Before we left for China Dr. Li gave us a somewhat stern warning that our two weeks in China were not a vacation, and now being done I do somewhat agree with his warning. Yes, I did love my time seeing China, exploring the cities, and experiencing the nightlife, but I also learned a lot…

My last day in China was a bittersweet end to my trip. I won’t lie that I could stay forever because I was exhausted and missed a good Philly cheesesteak from back home. Despite that, China has a special place in my heart. Never again will I look onto a buffet of food, see nothing…

My second to last day had me waking up bright and early at 7:30 am. I was more than a bit tired from checking out the Shanghai nightlife the night before as well as just exhaustion I built up from the trip. Still I was in the last stretch of the trip and Dr. Li…

For my second full day in Shanghai I had a packed day with two company visits to The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (Amcham) and Horiba. These two visits were up there with my visit with Huawei because of how informative the visit to AmCham was and how engineering oriented the visit to Horiba…

On my ninth day in China I began my first full day in Shanghai, definitely my favorite of the three cities. When I woke up in the morning to get ready to go to the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), I was still amazed with the sights I saw of Shanghai the…

Before I came to China, I had the misconception that pollution was going to be horrible everywhere and I wouldn’t be able to breathe outside without a mask. Once I got to Beijing I realized how wrong I was. China really put in great efforts to clean up their skies and the only reason people…

My fourth day of my trip and my last day in Beijing was a full one. My day started with going to Tiananmen Square. At first it surprised me that people were ready to wait 3 hours in line to see the grave of Chairman Mao but then again, you have to consider his importance…

I didn’t expect to visit a modern palace during this trip only maybe historical ones, and I especially didn’t think that I would during one of my two company visits on the third day of the trip. That clearly wasn’t the case when I visited Huawei. Huawei’s tour made everyone’s jaw drop not only at…

Maybe before I went to Pitt someone should’ve told me college in Beijing was an option. Just kidding, but I sure loved the visit to the Central University of Finance and Economics today. Though I’m still fighting jet lag on my second day in China, an amazing breakfast at my hotel definitely woke me up…

If you asked anyone on the street what tourist attraction they associate with China the most, I can guarantee that they would say the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China has been one of the things in the world I’ve wanted to see the most and the moment I found out that…

Hello everyone, I am Maxwell Vance and welcome to my blog. I am a rising sophomore at Pitt and a chemical engineering major. I took a six hour drive across Pennsylvania from my Philadelphia adjacent hometown of Abington to first move in to my home away from home, Pittsburgh. My first two semesters have already…