| My Study Abroad Experience |
This purpose of this website is to share my experience on the Georgia Tech Shanghai Summer Program 2008. My study abroad experience was heavily funded by the Fleet Scholarship from the Presidents Scholars Program, and I am very grateful for the experience that this scholarship has granted me. I had an amazing experience in China, and I am so excited to share these memories with you! |
| Shanghai, China |
My first week in Shanghai was the first time that I had ever been outside of the US, and so the culture shock was not minimal. I was surprised by all of the new sights and smells, and I didn't know more than three words in Chinese when I stepped off the plane. However, I learned quickly and I was able to learn enough to get by in a couple weeks. Below is a list of a few things I learned in my first week living in Shanghai: |
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| While in Shanghai I was able to visit the Bund, which offers an excellent view of the financial district of Shanghai. Below is a picture of the view of Shanghai from the Bund: |
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| Traveling by Metro is a very popular mode of transportation in Shanghai. Shanghai has a very extensive network of trains, and it makes getting where you need to go much easier. On Line 1 of the the Metro there is a man who calls himself the "Fat Teacher". He preaches to people to fight against corruption and make the world a better place to live in for our children. I had the privilege of hearing his speech in English on the subway. I also got to take a picture with him, which is below: |
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| Living in Shanghai was really an awesome experience. There are 18 million people who live in the city alone. High rises stretch on as far as you can see. Although this is certainly still a developing city, it is slowly becoming a modern, international city. I spent a lot of time in Shanghai, and I was also able to travel quite a bit because our prgoram had three day weekends! Below I have described and included pictures of the trips I was able to take. |
| Suzhou |
The first place we visited was about 50 km outside of Shanghai. It is a city where many tourists go to see the gardens and traditional Chinese architecture. It is a very old town. There were no signs in English like in Shanghai. I realized how lucky I was to be in Shanghai because so much of the advertisements and the restaurant menus in Shanghai are in English. We went to a garden called the Humble Administrator's Garden, Tiger Hill, the North Temple Pagoda, and a garden called the Lion's Grove Garden. They were all very spectacular in their own way, and it was great to be in a more rural part of China. They had a lot of gifts for tourists, and I was able to haggle prices very low with many of the vendors. It was really exciting to get something for a third of the original price, even though the original price is still pretty cheap. Below is a picture of a bridge and the canal beneath it at Tiger Hill. |
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| While I was at Tiger Hill, I was able to take a carriage ride up to the top of the hill. My friend and I were carried by three workers. This is a picture of us in our carriage: |
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| We also got to stay in a hostel right by a canal that goes through the city. The hostel was an old Suzhou house that was converted, and it was a really gorgeous place. We ran into a few kinks as it was our first time out of Shanghai and none of us knew Chinese, but we were able to get around OK using a map and our limited abilities to communicate with taxis. This is a picture of the canal right outside our hostel: |
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| Hong Kong |
Hong Kong was by far my favorite place to visit. I visited many places in Hong Kong including The Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong Museum, Tsim Sha Tsui, Lantau Island, Macau, Kowloon, and Victoria's Peak. The Avenue of the Stars provides a fantastic view of the buildings on Kowloon. Tsim Sha Tsui was a huge area with tons of eclectic shops and markets. Below is a picture of one of the buildings in Tsim Sha Tsui. We were going to stay in one of the hostels in this building, but decided against it upon further inspection. |
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While I was on Lantau Island, I got to visit the beach there. It was right next to the mountains, and the view was absolutely gorgeous. When I was on my way back to Hong Kong Island, I saw a water buffalo on the side of the road! It was a huge animal, and it was just chewing on the weeds. I had heard about water buffalo in Lantau, but it was great to actually see one! One of the most amazing views I saw in Hong Kong was the view from Victoria's Peak. It overlooks all of Hong Kong Island and some of Kowloon. Below is a picture of us in front of the view: |
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| One of the side trips I took while in Hong Kong was to Macau, which is an autonomous region like Hong Kong. It was controlled by the Portuguese until 1999! There are still many things that indicate the strong European influence, including a place called the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral. This is a picture of my group in front of these ruins: |
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| Beijing |
While in Beijing, I was able to visit many of the famous locations, inlcluding the great wall. I spent a day at the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was built during the Ming Dynasty and is now a World Heritage Site. This is one of the hallmarks of Beijing. I was also able to visit the Summer Palace, which was absolutely gorgeous. It is a few square miles in size, and has everything from pagodas to lakes to a huge palace. This was a spectacular experience. Below is a picture of me in front of one of the buildings in the Forbidden City. They had large stretches of concrete and open space in the Forbidden City much like this one. |
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| While in Beijing, it was easy to catch Olympic fever. There were signs everywhere pointing to it, and I was able to visit the Olympic Park while we were there. The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube were very impressive. Beijing was covered with Olympic shops, where they sold everything from pins to figurines. These stores were always pretty busy. Another way that Beijing celebrated the coming Olympics was by building countdowns all over the city. An example of this countdown is below. |
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| The Great Wall |
| About 80 km outside of Beijing is the Great Wall. I was able to take a day to visit the Great Wall during my trip to Beijing, and it was certainly the most impressive thing I saw in China. My group walked 10 km from Jinshanling to Simatai, which was two different towns which had access to the Great Wall. I met some nice ladies who helped us along the Great Wall and explained the history of the Wall as we walked between the watchtowers. |
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| The best Chinese food I had in China was in Xi'an. Xi'an has very good bread and noodles. Their food is also spicier than other Chinese cities. There is a strong Muslim influence in Xi'an because it is where the Silk Road came to an end in China. One of the major sites in Xi'an is the tomb of the Terra Cotta Soldiers. This was a huge army of soldiers that was built by servants of the emperor in order to guard the emperor's tomb once he died. This was truly an impressive site. Below is a picture of me in front of this tomb. |
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