Day 8 & 9

This posting begins on Sunday, 5/29, as the prior posting ended with our tour of Shanghai on Saturday.  We had no classes Sunday, so it was a free day.  Early morning I went Zhabei Park and was invited to play badmitton serveral times.  Photo below is just one of those times.  Park was very busy and active.  Then took a long walk to Daning Park, a long distance from the University, and a much bigger park.  You will find several photos taken in Daning Park.  Fancy photos of the bride and groom are very popular in China, and there were many couples in the park having their pictures taken.  You will see these pictures, as well as children playing in the park.  It was also common for people to bring tents in the park.  I don't believe they camped overnight, maybe just to keep the bugs away.

On Monday went to my class on the China Phenomenon.  Instructor is good and am learning a lot about chinese history and the society.  Also on Monday I met our instructor, Dr. Sophia Chen, for the "Special Topics in Chinese Culture" class.  That evening I took her to the farmers market, then we went out to dinner.  I had meatball noodle soup for dinner, and ate it with chopsticks.

On Tuesday went to China Phenomenon class again then on to Tai Chi.  In the afternoon my class starts on "Special topics in Chinese Culture." 

My first badmitton partner at Zhabei Park

The Universtiy was having the graduation ceremony on Sunday.  These are a few of the graduates.



Here you can see 5 couples getting their wedding pictures taken in Daning Park



Amusement rides for the kids in the park



Young kids paddeling in their little boats.  Notice it is an inflatable pool, not a permanent one.



People bring these tents to the park.  What they do in them I am not sure.

There are two kids inside this plastic toy, making it turn in the water, and having lots of fun.



A balloon vendor, selling them from his bike.



My new buddy at the track.  We run together, then we play badmitton together.  This is all around 6:30 to 7:00 AM.

These are my early morning partners.



Day 6 & 7

This is an update for several more days in Shanghai.

On Thursday (5/26/11) USAC was able to obtain tickets to China's top reality show- China's Got Talent, similar to American's Got Talent TV show.  The show is recorded in the National Theater of Shanghai, and the school took our group downtown to participate in the show.  They even provided us with lunch.  So you will see a few photos of the group and me at the show.

On Friday morning I decided I needed to work out, and since I am still getting up every morning at 6:00, I would go to the track and run.  I went there and met several very friendly chinese men and ran with them.  After running they invited me to join their exercise class, which I did.  After the exercise session was over, many of them came over to me, I guess to hear a few words of English, and I must be a novelty. Then as I was leaving the stadium, they invited me to play badmitton, which I did.  After badmitton I then quickly went out on the street, got breakfast, went back to my room and showered and changed and then went to my 8:00 Tai Chi class.  The second class scheduled for Friday was cancelled.  That afternoon I met my speaking partner and we walked around campus and he explained and showed me a number of things.  His name is Jasper, and was formerly the head of Student Affairs for the Computer Science Department, but the government recently tapped him to be a leader in the Communist Youth League.

On Saturday USAC provided a tour of Shanghai.  The tour lasted all day and included a walk on the Bund, the walkway along the Huangpu river in Puxi (old part and original Shanghai), tour of Yuyuan Garden, lunch, and then a tour of Pudong, which included all the new buildings on the eastern side of the Huangpu river, then a ride up to the observation deck of the Pearl Tower.  Many pictures follow.




Our group at the National Theater, to be in the audience of China's Got Talent.  I think the sign says Shanghai University.




Photo of me and the retired Dean of the College of International Exchange.  He is also an excellent ping pong player.



As we were waiting outside for the show to start, one troupe asked me to join them.  They surely know my singing talents.





Then they want on stage to perfom, and without me.



The next day USAC took us on a tour of Shanghai.  Here we are on the Bund, i.e. by the river, in the old Shanghai, looking east toward the new Shanghai skyline in Pudong.



More of the new buildings in Pudong



A crooked walkway and pond in the Yuyan Gardens



The Yu Gardens were built during the Ming Dynasty by one of the wealty ministers of the emperor.  This was his personal residence and most all the buildings are original.  The Ming Dynasty lasted from 1369 to 1644, and was the Dynasty prior to the last one, the Quing Dynasty, that lasted from 1644 to 1911.




A beautiful rock garden.  While dragon replicas were not allowed, this animal only has three toes, so it was thought it could not be a real dragon.



Shopping and stores in the Garden area.  Of course there was a Starbucks and Dairy Queen there.



A Terp Dragon




Lunch after our tour of the Garden.  This is the Chef preparing our Peking Duck.




Then on to Pudong, the new part of Shanghai, and the financial center of China.  It was execeptionally clean, modern, and used creative architecture.



Jeff on the floor of one of the observation decks in the Pearl Tower in Pudong.

At the bottom of the Pearl Tower was a museum on the history of Shanghai.  This was a model of an opium den that was started after the British defeated China in the Opium War, and started importing opium.



More of the skyscrapers in Pudong

Day 4 and 5

  Had a busy two days and will try to fill you in on everything.  First, internet access is intermittent, and when I get it, it is so slow.  It may take me 20-30 minutes to upload three pictures to this blog.  So you can imagine how long it is taking me.

One night I went out with my new friend Jay Zhou, who I met in toastmasters.  He took me to a restaurant and helped me order dinner.  Then he took me shopping to buy a cell phone.  Everyone in China has one and it is necessary to be able to communicate with each other.  We went comparison shopping, in 4 stores, and finally bought one from the China Mobile location in the RT Mart, a big store like a Walmart.  He did a great job at negotiating a good price, and when you buy a phone here, you must also get a sim card from the telcom vendor.  Not all stores sell the phone with the card.  He then signed me up for a plan at 3 yuan a month that gives me limited number of minutes, free incoming calls, and not expensive outgoing calls.  A yuan is equal to about 16 cents.  He is a graduate student in engineering here at Shanghai University, and later that evening he took me to his lab and showed me the motors he is working on, his work is on motor controls.  Then his professor came and he introduced me to him.  Everyone was so nice and friendly.  You can see the photo of him and his motors.

Next you have two more pictures in Zhabei Park.  I won't show anymore pictures in the park. This is Wednesday morning and you will see a group exercising with flags.  Next is a group of women who are in the park singing every morning.

On Wednesday I went downtown, walked along the Bund, saw the famous skyline.  This Saturday our class has a tour of Shanghai and we will see this again, including a trip to the top of Pearl Tower, the impressive radio tower in Pudong.

Later in the afternoon I went to a ping pong group on campus.  They were also very nice and invited me to play with them.  They were all older, and I think it was because I was also a "senior."  It turns out one of the players is also my speaking partner, Professor Xi Jiu, who is also the retired Dean of the College of International Programs.

This afternoon our group was invited to be the TV audience for one of China's most popular TV programs, China has Talent.  So we are leaving at 12:00 for the TV studio.  It will be on the air in about two weeks.

Graduate student Jay Zhou with his motors.  He is working on motor controls.

An exercise class, early morning, in Zhabei Park



Group of women singing in the park.  They are there every morning.

 

Walking along the Bund, this is the interior of the Pudong Development Bank Building



The above two pictures are the skyline of Pudong.   Pudong is the newly developed eastern side of Shanghai, and I took this photo from the Bund in Puxi, the western side of Shanghai, the two sides being separated by the Huangpu River.

The walkway along the river is above and behind this wall of flowers.  You can also see the skyline of Pudong from this lower level.

This is Najing Dong Lu, across from Peoples Square, with statue of couple with small child and balloons.

Days 2 & 3 in Shanghai

Sunday was busy with an all day orientation.  This included both class room orientation, and a walk around campus to learn a little more about the different buildings and facilities.  Learned that Shanghai is divided into two sections, Pudong - which is eastern Shanghai, and is on the eastern side of the Hangpu River, and Puxi - which is western Shanghai, and is the original part of the city.  Puxi contains all the older original sections of the city, including most of the shopping, Peoples Square, the major parks, the Bund, and the original French and British concessions.  Pudong was developed at the direction of the Chinese government, and it includes the Pearl Tower and the new financial center of the city, including offices of the major banks, and the stock and commodity exchanges.  I may update this section after we go there this coming Saturday, which is when we get our orientation of the city.

I have been going to the Zhabei park early every morning (6:30 to 7:30) and it is amazing all the people there doing exercises, Tai Chi, playing badmitton, dancing and singing.  Yes, they are mostly older people.  I guess most of the young ones are either sound asleep, or getting ready for work.  There is this one group of older women that are there every morning singing away.

Monday afternoon I went to a class entitled "The Chinese Phenomenon."  Covered too much to include in this blog, but the history of the country and people is amazing.  For example, the main division of China is between the North and the South, similar to the eastern portion in the US.  The dividing line is the Yangtzee river.  The people are different physically and culturally, accents, education, jobs, interests, etc.

Monday evening I went to a Toastmaster's meeting on campus.  Members were very friendly, welcomed me, I spoke, and one of the members is even going shopping with me tonight, to help me buy a cell phone.

On Tuesday I had my first class on the "Introduction to Chinese Language" and then later had my class in Tai Chi.

What follows are some pictures of these two days.  The first four are pictures in Zhabei park

One of the many Tai Chi groups in Zhabei Park



Another gentleman in the park practicing with a spear.  They also practiced with swords



Here is the group in the park practicing with their swords.



This worker is cleaning up grasses growing in the pond.  Notice his tools are like chopsticks





This is Education Buidling 1 on Shanghai campus




This is the group of Toastmasters at the Monday night club meeting in Building 1



Typical Street scene near campus.  Note the McDonalds on the corner, and right next to it is the bank, Construction bank of China, which is allied with Bank of America, so there were no charges to cash there.



First day in Shanghai

Today, Saturday, is my first full day in Shanghai.  As I wasn't able to get a full nights sleep I was up quite early, like 3:30 AM.  Well, I finally left the dorm around 6:00 AM and went for a walk and for breakfast.  Wanted to go to a McDonalds to see if I could get WiFi, and I think I did.  Now I am worried about paying roaming and data charges to Verizon, so I've got to check this out.  After breakfast, first went to Zhabel Park, which is near the University. Lots of people dancing, exercising, practicing their Tai Chi, and just relaxing.  The Chinese seem to exercise more freely in their parks than Americans.  I made some friends in the one Tai Chi group, and they invited me to join them Sunday morning.  Then I took a long walk downtown, spent many hours walking, and stopped in a Starbucks in the JW Marriott for a rest.  I was searching for the famous Nanjing Road East, which is Shanghai's busiest and pedestrian only shopping district in the city.  I finally found it, and boy was it crowded.  I ate lunch at a typical Chinese restaurant on a side street off Najing Rd, then walked back to People's Square, and took the subway home.  What follows are some pictures from todays excursion.
P.S. Tomorrow is a full day of orientation, and classes start on Monday.

As you enter Zhabel Park, these women are doing a group exercise.  There are many exercise groups all over the Park.

Here is a group learning Tai Chi in the park.  This is the group that invited me to join them Sunday morning.  I may go if I can get up that early.



Here are my Tai Chi friends from the park

After a long walk to Peoples Square, you will see many photos of the park.

Carousel in the children's area of Peoples Square

Part of Peoples Park and the skyline

The Shanghai Museum in Peoples Square

Children's play area in fountain in Peoples Park



Shopping on the Famous Nanjing Pedestrian Road




Getting around the park and around many areas downtown was tricky.  There were many elevated walkways and underground walkways because they didn't want so many people crossing the intersections.



Teaching Building at Shanghai University

Jeff will be studying at Shanghai University in May and June, 2011, thanks to the support of the staff at the University of Maryland, including the Office of Education Abroad, and to USAC - the University Studies Abroad Consortium at the University of Nevada Reno.  I will be staying at a dormitory on campus, and expect to have internet available in the room, so you can contact me via email at jecohen@umd.edu. I hope to keep up this blog as I experience life at the University, in my classes, and during my time in Shanghai.

Please be sure to look at the "Pages" on the upper right of this Blog.  I pulled together some useful information for a background on China.

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Teaching Building at Shanghai University