qian

You can’t just come to the panda city without visiting pandas. We are going to do better than that. Our program organizers got us to volunteer at the panda conservation center in Bi Feng Xia so that we can get up and close to pandas. Bi Feng Xia truly represents what it means in Chinese “green peaks and gorges”. There are only three panda conservation and research centers in the world. Naturally, they are all located in panda’s birth place Sichuan providence. Bi Feng Xia area is situated in high mountains and high elevation. The area has lush bamboos, ferns, green mountain peaks, streams and waterfalls. No wonder it makes perfect home for wild panda. 50% of wild panda in China live in this area. The center was built here for this exact reason. We ... read more

We arrived at our assigned panda house also is named Mt. Leopard Mansion in Chinese before 8:30 am. The staff or we called them panda masters fed the panda breakfast in cage first. Then, the pandas were let out the outside area. We worked in groups to clean the cage, wash the walls and floors and even scooped up panda poops. I wouldn’t say pandas smell good because they are on bamboo and fruit diet, but they certainly smell better than cows. After cleaning, we can either hang out at the office or go to the volunteer center to rest and use the internet. For the rest of day, we fed our pandas three times at 11am, 2:30pm and 3:30 pm. The pandas are conditioned to their feeding schedule. They also respond to their names when ... read more

Through the Consulate, we were invited to a cooking show by Sichuan Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. We went to Sichuan Culinary Institute for a cooking demo. The school was huge. It had dormitories, hotel, golf course and cooking facilities. Their cooking facilities were pretty impressive just like a typical culinary school: lots stainless appliances, cooking stations, kitchen classrooms. It appears that there is increasing demand for Western dishes in China. Our chef prepared 3 common local dishes spicy flavor shredded meat, pineapple pork and dandan noodles. I plan on cooking some of these dishes at home. I hope the kids will show off what they learned in China and cook some dishes for their families. With the consulate’s assistance, we came to Chengdu to volunteer and participate in community outreach. On our sixth day ... read more

It has been hot and humid for days. Last night, I was woken up by violent thunder storm and heavy rain. As a result, this morning was cool and misty. We decided to go to see the famous Du Fu Cottage in south part of the city. Du Fu is a patriotic and beloved poet from 700 A.D. He is well respected and admired by Chinese for thousands years. The thatched cottage was originally built as his country retreat in Chengdu. Over the years, his admirers and the government restored and expanded the location to commemorate Du Fu as the greatest poet in history. Because we came to the cottage on a rainy day, the garden was especially misty and poetic. There were waterfalls, bridges, bamboos, lily ponds, and gazebos for visitors to rest and enjoy ... read more

Today we went to visit Jian Chuan Museum, a private museum 2 hours outside of the Chengdu city. The owner Pan Jian Chuan, a successful business man who is also a history junky and collector. After years of collecting, he finally decided to build a museum to exhibit his private collections. The museum was completed a few years ago. Currently the museum has 16 exhibit halls including Chinese and Japanese War Artifacts Collection, American Air Force -Flying Tigers, Cultural Revolution Communal Life, Red Guards and Chairman Mao Badges, Bounded Feet Exhibit and Earthquake Exhibit etc,. The Chinese-Japanese War hall had lots valuable photos which captured historical moments. There was a cave-like tunnel for the visitors to walk through and experience how Chinese soldiers fought the Japanese army in rural China. It was pretty cool when we ... read more

We finally arrived in Chengduo, the city of panda just in time when Kong Fu Panda was released in theaters. We came to Chengduo because we arranged with the U.S. consulate to participate in some public outreach programs as well as volunteer in various Chinese schools and communities. On our first day, we met with the Public Affair Office in the consulate. They gave us a briefing on their office responsibilities and various activities they carry out in Chengdu. Their jobs sounded so interesting! I not only felt lucky for my students to get into something like this in the future, also started thinking I might want to join the foreign office in China someday to take advantage of my bilingual background. You never know I might be the next consulate general in China and live ... read more

We are in Changchun for a few days to visit the high school students who roomed with our students in a summer program last year. I don’t know if it is because Chinese have more money and education now days or Changchun citizens are just warm people, people there were just nice and civil. When I first started coming back to China, I noticed people were pushy and rude all the time compare to the U.S. manner. Over the years, people have become more civil like traditional Chinese. I came to know Changchun’s significance in the nation when we went on a special tour to visit Changchun Railway Inc. I learned that 70% of subway train, 50% train and most high-speed train in China were manufactured in Changchun. The railway company just finished the production of ... read more

The last time my family was in Beijing, we went to the old U.S. embassy to apply for the U.S. visa. I put on a pretty dress for my interview with American visa officer. I was rejected on the spot because they thought a pretty girl like me was likely to get married and stay in the U.S. My parents had to go through quite some trouble to get me in the country. The officer was absolutely right, I stayed in the U.S. I am about to get married too haha… The next day, we took the students to visit the U.S. embassy and discussed career opportunities with the embassy. The table curtained turned around this time. I came back Beijing not only as an American citizen, but also an educator to help American youth to ... read more