My host family and I at the Temple of Heaven
First Impressions
After a travel dilemma, which included a surprise connection in London Heathrow and our bags not completing the journey, we arrived in Beijing. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the sky was clear and blue, not covered in a thick cloud of smog like I would have thought. From Beijing Capital Airport, we traveled to a coffee shop to meet my host. His name is Howard Jin, and he attends Beijing No. 4 High School. He is a kind and welcoming person and it was a lot of fun getting to improve my Chinese language skills with him. Later that night, I met Howard's parents at dinner. My host family was extremely welcoming and they helped make my trip enjoyable.
Beijing
During my time staying with them, my host family took me around Beijing to see all the major sights. On the first full day we saw the Temple of Heaven, which is a beautiful example of classic Chinese architecture. The next day, Howard brought me to the Temple of Earth, the Confucius Temple, and the Olympic village. That was especially interesting because I have wanted to see the Bird's Nest Stadium since the 2008 Olympics took place.
The Bird's Nest
Another interesting experience was my day at school. I was able to follow the class schedule of Richard, whom I hosted earlier this year. High school in China is quite different from America's high schools. First of all, students do not move between classes, rather the teachers go from class to class. Also, while American high schools strive to create an atmosphere of discussion, Chinese schools are more lecture oriented. It was nice to see Richard again, since we hadn't met since I hosted him in February. The next day, Howard took me to tour the Forbidden City. The Gu Gong, as it is named in Chinese, was a massive walled compound with many different palaces and thrones where the emperor sat in the days past. Amazingly, I ran into my classmates Ty Allen and Troy Jiang at the Forbidden City. What are the chances you would see classmates in a crowd in Beijing?
In front of Tiananmen gate
Ty and I at the Forbidden City
One of the most amazing experiences of my life was my trip to the Great Wall of China. We got up very early to catch a bus to the wall. When we got there, I noticed that the weather was perfect: clear skies and temperature in the 70s. Seeing the Great Wall was a fulfillment of a life long dream of mine.
Howard and I at the Great Wall
The wall and surrounding scenery
On my last night in Beijing, Howard and I met Mrs. Zhang and her daughter at Quanjude roast duck restaurant. I was excited to finally try Beijing roast duck, which has a crispy, shiny skin.
Shanghai
After a five hour bullet train ride, Mrs. Zhang, her daughter, and Mrs. Maddux and her family all arrived in Shanghai. Our purpose for being in Shanghai was to attend the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA) conference. The conference theme was "A Sustainable Future", thus there were many lectures regarding climate change and cleaning up the environment. The conference also served to give students information on college admissions. Mrs. Maddux gave several very informing presentations on this issue and I learned a ton of new things about college admission.
Troy, Mrs. Maddux, me, and Mrs. Zhang at the WLSA conference
During my time in Shanghai, the conference bused the students to Shanghai city center so we could see the skyline. We stopped at the Bund so we could see that well known view of the tall Shanghai buildings. After seeing the city, we all went to the Yu Garden to shop and eat lunch. Lunch was amazing, a plate of Shanghai steamed soup dumplings (Baozi).
Me in front of the Shanghai skyline
Back to Beijing
When we returned to Beijing, I was not able to stay with the host family again because the parents were out of town. Thus, we stayed in the Jintai hotel for the remaining three nights in Beijing. Zhang Laoshi (Mrs. Zhang) took me around Beijing to see a few more sights before we returned to the U.S. After waiting in an incredibly long line, we saw Mao's tomb, which contained Chairman Mao's preserved body. We also saw the National Museum of China, which was one of, if not the best museums I have been to. It was a massive building that contained a multitude of fantastic exhibits. My favorite exhibit was the one that displayed examples of ancient Chinese writing carved into the backs of turtle shells.
Waiting in the line to see Chairman Mao's body
Ancient Chinese characters carved into a turtle shell
On the last night of our trip, we decided to go on one last fun outing before we had to leave. We walked to the Lotus market from the hotel. This market was incredibly beautiful at night as there was a wide array of different colored lights. There were many people partaking in their hobbies here. There was a partner dancing group, a painter, and many others just looking to go for a nice walk and get a sweet snack.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, I consider my summer travel to China as the most interesting and enlightening trip of my life so far, and it is certainly one that I will never forget. In addition to being incredibly fun, I also had the opportunity to improve my Chinese language skills, as I was surrounded by native speakers. In addition to all of these great opportunities, I was asked to join the student council of WLSA, meaning that I along with several other students get to plan the location of and the topics covered by the next conference, in the summer of 2018. I would never have had these wonderful opportunities if it were not for the Wilson family's incredible generosity to the MBA family, and for that I thank them.
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