My study abroad in China will forever hold a place in my heart. I’m going to miss every part about it (maybe excluding the “squatty potties”). I really loved getting to know new people on the trip and experiencing China with them. The company visits were very educational, and it was really interesting to compare…

It’s our last day in China, and I really don’t want to leave. I’m not only going to miss exploring China, but I’m also going to miss all of the people in our group especially our program coordinators Jane and Yangyang. Today, we went to our last cultural site visit at the Yu Garden. We…

Today we went on our last two company visits. Our first visit of the morning was at Delphi Technologies. When we got there, they gave us a presentation about the business behind their company. Delphi Technologies works on electric vehicles and internal combustion engine propulsion solutions. They are also focused on environmentally friendly solutions to…

Today, we had a company visit planned as well as a visit to Yang Shan Port. When we got on the bus, we were surprised to be greeted by a man named Mac Sullivan. Partially because he wasn’t our previous tour guide, Alex, and partially because he was white and English speaking. Mac is working…

For today, all we had planned was a university visit. We went to East China University of Science and Technology for a lecture, a tour, and some other activities with the students. The campus at East China University of Science and Technology was very different from Central University of Finance and Economics since it was…

We got up bright and early to catch the bullet train to Shanghai. I really liked watching the fields and mountains go by. The craziest sight to see was when we would pass by another bullet train going the opposite direction; the train would whiz by us in less than 5 seconds. I had to…

We had an early morning so that we could beat the crowds at the Terracotta Warriors. When I was younger, I saw some of the travelling Terracotta warriors in Washington, DC, but I was excited to see all of them together. The warriors were split into four different buildings. The first building held warriors that…

We started off the day by going to Sun Village which is a community for children with incarcerated parents. The village is basically a nonprofit organization that runs on donations from other people. On Saturdays a lot of the donors come with their families to visit the children, so when we got there, it was…

We all got up really early to leave for the train station. Some people on the trip had gotten really sick and went to the hospital the night before, so we had to leave seven people behind. Gabby and Liliana stayed with them. The bullet train was awesome. It reached speeds of roughly 300 km/h,…

The last day was filled with culture. We got to see Uncle Joe again because he was going to be our tour guide for the day; everyone was very excited. We went to Tiananmen Square first. I thought that Beijing was crowded to begin with, but Tiananmen Square was filled with tourists and people from…

Today, we went on two company visits. In the morning, we went to Sunshine Insurance. When we arrived, the area was so big; it looked like a university campus. We went into an assembly room for a presentation about the company, and it felt like a lecture hall. They told us a little bit about…

We started the day off by going to Central University of Finance and Economics which is one of the top universities in China. First, we had a lecture about Big Data Marketing by Dr. Kai Yao. He told us all about Big Data and how the advertisements you see on your computer can be tailored…

I woke up around 12:30 am and immediately regretted falling asleep so early the night before. I struggled to go back to sleep but managed to squeeze in a few more hours of sleep before I had to get up. Breakfast at the hotel was so good. They had American and European breakfast foods available…

I arrived at Pitt on Friday. We had a group meeting and then dinner together. We had a really nice family style dinner at Sichuan Gourmet to prepare us for the family style meals we would have in China. Everyone was struggling a little with the chopsticks as we passed the food around. There were…

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah Snavely, and I’m a mechanical engineering student at the Swanson School of Engineering. At the University of Pittsburgh, I’m a member of Phi Sigma Rho, the Student Alumni Association, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, Society of Women Engineers, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers. I also enjoy volunteering…