Author: dmitry_manakhov

by Mason Dupre.

This morning we woke up at 6:00am for morning call, getting ready to embark on today’s activities. The first place we went to was a combination of a tradition chinese medicine and western medicine hospital. We explored different acupuncture points and different herbs that are used in chinese traditional medicine. Some of the liquids explored included a bowel release and also a wind release. We then went to the acupuncture floor which had a weird smell which helped patients fall asleep. Our next stop was to a private hospital where we were able to practice acupuncture. In this room we also learned how to make an ancient formula to help treat sore throats, ease fever aches and calm headaches. This formula is composed of 9 grams of cicada, 12 grams of mint, 18 grams of gypsum, and 4.5 grams of licorice root. After that, Mr. Manakhov volunteered to try acupuncture and cupping. He then went more in depth on the differences between the ideals of western and traditional medicine.

Right after, we took a 30 minute bus ride and a 15 minute walk in rain to a traditional house in china where we painted traditional masks and made dumplings. The dumplings we made were filled with assorted traditional vegetables. To paint the mask we were given several examples and then was able to exercise our creative freedom. This was where we had lunch.

After a long bus ride filled with sleeping students we arrived at the great wall. As soon as we entered near the wall there were security and passport checks everywhere. At every turn there were steep uphills that led to downhills and steep downhills that led to uphills. Many pictures were taken and podcasts were recorded. After we went to the great wall market to explore the different great wall themed merchandise they had. I personally got multiple oba mao t shirts for the family, an i love beijing t shirt, chopsticks, 2 beijing coins and a communist hat.

The last stop of the day was a traditional hot pot dinner right near the great wall. It was filled with varying cuts of meat that was held together by the peanut butter dipping sauce.

Later that night we headed to the airport to return home.

by Catherine Kendall.

We prepared for a wonderful day of 2 approximately 10-hour flights with a 3-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. The first flight was with Air China and the second with Lufthansa. Each flight provided similar accommodations and services but 2 unique meals.

Midnight CST struck as we were shuttling to our terminal at the Beijing airport.

We did a quick stop at Starbucks. The branding and drinks were similar to the Starbucks in America, but the products in the display case catered towards the taste buds of people in China. I saw less classic American cake slices and more fluffy crepe cakes. We got some munchies and then went to rest at the terminal.

The terminal relatively empty. The environment was extremely calming at such a late hour. The bathrooms were so beautiful you could lick the floors if you wanted to.

Our first 10-hour flight was with Air China. The flight attendants were collectively relatively young and predominantly female. They provided their services as trained with a slight lack of genuine enjoyment and enthusiasm.

Air China had a large selection of Chinese movies and shows with a smaller pool of American TV.

I woke up from deep sleep startled by the meal that appeared. They offered crustless, fluffy sandwiches and a dense, crumbly muffin. I was unsure of the flavors but sure they tasted Asian. My guess is ham on one sandwich and liver paste on the other. They also provided a yogurt bottle where you stab a straw through the lid and drink it like so. I believe slurping sounds woke me up.

For breakfast, they offered “Western” and “Chinese” options. The Western breakfast’s main entree was scrambled eggs, sausage, and home fries. They also gave a croissant with jam on the side, diced watermelon, and another drinkable yogurt.

The Chinese breakfast was congee with some pickled radish and a marinated egg. They served a milk bun, diced watermelon, and another drinkable yogurt on the side. I opted for the Chinese breakfast to fully immerse. I was disheartened when my egg rolled on the floor.

We landed in Frankfurt and went straight to the toilets. Similar to China and unlike America, they offered dual-flush toilets. Water consumption is reduced by picking the appropriate flush dependent on your needs. The eco-friendliness was interesting.

With tons of time to spare, I explored their shops for a bonus, mini cultural experience. The airport had some really expensive stores in there. I spent the majority of the layover browsing their overwhelmingly fine chocolates and wines. There was an exciting selection of products generally not available in America even for brands common in America. However, some products were similar but just under a different name; the Bounty bar is exclusive to Europe but basically an American Almond Joy, and the Mars bar is marketed in America as a Milky Way. The desire for every single exclusive product settled and I eventually walked out. Next time I’ll get Maltesers.

For the sake of being parallel, there was a bakery on the way to the terminal with items like soft pretzels and sandwiches.

The terminal was nice and busy.

Our second 10-hour flight was with Lufthansa. The flight attendants were much older than Air China’s but had a gentle, approachable touch.

The plane was fairly empty with rows of unoccupied seats. The seats were comfortable, but the display screen was painfully slow. The selection of American movies was solid. The movie experience was unique and special.

They offered chicken or pasta for the first meal. The chicken meal had a warm entree of juicy chicken and creamy mash. With the entree came a nicely stiff bun with butter and brie cheese, marinated chickpeas and carrots, and beautiful strawberry cheesecake square.

At the end of the flight, the attendants passed out a cold, cheese sandwich which was nice for the weather.

After a long day of flying, we landed at RDU around 2pm EST. Once we experienced an extended process of baggage claim, we reunited with family. I didn’t particularly miss them, but I was delighted to see their faces and catch up on missed time. When I got home, I had an American meal and then crashed on the floor and slept for more hours than fingers I own. My exploding suitcase is tomorrow’s problem. The immersion was wonderful.

by Daniel Chen

Today was the last day we saw our exchange students. Getting to school at around 7 AM, we made sure to give our exchange students an emotional goodbye before getting on the bus and heading to Beijing.

After a 30 minute bus ride to the train station, followed by a 2.5 hour train ride, we finally managed to arrive at Beijing.

First thing on our checklist was getting lunch. We ate at a place called the Mei Zhou Dong Po restaurant; which actually had food from both Beijing and Szechuan cuisines.

After filling up, we then visited Tiananmen Square and the forbidden city.

Within Tiananmen Square, the first thing we managed to see was Chairman Mao’s mausoleum, or his grave. After a tour around the place, we managed to catch a glimpse at various government buildings and interesting statues(which we promptly took photos off).

Next stop was Gu Gong, or the forbidden city. On the front, we could see a picture of Chairman Mao, as well as the words “The people of this world will be friendly for 10,000 years” to his left and right. 

Within the palace, we could see various rooms and buildings, including the emperor’s bedroom, the dining hall, etc. We learned a couple of fun facts from our tour guides as well. For instance, the emperor in china has 27 different beds, arranged in a maze-like shape to confuse would-be assassins of the emperor.

After that, we went to the Hongqiao street market to shop around. Here, you can find a wide variety of items, like magnets, toys, electronic devices, clothing, and shoes, sold for a cheap price(usually under 100 dollars). However, most brand-name products here are ripoffs due to their price. After about an hour of shopping, a lot of us went home with ripoff Yeezys, Louis Vuitton bags, and electronics.

The last thing we did was eating dinner at Hua’s resturaunt. Apparently, a lot of celebrities and world leaders had ate here. The food was overall pretty nice; as we got a taste of Peking Duck, fried eggplant, Chinese mushrooms, and a lot more.

Overall, the day was quite fun for the last night we would spend in China.

by Kush Lutz

On our last day in ZhengZhou, we all woke up at around 7:00 am and started the day off by driving an hour and a half to the Shaolin Temple just outside of ZhengZhou. At the temple, we all went on a guided tour and explored the deep history and culture inside. We saw many statues and sculptures that depicted Buddha and other deities. Some cool buildings we saw were the library, Buddha’s Gate, and prayer house.

After the tour was over, everyone went with their exchange partners to rest for a bit and eat lunch. Once we finished we drove to a school where kids learn Kung-Fu and got to watch a Kung-Fu performance presented by some of the students. It was amazing and we all enjoyed watching it very much.

We then all drove and met up outside a mall to play billiards and MaZhong. Me and Jason played on a team against Mason and Yul and we ended up beating them by a lot. After everyone played for a bit the whole group went and hung out in a karaoke room for an hour before returning to the main billiards/MaZhong area.

Lastly, everyone returned home or went to a restaurant to enjoy their last dinner in ZhengZhou. Me, Gavin, Kevin, and Jason went home to make dumplings for dinner. We then all went to bed to get sleep and prepare for tomorrow’s trip to Beijing.

by Gavin Koo

Today at 7:00 I woke up to have breakfast with my exchange partner. After a quick breakfast, I played a game of chess with my exchange partner’s brother. Me and Kevin went to school school began with a drama performance, and then after that me and my friends played ping-pong in the gym before heading back into the drama room in order to have English class. After we had English class, we went to a classroom and had geography. Following that, me and Kevin went to the lunch room.

Today’s lunch was noodles. It was very tasty and after the noodles I, with a few friends went to go get some drinks at a nearby shop. After we finished eating and buying our snacks, we went back to class to play a bit of poker. Class began once more and following that we went to a history museum that was nearby. In the museum we were able to view lots of relics and artifacts from ancient China’s. Once we learned history Museum, we quickly returned to the class where I grabbed my backpack and went into my change partners car. Once I got in, I realized that I had forgotten my phone in the class, but luckily, I had some of my friends grab it for me.

Then Kush and I both of our exchange partners went to an art studio where Kush graffitied a small painting for his exchange partner. Following that we went to a nearby mall in order to grab dinner and do a little bit of shopping.

Dinner was some nice hot pot, which quickly filled us up. Lastly, the four of us went shopping for gifts to bring back to america in a Zhengzhou street market.

by Ava Khoudary

by Lana Joyce

Pearl Tower:

On the third day in China, we started the day off by heading to see the Pearl Tower. The Pearl Tower is 1536 feet tall, being one of the tallest and most prominent towers in China. After admiring the exterior of the tower, we went inside and traveled to the observation deck. The observation deck is the second tallest viewing point of the tower at 253 meters tall. From the observation deck we had a chance to explore, take pictures, and more. During this time, my group decided to take lots of pictures, visit the highest viewing point at 263 meters, and browse the souvenirs for sale. After the group had a chance to explore, we all came back together in order to exit the tower. We took a glass elevator down to the bottom, allowing for a chance to see the descending view. Overall, this Pearl Tower experience was filled with tons of picture opportunities and historical learning.

Museum:

Within the Pearl Tower at the end of our experience, the group explored a Shanghai history museum. Walking throughout the museum gave the group a great opportunity to learn about various parts of Shanghai history. Within the museum a variety of objects were on display such as cars, figures, artwork, and more. Overall, this museum walkthrough gave the group the opportunity to learn about Shanghai history throughout time by viewing prominent artifacts and figures.

Food:

Today the group shared two meals together. We ate lunch in Shanghai at a small restaurant. At lunch, we were served a variety of family sized dishes to share. All of the dishes showcased popular Chinese cuisine such as beef dishes, chicken dishes, lettuce dishes, and more. The group ate dinner in Nanjing at a medium sized restaurant. At dinner, we were also served a variety of shareable Chinese cuisine dishes. Personally, this restaurant experience was my favorite, due to the chosen dishes that were served. We were given large portions of many different dishes such as dumplings, noodles, duck, and more. Overall, both lunch and dinner restaurants beautifully represented each city and their tasteful cuisine.

Train:

Half of today was spent in Shanghai while the other half was spent in Nanjing. After the Pearl Tower experience, the group was transported to the Shanghai train station. After making our way through security and ticketing, we took our seats on one of the many bullet trains in China that would take the group to Nanjing. I felt that this train ride was a fascinating experience because it provided me with a new perspective. In America, long distance ground public transportation is not encountered very often and usually only seen in larger cities.  Although today, I learned about how China had a widespread, popular ground public transportation system. Not only did China have this advanced transportation system, but they also had high speed bullet trains installed. After around an hour on the train, the group exited and began on the next part of the Chinese language trip in Nanjing. Overall, this experience allowed for the group to learn about China’s advanced systems, learn about China’s high-tech systems, and see some new scenery on the way to Nanjing.

Temple:

The group’s first stop in Nanjing was the Confucius Temple. This temple is a historical site dedicated to Confucius, a great Chinese philosopher and educator.  The original Confucius Temple in Nanjing was constructed in 1034 during the Song Dynasty. It was built to honor Confucius and serve as a center for Confucian studies and education. Once inside this historical site, the group spent some time wandering the grounds, viewing the temple and surrounding scenery. After our time viewing the temple, the group was allotted time to explore the surroundings streets and shops within. My group decided to step foot into a variety of stores such as multiple jewelry stores, souvenir stores, perfume stores, and more. This exploratory time allowed for the group to fully experience the culture and bright activity surrounding the Confucius Temple. Overall, our time spent at the Confucius Temple led to historical learning, meaningful ancient Chinese architectural sightseeing, and an outlook into Nanjing nightlife.

Two days until departure! Stay tuned everyone!