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I apologize for the delay in posting these two blogs about Beijing; it has taken me a while to overcome jet lag. Without further ado, here is a description of our 4 day stay in Beijing: OVERNIGHT TRAIN: We left Hangzhou on Saturday afternoon (June 26th) on an overnight train, which was certainly an experience. It was slower and not as smooth as the Maglev I wrote about several blogs ago, but the train itself was fairly nice. The cars (which of course had beds- this was an 11-hour ride) were cramped because we had so much luggage, but otherwise it was comfortable. There was a restaurant car as well, and the food was better than airplane food. As with the first two times we took trains, it was a much better experience than flying. BEIJING: ... read more

Here is a short blog of random (and somewhat boring) things that didn't make it into any other blogs: END OF CLASSES: We had our final exam for Chinese class yesterday (it was easy) and our presentation to Caterpillar was today. Our presentation went well and Caterpillar will deliver our designs to its engineers to be considered for production. Both the Chinese and American students in our class really enjoyed the design project. We got to know our Chinese partners very well and learned a great deal about China from them. We will miss them when we return to the US. I have uploaded a group photo with all of the American and Chinese students, our American and Chinese engineering professors, and the managers from Caterpillar who came to hear our presentation. SHANGHAI AND HANGZHOU: I've ... read more

Hello everybody, happy fathers day to all dads out there! Here is a weekly update: DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL: Wednesday was the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a very important holiday here. It's based around an ancient Chinese love story that ended with one of the lovers drowning. To celebrate the holiday, the local people build boats shaped like dragons and race them at XiXi (pronounced Shee-shee) wetlands, which is only 15 minutes from our college. Some of our Chinese friends took us to see the races at the wetlands. It was interesting, but it was 90+ degrees outside and as humid as anywhere on Earth I have ever been. Like many tourist attractions in China, there were 100 times too many people crammed in as well, making it difficult to get photos. Regardless of all that, ... read more

This week has been a fairly uneventful week here, so I apologize if this update is a little boring. Here's what I've been up to: WEST LAKE, TAKE 3: You've already read about and seen pictures of West Lake, the beautiful man-made lake in Hangzhou that is famous all over China. But we went back for a third trip and I have posted a few more photos. Incredibly, despite three day trips, we have not even seen a quarter of the lake yet. HANGZHOU IMPRESSIONS: Hangzhou impressions is a lights and water performance held on the ubiquitous West Lake. Its similar to the performance we attended last week (see last blog) in that it is directed by the same people who performed the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and it has really cool special ... read more

Its been a few days since I updated anything here, so here's a quick update and some photos: SHANGHAI: This past weekend we returned to Shanghai for an NC State alumni banquet. We went via train, which was 100 times better than flying because it was fast, very comfortable, and stress free. China's rail network is already quite impressive, but the government is replacing the entire network with extremely high-tech, modern high-speed trains. When the project is completed in 5 years China will have the world's fastest rail network and the world's most extensive rail network. We were extremely blessed with gorgeous weather; it was 70 degrees and sunny. Incredibly, the smog cleared and we had blue skies for the weekend. That NEVER happens in Shanghai; my Chinese friends did not believe that we had seen ... read more