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Summer Abroad
Will Cox is a rising senior at Duke University. For most of the month of June, he will be blogging from China, where he expects experiences from all ends of the spectrum -- from the thriving metropolis of Beijing, where the 2008 Summer Olympics were held, to the southern provinces such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Will hopes to gain a more worldly perception of America, and to learn about the Chinese culture, economy, cuisine and people.
My overall experience in China was very beneficial to me. I was lucky to be able to see both the face-paced lifestyles of the people in the large cities, as well as the laid-back people in the rural areas.
One of the main things that surprised me is how much China is still developing. I had heard about their thriving economy, but I expected my travel destinations to have things similar to the United States such as electricity and drinking water. This was not the case; even the nice hotels I stayed at didn't have purified drinking water, and I was lucky that my hotel in the rural part of China had electricity at night. I think that if China is truly going to succeed as an international powerhouse they are going to have to improve on some of the things that many people take for granted.
My favorite things included the wide variety of food and the culture. The camaraderie between people was really appealing to me, and it was interesting to see how Communism and capitalism...
After my stint in China I traveled to Singapore to visit some family friends.
It was a drastic turnaround going from Luipanshui to Shanghai, the largest city in China.
The first thing that I noticed in Shanghai was the amount of Westerners there. Everywhere I looked there was a Westerner snapping photos or speaking in a language that I recognized, and I welcomed the familiarity.
My local tour guide took me on a boat cruise to see the two sides of Shanghai, the business district of Pudong, and the residential district of Puxi. After my overview of the city, the guide and I went the Shanghai Museum where I saw exhibits in calligraphy, painting, metal work, porcelain, and sculpture.
The most exciting thing in Shanghai was the Shanghai World Financial Center, which is the tallest roofed building in the world standing at 492 meters high.
After a long day of sightseeing, I went to a tea tasting ceremony with my guide. She explained to me that each type of tea benefits a different aspect of life, and how a person feels will determine what type...
Luipanshui is where I ate the strangest cuisine. The popular dishes in the community where I stayed included dog, snake, chicken feet, and beef, all of which the locals love.
My trip to the Wuyi Mountains was a relaxing break from the more aggressive sightseeing that I had been doing throughout most of my trip in China.
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