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Published: June 14th 2010
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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 effects. The performance is held at night on the lake, and there are colored spotlights that illuminate the lake for miles and miles in coordination with the music and dancing. The stage is actually about a foot underneath the water, so the performers appear to be walking on water. Overall it was a really cool experience and well worth the trip.
DOWNTOWN
HANGZHOU:
Today, for the first time since we have been in China, we had a completely free day, with no classes, meetings, banquets, or anything else. So we got in a cab, told the driver to take us downtown, and just roamed downtown Hangzhou for the whole day.
The most interesting thing we found was the electronics market, which is basically a gigantic warehouse filled with everything electronic you could imagine. The first two floors were pretty straightforward- name brand TVs, cell phones, cameras, stereos, and home appliances like refrigerators. The prices were the same as what you find in the US (in other words, expensive).
The top two floors were where things got interesting. The knock-offs were everywhere- cell phones, ipods, laptops, software programs, and every computer accessory you could imagine. The items are about half the price of the real deal, so they are still expensive, but they appear to be very good quality knock-offs. We played with a knock-off Iphone and it appeared to be identical in quality and function to a real Iphone. However, there are a few signs they are knock-offs, like the Samsung phone we found branded as a "Sumsang." I bought
a pair of laptop speakers for 4 US dollars and a DVD case to bring home all my knock-off movies. Speaking of which, I haven't had any requests for movies or TV shows yet. They are good quality, less than a dollar, and in English. Let me know any movie or TV show you want and I will pick it up for you.
We finished our day be eating dinner at KFC. We all agreed that the Chinese KFC was better than the American one; the chicken was spicier and juicier. The only disappointment was the mashed potatoes, which were the most pitiful excuse for instant mashed potatoes I have ever had.
CLASSES:
Classes are going well. This week the pressure was really turned up on our design project. We were told that at the end of the semester, Caterpillar will send an entire team of engineers to hear us present our design proposals; they are apparently desperate for some good design ideas on this project. Furthermore, Zhejiang University is sending an undisclosed number of faculty and engineering students to hear our final presentations. The NC State faculty have told us that both Zhejiang University and NC State
want us to be the building blocks for a very strong relationship between the two schools. And Zhejiang University also wants to build strong ties with global corporations and are using us a starting point. So a lot is at stake here, and hopefully the finished projects will be very good.
NEXT WEEK:
The next few days will be a very busy for us. Today, Tuesday, and Wednesday are national holidays for the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a very big deal here. This holiday centers around an ancient love story; imagine a 2000-year-old Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet and you'll get the idea. The local people build boats shaped like dragons and race them on Wednesday, which should be really cool. I'll post photos in a week or so.
Then on Friday, we're off to Shanghai for a third time. This time the attraction is the World Expo (used to be called the World Fair). If you aren't familiar with the World Expo, its an annual event attended by most of the world's nations. Each country constructs some sort of building that showcases what that nation is all about, and fills the building with displays about
their nation. The World Expo is a really big deal and, judging by the pictures we've seen, the buildings are incredible from both an architectural and technological standpoint. Again, I'll post pictures after we return.
Thanks again for following,
David S.
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