This post shortly summarizes interesting events of past two months in Shanghai and surrounding area. It includes trip to Suzhou, SHUFE Olympics, visits to Shanghai botanical garden and certain high school and SHUFE International day. Enjoy the reading!
SHUFE Olympics (Nov. 4)
This exceptional sporting event took place at our campus' athletic track. Competition was preceded by opening ceremony during which students from all SHUFE schools and teachers tried to show what they are capable of. International students also presented short, 30 second act. Although the dance routine was nowhere near breathtaking, we tried our best and got free jacket for it :)
Competitions can be summed up by:
- running suits (fake of course) provided to participants by the school - free of charge
- lunch in cafeteria although provided with "free lunch" coupon - 5 kuai
- winning six silver medals by single French guy - couple of painful laps on track
- watching late entrant Tommi from Finland stealing gold medal in short put by last attempt in whole competition from the guy who led throughout six rounds - priceless
Silkiness of Suzhou (Nov. 14)
During November our "beloved" university offered us organized trip to Suzhou or Zhouzhuang (I think). As Zhouzhuang was labeled by more experienced travelers as a stinky dump (originally meant as Venice of the East), most of us decided to visit Suzhou (allegedly silk capital of Eastern China). For mere 100 kuai (11 EUR) we got bus ride, guide tour around some of the coveted sights, lunch and visit to silk factory (which I think would be for free anyway :) ).
Suzhou is famous across China for its picturesque gardens (see pictures gallery) and silk industry. We visited "garden to linger in" which although not the biggest or the most famous, is offering for visitors all pleasures (including bonsai kindergarten and tea house) garden is supposed to have. Of course in line with perception of western tourists we spent the biggest portion of our time sipping tea in the tea house - arguing which tea is better (more expensive or the less expensive) and what exactly are we drinking.
The highlight of this trip (at least for me) was visit to silk factory where we were shown the process of producing silk. It all starts with maggots and goes through cocoons of mulberry silkworm which are after careful selection unwounded on the mills into silk threads (one cocoon produces c. one mile of filament). Interesting think is that these "things" are cultivated and bred to the extent of perfect efficiency (they live altogether c. two months in which they are able to go through the whole life cycle and "plant seeds of the future generations"). Larvas are blind eating machines which in 35 days grow into full extent ready to hatch. Eight filaments are combined into one thread which is than used in clothes production. Even more interesting is the production of bedsheets. These are not weaved but manufactured by stretching of moistened cocoons one by one and pressing them together. Quality and price of the bedsheets depends on the number of cocoons used for them (ranging from 100 up to whatever you want).
Botanical garden and "daddy" of all high schools (Nov. 16)
Shanghai's botanical garden is huge and includes some of plants I have not seen in such size (ficus) or at all (no clue about the names). It is nice place to kill an afternoon but it does not differ substantially from the one back home or in Prague (only in size). Part of the problem might be that your faitful narator has no clue about the plants and species of plants and thus does not enjoy botanical gardens as much as people more affluent in the area (I noticed occassional cries of enthusiasm from my companions).
On the other hand, Shanghai High School no. 1, which we visited on the same day, took the breath away of all of us. This is prime example of duality of China. On one side you have extremely poor infrastructure and living condition (e.g. rural areas described in Wugong Shan post) and on the other you have this high school which has by far better facilities than any other high school I have ever seen (US included). Imagine indoor swimming pool, athletic track, huge parks and alleys, watter pool with fountains etc etc. Unfortunately, I have to admit that living standards at SHUFE (for everyone) and Fudan University (for Chinese students) are worse than what we saw here. (More on the duality of China and living in the extremes in future blog posts)
International day (Nov. 28)
On this day we were supposed to present our countries and try to introduce them to Chinese students (meaning provide national food and drink). Also some of us elected to prepare short presentation their national traditions (highlights are provided in Photos section). The whole program was anchored by our Chinese teachers who sung for us traditional Chinese songs. If judged by the interest of Chinese students attending the countries presentations, they are mostly interested in free drink and food (preferable alcoholic). Whichever stall / country run out of beverages or food the interest quickly vaporized.
Half-Marathon (Nov. 30)
As mentioned earlier, I run a half-marathon on Nov. 30. As of today, I am looking for other opportunities to run (Hong Kong anyone?). On the other hand, next two months will be very challenging for my practice regiment as I plan to travel all over this part of the world :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Botanic garden trip: Do not blame other people when actually it is you who are lack of knowledge of those lovely plant.
SHS: one error here: it is just Shanghai High School, no NO.1. About the duality, it needs more discussion. Well, you know we have practised the reform and open policy for 30 years, and at first, you can not wealth everybody at the same pace. The gap between the rich and the poor is getting bigger, but we know we are trying to solve the problem betweem effiency and fairness.
International day:
Have you ever thought that it might be your own problem coz your presentation was not as interested as it was.
Half-Marathon:
Good job
Post a Comment