Ethical Issues in My Profession One of the biggest ethical problems that our group witnessed firsthand in China was how businesses treat the environment. Especially around the Beijing area, a combination of manufacturing centers, fossil fuel based power plants, deforestation, and poor infrastructure have combined into a perfect storm (often literally) of smog and pollution….
Tag: Evan Becker
Plus3 China 2017 Student
Day 12: Making Yu-se of Our Last Day
It was amazing to think that today was already the last day of our trip. Our final sightseeing destination was the Yu Garden. Unlike many previous destinations, this place was not built for royalty or religion. Instead it was created by a government official seeking to please his parents. I hope they were proud, because…
Day 11: Taking Stock of More Companies
Day 11 was the last of our company visits, and having seen how amazing the previous companies had been, I had high expectations. These companies, however, were much less “Silicon Valley” in their approach to business. TE connectivity especially felt like a normal office building with rooms full of cubicles. Their factory floor was a…
Day 10: A Day of Great ImPortance
Today when we boarded the bus, we were met with a new face. Mac Sullivan, the China Trade Lane Manager for Toll Global Forwarding was to be our personal tour guide for the day. The travel time to the Yangshan port was almost 2 hours, but he kept us engaged by talking about how international…
Day 9: Heading Down to Donghua
Breakfast in the last hotel seemed to be on par with the last two we had experienced, with a small American food section (French toast, sausage, bacon, and for some reason baked beans), and a wider range of basic Chinese ones. I had time to sample many different items before boarding the bus at 9….
Day 8: Cruising into Shanghai
Day 8 began with the group meeting in the lobby at 6am for our final breakfast in Xi’an. As we loaded the bus and pulled away from the hotel, it was hard to believe that we were entering the last phase of our journey. We had some free time in the train station, and I…
Day 7: Peering Deep into the Past
I had been looking forward to seeing the Terracotta Warriors ever since I signed up for plus3, and today did not disappoint. The weather was for the first time truly cloudy (not just smog) and it began to drizzle soon after boarding the bus. This worked out well however, since the terracotta army was housed…
Day 6: Playgrounds and Pagodas
Saturday was slightly different than the other days we have spent in China so far, but no less enjoyable. This morning we took the bus outside the city and into the mountains. Along the way, we saw dozens of stands selling fresh cherries from the surrounding orchards, and the air at seemed a little clearer….
Day 5: Training our Sights on Xi’an
Today began extremely early. I fortunately remembered to set my alarm for 5am at the last second, but even still had a hard time waking up (I guess I finally adjusted to the time zone). I quickly packed, joined the others in the lobby, grabbed one of the “breakfast” bags, and hopped on the bus,…
Day 4: A Grand Tour of Beijing
I feel like today’s events can best be captured through the photographs that were taken, so todays blog might feel more like one long caption. Joe, our tour guide, seemed intent on getting us into Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City as quickly as possible. Apparently, he had gotten a tip that they would be…
Day 3: In Good Company
The buses left fairly early in the morning, but I had enough time to fill out the blogs and eat breakfast beforehand. We first set out for Cheetah Mobile. My group had done some research on this company, and so we knew they were very successful. They were one of the first Chinese mobile companies…
Day 2: Back to School
The second day began much like the first. I woke up a little later, around 7am, and tried again to access the internet. This time, I was able log on and finished posting the blog from our travel day with the small amount of time I had. At around 8:30, we took off for the…
Day 1: Stairs, Walls, and Slides
The day began for me at around 6:00 am, and I woke feeling refreshed and excited. I spent some time in the room trying to get the internet to work, but couldn’t seem to log in with my android phone or laptop (probably because I was using google chrome). I eventually gave up and went…
Day 0: Beginning the Adventure
On Saturday morning, the entire group woke up at around 2am and met in the lobby of towers. I had gotten about 3 hours of sleep, but was still feeling fine since I had taken a nap yesterday after my 5am bus ride into Pitt. I was feeling slightly nervous, and kept double checking to…
Pre-departure Reflection
My international experience to date is I have had no prior international experience besides a brief visit to Niagara Falls. This summer I had my first major travel experience when a few friends and I went on a two-week cross country road trip. I was amazed to see the cultural, historical, and geological differences within…
Meet Plus3 China 2017!
Welcome to the China Plus3 Study Abroad Program! Each year, a group of freshman engineering and business students will conduct a 2-week field study in several cities China. The field study includes company visits, sightseeing, and lectures in China, and the students will learn about international dimensions of engineering, business, and culture. Each student will…