I wish I could’ve had more time to explore Xi’an, but I’m impressed we managed to visit most of the famous sites in three days. Today, we traveled to Shanghai, the “City on the Sea.” Once again, we boarded the bullet train to Shanghai. It took roughly 5 hours to travel to Shanghai, but thankfully…
Tag: Summer 2018
Day 8: Soldiers and No Sailors
Aside from the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warrior Army was the cultural site I was most excited about. The Terracotta Army is a giant collection of life-size terracotta sculptures in battle formation. They were built to represent the imperial guard troops of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi ordered the Terracotta Army to…
Day 7: Children of the Sun Village
Today, we visited the Children’s Village, also known as the Sun Village. The village was located outside of Xi’an, we ended up in a more rural area up the mountainside. We learned that this village finds, locates, and takes in children of imprisoned parents who can’t take care of their children themselves. The village was…
Day 6: Drums and Dumplings
I’m sad to leave Beijing, but today we traveled to Xi’an by bullet train. We had to leave relatively early, so it was nice for the hotel to pack us breakfast in to-go bags. We were the first to board the bullet train. Just as its name suggests, the front of the train was shaped…
Day 5: Stepping Foot in Forbidden Realms and Heaven
I woke up later than I wanted today, but my ankle felt much better today. Uncle Joe came back today to take us to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are located in the heart of Beijing. There were at least thousands of people that came visit the…
Day 4: A Whole Lot of Sunshine and Some Rice
First company visit day! We visited Sunshine Insurance and Xiaomi today. Sunshine Insurance’s headquarters was specifically designed to look like a European university. The campus was very expansive and beautifully built. Because of its European architecture and style, Sunshine’s headquarters made me feel like I wasn’t in China anymore. We were led to a lecture…
Day 3: First University Visit
Today, we visited the Central University of Finance and Economics. I’m still impressed by how much green Beijing was than I expected. You could see first thing on campus, people tending to the gardens and the shrubbery in the morning. After walking into one of the buildings, we waited outside one of the classrooms where…
Day 2: Conquering the Great Wall
My first whole day in Beijing started out with a great continental breakfast. With many options to choose from, I ate a simple combination of eggs over easy with fried rice. I was very excited for today because the first thing I’d get to visit was the Great Wall of China. But before that, we…
Day 1: Beijing Beginnings
Rise and shine! We left for the Pittsburgh Airport at 2 AM in the morning. We arrived an hour early before we could start to check-in, so I had to find a way to stay awake until then. I resorted to a mix of jumping and calisthenics every so often. Soon we boarded the plane…
Day 10: That’s A Lot Of Crates
After being so tired from all the walking we had done the night before, I had a very good night’s sleep and woke up refreshed and ready for the visits we had today. I got into my business casual and headed downstairs for another delicious breakfast at the hotel. Shanghai literally means “above the sea”…
Day 9: Performances in a Classroom & in a Theater
After the great university visit in Beijing, I was excited to see the university in Shanghai and meet some more students! The East China University of Science and Technology was about an hour bus ride away. The visit started off with a lecture from a professor. I was expecting the lecture to be something related…
Strangers Waiting, Up and Down the Cable Car (Day 12)
Knock knock knock knock knock. I woke up this morning in a haze to someone pounding on our door. I thought it was the maid, and I was ready to give her a piece of my mind for waking me up at an ungodly time in an ungodly manner. Thankfully, Liv answered the door. “ANNA…
Day 12: Oberammergau
Day 12 started with an early morning bus ride to a small town to try weisswurst, which is a white sausage. We got to the restaurant very early (on a Thursday) and it was already packed with people drinking beer and eating. To eat the weisswurst you first have to cut the links apart, then…
Day 12: Our Last Day
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…
Day 11: Last Round of Companies
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…
Day 12: On Top of the World
Today started rough- I overslept and had 15 minutes to get ready for the day and eat breakfast. I rushed downstairs to grab a crescent to eat on the bus and joined the group. This morning was rough for more than me- Liv and Anna completely overslept and were woken up to pounding on their…
Day 11: First Last
Today, the only thing on the agenda was final company presentations at 5:30 pm. This gave me an opportunity to sleep in, but I made sure to be awake in time for the last 15 minutes of breakfast. I was not the only one with a similar idea because several other people were in the…
Day 13: Farewell Yu
Our visit here in China is almost coming to an end and I’m a little sad to leave but I have been missing home. This morning we are going to the famous Yu Garden. I remember being very excited about this visit because I had heard about how beautiful the garden was and I was…
Day Thirteen: The Festival
My last day in Germany was a free day. The plans that were made allowed me to sleep in and I was going to need it if I was going to have an enjoyable flight back. Some of the German students invited AJ, Derek and me to go to a festival in Nuremburg. In order…
Day Twelve: Oberammergau
I can’t believe how my time in Germany has flown by. There are only 2 days left. On day 12 we travelled to Oberammergau this day to see the Alps. We stopped along the way at a rural restaurant and had a traditional Bavarian breakfast of pretzels and weiβwurst, which is a white sausage. The…