We started our day at 8:30 AM after a Chinese and Western breakfast, which was more Chinese including dumplings, rice, and other Chinese dishes. The students enjoyed it –Dr. Spangler and I are already impressed with how our group has completely embraced the culture.
After breakfast, we attended a lecture at Beijing Jiaotong University on Economics. It was interesting to learn about the similarities and differences between China and the United States. For Dr. Marlin, Dr. Spangler, and myself, it was exciting to see so many old friends. The professor who lectured spend time at Duquesne in fall 2009. The Dean welcomed us and we saw several other people who we’ve met during past trips. They had a nice “welcome” sign for us and it was exciting to see our name in lights. For the next few days, we will be here with our Sustainability MBA students, who are also studying here. Both groups are pictured below.
After our lecture, we toured campus, and had lunch. The Chinese students who were our guides were so nice. They will be with us our entire time at BJTU. Many of the students who assist us while we are here are either studying tourism or business, so they are excited to practice their English, which is very good. Everyone we’ve met is very kind and gracious that we are visiting their country. The statue of Mao is in the center of campus.
After our tour, we asked the Chinese students where we should go for lunch. They weren’t sure wheat to tell us. When we asked where their favorite place to eat is, the emphatically said KFC! Not that we’re here to eat “Western” food, we thought it would be interesting to see what a Chinese KFC was like. After a “10 minute walk” (that was really a 35 minute walk) we made it to the restaurant. Of course there are similarities and differences and, all in all, it was good. KFC is a popular place for dinner dates—many couples will go there for a night out. Dr. Spangler and I began taking photos and were told we could not take any. OOPS!
The afternoon included a visit to Summer Palace. When the Jin Dynasty emperor Wányán Liàng moved his capital to the Beijing area, he had a Gold Mountain Palace built on the site of the hill. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures. It is an extremely large site and we could have spent all day there and not have seen all the buildings. One word comes to mind when walking though the Summer Palace—heavenly. Our students experienced what it was like to be a movie star. Many Chinese wanted to take their photo with them since they don’t see many foreigners and since they were all so beautiful. It was a fun experience!
Our evening included the world famous Peking duck at one of the most popular restaurants. There is an art to carving the duck into 138 pieces, and it is fascinating to watch the chefs do this tableside. Everyone loved it and not only got to try this delicacy, but many others including sea cucumber, duck feet, edamame, bean curd, and one student even tried the duck head—more power to Tom as I’m not that daring! There were also some dishes that weren’t as “daring” such as cabbage with peanut sauce, beef and mushrooms (the mushrooms are different than ours), salad, fresh fruit, and much more, so all left with a very full stomach. Several of the BJTU faculty and students joined us as well and brought gifts for our students. It was an enjoyable evening.
Tomorrow we’re off to the Great Wall! I’ll post when we return.
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