Last day of the trip. Wow. Got to say that I’ve really experienced a lot on this trip. Going through food poisoning and experiencing the hospital was cool I guess. Anyway, our day started with an early trip to the Yu Garden. This garden is hidden amongst the skyscrapers. Our tour guide led us a…
Tag: Plus 3 China
Day 12: From the States to China
Today began with another company visit, to Delphi. By now, I’ve gotten the hang of dressing business casual and knowing what to expect from presentations. However, Delphi had a surprise for us! Our presented actually did graduate research at Pitt and worked under the mechanical engineering advisor. His story is interesting, because he loved learning…
Day 11: Logistics
Today we got a tour guide named Mac, who grew up in the States but now lives and works in Shanghai in the forwarding industry. On the but he talked to us about logistics and stayed with us through the company visit and port visit. At Ocean East International Logistics we learned about how…
Ocean East International Logistics
It was an early morning rise for everyone to take our trip to Ocean East International Logistics. This is an intermediate shipping company that helps companies get their goods to their customers. We discussed the work force problem, and how the younger population of China is much smaller than the older population. This creates a…
East China University of Science and Technology
After a nice 5 star continental breakfast the group headed out to our destination for the day the East China University of Science and Technology. I was especially excited to finally visit a science university after hearing all this business stuff. But to my dismay, when we sat down to hear our lecture it was…
Day 10: The Top of the World
Our third and final hotel breakfast is truly top tier. They have a massive buffet with all kinds of hot food, cold food, and pastries. This morning I had dumplings and actual egg rolls, as in wraps filled with scrambled eggs. Very tasty. After breakfast we got on the bus and headed to the East…
Day 9: The One Where the Gang Gets Back Together
We had to wake up very early to make our train, but I was glad we were at least able to snag breakfast before we left the hotel. For some reason, the city decided to build the train station 45 minutes away from the city center. While western train stations may be smaller, older, and…
Day 8: I Almost Spend $30,000 on a Horse
Luckily when I awoke the next morning, I was feeling much better. After a couple of Tylenols and an amazing breakfast of pork buns and dumplings, I got on the bus to head to the terracotta warriors. We had been warned that the terracotta warriors were the most popular place in China for Chinese tourists…
Day 7: The Children’s Village
Breakfast in Xi’an felt a lot fancier than Beijing, a testament to the hotel we were staying at. The lobby of the hotel was a grand two stories high entrance hall clad in marble with large pillars, Chinese tapestries, and a view of massive stone terracotta warriors overlooking the koi fish pond outside. The breakfast…
Day 6: On the Rails
Upon waking up, we learned 7 people in total had gotten sick and had been taken to the hospital. They would have to stay in Beijing with Liliana and our program assistant while the rest of us rode the high-speed train to Xi’an. It was in a somber mood the group boarded the bus and…
Day 5: Revenge of the Hot Pot
I was very excited to begin my last day in Beijing, for today we were reuniting with Joe! Our hilarious and amazing tour guide met us at the hotel and took us on a bus to Tiananmen Square. Before we left, our guide book warned us not to talk about the tragedy that occurred in…
Day 4: The Wonder Store
A tragedy occurred at breakfast this morning. The hotel replaced the amazing pork buns with far inferior seaweed buns. I was determined not to let this sad and unfortunate start not spoil the first day of company visits. The first company, Sunshine Insurance, certainly knew how to make a first impression. Their offices were in…
Day 3: Building a Better Hillman
Another early morning wake-up, another delicious hotel breakfast. Some of the dishes had been rotated out, and one of the new additions was a delicious home fry dish. An NBA game was on TV during breakfast. I found this interesting because I didn’t know that the Chinese watched and enjoyed American professional sports. After breakfast,…
Day 2: Uncle Joe’s Road Trip
I woke up early, excited to begin my first day in China. The hotel breakfast was by far the best hotel breakfast of my life; Hampton Inns and Holiday Inns cannot even begin to compete with this breakfast. The hotel served a combination of western and eastern foods. There were eggs, bacon, and muffins, but…
Day 1: Flights, Food, and Fatigue
My journey to China started with a 2 am wake up call, although many of us had stayed up the whole night in anticipation for our imminent departure. We were bussed to the Pittsburgh Airport where I snagged a quick breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Then, I unexpectedly bumped into my classmate Asher Hancock, who was…
Day Five: Heavenly Cultural Visits
Today was a day packed with cultural sites, led by the one and only Uncle Joe. Our first stop was at the Tiananmen Square, where we stopped to have Joe explain some of the relevance of some of the buildings and monuments. The Square houses the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, where citizens and tourists queue…
Conclusion: Xiexie
Today was the day we boarded our flights to go home. By the end of the trip, I was ready. Maybe it was the culture shock (or maybe the food poisoning), but I was feeling kind of tired of being in China and especially tired of eating Chinese food by the end of the trip. Most…
Blog day 3: CUFE visit
Today we visited the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) on the outskirts of Beijing. CUFE is one of the top universities in China, being incredibly selective and difficult to be given admission. To even be considered, one must place in the top 1000 in their region on China’s national college placement exam. Everybody…
Blog: Three Day Sick Day Extravaganza
So Wednesday night, about 14 of us went out to an area south of the financial district in the first ring, and most of us drank drinks with ice in it. We all had an amazing time, but that night led to a lot of problems later down the road. The next night, I packed…
Blog Day 5: Prelude to disaster
Today was exclusively composed of cultural visits, all of which were close to the hotel. Uncle Joe was also with us again today to act as a tour guide of the sites. He was a blast to have a tour guide, just like at the Great Wall visit. We started off in Tiananmen square, which…