Shanghai – 6/5

Jerry Slocum & Michelle Truong

The final banquet

Our last full day in China! We surprised Wendy for her birthday right at midnight with a durian cheesecake that tasted like durian bread. During the day today was everyone’s last chance to finish up their projects, so for the most part we spent the day working. By 4 PM, everyone was finished and each group gave a final presentation on their projects.

I think everyone did a magnificent job and Professor Sheehan said that he was very proud of our work. After presentations, we all headed to the final banquet via subway and Professor Sheehan’s wife and friend joined us! The dinner was a real treat and we even had cake for Wendy’s birthday! This was the first time most of us used chopsticks to eat cake, but it was too delicious to resist. Professor gave a toast, followed by the rest of us. After we presented him with a gift. We gave Professor Sheehan a figurine of himself with the caption “GEA 2019″. Afterwards the birthday celebrations continued at Karaoke. Everyone was glad to be done with their projects and ready to have fun.

Professor Sheehan and his gift

June 3 & 4 in Shanghai

Matt Slade

Hey all, Matt again. On Monday I woke up and went down to breakfast with my roommate, Connor, and some other friends. The Sheraton breakfast was huge and had so many options. After that, my group and I spent the entire morning working on our paper and doing some research at the nearby supermarket. We got a lot of good work done in Wendy’s room and I felt a lot better about the project after that. In the afternoon, we went with Professor Sheehan to Nanjing Road in Shanghai to find some more popsicles. This excursion was super fun and we saw a huge part of the city. We went to Häagen-Dazs to try some of their luxury, very expensive ice cream. We tried to go to People’s Square, but it was closed, so we decided to go to the second biggest Starbucks in the world! Professor had to go back to work with some other groups, but we stayed out, had dinner and went shopping. We got back to the hotel late and I went right to bed: I was exhausted.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery, Nanjing Road, Shanghai

The next day was pretty similar. We spent the morning working, and then all went out to see the City God Temple and the Yu Gardens. Both of these were closed, but the area around them was super cool and we were able to get some good gifts for people back home. I had a little dinner in the hotel room and then went to bed because I wasn’t feeling great.

Jasmine, Eric, Sarah, and Matt on the subway

Jasmine Sears

Hi all! Jasmine here to tell you about my days. I started off my Monday with my research group, “PERIODT.” aka Team Tampon, and worked on finishing our final paper in a Starbucks near our hotel. We conducted further background research and made important progress toward finalizing our project’s thesis. Afterward, we headed out with our T.A. Jeremy to meet up with Guang, a former student of Professor Sheehan’s who lives in Shanghai. Guang brought us to a restaurant that served incredible food of the Gobi Desert. Their lamb was delicious.

Our “Gobi Desert” lunch

With very happy bellies, Team Tampon + Jerry of Brew Crew then conducted field research in a nearby Walmart store. Next, we traveled by Metro to Jing’an Temple. The temple was beautiful, and the surrounding neighborhood had great shopping and exciting food.

Jasmine in the Jing’an Temple area, Shanghai

Finally, I ended my night by visiting a popular spot in the Bund that had a spectacular view of Pudong – Professor Sheehan calls it “Tomorrowland.” On the way home from the Bund, a taxi driver scammed my friends and me by charging us ¥250 for a ride that should have cost at most ¥80. Very unfortunate, but also a great learning experience.

Pudong “Tomorrow Land” as seen from the bund

Early on Tuesday, everyone convened in Professor Sheehan’s room for a final round of “Rose, Thorn, Bud,” a daily ritual that Matt first introduced at the beginning of the trip. Everyone shared a Rose, their favorite experience of the trip, a Thorn, their least favorite experience, and a Bud, an experience they are looking forward to. It was so sweet to reflect back on our trip and remember all of the great things that we were able to do over our couple of weeks in China.

In the evening, I explored an area in the French Quarter called Tianzifang. It had great shopping for jewelry, tea, and souvenirs and was my favorite place in Shanghai so far. For dinner, I had some spectacular Chinese barbecue at a restaurant near Tianzifang.

Tianzifang

First Day in Shanghai-June 2

Clarence Lai & Michele Torne

Morning bus ride to the train station in Hebi

We had an incredibly early wake-up call for our last morning in Hebi and had to be ready by 7:30 AM. We had a long day of travel ahead of us… We boarded the bus one last time, sharing our last moment on this trip with our fantastic tour guide, Johnson and expert driver, Mr. Kong. 

With our bags filled with snacks, we awaited a seemingly never-ending train ride of 6 hours in the train station. Although lengthy, the trip created many unforgettable memories, including a debate on when/how/why we should rotate our train seats. We spent a good amount of the time on the bus crafting and sharpening our thesis statements, as well as our body paragraphs for our group project papers. After our bus stopped in front of the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, we walked into luxury – a fragrant, cosmopolitan experience in the heart of Shanghai. Once we rested up, we all got dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then ended our official events of the evening with a subway ride and evening stroll through the busy main street to The Bund.

Subway ride on our way to the Bund

The marvelous skyline of Pudong seen from the Bund in Shanghai

Last Full Day in Hebi – June 1

Clarence Lai & Michele Torne

Day three in Hebi! What infectious, warm energy coming from the city. Starting off the morning, the early breakfast crew enjoyed breaking bread as the rest of the team trickled down from their slumber thirty minutes later. 

The morning breakfast crew! (Michele not pictured)

After breakfast, a large group of us went down to New Century Plaza and played a large game of “Ninja,” which entertained quite a crowd of Hebi locals. 

A game of “Ninja” at New Century Plaza

Meanwhile, Brew Crew went in search of a quiet place to get ready for the afternoon group presentations. At the park, a group of elderly women invited us to watch them perform a well-coordinated dance routine. Afterwards, Teams Pop & Sickle, Tampon, and Yee and Ye storefront crew made their way down to Pedestrian Street and enjoyed the lovely shops lined up along the main road.

Around noon, the entire group had our last official group meal in Hebi. After the scrumptious lunch, each group met up to iron out their presentations for an afternoon class meeting. In this meeting,everyone presented their observations in the first part of the trip and their in-progress thesis statements.

Gearing up for our class meeting and presentations

When presentations concluded, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the mall nearby our hotel for a change of scenery, recharge with food, and buy snacks to appease our appetites while on the train ride down to Shanghai. The food court in that mall was MARVELOUS. Finally, we ended the day with a multitude of card games like Valeria, Tong, and Kemps – an ultimate bonding experience.

Friday, May 31

Wendy Liu

Group photo at Yunmeng Mountain

On our first full day in Hebi, we went for a hike to Yunmeng Mountain. The scenery was very beautiful and we saw a number of people with incense worshiping below different statues. Several of us made it up to the temple located on the very top of the mountain and were rewarded with a gorgeous view and cute puppies. After eating lunch in a restaurant in the mountains, we went to the old city center of Hebi to do some more fieldwork.

Some members of Pop & Sicle were followed around by a group of kids as we navigated our way around the mall and back to the bus. On our way back for our group dinner, we stopped by the convention center to take a look at the ghost city part of Hebi. Contrary to our expectations, it was not empty or deserted. Instead, there were many cars parked and a lot of people gathered outside. It turned out that it was Children’s Day tomorrow, June 1st. A primary school was holding a large-scale event to celebrate and the children were decked out in dresses and costumes. After a quick stroll, we made our way to dinner and concluded the planned activities for the day. Groups made their own plans to work on their thesis and slides in preparation for tomorrow’s class presentation.

Mikaella Ahn

Mikaella, Wendy, and Jeremy on Yunmeng Mountain

This morning, the group had breakfast at Zhongkai Court Hotel. Fortunately, this hotel is very spacious and lovely, similar to the hotel at Anyang. Once we finished eating, Professor Sheehan and our tour guide, Johnson, took us to a morning excursion to Yunmeng Mountain. Boy, the stairs never end!

Wendy and I decided to climb to the top of the mountain where the highest tempest was. In this temple, we could wish for riches. I prayed for all of us at Global East Asia to become billionaires! Then, we walked all the way down the stairs. Stairs are always scarier climbing back down. After we left the Yunmeng Mountains, we had lunch where I toasted for the first time. I couldn’t help but to feel nervous. I toasted to all the memories I have made with everyone here on the trip, and how I know that I will miss everyone when the trip is over. Once we left lunch, Professor Sheehan took us to Old Hebi where Michelle and I conducted our fieldwork. Our TA, Jeremy, accompanied us because we do not know Mandarin. We went inside Watsons and was able to find cosmetic brands, Pechoin and Kans. In Old Hebi, we found local shops in the mall that the sold cosmetic brand, Dr. Plant and domestic Chinese brands. At this halfway point of the trip, Michelle and I began to create our thesis and slides for the group presentation tomorrow to show Professor Sheehan and everyone else. Once we finished our thesis, slides and chose our picture, some of us decided to go to Karaoke since it is in walking distance. I decided to sing, Diva by Beyonce. This night was very active, productive and so much fun!

Thursday, May 30

Wendy Liu

Group photo with the kind couple from the village

Hi blog! Time flies by when you are having fun. Today marks the end of one full week in China! After Beijing and Anyang, we are headed for Hebi. On the way there, we stopped by a village called Si Ma Cun (司马村) with 3,000 residents and was invited into the humble home of one of the residents there. She is 73 this year and her husband is 76, but they look much younger than their age. The husband has been to a few cities before, including Beijing, but the woman has not been to any major cities in her life, except the provincial capital of Zhengzhou. The couple was very friendly and welcoming, even offering us tea and was not afraid to show us around their house. They have three daughters and one son. Their son and his wife currently work in Canton and make the drive back to the village around three times a year to visit their family. After we left their home, we explored more of the village and came across a wedding. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay until the bride and groom came out, but it was nice to witness the set up of fancy cars parked around the home of the bride and the auspicious decorations.

We left the village and stopped by Hua County for a delicious lunch before walking around the old parts of Anyang. We met several shy kids on our walk and a number of people wanted photos with some members of our group since foreigners were a rare sight there. Finally, we arrived at the hotel in Hebi and settled in. As there was still time before the group dinner, research groups met up and started working on the thesis for their papers. After dinner, we went into the mall next to the hotel and continued our fieldwork in our respective groups before ending the day.

Mikaella Ahn

Group photo at the wedding in the village

One of the first things the group did was have breakfast at the Han Shui Bay International Hotel. Luckily, I have been having more luck with enjoying the food in Anyang than I did in Beijing. It was very sad to leave this hotel because it felt like I was living in a palace. Once on the road, Professor Sheehan decided to take us to a little excursion and visit the village. At the village, we met an elderly woman who was planting vegetables in her front yard. Professor Sheehan was able to ask her if we could see her home. Fortunately, she said yes! The woman was so nice and sweet. She let us into her living room and showed us her grandchildren’s room. Her husband also came out to meet us. I asked Professor Sheehan if he could ask them how they met. They told us that they met through mutual friends (I need friends like that!). After meeting the lovely couple, we decided to walk around. Fortunately, the group happened to stumble upon a wedding ceremony. What are the odds? We were able to take photos with the people at the wedding. Our TA, Jeremy, let us know that the people with flowers on their shirts were either family or close friends of the bride and groom. I wish the couple a life full of fortune and happiness.

On the bus, I asked Professor Sheehan if he had ever stumbled upon a wedding before, and he said it was the first for Global East Asia. Wow! Once we finally arrived in Hebi, we had an amazing dinner. Again, the food we have had in Anyang and Hebi has been so delicious. Noah toasted today, and he said how the events today really meant so much for him. I won’t forget this day either, Noah!

Wednesday, May 29 – Excursion into the Taihang Mountains

Eric Ye

Hi, this is Eric speaking.

It’s been a fantastic sixth day in China. Our hotel in Anyang, the Huanshuiwan International Hotel was an amazing facility. Even the shades were automated. After resting up from the excursion in Old Anyang, Johnson brought us to the Linzhou Taihang Grand Canyon (太行大峡谷), an AAAAA tourist spot, and boy was it breath-taking. The scenery and amenities were mind-blowing.

The Entrance to the Park

For the first order of business, we went to the bathrooms, and even the bathrooms were ranked AAA. The bathrooms could have used some air fresheners, but everything had a glossy sheen (bathroom images not included).

After the bathroom, some people bought local merchandise, including straw hats. Papa Sheehan demonstrated his haggling prowess cutting down the foreigner price from ¥16 to ¥10.

Connor, feeling smug about his new hat purchase

Arriving at the reception area

Map of the park

After taking a tram up to the base of the mountain and encountering a hulking overhang, we entered a gorgeous gorge with a cool draft, verdant abundance, and clear creeks.

Of the many pretty sights, my favorite in the canyon was the pool that collects the Flying Dragon Summit Waterfall (飞龙峰瀑布). The collecting pool was a beautiful mix of clear water tinged with yellow and a deep jade green. Several members even took commemorative selfies with the Professor at this scenic spot.

The crew crosses the Flying Dragon Pool

The Flying Dragon Pool at the Foot of the Flying Dragon Summit Waterfall

The source of the Flying Dragon Waterfall

After walking past a rickety bridge, we arrived at our lunch destination.

After gorging on a delightful lunch (replete with a variety of mountain foods including fungus), we left the gorge on an open-air tram that took us to the top of the gorge.

Matt, fighting on in the tram

The top of the gorge had many an attraction, from splendid views of the canyon valley to a plexiglass skybridge that showed a view of the canyon floor.

A panorama of the Taihang Grand Canyon from a viewing platform

A plexiglass skybridge that peers onto the canyon floor

As we wound down the canyon on foot, we witnessed a swath of mountain structures, including the the eponymous Taihang peak.

To GEA China 2019, although Taihang mountain may be far away, it will always be near and dear to our hearts

The class on another mountainous ledge

Tuesday May 28 – First day in Anyang

Connor Chapkis 
Tuesday, May 28th was our first full day in Anyang, and we were all extremely excited to explore the museum holding the city’s most important cultural relic: oracle bones!
We were hesitant to leave the hotel, since the amenities were incredibly nice—we had bathtubs, a ping pong room, an amazing breakfast, and more—but we knew the day ahead would be great. First off, Clarence was having trouble deciding his hairstyle for the day—luckily, Marissa, the braid queen, was able to help him match with her!

Clarence and Marissa

Once we got to the museum, the professor and I passed the time by playing a game where we extended our arms above us to pour water in our mouths—pretty sure I fared better than he did. Then Johnson, our tour guide, took us into the first of the exhibits about the oracle bones. Essentially, the ancient Chinese would place immense heat on the shells of turtles, crack them with various implements, and interpret the cracks as Chinese characters to predict events or fortunes. Their associations of the signs were elaborate:

Oracle bone characters and their modern equivalents

The professor had never been to Anyang before—and as a historian of China, he was clearly elated to see all of the relics and oracle bones that he’d heard so much about. His happiness was infectious, and it made all of the students interested in the exhibits. The landscaping of the museums was beautiful, as well:

Stele with a reproduction of an oracle bone inscription

Landscaping on the grounds of the oracle bone museum

Landscaping on the grounds of the oracle bone museum

Afterwards, we headed to the old city center of Anyang to conduct field research. Luckily for my group studying popsicles, we hit the jackpot—there was a food/popsicle stand almost every block, and we got the chance to see a lot of different displays and speak to quite a few shopkeepers.

Researching popsicles in the old part of Anyang

The old town was one of the highlights of the day for us. Every street was lined with vendors selling clothes, accessories, and food, so it was an excellent chance for us to get a feel for the energy of the place.
Only a few meters from the old town stood a pagoda, a kind of ancient structure intended to hold sacred relics. Some of us climbed to the top of the pagoda (through cramped and winding stairways) and were rewarded with stunning, 360-degree views of the city!

Pagoda in Anyang

View from the top of the pagoda

On our way back to the hotel, I picked up some scallion pancakes and bao buns at a market for dinner, and some students decided to decompress by walking over to the hot springs at our hotel! It was so fun putting on our bathrobes and relaxing in a hot tub.

At the hot springs

We all had a blast in Anyang – onwards to the next day!

Monday, May 27

Sarah Ajise & Marissa Yee

During our last morning in Beijing, we had to wake up early, check-out, enjoy our last Beijing breakfast buffet, and board our tour bus by 7am. Because of the rain in Beijing yesterday, the morning skies were clear and blue, giving us a nice send off. Our tour guide, Alex, was so kind to help us through security at the train station and see us board the train. Many thanks to Alex!

During the 2.5 hour train ride to Anyang, some students relaxed, slept, and enjoyed the scenery, while other students enjoyed a few rounds of Sushi Go, one of the card games Professor Sheehan brought along the trip.

We arrived in Anyang around noon and met our new tour guide for Anyang and Hebi, Johnson. On the way to lunch, many of us commented on the peculiarity of the apartment buildings here. Each block seems to have five or more identical apartment towers, with different building designs stretching for blocks on end. The tour bus took us to a restaurant for lunch, with some of the best dishes so far! Popular dishes included millet porridge, duck, steamed fish, handmade tofu, and Henan buns. We’re certainly hoping for more delicious food as we continue our time in Henan province.

Apartment buildings in Anyang

Emma, Wendy, and Eric at lunch in Anyang

After checking in, unpacking, and resting in the hotel, the entire group went to Wanda Plaza, one of the malls in Anyang. Brew Crew, Pop & Sicle team, and Team Tampon were all able to find their products in the supermarket. Makeup Moguls found their eye cream in stands outside of the supermarket. Hot pot team spent most of their time on the third floor of the mall which was dedicated entirely to restaurants.

Anyang Wanda Plaza

Dinner at the noodle shop in Anyang

After conducting research in our groups, we came together for a meal in one of the mall restaurants. During dinner, we’ve started saying our “rose”, “thorn”, and “bud” for the day – a happy and unhappy moment from the day, and something you’re looking forward to in the future. Many of our roses included being on a bullet train, enjoying the spacious Anyang hotel, and today’s lunch. Many were hopeful that Anyang would be a fun city to explore for the next few days. Post dinner, some students and Professor Sheehan decided to get foot massages. It looks like they had an excellent time!

Getting a massage in Anyang

Thank you for reading our blog post! We’re sad that our journey in Beijing has come to a close, but are certainly excited for what is to come in Anyang!

Sunday, May 26

Sarah Ajise & Marissa Yee

Hi blog!

Today was a free day in Beijing. Many of us decided to head to the Temple of Heaven in the morning, which was a short 15-minute walk from our hotel. The Temple of Heaven is a three-tier circular temple. It was a lot larger than it seemed in pictures! We also walked around in the surrounding park, where a lot of locals were practicing Tai Chi and playing mahjong.

Corridor at the Temple of Heaven

Students in front of the Temple of Heaven

We met our Beijing Normal students at the Xidan Station later in the morning. Although the sky was gloomy when we entered the subway, it was pouring rain when we got out 20 minutes later. The Hot Pot research team visited many hot pot restaurants in various Xidan area malls. There was even an entire floor dedicated to hot pot restaurants in one of the malls. Our Beijing students were so helpful in finding new restaurants for us to visit and conduct research. For lunch, Hot Pot team, Pop & Sicle team, and Makeup Moguls ate at Haidilao, a trendy hot pot chain in China. Known for their service, the servers continued to bring us warm towels, pour us sweet tea, and switch our plates. The restaurant even had food service robots and toothbrushes in the restrooms. Definitely a favorite meal for many!

On the Beijing subway

The Brew Crew and Team Tampon met up at a different hot pot restaurant not far from the other teams. Since only one person could speak Chinese, ordering lunch was a bit challenging. With the help of Google Translate and Jerry’s beginner Chinese skills, we managed to eat some really delicious food. We didn’t eat a whole lot since there was a language barrier, and none of us wanted to struggle to communicate with the waitress. As a result, we found our way to KFC and had surprisingly good food; some would say it was even better than American KFC!

Beijing book store

After lunch, Hot Pot team, Pop & Sicle team, and Makeup Moguls continued to research in the Xidan area. In the afternoon we headed to Silk Street, which is known to sell fake goods. Emma was especially good at bargaining and purchased matching Peppa the Pig T-shirts for herself and her sister. Brew Crew and Team Tampon went back to the hotel to rest after their lunch. Later, they met up with the rest of the class for dinner in Sanlitun, an area of Beijing known for its walkability and nightlife. Some of us ate Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and the rest of the group ate at Blue Frog. It was definitely a fun last night in Beijing!

Soup Dumplings – called xiao long bao in Chinese

Catch us on tomorrow’s blog!