Today we visited the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai. When we got off the bus at the university I immediately noticed how different the university felt compared to the Central University of Finance and Economics, where we visited in Beijing, and the University of Pittsburgh. there was by far more greenery than either of the previously mentioned universities campuses but also the buildings were older and the environment felt different, as if the people that lived there would be permanent residents instead of students. We saw stray cats with kittens and a stray dog next to a few small parks, and there didnʼt seem to be a lot of foot traffic at all. The campus felt smaller than Pitt but when I looked at the map the campus actually seemed much larger, and it was only one of their three campuses. After our quick walk around the campus we attended a short lecture about foreign investment and arbitration in China. I Learned that Larger economies find it very difficult to agree on a trade deal, which helps to explain why the U.S. and China are having so much difficulty ending the trade war. Speaking of trade war, what Iʼve learned from the companies on this trip is that Chinese companies might not actually pose a large of a threat to American security, something Huawei is often accused of. The legitimacy of the claims against chinese companies is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is that American companies benefit from the U.S. government blocking chinese competitors from entering American markets. After our lecture we had lunch in the

canteen, it was the standard chinese fare: rice plus numerous side dishes, including a super long chicken skewer. After lunch we attended a small presentation from an Alabama man named Tim who moved his family to Shanghai two years ago so they could learn Chinese. I don’t know how I would feel if my parents suddenly decided to move to a new country, especially one as far away from home as China, but apparently his kids love it now. Next we played an ice breaker style game, which felt out of place considering we were almost done with the trip. After the ice breaker we tried to have a conversation with the Chinese students but the language barrier sometimes proved too difficult to breach, but I did get an interesting perspective on high school in China vs America. Apparently in China while high school

is a lot more rigorous and academics focused college is more relaxed in all ways while I feel like the opposite is true in America. We also talked about how food in America is much saltier than food in China. Next we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum, which had several interactive exhibits about Shanghaiʼs urban development from over a billion years ago to now. By far the coolest part of the museum was the massive to-scale model of the city. We could see everything from our hotel to the Shanghai Tower. Next we came back to the hotel and walked down the street to eat some Cantonese food, which turned out to be very similar to the Chinese

food commonly found in America. After dinner we hopped right back in the bus and went to the Shanghai Ritz Carlton to watch the famous Shanghai Acrobats perform. The show was awesome, even though it was catered towards tourists. Each act brought something new to the show, and I was particularly impressed by how well the sets matched with the feeling of the music and the motions of the acrobats. I would recommend the show to anyone going to Shanghai.