I love Fast Food Chains

As I am sure you can tell by now we had some free time today and it was great! After our nice little shopping excursion we had decided we should probably get some lunch and boy is it great to see McDonald's in China. I know that traveling abroad is all about a cultural experience and trying new things, but when it comes to food I am most certainly not the first one to jump up and try something new...or even at all. So I sure was happy when my group decided to stop at McDonald's. We had been having a discussion on pervious parts of the trip trying to guess at whether or not the food would taste the same and after trying it we came to the conclusion that there really is no difference except for a few items that we found to only be available in China. The first are the dipping sauces for the Chicken Nuggets...Melissa tried the Sesame Mayo and she liked it...and we found out one other to be something with Wasabi, but the other two are yet to be determined. Hannah and I also tried something new...a coconut pie. It was very delicious, as I really like coconut, and I hope that maybe it will be offered at home! It was nice to have a meal that we were used to and according to Karine it really put a pep in our step.

Free Time and University Visit

Today, May 27, 2008, we had our last full day in Hangzhou, China. We had the opportunity to have some free time in the morning that everyone was excited for. Some students slept in, others walked to West Lake, and some did some shopping.



Lunch this time was on our own. A few of us ate at McDonald's, some ate at Pizza Hut, some had Chinese food and a few ate some new kinds of fruit. Although we all love Chinese food, for those of us who ate at McDonald's and Pizza Hut, it was a welcome break. Even one of our Chinese guides ate at McDonald's!

It was also very hot today and was the hottest day so far on our trip. The high today was around 89 degrees Fahrenheit with about 88% humidity! In Minneapolis today, the high is supposed to be around 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 58% humidity. I think that when we come back to Minnesota, we will all be very cold!

After our free morning and lunch, we boarded our bus and drove about an hour outside of Hangzhou to Zhejiang Forestry University. We were greeted by students and faculty at the University. The Assistant Dean, Mr. Bao gave us an overview of the university and the School of Landscape Architecture. The University has two campuses, one called East Lake and the other called Yijin. The campus that we visited was the East Lake campus that was built in the last six years. The cool thing about the building of the campus is that the students were involved in the design of the gardens around the university. This is a really cool idea because it integrates concepts that learned in class into a practical setting. The School of Landscape Architecture offers both the bachelors degree and the masters degree. There are four different bachelors degrees that are offered: Landscape Architecture, Landscape Architecture Art Design, Civil Engineering, and Architecture.

After the overview, one of our professors, Mary Meyer, gave a short introduction about who we were and why we were in China. Then everyone in our group introduced themselves including their name, major, any horticulture experience, and year in school. Anytime any of us would say any words in Chinese (hello, thank you, etc.), they would clap, which I thought was very cute!

Next they gave us a tour of the University classrooms and greenhouses. The classrooms were very nice and much like the classrooms that we have in the United States. Many of the classrooms had air conditioning as they still attend school when it is hot. They have a display room that has many of their designs and models. Some of the designs were traditional Chinese style gardens and others were western styles. There was also a mix of media including computer aided design, hand drawn designs, and models.

At the end of the tour, our two professors met with some of the professors at the University while we went to talk with the students from the University. We had a chance to talk with them about life in China versus the United States, what their university was like, what their classes were like, and we told them about our university and our lives. It was very cool and one of the best parts of the visit to the University.



At first some of the students were hesitant to talk to us because of their English. But this quickly evaporated when we started talking to them and told them that their English was very good. They all spoke very good English and when we didn't understand, they would explain what they meant and we did the same thing. Here is where we really were able to see the differences between China and the United States. For instance, they showed us one of the dormitories and we learned that most of the students live in the dorms as they come from other places in China. Students are separated by year and gender. Even post-graduate and graduate students live in the dorm.

After about an hour, we went to dinner. At dinner, we ate with three of the post-graduate students that we showed us around. This was a very fancy authentic Chinese meal complete with various kinds of fish, seafood, duck, and vegetables. There were many new dishes to try at this dinner. One of the dishes that we had that was new was a lotus soup. The soup was made into a yin yang symbol that was very cool. Another one of the dishes that we had that was new was bamboo. The bamboo was thin, cut into small pieces, and was cooked kind of like in a soup.

At the end of dinner, we went to listen to a presentation by one of our professors Mary Meyer. On the way there it started to rain and by time we got inside, we were all fairly wet. Professor Meyer gave a talk on the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The talk was in English so that we could understand it. The students and professors were very interested in the arboretum and asked many questions. They seemed very intrigued by the concept of donations and what a person would get out for donating money to the arboretum! At the end of the day, the students did not want us to leave and wanted to spend more time with us.

The day was a busy day. We all enjoyed our free time and also enjoyed the time spent at another University. The visit to the University allowed us to see many of the differences and similarities between China and the United States. Pictures will be posted soon of the University visit as well!

Pizza Hut is Classy in China

Today in the morning the group had free time to explore the area around the hotel.  Some of us began by taking a short walk to a West Lake causeway to take in the view.  Two of us were flagged down by a small  boat as we were walking back toward the hotel and were offered a ride, which we accepted.  The man rowing the craft was very nice and offered green tea and took pictures.  The ride was not only very beautiful but also a welcome break from walking during the hot and humid morning.  After we were dropped off on shore we walked to a mall to try an American classic: Pizza Hut!  Take what you know about Pizza Hut and throw it out the window.  The Chinese Pizza Hut was a very nice establishment, nothing like the dark and aging restaurants I've encountered.  In addition to the pizza (which included some interesting Chinese toppings) they sold smoothies and Starbucks-style espresso drinks.  The pizza tasted quite familiar and was a nice little slice of home.

So it was hot today.

Today was by far the muggiest, most uncomfortable day of the trip.  In between short periods of wind, the air was thick and heavy.  Even right away in the morning before the heat of the day there was a thick wall of humidity awaiting us at the hotel front door.  For most of the day my face had beads of sweat on it.  The shower and clean clothes after we got back to the hotel were fabulous.