Blogs from Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, Asia

Nach bestandenen Mid-Term Exams, gönnte uns die Schule einen kleinen Urlaub. Zur Auswahl standen Beijing und Wuxi. Da ich bereits in Beijing war, ging ich wie auch etwa 120 andere Studenten nach Wuxi. Am ersten Tag stand der Besuch der CCTV Movie and TV Base, ein Ort an dem chinesische TV-Serien und Filme gedreht wurden, an. Das wurde uns aber nicht direkt gesagt und daher dachten wir zuerst, es wäre wie ein historisches Dorf. Nachdem ich aber zufällig etwas fester gegen eine Mauer fasste und merkte dass sie hohl war, wurde das mit dem Drehort doch einleuchtender. Auch wenn vielleicht nicht sehr original historisch, die Umgebung war doch wirklich schön, da dieser Schauplatz auch an dem Taihu Lake angrenzt. Skurill ist es aber doch. In den ersten 15 Minuten zu Fuß (wenigstens nur soweit) wird alle ... read more

Wow, time fliesmust be the most accurate of all the idioms. It is mind boggling to think that I have just 6 weeks left in China. My last day in Wuxi is November 30 and with the help of my friend Susan who will spend my last week here with me, I will be home on December 2. I have been so very fortunate to have many friends come to visit and to have made many new friends in my year here. Jenna came in August and we had a great time and an amazing trip to Huangshan Mountain. The natural beauty was astonishing and the hiking was ridiculously steep, arduous and at times, scary. It was really magical and ended with a visit to the Huangshan Hot Springs. Just what my aching body needed and ... read more

Two classes, 15 students each; 6 hours daily of teaching. There are a total of 240 undergraduates; 14 teachers. The students are the top performers in each major at the university. Their Honor’s program involves many multi-disciplinary programs including this required 3-week conversational English program. My class is made up of Food Science, Polymer, Modeling (yes, strangely, Modeling is a major), Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Secondary Education and a number of other majors. Their English level is mixed, but generally good since every student had to get a minimum score on the English portion of their university entrance exam. Most universities look only at the overall score. I’ve repurposed many lessons from previous summers, with some classes added and others dropped. Just as in past summers, these students are highly motivated but need... read more

Geo: 31.3, 120.62Our breakfast at the Pan Pacific Hotel was as elaborate as all the previous mornings with the addition of ice cream. Yes, Brennan had mango and "yum" ice cream for breakfast. The hotel had a 10-acre garden with ponds filled with koi, pagodas, foot bridges and flowers still in bloom. The downside was that we only had a few minutes to walk around the grounds and it was our first day with rain.We were loaded onto the bus and headed to the Garden of the Master of Fishing Nets, dating back to 1140. While driving, Jo told us how the city of Suzhou was situated at the south end of the 1100 mile Grand Canal that begins north of Beijing. The canal provided transport of goods, connecting the Yangtze and Yellow rivers. Suzhou now ... read more

Geo: 31.1547, 120.723As previously advertised we are spending a couple of days doing very little to get our feet rested from all the sites and museums. We are in a town called Tongli which is one of the "water towns" to the east of Shanghai (for some reason it gets the district name of Suzhou from the Travelpad mapping tool). Tongli is supposedly full of old historic houses built around a system of canals, a bit like the Dutch villages in the north of Holland but with shorter people and no cheese nor windmills.I say supposedly as most of the houses are reproductions. Whether the originals were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution or it is just the Chinese way of restoration (knock it down, rebuild using concrete made to look old and new wood). Whilst they ... read more