Sayonara from Tokyo

Well, our trip has come to an end. We are just about to leave for the Tokyo Narita Airport to fly home.

Thanks for following our Asian adventure of a lifetime!

Last Tango in Tokyo

Today marks our last day in Asia, as we leave for home tomorrow morning. Yesterday we had a great lecture by one of the Japanese professors at Rikkyo University in the morning. In the afternoon we were supposed to go and visit IBM, but we never found the Rikkyo students who were supposed to meet us at the subway station and take us there. So we had an unplanned free afternoon, which most of us took advantage of by doing a little more exploring. That's also what we are doing today. Tonight we have the big farewell dinner, and then it's off to the airport early in the morning to come home.

Arrival: Tokyo

We made it to our last stop on the trip yesterday afternoon on the bullet train from Kyoto. We are staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here in Tokyo, so we really know how to finish the trip on a high note. Today we spent the day touring the city in small groups with students from Rikkyo University, and in the afternoon student groups from each made presentations on three topics: campus life, career aspirations, and sustainable business development. After the presentations we had dinner with three-time Duquesne alum, Joe DeVito, who is a partner in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Tokyo office. Tomorrow we have a lecture at the university in the morning and then a visit to IBM in the afternoon.

The Imperial City

Yesterday we had a whirlwind tour of five or six of the most famous sites in Kyoto. We definitely made the most of our one day here. The only disappointing thing is that, unlike in China, we weren't allowed to enter too many of these buildings. We could only look at them from the outside. And if we were allowed to enter, we couldn't take any pictures inside. The first picture is of the Golden Pavilion, the first stop on our tour, and one of the best.

The second picture was taken in front of the Heian Shrine, a Shinto shrine near our hotel. This shrine was built in the 19th Century to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto.

The last stop on our tour was at a famous rock garden comprised of only 15 rocks. Apparently this garden is kept exactly the same way as it was when it was built in the 16th Century. When we got back to the hotel last night, we all dressed in our traditional kimonos for a Japanese dinner, which had some of the strangest food that we've had so far. (And that's saying something after what we had in China!) It was topped off by a "delicious" square of tomato-flavored gelatin, so how could you go wrong? This afternoon we're off to our last stop in Tokyo, so look for more updates from the new capital of Japan!

Arrival: Kyoto

We arrived in Kyoto late last night after a 2-hour bus ride from the airport in Osaka. Right now we are in the middle of our whirlwind tour of Kyoto since we are leaving tomorrow afternoon on the bullet train bound for Tokyo. Our hotel, a Ryokan, is very traditional with bamboo mats and beds on the floor. Most of us also have pictures of the bathroom, which is little more than a glorified airplane bathroom with a tub. The highlight of the afternoon is a visit to the Imperial Palace; I thought that was a Vegas original!

Panda-Monium on the Green Mile

I think the above picture says everything you need to know about the Beijing Zoo. Patrick's guidebook had this to say about it: "All zoos are prisons for animals, but the Beijing Zoo is like death row." This place was pretty rough. The "habitats" were little more than dirt holes surrounded by concrete walls. Well, what more do you expect from a zoo that charges you $2.75 to get in?

In the morning we went to the Summer Palace, which most of us agree was the best thing that we've seen in Beijing. The place was gigantic, and most of us were exhausted after wandering around and scaling staircase after staircase to see the different parts of the palace.

Today is our last day in Beijing, and it's a free day for everyone until 5:30. Most people are going shopping. Dr. Marlin is going to the museum of the revolution, and I'm going to visit another logistics company with one of the Chinese professors. Tonight we are having our big farewell dinner feast at a revolving rooftop restaurant, and tomorrow we leave for the airport around 11am.

Look for more posts from Japan!

Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City

After class in the morning yesterday, we spent the afternoon in Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City. You may recall the famous footage of protests in Tiannamen Square from 1989; we saw the exact location where that single student stood in front of the tank. This is also the area where Chairman Mao's mausoleum can be found, but we had a "Wally World" moment when we found out that it was closed for renovations until September.

In the evening we all succumbed to our desire for American food and took a trip out to the Hard Rock Cafe. It happened to be "Retro Night," and there was a live band that belted out "classics" all night. Any band that starts the evening with "I'm All out of Love" by Air Supply is all right in my book!

Great Wall of Badaling

I guess our budget is running out because yesterday we visited the Great Wall of Badaling instead of the Great Wall of China. (Actually, Badaling is one of the best places from which to climb the Great Wall.) After the Great Wall we went to the Sacred Road to see approximately 30 stone statues and a Ming Dynasty tomb.

Today we had class on the Chinese economy in the morning and then visited the Silk Street Market in the afternoon.

Happy Mothers' Day from Beijing!

The entire Asian study abroad group wants to wish all of the mothers out there a Happy Mothers' Day! (Of course, I especially want to wish my mother a Happy Mothers' Day. See, writing this blog does come with some perks!) The second picture is a close-up of the signs that are being held in the first picture. As you might imagine, we are told that these characters say "Happy Mothers' Day," although we have no way of confirming whether or not that is true.

Today we had our first class in Basic Chinese. I'm not sure how much anyone remembers, although Jason was seen trying it out on the front desk personnel at the guest house with some success. It didn't help much that the professor, pictured above in the beige DU hat, simply pointed to the board when someone didn't understand a certain pronunciation. That might have worked had the writing on the board not been in Chinese!

After class we went to the Lama Temple to see the Guinness Book of Records' world's-largest statue of Buddha. Those Guinness folks aren't kidding, as this sucker was quite big (over 18 meters tall above ground). Then we had a terrific dinner of Beijing "Don't Call It 'Peking'" Duck with some of the professors and students from Beijing Jiaotong University.

Tomorrow we're headed to the Great Wall in the morning, so expect some great shots!

The Orient Express

Greetings from Beijing! I've finally been able to get access at Beijing Jiaotong University in order to make a new post.

Before we left Xi'an on Friday, we visited the Shaanxi Province Historical Museum and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The overnight train to Beijing was actually a lot nicer than any of us thought it would be. We left Xi'an around 8:30pm and pulled into Beijing around 7:15am on Saturday morning. Now we are in Beijing until next Sunday afternoon when we leave for Japan. This morning we had class in basic Chinese, and we are about to leave for a temple in a half hour or so.

The Terra Cotta Army of the Qin Dynasty

Today China provided us a little taste of home. The temperature was in the 50s, and it rained off and on the entire day. Zhou, our guide, told us that they only get about 20" of rain all year, so of course we had to catch some of it while were were here for a few days. It was a far cry from the high 80s the previous day when we were biking on the walls of Xi'an.

We visited the amazing Terra Cotta Army Museum on Thursday. This is the site of approximately 8,000 life-size clay warriors that were constructed to guard the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty approximately 2,200 years ago. When the warriors were discovered in 1974, almost all of them were in pieces, so all of the soldiers pictured above were pieced together and renovated. I can't imagine the patience that is required for that job! In the evening we had a 5-course meal and saw a traditional show at the Tang Dynasty Theater. Zhou had one of the performers bring a cake to Dr. Marlin for his birthday yesterday, and he had to cut it with a gigantic scythe. (I was at a different table, so I'll try to get a picture of that from someone else to post later.)

We have a few more sites to see in Xi'an today before we board the overnight train for Beijing tonight. I won't be able to post again until we get to Beijing on Saturday, so stay tuned until then! Oh, and Happy Birthday, Sarah! Wait until you see the things that I've bought Marie!

Northwest to Xi'an

Today we flew to Xi'an, the ancient capital of China. Since we got up so early in the morning, we only visited the city walls once we got to Xi'an. We all rented bicycles and rode the 9 miles on top of the walls. The view is amazing, although I spent most of my ride trying to avoid all of the potholes in the bricks.

In the evening we had a traditional hot pot dinner. It's like a fondue meal where each person is given his or her own pot of broth. Then each person has to cook their own meat, noodles, and vegetables. Amazingly enough, no one had to go to the burn ward after this one.

Today we are spending the whole day visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an. I'm expecting some amazing pictures from this one. Stay tuned!

Silk and More in Suzhou and Shanghai

I think all of us agree that today was another excellent day. It started off with a visit to the Net-Minder's Gardens in Suzhou. These gardens were even older than the Yuyuan Gardens in Shanghai that we visited a few days ago, having been built somewhere around 900-1000 A.D. Then it was off to the silk factory. The tour was a little disappointing as we only saw a tourist slice of the actual silk-making operation, but we had ample time to peruse the factory store. No one needed a forklift to take their purchases back to the bus, so it seemed like everyone was purchasing responsibly. After the silk factory we took a boat cruise of the canal (read: moat) around Suzhou and ended up at the breathtaking Tiger Hill park. Dr. Marlin couldn't resist striking a pose to celebrate the year of the pig.

Upon our return to Shanghai, we had an hour or so of shopping at a large market that we saw the other day. Mallory currently holds the record for the best negotiating skills; she bought a bracelet that was quoted as 2600RMB for 160RMB (approximately $20). We all have some work to do to catch up with that.

After dinner we ascended the famous Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower to get an aerial view of the city at night. Just picture the CN Tower but with much more to see below. Tonight is our last night in Shanghai, as we are catching a flight to Xi'an in the morning. This means that we also have to bid farewell to our excellent tour guide, Vivi. Many of the pictures that you see are courtesy of his handiwork.

Water Village of Zhouzhuang

Yesterday we toured the water village of Zhouzhuang, dubbed the "No. 1 water village in China." That sounds impressive, although I'm not sure how competitive that category is. This was definitely a rustic outing, as we were strolling through canal-bordered streets of merchants yelling...err...trying to entice us to buy. We took many wrong turns, often stumbling across clothes lines full of laundry. The highlight of the visit was the temple area, a large garden with many bridges and small shrines. The picture of the Buddha statue below was taken at one of these shrines.

Today we are visiting the silk factory in Suzhou, and then it's back to Shanghai for the night.

All Around Shanghai

Good morning/evening everyone! (It's morning here, evening there. I don't know what the proper greeting is.)

Yesterday we had a terrific tour of Shanghai. The day started out with a walk along the Bund, a boardwalk-type area overlooking the new financial district across the river. At the end of our walk, we stopped for a traditional Chinese tea service. (The picture above was taken outside of the tea house.) Then we toured the Yuyuan Gardens, a tranquil oasis in the middle of some of the most crowded market streets we have ever trod that was built in 1559. (The picture below was taken at the Happy Fish Pagoda in the gardens.)

After lunch we went to the Shanghai Museum and saw thousands of years' worth of paintings, ceramics, sculpture, and coinage. Of course, the special exhibit currently on display at the museum was entitled "300 years of Art in America"! In the evening we had dinner with a group of management students at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and then we capped off the night with an acrobatic show. (I'm sure that many of the students have pictures of me taking advantage of the theater's comfortable chairs to catch up on some sleep!)

It was a tremendous day, and it already feels like we've been here for weeks. I'm sure that the rest of the days will not be this busy. If they are, I don't know too many of us who will last the three weeks! Today we're headed to Zhouzhang, a medieval water village, and tomorrow we visit the silk factory in Suzhou. I put the over/under for the amount of souvenirs purchased there to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the GDP of a small nation.

I've been asked to relay a message for Sugarface: Dad says to do your math homework (I concur!) and that he loves you very much!

Arrival: Shanghai

Greetings from Shanghai! After more than 24 hours of travel, we arrived at our hotel in Shanghai around 10pm on Saturday night. (That's 10am Pittsburgh time.) The plane rides were long, of course, but tolerable. We were treated to such interesting meal combinations as seafood pasta and peach yogurt as well as the greenest green tea that I've ever seen. The guide who met us at the airport is very knowledegable, although most of his knowledge appears to be about American television shows. I might not learn much about Shanghai, but at least I can catch up on the 24 that I'm missing!

Today's itinerary includes a day-long, whirlwind tour of Shanghai including dinner with students at Shanghai Jiaotong University followed by a Chinese acrobat show at night.

This is the shuttle that met us at the Shanghai Pudong Airport. Apparently they weren't expecting us to bring so much luggage because there was only room for about half of the bags in the storage compartment!