Tag: juliareinholdgw

By juliareinholdgw

This weekend I went on one of the most challenging excursions of my life – hiking through Wuyuan, China’s mountainous rural landscape. Me and two other classmates hiked 50 miles over the course of 2 days in one of China’s most beautiful areas, got lost over 100 times, and even accidentally ended up climbing a mountain into a different province than what Wuyuan was in. It was an amazing, yet tiring, experience, and taught me a lot – not only about how far I could push myself, but also about Chinese rural life.

...continue reading "Trekking Through Rural China"

By juliareinholdgw

Shanghai, like many Chinese cities, is known for its skyscraper forests and busy downtowns. In the United States, we usually think that a city is composed of the downtown area and suburbs. China does not have what we would usually consider “suburbs”. As China underwent its rapid developmental race, people rushed to live downtown in the big cities. Huge apartment buildings were constructed to hold the increasing population of the east coast. Yet in this rush to put up some of the tallest buildings in the world, Chinese cities never developed a gradual transition from city to rural area. The “suburb” is not a concept in China the way it is in the US.

...continue reading "Suburbs of Shanghai"

By juliareinholdgw

Midterm season is upon me, and my hunt for the perfect café is on. Luckily, Shanghai seems to have been influenced heavily by its French colonizers, and has a bustling café culture. There are cafés everywhere, not just downtown in the European Quarters. Interestingly, a lot of these cafes try to mimic European style cafes, with croissants and cheesecake.

But, instead of like other “Western” restaurants that try to serve Italian or French food, the baked goods in the cafés are absolutely delicious. Shanghai has absolutely amazing cheesecake, it’s light and fluffier than the cheesecake found in the States. However, all of these cafes have a great Chinese twist, they sell intricate teas that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet. A big trend in China now is fruit teas, teas that are made from a mix of dried fruit and flowers. They are served in clear pots, and are not only sweet and wonderful tasting, but also look fascinating.

Because midterms at Fudan University are a lot like finals at GW (where everything is in one week), I have recently spent a lot of time in cafés. Here are a few of my favorite:

Pain Chaud. Pain Chaud is interesting because it’s part of a restaurant complex that includes a bar and an Italian restaurant. Despite the fact that was created specifically to target international students at Fudan, the café has really great croissants. It’s also located in the middle of a street that I would call “old China”, where trash, peddlars, dust and crumbling buildings dominate. So, this café is an interesting mix, but close to my apartment and a good place to work with good pastry and free lemon water.

...continue reading "Shanghai’s Cafe Culture"

By juliareinholdgw

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to visit one of China’s most beautiful cities, Suzhou. Suzhou is like a giant, more metropolized water town. Nestled among the cities large buildings are beautiful canals with old ancient buildings and serene stone bridges.

One of the sites that we saw while in Suzhou was the Lingering Garden. The Lingering Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a classical Chinese garden.

...continue reading "SuZhou, A Heavenly Paradise"

By juliareinholdgw

The Chinese school system is entirely different from the US school system. From a very young age, Chinese students are put in a competitive and stressful academic environment both at home and in school. In contrast, American kids are taught about sharing, creativity, and given a fun, playful environment during their earliest school years.

The Chinese teaching method is all about memorization. This method is ancient, stemming all the way back from the teachings of Laozi, a Confucian-Daoist scholar. Ancient China’s entire political and educational system revolved around memorizing Confucian Teachings. Although today Chinese students still learn through memorization, they learn all different subjects like Chinese, Math, Science, History, and English.

...continue reading "The Life of a Chinese College Student vs. Life of an American College Student"

By juliareinholdgw

This past week, two of my friends came to Shanghai for GW’s spring break, and I had an absolutely marvelous time introducing them to my new home.

We went to a number of cool places, some of them typical touristy destinations, and some pretty atypical places. One interesting pace that we ended up at was SongJiang mosque, a Sunni Muslim mosque 20 miles outside downtown Shanghai. The mosque was one of the most beautiful places I have been in Shanghai, it was secluded and full of beautiful gardens. The mosque itself included all characteristics of a Muslim mosque, however its architecture reflects the Ming Dynasty, the period when it was built, around 1391. A mix of Chinese and Arabic writing decorated the prayer halls, graves, and signs, which to me was an interesting combination to see as the Middle East does not have a big cultural influence in Shanghai. Islam in China is a really interesting topic.

It is not a very common religion for Chinese on the East Coast to practice and is more popular in the Northwestern provinces, especially Xinjiang. The existence of 2 of China’s minority Muslim groups, the Hui and the Uyghurs, are sometimes seen as a threat to the government in Beijing because of their inclinations for independence. Although clashes between these groups and the government are not publicized, they can get violent and lead to the shutdown and blackout of certain areas. Seeing this rather secluded mosque in a very secular area of Shanghai was fascinating, and made me wonder about all the challenges the Muslims living in Songjiang have faced over the years.

...continue reading "Friends in Shanghai"

By juliareinholdgw

 

I’ve been in China for almost 5 months so far and there are numerous things I love about the city. There are 5 particular things, however, that both amaze me and put a smile on my face.

1. The Metro

The Metro in Shanghai is bewilderingly fast and efficient. Whenever I think about the subway systems in the United States – the 30 minute waits, the multiple breakdowns, the badly needed upgrades – I always think about how much more advanced China’s new metro systems are. The cars come every couple of minutes, can cross ten miles in 20 minutes, and are astonishingly clean. The Chinese government has done an amazing job with both their inter and intra-city transportation system. Now, China has a network of high speed bullet trains that can take you between cities in the blink of an eye. This transportation infrastructure makes both getting around Shanghai (and China) easy and affordable. Unlike DC, I never worry about being late in Shanghai because the subway is so fast and easy. Shanghai, one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world, stretches across almost 2,500 square miles. My university is almost 10 miles away from downtown Shanghai, however only takes me 20 minutes to get there. In a fast and exciting city full of millions of people, it is amazing to see how connected the community is through this intrinsic network of speed and efficiency. The ability for the Chinese government to create such structures has always blown my mind.

...continue reading "My 5 favorite things about Shanghai (so far)"

By juliareinholdgw

Shanghai is an interesting city because if contains a beautiful amount of contrast. Shanghai is one of the most modern cities in the world, with tall skyscrapers, a dashing subway system, and sprawling miles of metropolitan area. However, Shanghai also retains extraordinary elements of traditional Chinese life, with ancient buildings and unique Chinese culture. Living in Shanghai for almost 2 weeks now, I have been able to get a surface glimpse of this amazing contradiction, and have even been able to start exploring deeper into it. It's pretty fascinating. Fudan University is located a couple miles from the city center, in the rather quiet Yangpu district (however, quiet is a matter of opinion. Although many Chinese may deem Yangpu as "quiet", it is still crowded and bustling in my mind). One road, Daxue Lu (University Road), located in the Fudan University area, perfectly displays Shanghai's culture contrast. One side of the road contains a more typically Chinese atmosphere, with crowded outdoor vendor stalls selling steamed and fried traditional foods, classical restaurants with yelling customers and staff, begging vendors selling cheap, tourist merchandise on the side of the road, and cramped indoor restaurants that would not pass an American health inspection. The other side of the road looks like it has been taking right out of DC. It looks like a typical Western-style college street with cute, hipster cafes, flower-filled boutique-like brunch places, and modern restaurants and bars.

...continue reading "Shanghai’s Contrast of Culture"

By juliareinholdgw

Tomorrow is the first day of school at Fudan University and strangely enough, I could not be happier to get up early in the morning to go to class.

The Fudan campus is absolutely beautiful. Fudan combines a mix of traditional Chinese architecture, European colonialism, modern-age structures, and scattered gardens. The University itself was founded in 1905, during the last years of the Qing Dynasty. Because of the large European presence in Shanghai during this time, it isn't surprising that buildings such as Zibin Hall mark the campus.

Fudan University is also extraordinarily large. It comprises of 4 campuses scattered throughout Shanghai. The main campus, Handan, is where I am staying and where all of my classes our. Handan is divided into two sections, North and South. Walking from my apartments to the front gate (located at the edge of North campus) itself takes 40 minutes. Most students here own bicycles, as dorms are located far away from academic buildings. Although renting or buying a bicycle may save me time and get me to class faster in the mornings, Chinese roads are a lot more dangerous than in the US. Drivers tend not to stop for bikers or pedestrians and the sides streets dedicated to bicycles are crowded with motorbikes, cabbies, and other vehicles.

...continue reading "First Day of School"

By juliareinholdgw

 

The first week in a new place is always exciting, hectic, and even a little scary. I have been in China for 10 days now, and it's been a complete whirlwind. Because classes for my program have yet to start, me and some other study abroad mates have spent countless tireless but amazing days checking out this new place.

So far, we have spent time in two cities, Nanjing and Shanghai. Both of these cities are located midway down China's east coast and therefore have their own unique food, culture, history, and people. Nanjing has two very unique historical elements to it. First, the city has a lot of beautiful Ming dynasty architecture, palaces, tombs, and gardens. There are many of these sites scattered around the city, including a large city wall, Gu Lou temple, an old palace, and most famously, the Ming Tombs. The Ming Tombs are located on this mountain in the middle of Nanjing, and it is said an old Ming emperor and his wife are buried underneath the tombs with hoards of treasure, although no one has ever found them.

...continue reading "The First Week"