Category Archives: Travel

First Day in Shanghai-June 2

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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

Wednesday, May 29 – Excursion into the Taihang Mountains

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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

Monday, May 27

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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!

Welcome to Beijing, here’s the old and the new! – May 24

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Noah Blackman

Hey There, Mr. Mao

Hey y’all, its Noah again with the Global East Asia blog post reporting from Beijing, China! Our first full day here is one for the memory books. We begin our day by drudging through the dense Beijing traffic on our way to the historical center of the Chinese capital, The Forbidden City, which is surrounded by Tiananmen Square and other important sites.

Beijing Traffic…

Tiananmen Square, similar to the city it centers, is a bustling scene. Quickly my peers and I discovered that the Chinese tourism market is not inhabited purely by foreigners such as ourselves, but many Chinese nationals from outside cities and “China Proper” come and join tour groups as well. The timing for visiting the site was quite interesting, for it was nearly 30 years ago that the 1989 June student protests happened on the ground in which we stood, reminding us of the enormous freedoms we experience in the US. The Square itself houses the mausoleum where late Chairman Mao rests, mummified on public display to allow spectators and mourners to come appreciate, or contemplate, Mao’s contributions to China. We did not get to visit due to the site being closed for the day, none-the-less we explored the rest of the square which included the National People’s Congress, the National Museum of China, and the Monument to the People’s Heroes, a 30+ foot tall memorial to the revolutionaries who shaped China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

Panoramic shot of the bustling square

The square led to the entrance to the Forbidden City, where the Qing and Ming emperors governed their kingdom. Seeing the palace was an event that astonished me due to the fact that one person used to have the whole complex as their home, not a bad time at all. Everything was elegant, strong, and meticulously designed to fit the standards of the most important figures in China. My favorite part of the city was the garden by the north gate.

Forbidden City Gardens

Forbidden City

After we left the Forbidden City we went back to modernity in Wangfujing, a consumer center with a large variety of shopping and dining locations, complete with robots who would assist you in finding whatever product you’re looking for. When we got there all the research groups split up and we officially began our fieldwork!

Customer Assistance Robot

After fieldwork, different groups met up and went out for our first solo dinners in China. Personally, I went and had BBQ, one of my favorite types of food. There was no better way to end the first day in China than with some great food and even better company.

BBQ on a stick!

Arrival Day! – May 22-23

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Megan Bennett

Hi everyone, my name is Megan and I’m taking over the blog for Wednesday and Thursday! Wednesday marked the end of our time in LA as we spent about 13 hours flying to Beijing. Thankfully, everyone made it to the airport on time, though we had some close calls. The flight itself was pretty uneventful, we got two meals and a few snacks, and there were a bunch of movies to choose from.

Departing from LAX!

Once we landed in Beijing, we were able to get through customs pretty quickly and meet up with our tour guide, Alex. It was hot outside, about 95 degrees, but thankfully our bus had air conditioning. As we drove through Beijing, Alex talked a bit about China and its history. I was surprised by how open he was talking about controversial things like Tiananmen Square, which I thought most people generally didn’t talk about.

View landing from the plane

We had some extra time before dinner and went into a nearby supermarket to explore. We had some fun looking at both Chinese products and American brands that were changed for Chinese consumers. For example, we found Lays chips that were cucumber flavored and others that were butter and garlic flavored. My group project is on feminine hygiene products, so we also looked around for a bit in that section.

Our dinner was served lazy susan style, and Professor Sheehan made sure we knew the proper etiquette for eating this way before we started. We also do a toast every meal, leading up to the final banquet where we will all give toasts. At our table, Matt started a tradition of doing a round of rose, thorn, bud at dinner, where everyone goes around and gives highlights and lowlights from their day.

First dinner in China

Finally, we went to the hotel and got settled in. Some of us then went out to explore a bit but only Clarence, Connor, and Eric had the energy to stay out longer than 30 minutes. Overall, it was a pretty exciting day, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip will bring!

The Apogee of Our Beijing Adventures, Fieldwork in Beijing, and Hebi

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By: Kenny and Ursula

Our second full day in Beijing seemed to be very promising—Ming Tombs, Sacred Way, Great Wall of China, and Peking Duck all in one day!

Our first stop was The Ming Tomb Changling as opposed to the Great Wall which is usually scheduled first on tour itineraries. Papa Sheehan made sure our tour guide Lisa made that itinerary change so that we would visit those touristy destinations during their less busy times. Before entering one of the 13 Ming Tombs, Lisa gave us an explanation as to their geographical placement; the Ming Tombs were built according to good feng shui with mountains behind them and a river flowing in front. We had an hour to explore the Ming Tomb, so we slowly explored all the structures that were placed before the burial ground where one of the Ming emperors was buried. Unfortunately, we could not actually get close to the burial site since the Chinese government decided to place fences around it. That being said, we did get to climb a tower that gave us an unobstructed view of the entire tomb site.

The second destination was the Sacred Way. This path was decorated with statues of guards, scholars, and different animals on both sides, and it extended for approximately one kilometer (0.621371 for people in the Miles club). Walking through the Sacred Way was a good way to channel our inner chi and mentally prepare ourselves for the afternoon hike at the Great Wall. It also served as a nice spot for people to get candid shots for their Instagram accounts.

After a quick lunch break, we were finally ready to take on The Great Wall of China. Papa Sheehan likes taking his Global East Asia students every year to a very steep section of the Great Wall called Juyongguan. The good thing about having a challenging section of the wall is that fewer tourists crowd the narrow steps which makes the hike a lot more enjoyable. On the other hand, most human beings who hike to the top will wake up with sore calves the following morning. In all seriousness, hiking the Great Wall was truly an amazing and humbling experience. Don’t mean to brag, but this year’s class broke the record of student percentage that climbed to the top with a whopping 90%!

To wrap up our touristy day, Papa Sheehan took us to eat Peking duck for dinner. The dinner was extra special because we got to celebrate Michael and Ursula’s birthdays! Needless to say, after our special dinner everyone went back to the hotel and slept till the next morning.

We created our own schedule on Thursday with fieldwork and lunch with our Capital Normal students followed by a trip to Silk Street and dinner. Team Little Mermaids went to a fantastic noodles place for Ursula’s birthday (since long noodles represent a long life). After lunch, they took a bus to see the Beijing Film Academy. Instead of arriving at the school, they found themselves at an abandoned film set used during the Communist Era. Meanwhile, Team Huami met up with a new Capital Normal student to eat traditional Beijing food. Then they visited Suning, the largest retailer in China, to check out their smartphone selection. From Suning, they went to an OPPO store. Team PEBs walked around with their students taking pictures of pharmacies and successfully explained the concept of a punch buggy. The Capital Normal students took them to some really yummy Chinese fast food. Team Soybean went to another mall to visit KFC and McDonalds and then had a very authentic snack food lunch as a place with nostalgic decorations. After we finished out field work we regrouped at Silk Street to practice our bargaining skills at the infamous fake goods market.

Early the next morning we piled onto the bus to take us to the train station. The 2 ½ hour high speed train ride flew by given most of us slept at least part of the way. When we arrived in Hebi, our new tour guide, Johnson, took us to the hotel to check in and eat lunch. The hotel was quite an experience from the excessive number of plastic chandeliers to curtain-less, bathtub-less showers. After lunch, we went to the main shopping area. It soon became clear foreigners do not frequently visit Hebi, given the number of stares and photo requests we received. After completing our fieldwork which included visiting bathrooms with “personality,” waking sleeping employees, and a trip to Walmart, we reconvened at a local coffee shop for a game of cards. From there we decided to go to the arcade at the top of the mall. One of the highlights from the trip to the arcade was when a man at the arcade decided to show us how Dance Dance Revolution should be done by getting a near perfect score after dancing with arms and gestures and everything. Being tired out and hungry, we went to have dinner at the food court. The food court had tons of choices. We got noodles, soups, dumplings and flat bread. After a cheap, filling, and delicious meal we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel for a relaxed night in.

June 3rd, C.A.R Group

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By: Anbar Aizenman, Rowan McEvoy, Cindy Wang

We've reached the TOP!! After almost an hour climbing, 6 group members have reached the top of Juyongguan (the most steep part of the great wall!)

We’ve reached the top!! After almost an hour climbing, 6 group members reached the top of Juyongguan (the steepest part of the Great Wall!)

Although we were exhausted from climbing the Great Wall and visiting the Ming Tombs, we visited different electronic shopping malls in Beijing. Our plan was to focus on the main Chinese phone brands. However, during our field work, we found that the domestic Chinese phone market is shared by many different brands and each domestic brand has its own app store. This discovery might shift our future research focuses. We also discovered that high-end shopping malls in China don’t sell phones, even the high-end brands like Samsung and Apple. During our visits in Beijing Zhongguancun (Chinese Silicon Valley), we found that there are many fake or stolen phones sold in regulated shopping malls. Hence, the Chinese phone market is much more complicated than American market and is extremely dispersed among different consumption groups.

C.A.R Group with Capital Normal Student; We really appreciated help from Capital Normal Students. They are the best host ever!!!

C.A.R Group with a student from Capital Normal University. We really appreciated help from the Capital Normal University students. They are the best hosts ever!!!

After several days of touring and field working in Beijing, we are headed up to Hebi today. We took a 3-hour Gaotie (bullet train) to Hebi. This was our first time in Beijing West Station. Beijing West Station looks like a typical Chinese train station, with crowds and yelling. However, we enjoyed our time on the bullet train. We were amazed by the northern Chinese plains and agriculture industry. Around 6 o’clock in the afternoon, we finally arrived in Hebi. Unlike Beijing, the capital of China, Hebi is a relatively small city in Henan province. But to our surprise, Hebi has a well-protected landscape and huge amounts of tall buildings. Most importantly, they have amazing Chinese food, like pork belly bun, peking duck (Yes! They have it in Hebi!), chicken noodle soup and delicious desserts! We look forward to exploring this small unique city in China more in the following days!

We enjoyed our first dinner in Hebi! It was amazing!!!

We enjoyed our first dinner in Hebi! It was amazing!!!

Regarding to our group project, we found many individual retailers on the street in the downtown area on the way heading to our hotel in Hebi. Hence, we already have a generally vague plan on our works in Hebi. We hope to visit more electronic areas in Hebi and have a more comprehensive idea about the Chinese phone market!

Team Momo and Co. Take China

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By: Brandon, Jonathan, and Jasper

This blog post is brought to you by Team Momo. When we last left off Team Momo and company were preparing for their flight to China… 

Luckily, the flight went off without a hitch: no spontaneous combustion, no emergency landing, and no casualties! The flight was incredible. We started in San Francisco, flew through Alaska, over Russia, and then finally arrived in China. Aboard United Flight 888, we were provided a robust selection of of in-flight entertainment. In addition, we were offered two meals: dinner and breakfast. The dinner options were either chicken and rice, or vegetarian. The breakfast options were either an omelet, or stir-fried noodles. For Papa Sheehan enthusiasts, let it be known that he selected the chicken and rice, as well as the omelet!

Upon landing, the first thing our class did was pick up our bags. We then found our Converse-loving tour guide from Super Vacation and boarded the bus to our first Chinese dinner! Though slightly underwhelming, Papa Sheehan assured the class that the best was yet to come. We re-boarded the bus, and finally made our way to the hotel. At this point, most of us were battling jet lag; however, we managed to make it to our rooms and a local convenience store before crashing.

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The First Supper in China!

Since most of us had passed out before 9:00 PM China time, we were all up and about by around 5:00 AM. We had our first hotel breakfast, and were pleasantly surprised! We can’t speak for everyone’s experience with complimentary hotel breakfasts; however, ours, in the words of Zachary Kennedy, was “spectacular.” As our first planned day of research, we had plenty of work ahead of us. We left the hotel at around 9:00 AM after we were each given a brand new Chinese SIM card. Our first stop was the Forbidden City! Unfortunately, Tiananmen Square was closed for the day, but Papa Sheehan insisted we would still have fun. As always, Papa Sheehan proved himself right, and the Forbidden City was nothing less than incredible!

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Global East Asia Scholar Anna Lipscomb poses for a “Bad Ass” Picture with Papa Sheehan

Afterwards, we drove to our first field site, and met our student helpers from Beijing Capital Normal University! Each group was assisted by either one or two students, all of whom were women, and left to start their research: Team Momo went on a snack food exploration, Team BingBing left to investigate celebrities, and Team C.A.R. went to investigate electronics.

After our research, the teams rendezvoused at a restaurant 5 subway transfers from the initial location. The meal was amazing! Brandon Cheung was thrilled by the pork belly and xiaolongbiao (dumplings), and insisted that he will definitely go again! After dinner, we once again split up and explored one of the Beijing malls. The architecture was stunning, and the food looked incredible!

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Class Dinner with our Amazing Beijing Capital Normal Students! Photo: Jonathan Kim

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Class Dinner with our Amazing Beijing Capital Normal Students! Photo: Jonathan Kim

 At around 10:00 PM, everyone was in bed and ready to sleep. We had a long a day ahead of us, with the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall of China the following day, and we were all ready to head to pass out!

Team Momo out!

 

Beijing, here we come!

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By: Zachary Kennedy, Anna Lipscomb and Jacob Lokshin

We can’t believe that these two weeks in LA have passed by so quickly! It seems like just yesterday we walked into VKC 154, spilled a few pretzels, and debated who is the best Bing Bing (Li Bing Bing or Fan Bing Bing? Choose your side. It’s also worth noting that this debate produced our group name – Team Bing Bing).

As the name suggests, Team Bing Bing will be examining the presence of celebrity endorsements in China. We will be especially focusing on foreign celebrities. We don’t know what exactly we will find in China, but we predict that there will be a mix of both foreign and Chinese celebrities used to advertise products. We also believe that foreign and western celebrities will be more popular and visible in more westernized, metropolitan cities such as Shanghai and Beijing than in Hebi and Zhengzhou. We also anticipate foreign brands to use foreign celebrities more frequently than Chinese brands. We will examine how these stars are used to advertise products related to their areas (movie stars advertising films, sports stars advertising sports products, etc) as well as products unrelated (food, technology, luxury goods, etc.).

Although Friday was our last official class, it’s only the beginning of Global East Asia.

After reviewing our trusty toolbox of knowledge about things such as deculturization, reculturization, and acculturization (a term whose definition is still being debated by the entire class), we discussed our readings on Shanghai and Zhengzhou. We also went over general travel information such as packing and currency.

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Professor Sheehan instills his knowledge and wise travel tips upon his enthusiastic pupils before they embark on their journey to a new hemisphere. He also shared a few thrilling stories of past GEA years, stimulating excitement and anticipation from the students about the adventures that lie ahead of them.

Although we come from a generation famous for being exceptionally tech-savvy, we were faced with our first challenge of many to come: installing the USC VPN on our phones and portable computers. Nevertheless, we put our minds together and overcame this obstacle.

We spent our Saturday scrambling to buy our sunscreens and bug spray (because it’s better to be safe than sorry, and Chinese insects are flying harbingers of death according to the USC Health Center), stuffing our suitcases full, emptying out our refrigerators, and contemplating the effects of globalization on our human existences.

On Sunday morning, we literally rised and shined. Between the times of 4-5 am, those of us on the group flight Uber’d to the airport (We encouraged Papa Sheehan to join the Uber bandwagon. Uber is now a Sheehan-approved mobile application).  Since we got there early, we had to entertain ourselves.

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As punctual Trojans, the Global East Asia students got to the airport 3+ hours early. While waiting for their flight, they passed the time by playing Sushi card games, working on this blog post, eating banana bread (thanks Papa Sheehan for looking after our empty stomachs!), and getting pumped for China (and internally panicking of the short layover time in SFO… oh, the joys of travel).

The 45-minute layover in San Francisco was quite an experience. Although our flight was only about an hour, we spent roughly half an hour sitting in the plane at SFO because we couldn’t get off since another plane was still at our gate. When we finally got off, we dashed to the international terminal – it was extremely close, but we made it!

Since we wanted to get adjusted to China time, most of us pulled all-nighters before (or we were frantically trying to pack our bags and figuring out where we put our passports). Therefore, most of us spent the 12-hour flight sleeping and watching movies/TV shows on our mobile devices. Some of us stretched our legs and walked around the airplane looking for snacks.

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A view of Beijing from the airplane window.

When we finally got to Beijing it was May 30th (thanks to the 15 hour time difference)! Although we may be a slightly jet-lagged, we can’t wait for all the adventures and stories and crazy experiences to come!

Exploring the Temples in Shanghai

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By: Jon Peppin, Psalm Chang, & Michelle Ngan

It has certainly been a busy couple of days for us. We have finally made it to Shanghai, and wow what a cool city it is! Never imagined that we would get to walk on the Bund in person and see what Papa Sheehan calls the “architect’s playground” before our eyes. It’s very different than Kaifeng in that there are actually many tourists, which makes us stand out less. At Xintiandi, the Old French Concession, we explored high-end shops and enjoyed the refurbished buildings. We got to experience how bartering works (and sometimes doesn’t work) at the City God Temple area, with its numerous shops of souvenirs and different items.

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A look at the architecture of Xintiandi, the Old French Concession.

In terms of our research project, we have been working very hard at figuring out a concrete thesis that would then lead to smooth transitions and present our evidence-driven argument in the most effective way. Needless to say, we’ve had to tweak and sometimes even change our theses completely. Guess that’s why it’s called a working thesis. Once we got the thesis established, the structure of our research became a lot more clear and we are now working on finalizing our thoughts into a succinct 1600-2400 word essay, as well as forming our presentation to share with our class.

Today was our last day doing deliberate fieldwork. Yunwen was kind enough to show us how to take the subway and the bus. Without her help, we would not have made it to the City God Temple and Jade Buddha Temple as smoothly as we did. The City God Temple stood out to us in the sense that the temple seemed to be willing to move along with society, specifically with the presence of Daoist-themed iPhone 6 cases. The gift shop cashier claimed that all of the objects for sale were blessed (“kai guang”), so buying the items would almost give the consumer an added sense of security, thereby giving the temple added power in terms of its marketing to its consumers. Our long morning doing fieldwork ended on a delicious note when Yunwen brought us to her favorite noodle shop, which is part of the Jade Buddha Temple site. We each had mushroom noodle soup–yummy!

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The Arhats and the amazing Yunwen enjoying bowls of mushroom noodles at the vegetarian noodle shop at Jade Buddha Temple.

It’s hard to imagine that our 2-week trip to China is coming to a close soon. We will definitely remember these days even after departing… taking this course has also been such an eye-opening and significant part of the trip that only added to the wonderful experience here.