By: Brianna and Erick
June 7, 2017

In the morning, we went to the Yellow River Scenic Area. It was an interesting experience and we got to ride a hovercraft as a parting gift from our awesome tour guide Johnson and the tourist agency! Thanks! Some members of the GEA team group decided to ride horses and buggies but we got into some heated arguments with the vendor over how much money to pay. Afterwards, we went to lunch near the Zhengzhou East Station before finally saying bye to Henan. Many thought that our last lunch in Zhengzhou was fantastic and tasty! We then headed towards the Zhengzhou East station for our 5 hour long high speed rail ride to Shanghai. During the 5 hour long train ride, everyone found interesting activities to do to pass the time. A good chunk of the team decided to turn the seats around and play card games like Tonk and Sushi Go together, while some of us decided to chat and relax while others watched movies. At around 9:00PM, we finally arrived in Shanghai, the last leg of our amazing journey!

Top: A delicious lunch in Zhengzhou before we leave Henan for Shanghai! Thanks Johnson!

June 8, 2017
The Beginning of the End, or the Start of My Love Affair with Shanghai
As we settled in to our final destination, the reality that our time together was coming to a close started to sink in. Unlike our last stops, Professor Sheehan served as our tour guide of Shanghai, taking us to see the sights of his second home. We visited the iconic skyline of Pudong and the Bund, conducted the last of our fieldwork in the surrounding mall, and visited the massive City God (“Epcot-isized”) temple area with lots of tourist shops and the City God Temple used by Shanghai locals. While honestly, the names of individual locations and stops were difficult to differentiate for this non-Chinese speaker, my overall impression of Shanghai through Professor Sheehan’s eyes is one of a fiercely thriving intersection of culture, history, and economic power that I sincerely hope to return to someday. Many of us concluded our Professor Sheehan-led day in Shanghai by proceeding to follow him into the hotel gym for a GEA workout session. Post-workout (and nap), the GEA squad went out to explore Shanghai at night, returning to see the iconic skyline of the Bund and visiting other local spots. After our introduction to the city that day, we were left to plan how we wished to spend our next (and final) full day in Shanghai. 

Gym selfie with Professor Sheehan (and half of Katie)

The Pudong from the Bund

The Pudong from the Bund that night!