Studying the business climate in China was an incredible experience. It allowed me to see things from a different perspective, for example I could see how cultural differences affect business practices, and I learned so much that I will be able to take with me throughout the rest of my college career and well beyond….

This was our last day in China! We started off with a tour of the Yu Gardens. It was really pretty there as it was filled with greenery, ponds, bridges, and a different sculptures, such as dragons. It was nice to walk through and our guide told us about all the different features of the…

Today was our second to last day in China. We had to get up pretty early today as we had to leave at 7:30 so that we could make it to our company visit that was a 2 hour drive away. On ride there, a Pitt Alum currently living in China spoke to us about…

Today we had two company visits. The first was Am Cham Shanghai which stands for American Chamber of Commerce. Am Cham is an international business association which basically aims to strengthen trade between the US and China by supporting businesses and advocating for different policies. They gave us a lot of information about China’s economy…

We arrived in Shanghai yesterday. After another 6 hour bullet train ride, we checked into the hotel which is incredibly nice. It’s so fancy that the blinds have their own remote and there’s a bowling alley in the hotel. The beds are also super comfy so I’m super excited to be staying here. They told…

Today we started the day with another delicious Chinese breakfast. I ate a bunch of dumplings and they had some really good pineapple. After breakfast we took the bus to see the terra-cotta warriors. There are 8,000 warriors but only 2,000 have been uncovered because when they are unearthed, the oxidation causes the color to…

Yesterday was a travel day, so we spent most of the day on the bullet train. It was actually a really cool way to travel because it’s really fast and smooth, so it more convenient than driving or flying. We also had much more leg room than we would on a plane. When we got…

. Today was another full day as we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. We started the day in Tiananmen Square and, according to our tour guide Joe, we got lucky and it was not busy today. There was plenty of people there, but apparently its usually much more packed,…

Today we had our first company visits. Our first visit was to Huawei. It was absolutely incredible. The technology there is mind blowing. When we walked in, there was a screen displaying a live feed of a water fall in 16K. I didn’t even know 16K was a thing. The picture was so good it…

Today we went to the Central University of Finance and Economics. We started off our day with the nontraditional breakfast again and this time I tried the rice congee which confused me because it was basically just white rice in water. After breakfast we started our journey to the University. When we arrived, I was…

We arrived in Beijing yesterday afternoon and I was exhausted after the 14 hour flight. On the drive back to the hotel we got to see some of the city from the bus and I was surprised because Beijing is a very developed city and it is lot more similar to the US than I…

My name is Aaryanna Dawson-Sarabia and I am thrilled to be travelling to China this summer to learn about the smart phone industry! I am a freshman in the College of Business Administration at Pitt and I plan on majoring in Finance and Supply Chain Management, while also pursuing a minor in French and participating…