Traveling to China has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve not only learned a lot about Chinese culture, but I’ve learned a lot about America just by living in China for 2 weeks. Being in China has really made me realize America’s place as a world leader is really being threatened….

I couldn’t believe it was finally here, our last day in China. The last day of the trip would be spent sightseeing, relaxing, and pitching the business ideas we had been developing in small groups. Breakfast, of course, came first. I only had 1 more day of dumplings ahead of me, so I had to…

Today was another day full of company visits. First was Delphi Technologies, a company that develops combustion engine and electric drive train technologies. This was an exciting company for me to visit because the person talking to us was the first engineer we had met on the trip. Hearing someone talk about engineering concepts and…

I woke up and suited up, ready for the first day of company visits in Shanghai. When we got on the bus we met Mac, an American living in Shanghai. His job is to arrange logistics and shipping for companies shipping medium amounts of cargo. Small amounts of cargo aren’t important enough to be managed…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…