorry for anybody I offended but the dog tasted just like deep fried pork.
My spring break was amazing meeting new people, trying new things, and also just getting some time to actually experience China and not be bogged down by internship or my other classes.
Clubbing Etiquette in China VS. USA April 15, 2009
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Note: This entry was posted on behalf of Alex, who cannot access his blog from China due to governmental restrictions on the internet. It has not been edited or changed in any way.
As a young socialite in Shanghai, I have been to my fair share of dance clubs/bars/karaoke spots in the city enjoying what Shanghai has to offer. There are definitely differences between going to your local club in the States versus going to some of the clubs in Shanghai. I have went to a wide variety of bars and clubs over the past 2 months from all native Chinese techno bar to laowei (foreigner) central with all of the familiar songs like Soldier Boy.
Price
China definitely has a serious advantage when it comes to good, cheap drinks. Open Bar can run from 100-250 Chinese Dollars (running from 15 to 35) for drinks all night. Also, thanks to the one-child policy it’s even better for ladies who can find a ladies’ night with free drinks at least at one bar in Shanghai. Still costs money for me.
Music
Music is pretty much the same, Chinese people love American hip-hop/rap even though most of the time they have no idea of what the artist is trying to stay. They still like Lil’Wayne, Jay-Z and alike.
Girls
Girls are equally hot and are the same anywhere in the world. If you can’t buy them a drink or buy a table to sit and chat, they don’t want to talk. That’s just women, you look a lot better when you look like you have a little bit of money.
Dancing/Conversations with the Opposite Sex
This is probably the biggest difference between the US and China that I have discovered over the months. When it comes dancing and conversation, native Chinese likes intrigue and not too aggressive guys. As my Chinese roommate described, if you are interested in a native Chinese girl in a club you can’t be forward like in the US. In the US, if you say it in the right way you can probably be specific as possible about certain actions and still be in the girl’s good graces. Usually you have to make comments like oh, this club is fun, I really like this music, or any kind of random observation. After you have gained her attention, you have to really talk her up, and what I mean by that is you might need to dance and talk to her for hours just in order to get her number…. just to have a shot of getting her phone number. It’s a good thing, because it seems old-fashioned where you are less likely for those regrettable hook-ups and you remember a lot more than the girl’s name after you meet her. Another difference is dancing, I know it’s still a relatively new thing, but in China native Chinese don’t grind at most you can have an A-Shape dance. It reflects the more formal culture of China with the dancing and hitting on girls. It’s also been hard on me now because when I was grinding against a girl in the US the girl was expected to have the entire dance moves I just stood there and bopped back and forth. Now I am asked to always figure out a way to dance with a girl that keeps her entertained. What a change!
All of the clubs are pretty amazing, so I have many funny recollections of nights spent in the street, which I will save for another entry.
Birthday Party March 9, 2009
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Today was one of my program ?? (classmates) 21st birthday and we celebrated by doing it the American way: going to Hooters for the first time in China. Hooters in China is a little bit different compared to that in America, at least I was told that by other classmates who are more frequent visitors of this establishment. The waitresses did everything from sing songs, dance to YMCA, and of course congratulate our friend with the Happy Birthday song in English, Chinese, and Spanish because he is from Peru. We ate hot wings, hamburgers , and chili fries and for a second it reminded me of home which sounds pretty pathetic for someone to find solace at a Hooters restaurant. Here are some pictures from the restaurants…
Weekend Trip to Shaoxing, Xinchang, Xikou, Ningbo March 2, 2009
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As part of the Alliance for Global Education’s Study Abroad curriculum we have scheduled field trips about every two weeks including this previous weekend where we had a 4 city tour in 3 days. This weekend we made a trip to Shaoxing, Xinchang, Xikou, and Ningbo.
We left early Friday morning which has its advantages/disadvantages. Leaving Friday morning means no Friday Chinese class and being able to go out on Thursday; the only disadvantage is that our whole Friday was action-packed which meant no time for my favorite mid-afternoon nap. Friday we traveled to Shaoxing, a historic city in north central Zhejiang Province about 3 hours south of Shanghai. There we visited the Longhua Temple and ate a vegeterian meal which included Veggie sausages, chicken,beef, and the dreaded choudoufu. “Choudoufu” literally translates as smelly toufu and if you smell it you will understand why. While I have tried everything while abroad including rooster head, snail, and sharkfin nothing comes close to the taste/smell of choudoufu. The smell can really ruin a meal, and make your breath smell like a garbage yard. We also a famous novelist known as Lu Xun whose residence is huge! The hilight of the day was definitely the black-awning boat which was a nervous time for me because with every movement you could feel the boat slightly tipping in the same direction. We also visited Shen Garden during the night, this garden known for its story of a tragic marriage around 1127. During the night they play Shaoxing Opera as you walk around the garden and listen to the Opera which included a great performance of the ABC’s for us foreigners.
A picture of the vegetarian meal including the dreaded choudoufu!
Saturday we departed for Xinchang Qianzhang Valley located on the east 19 peaks, supposedly it is a backdrop for numerous TV series on Chinese Central Television. It is located in the mountains and crosses the Han Fei River through a small wooden bridge which looks like it can’t support much weight, but is a very solid bridge. Walking through Xinchang Qianzhang Valley, it was such pristine scenery and one of the first places I have traveled to which wasn’t caught up in the Chinese push for urban development. It was just tranquil, and gave me the opportunity to just breathe fresh air, which I sorely needed from my stay in Shanghai.
The view from one of the mountaintops.
After traveling through Xinchang Valley, we headed to Xikou to visit a local township enterprise. The township enterprise was Hongguang Aerodynamic Package Plant. The plant manufactures small scale automotive parts. The economic crisis has hit especially hit this small township enterprise, as the manager detailed how the company was forced to lay off 50 employees over the past few month with a little less than 20 workers remaining. When walking into the enterprise one can notice the hard times, a lot of machines left unused with only a worker or two working. That remained a reminder that the economic crisis is being felt everywhere.
After an exhausting day, we finally arrived to our hotel in the urban city of Ningbo. With so many days of eating vegetarian meals or meals with not enough meat, the study abroad students decided to go to a very familiar place to eat Maidanlao (McDonald’s) to eat. The McDonalds in China has many of the same meals as in America with a couple of twists: they have a Quarter Pounder with Cheese but also with cucumber and its own version of secret sauce, you can get your side order of fries or corn if you want to be healthy, and if you want desert you can order Red Bean Pie which is China’s variation of Apple Pie. One thing was continuous, it hit the spot for my food cravings and I even got to enjoy the dessert of ice cream! It was so good! I’m quite proud to be an American and every once in a while I need to satisfy American needs.
It was like 30 degrees outside but that ??? (Bingqilin: ice cream)
Along with visiting Ningbo, we visited the Tianyige Museum. The museum incorporates a lot of Chinese culture occupying a land area of 26,000 square meters detailing Chinese social history, art, and architecture. One of the highlights was the ground being modeled into a mahjong board. Soon after, we returned to Shanghai exhausted and significantly behind in our homework, but it was more than worth it.
An early theater platform at Tianyige Museum.
Waiting To Inhale in China February 24, 2009
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I wrote a previous post entitled waiting to exhale, and I figure it is only appropriate to have a blog entry entitled Waiting to Inhale to talk about the air quality in China. During the Olympics air quality was a major concern of China, because many athletes needed to adjust to the heavy smog/pollution of China. While China has done a magnificent job trying to reduce overall pollution, pollution/air quality presents a major problem in Shanghai and China overall. It only takes a few minutes outside of the airport until you notice that your chest is feeling really heavy for some strange reason. Also, as the weeks go by you notice weird things about your body: your earwax is the darkest color you have ever seen, and your snot turns brown because of the air quality. It’s gross but other students in the program can attest to this strange trend. As you continue to make your way across the city you can notice easily what causes the pollution. With the recent urban development of China, it has detrimental effects to the overall environment with the lack of trees and public parks. China has tried to establish more public parks where old Chinese people go to play badmitton which is very huge here. The next adjustment about the air quality is the rampant smoking. Every Chinese person seems to smoke here, and you pretty much can’t find a place to yourself where you can breathe easy. In the restaurant while eating food, outside while walking, in their room, and even on the toilet, there will most likely be someone smoking. My Chinese roommate is a chronic smoker and he smokes about more than a pack a day but he is kind enough not to smoke around me. He says the reason why Chinese people smoke so much is simply, because it’s cheap. Even other study abroad students have begun to pick up the habit of smoking, because the peer pressure gets to them. While I have been in China, I have only smoked one cigarette and I hope to keep in the single digit arena.
This was a picture literally from a Chinese newspaper site.
