Pictures from our Long Weekend

The weekend right after Thanksgiving, we had a long weekend trip planned with the whole group. We loaded up the bus early Friday morning and drove to Suzhou, a nearby water town. There we stopped at a silk factory, a museum, then loaded the bus to Nanjing.

When we arrived at Nanjing, the first thing we noticed was the traffic. While we were stopped in traffic we had the opportunity to watch a lit up sign spark, catch fire, then drop to the road. Needless to say this way amusing in many forms. Such as being morbidly curious, then scared, and somewhat amused.

At the Stinky Tofu place... too bad
 it was a really nice restaurant

For dinner our tour guide took us to a stinky tofu place. If you could imagine sewage and food thrown together... that is kinda close to the smell. It is hard to imagine that people love the food, too bad I cannot get passed the smell to try it.


On the way up to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's
 mausoleum

Outside of the Ming Tombs

Day two in Nanjing took us to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's mausoleum, the Ming tombs, and the Nanjing massacre museum. All of these places were interesting and full of culture.

We finished the trip off on Sunday by boarding the bus early and driving to a Bamboo forest. It was rainy, but I was happy to see the forest

bamboo

Bamboo Forest

 


Elephant outside of the Ming tombs

Street Vendor in Suzhou, I don't know what we
ate, but it wasn't bad!

Gifts for your Chinese roommate!

Some gift ideas for when you make the jump across the pond. The gifts that the Chinese roommates liked.

- College t-shirts
  Most of the roommates really enjoyed receiving a t-shirt with the name of the university you attend on it. Bright colors for the girls, and more subdued colors for the guys. It would be a good idea to bring one in a small, and one in a bigger size. Most of the roommates would fit into a small, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.

- Teddy Bears
  The girls love cutesy little bears that they can put on their shelves. If it says the name of your hometown/college/state/USA then you are good.

- Bracelets/Necklaces
  Girly gifts.

- Hats
  I think most guy roommates would appreciate a baseball cap. Once again with something from the USA/college/hometown etc. Or maybe your favorite team.

- Basketball Jerseys
  Basketball is huge in China. If you brought your favorite jersey, or a jersey of a team close to you, most of the guys will like it. Their favorite team in China is the Heat.


Chinese Male roommates:

These guys were mostly into games and computer things like that. Some liked music and some liked to study. Maybe a relatively simple to understand computer game would be a nice gift to give your male roommate. Unfortunately, I do not know much more than this about the male roommates.

Chinese Female roommates:

Anything cute and little girl-ish. Small nail polishes, lip gloss, lotions, stuffed animals, jewelery, etc. They are easier to shop for that the males. If you get a lotion, don't choose anything too strong. They prefer light, fresh scents over heavy scents.


Hope that makes the process a little easier!
 

What You Don't Need to Pack for China

So I did a post on what you needed to bring to China, here is the post with all the things you can leave behind in the states. This was you have more room in your luggage for other things. Everything listed will be things you can buy in China.

With the International Business program, during the first week they will take you to Walmart and you can buy most of the things there.

1) Shampoo/Conditioner

You can easily find shampoo and conditioner in China. They sell it at even the small convenience stores on the backstreet. I would recommend bringing the travel sizes for when you are traveling, and also for you to have until you can purchase a bigger size.

2) Contact solution

I also recommend bringing this in a small travel size and buying a bigger bottle when you arrive. This is sold at specialty glasses stores. But your roommate or teacher should be able to help you find some if you can't. In the mall, one subway stop over, by the entrance to Carrefour, there is a shop that sells contact solution. The entrance to Carrefour is in the basement of the mall.

3) Towel

You can buy one there, most students didn't bring one over to save room. And just using one towel all semester makes it ratty after a while, so you will probably end up buying a new one regardless.

4) Toothpaste

Travel size is all the is necessary until you buy a bigger tube.

5) Rain boots

You will probably need rain boots while in Shanghai. You could bring Sperry's too, but your feet won't stay warm enough.( In the winter of course) They sell rain boots at the markets, and you can bargain them down. They even have the ones with the lining on the inside so that you can double them as winter boots as well if you so choose. The underground market is at the Science and Technology Museum stop on subway line 2. You don't even have to leave the train station, literally, just get off the subway and you are in the market.

6) Umbrella

7) Notebooks/School Supplies

They have this stuff readily available at Carrefour, Walmart, or even the backstreet. And it will be cheaper than what you paid for in the states.

8) Books

Now, I would recommend you bring a book or two to read in your spare time; but it is not necessary to bring a bunch. There is an international bookstore where you can buy books in English. I brought over 4 books and they took up way too much space.

Letter to Myself

My study abroad advisor just emailed me a letter that I had written to myself back in May. The letter was part of a study abroad class that had to be completed before going abroad. Thought I would share and comment on how my experience in China has progressed from what I thought it would be like.

Dear Me,

I hope you had a good time in China and have come back with many souvenirs and stories to share. Hopefully nothing scary happened, and hopefully you didn’t get sick from any crazy food you may have tried. By now you should be able to converse with other native mandarin speakers. And you should have met many people from around the world who you have added to your friends list. You should have done well in all of your classes, and hopefully this note doesn’t make you upset in case any of the above is not true.

Now is too soon to tell where all you have been, but by the time you get this you will have been traveling around Asia like a pro; collecting information and knowledge that will make you a better-rounded person for the future. Maybe you wrote in your blog regularly so that others could keep up with your journey too, and posted pictures so they can see it as you see it. By the end of your time, no matter how good or bad it was; I hope that you will still be a study abroad advocate and will still want to travel the rest of the world.

Writing this letter to you now, I am on the couch in my house at Tech. We are all packing and getting ready for finals, Clay is even staying with you for the week before we make the 7 hour drive/move back home. I cannot possibly predict what all you will have experienced by the time you read this, or what you have gone through, but hopefully it will have made you a stronger, more independent person. I have to go, but know that I can’t wait to be where you are soon.

-Amanda

I didn't get to travel as much as I would have liked to. This program, although great, is very intensive. I probably wouldn't have chosen this program had I known that we would have Chinese 4 times a week for 3 hours at a time. Coupled with our other mandatory classes. We have Wednesdays off, but it would have been more beneficial to have Friday's off instead. And another thing that bothers me about the program is that they check attendance to make sure you are in class. We are all Juniors in college, I believe we are old enough to make decisions about whether or not we can skip a class. Everyone knows that it is not advised to skip class, but it is a choice we make. To have to explain that gets annoying. And if my grades aren't suffering, obviously me missing a couple of classes isn't going to harm me in the long run. (end of rant)

Anyways... this program is intensive, you have to take at least 2 business classes, and Chinese 4 times a week. It gets old. really fast... I have been in China for 4 months and haven't seen even a fourth of the country or cities. Going to Beijing wasn't in the program, so you have to go to Beijing during your own independent travel week. Then you will have about half a week to explore the rest of China.

Places I would have loved to seen:

1) Xi'an
2) Chengdu (PANDAS!)
3) Yunnan Provence (this is in inland China close to India)
4) Mongolia
5) Climb Mt. Huangshan
6) Visit areas north of Beijing

That's only in China, as you know we are within hours (via plane) to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. I would have loved to visit these places as well.


I am still an advocate for study abroad, I just should have better looked into programs before I came. I get jealous when I hear stories from others studying abroad in other countries and they are just visiting so many cool areas. I am not saying I haven't been fortunate, or that I am in any way ungrateful for this experience... I just expected more than what I have gotten.

I have been fortunate enough to never get food poisoning while in China, can't say the same for some of my classmates though. I have never truly been sick while here, save for a common cold. The school is right next to a subway station, so traveling around Shanghai has been convenient. And I can almost always find what I need amongst the back street people.

 

 

 

 

 

What you need to bring to China

So for whoever is reading this blog, be it future Alliance students or future China travelers, or people who just want to know... these are the things that are hard to find in China. Or are just good to have.


1) Medicine

You need to bring whatever medicine you take on a regular basis to China. I don't know how many times I have given my classmates simple over the counter medicine such as ibuprofen or tums. Maybe even consider bringing band aids and neosporin. And a allergy medicine. Simple things that you don't need to go to the doctor for. You will not find these things easily in China as you would in the USA or Europe.

2) Bug Spray

Mosquitoes are TERRIBLE here. Even now we are still having issues with mosquitoes. Mainly in the dorm rooms, gym, and classrooms. I have to spray myself with bug spray before I go to sleep or I wake up the next morning with tons of mosquito bites.

3) Mechanical Pencils

Erasers and mechanical pencils are in short supply. Everything else you will be good on. But when you are writing characters, you don't want to write in pen.

4) Skin Care

For the ladies, and men too. I would strongly advise bringing enough face wash and moisturizer for your time abroad. Most of the things here for the face contain agents that are supposed to make your skin whiter. This goes for body lotion as well. Not to mention things of this nature are considered "luxury" items so they are more than what you would pay for at home.

5) Deodorant

The deodorant here is mainly in spray form... and not as efficient. Bring like 2-3 containers of your own deodorant to China. This goes for the men as well

6) Electricity adaptor/converter thing

I got mine at Walmart and it was 10$. It is also for world wide use so that way you can use it in multiple countries. This was handy for when we traveled to Hong Kong and Macau. Not only that but you will need it for things you bring from home. I brought 2 with me.
 
7) For the Ladies

Certain feminine care products aren't available here. You can message me if you would like to know more.

8) VPN

This is a Virtual Private Network. This is how I am able to be on blogger. Otherwise it would be blocked because google and all things owned by google are blocked in China. Normally your school will have a VPN for you to use, make sure that you have it downloaded on your computer BEFORE you get to China, otherwise it will not work. I am using a VPN that isn't from my school because I didn't know about them before I came to China.

9) Hand Sanitizer

This is crucial because the majority of bathrooms here are repulsive and won't have any soap to wash your hands with. They also don't have toilet paper in the majority of them as well. But you can buy packets of hand tissues to use here. However you WILL NOT find hand sanitizer, so I suggest you bring a few.


That is all I can think about for right now. I will also make a blog on what you DON'T need to bring to China. Like things you can buy here so that you have more space in your suitcase.

Random Videos

 

Just what it is like when ever we have a group picture taken and the Asians taking pictures of us.

 

 

 

 

In Macau, by the big casinos

 

 

 

 

 

Top of the Macau tower, people bungee jump off of it. It is also a rotating restaurant. One of the best meals I've had in Asia thus far.

 

 

Banking in China

Hello! Long time no post... sorry.

Live has been busy and distracting... and I did say that I wasn't any good at this. But excuses aside I went on our field study trip, which was an educational field trip with everyone in the program. We went to Guangzhou [g-wong-joe], Hong Kong, Macau [ma-cow], and Zhuhai [juu-hi]. Pictures and more information on the trip to come! I promise!!

But for now I wanted to share some information on something that is important when coming to China for an extended period of time. That is banking. China is still for the most part a cash economy, with that said, it is hard to find places that will take a credit card, let alone a foreign credit card. Places that are international brands like major hotels, restaurants, and clothing stores will take credit cards. But your average day to day things will require cash. So this means you will be at the ATM a lot.

Before coming to China I did a ton of research on which banks had the best deals and partnerships in China. This is what I have compiled between that research and what I know now. I am not saying that these are the best options, or that it is completely necessary to do any of this, but it does save you quite a bit of money in foreign ATM fees.

Banks and deals are:

1) Bank of America

Bank of America has a partnership with China Construction Bank. With this partnership you can use your Bank of America debit card to withdraw money from the China Construction Bank ATM. The only charge is 1% fee of whatever amount of money you withdraw. Not bad huh? The drawback to this deal is that you have to use China Construction atm's. If for some reason you have to use another ATM you are then charged an outrageous fee. I believe one of my friends said it was in the $15 area. This is the most popular method amongst my peers.

2) Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo also has a partnership with a bank in China. This partnership is with China Agriculture Bank. The terms of this partnership are different that with that of Bank of America. With this partnership you have to set up an account with China Agriculture Bank, then have money transferred into the account from your Wells Fargo account. You have to let your banker know ahead of time so that they can be ready for it. You also have to give your banker at home your account information from the China Agriculture bank. The pros to this are that there is only a one time, flat rate charge of $8 to transfer money. So you can transfer over as much as you want for a flat rate fee. Then you can withdraw money from the Agriculture Bank ATM without any charges. You will also get an online card.(You have to have a special card to order things online here in China) The downside to this offer is that you will need someone who speaks Chinese to help you set up the account. The assistant program director went with me, so it was no problem. The other con is that once you transfer money over, you have to use it all in China, because you will not be allowed to transfer the money back to the USA. This is a Chinese policy. They try to keep as much money in China as possible. This was the banking option I took. And if for whatever reason I have to use my Wells Fargo debit card at another ATM, then I am charged a flat $5 non-Wells Fargo ATM fee.

3) Citi Bank
There are Citi Banks in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. And I am willing to bet they are in other cities as well. Had I known they were over here I would have set up an account with them. That way I could have used their atm's without any charges, and without any transferring. Citi used to have this awesome international student checking account that was virtually fee less. Unfortunately it is no longer an option for those who don't already have it. I didn't stop to think that Citi might actually be in China. I just assumed that foreign banks just weren't allowed in.

Anyways... I have friends who use their regular banks at home and just pay the ATM fees... but it adds up after a while. I thought this blog would be helpful for those preparing to come to China for a semester :) Of course I am no expert, and you should always talk to your own personal banker, but hopefully this will help shed some light.

Posts coming up are:
-Field Study trip and pics
-What to bring to China, and what to leave at home
-random videos of my life here