Hangzhou – Valpo Voyager

Tag: Hangzhou (page 1 of 3)

The Past 48 HRS

Traveling to China was an experience in itself. As I entered the airport terminal the flight attendant announced that the passengers would soon begin to board. First class. Business class. Premium economy and then there I was, my seat number had been called. I then grabbed my carry on, along with my passport in hand and prepared for a journey that would change me for the rest of my life. I didn’t know what to think of the 17 hr. journey, however I did come prepared with countless movies downloa 20150824_090503 ded on my Ipad as well as an awesome playlist that would keep me grounded as I flew through the skies. 10 hrs of sleep (more or less), 2 movies, and a 2hr playlist later there I was, in Hong Kong. It was not my final destination but rather the first of two stops I had before I would reach Hangzhou. As I landed in Hong Kong a huge sigh of relief came over me as the hard part was now over. I had another 2 ½ hr flight from Hong Kong to Shang Hai but that seemed minuscule compared to the 14 ½ flight that I had dealt with previously.

Everything had gone well, the hardest part of the trip was now over and I was that much closer to Hangzhou. That is, until an error occurred with my groups tickets. Unfortunately we were booked on two separate flights, half of us had a connecting flight as soon as we landed in Hong Kong to board a plane to Shanghai. The other half however, was booked for a flight to Shanghai the next day. Essentially, we were all stuck in this foreign country where English was not the first language and had to figure out what to make of this situation. We had two choices: work with the airline company and try to stay together or we separated and hoped for the best. We chose to stay together and as we did our stay in Hong Kong got longer. We were put up in a hotel, courtesy of the airline company, and that following morning we would all depart from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Although calling our teacher, calling our travel agency, conversing with the airline company and panicking in our spare time only allowed us to have 4 hrs of sleep, in an actual bed, we knew this trip would be worth it. So, the following morning we arose from our beds, and headed back to the airport we had only been 4hrs previously. Again with tickets and passports in hand, I walked into the now, Hong Kong terminal and awaited for my departure. That is, until the plane got delayed for another hour but nonetheless we made it to Shanghai. From there it would only be a three hour drive from Shanghai to Hangzhou, our final destination but who could have known that a 3hr drive would quickly turn into 6hrs. due to rush hour traffic. By then everyone was both mentally and physically exhausted but there we were, finally standing in front of Zhejiang university, A place we would call home for the next four months and it had been so worth the wait. 2 days later, Chicago–>Hangzhou ETA 48hrs.

Songyang, China

October 28, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

This weekend our class visited Songyang, a “little” town three hours (by bus) southwest of Hangzhou. Although it definitely qualified as a city (our twelfth floor hotel rooms looked over rows of apartments), we did pass through some beautiful (small) mountains and lush tea plantations surrounding Songyang.

The trip cost was subsidized by the local government which meant we foreigners were under steady document of numerous cameras for the tours. Foreign tourists = good PR.

Our Valpo/Luther cohort was joined by four nursing students from the University of Evansville (in Indiana)! They were a great group and fun to get to know over the two days.

We arrived in Songyang around lunch time on Saturday and were treated to a local family-style meal. While a few dishes were new, the preparation methods and most foods were the same as we’ve found in Hangzhou. So while it was tasty, I would have welcomed a greater change in cuisine—wok-fried foods and soups can only go so far.

Our tour started with an introduction ceremony at a historic ‘mansion.’ The housing complex/mansion had been built and owned by a rich family in Songyang during the later Imperial China dynasties. We were ushered to seats in the complex’s courtyard while various Chinese officials took turns at the microphone. Unable to understand their numerous speeches the afternoon dragged on in the hot sun. I ended up more fascinated by the scattering of professional video cameras, DSLRs, and smartphones shooting videos and taking pictures around the perimeter. There must have been dozens of devices used during the ceremony, whether they were personal or for media/publication purposes I couldn’t tell. We ended up getting “certificates” (for what? visiting?) and having a group picture taken. Josh, the best Chinese speaker in our group gave a short speech and was swarmed with cameras like he was a celebrity.

After the long welcome ceremony we were given a tour of the housing complex, with attention exclusively on the ornate wooden carvings along the walls, pillars and ceilings. Besides the carvings the house was rather empty and we weren’t given any information about the different rooms. As shown in the picture above, the Cultural Revolution had unfortunately left it’s mark here as well, defacing many of the carvings. Similarly to the temples we have visited, this house placed a heavy emphasis on nature and animal symbolism in the decorations.

The next activity was definitely my favorite of the weekend, if not my whole stay in China thus far. We were taken to the edge of Songyang and given mountain bikes—no disclaimers/waivers/redtape or helmets… There wasn’t a designated leader so the most adventurous of us quickly wound our way into the tea fields along narrow paved lanes and dirt paths following a loosely marked course.

We snaked between rows of tea tree bushes, along the edges of ponds and across wooden boardwalks while the setting sun cast yellow rays across the verdant hills. It was beautiful and exhilarating. The bikes’ brakes and gearing were iffy which combined with sudden rises and drops tested our nascent mountain biking talents. I had a blast!

Dinner was similar to lunch, although I did put my vegetarian ways on a brief hiatus to try octopus. Chewy and inky, check that off my bucket list.

After dinner one of the Chinese guys organizing the weekend’s activities invited us to play basketball. Basketball is definitely the most popular sport in China and I was eager to give my recently-revived “skills” a real test. (I’ve been shooting hoops 2-3 times a week on the Yuquan campus.) Thank goodness us Americans came in at 6’6”, 6’4”, 6’1”, and 5’11” because otherwise we would’ve been throttled. Josh held his own, while the rest of us hit bricks and rebounded all night. It was a lot of fun even if our ball skills could use some serious work.

The next morning we returned to the site of our biking excursion the previous evening. This time the streets were packed with cyclists and spectators awaiting the race start. We wandered up and down the street passing food and clothing vendors, traditional musicians and dancers practicing for the “opening ceremony” and a slaughtered cow being hacked apart on the spot.

Though as soon as we stopped to watch the opening ceremony we became a spectacle ourselves—particularly Dan, the 6’6” football player in our group. We spent a solid thirty minutes standing, smiling, and laughing as scores of locals whipped out their smartphones to take pictures with us and of us. Interest in us was universal, from grandparents to toddlers (though some were scared), heck Dan even ended up holding a baby for photos. I guess he has practice now if he ever chooses to become a politician.

A few of our group were also invited to take part in a tea ceremony/demonstration which also thoroughly bemused the locals as we fumbled our way through pouring, stirring, and whirling. As an efficiency minded engineering the whole process seemed overly complex to just prepare a cup of tea. Though I guess I prepare tea to drink it—not as a statement of class or status.

After our brief time as celebrities we were taken to another historical townsite (similar to the previous day). Here we were given a walking tour during which we were reminded to smile and face the tour guide (for the cameras).

Our last agenda item was visiting a thousand year old pagoda—which also happened to be leaning slightly (Leaning Tower of Songyang?) so we were only allowed to the third level. Once again we were the subject of numerous cameras as we posed for a group picture in front of the pagoda.

After lunch at a Mao-era restaurant where the waitresses wore green fatigues we piled into the bus to return to Hangzhou and homework. The weekend passed far too quickly, but thus is the nature of study abroad.

“Picturesque” Qiandao Lake, two hours by bus southwest of Hangzhou

Hangzhou Catholic Church

October 17, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

This morning I attended Mass at the Hangzhou Catholic Church, a few miles from the Yuquan Campus. The Sunday Mass is entirely in Chinese, whereas the Saturday evening Mass I had attended a few weeks earlier was in English. The church building is set back a little from a commercial street, with a parking lot (only big enough for a dozen cars) in front.

When we arrived, just outside the gates separating the parking lot from the sidewalk were two beggars. In Hangzhou I’ve seen very little abject poverty (and disability), which probably has to do with Hangzhou’s wealth and possibly legal tactics which confine the poor to less visible parts of the city. Unlike the more aggressive and often able-bodied beggars I’ve encountered in Eugene or Chicago, those sitting at the church gates were clearly worn by age and physical ailments. Why were they outside this church? From our brief study of traditional Chinese beliefs it seems the virtue of charity is mostly absent. Perhaps the philanthropy of the Jesuit missionaries (and concern for the poor expressed throughout Jesus’ teachings) had some tangible influence the Chinese Christians gathered this morning. Though for myself, I quickly walked past the beggars. A guilty conscience the words of Matthew 25:41 still disturb my thoughts.

The church building and the liturgical setting are relics of an another land. The building is long and narrow, with simple white plaster on the walls and ceiling. Stain-glass windows of saints and portraits of the Passion are evenly placed along the otherwise plain walls. Their light-skinned figures (and European artistic style) seem out of place in a sanctuary filled with Chinese. I find it interesting that the such European styling remains in an institution which hasn’t been officially affiliated with the Holy See for over a half century. Although perhaps the Chinese emphasis of filial piety has helped preserve the missionary-era designs.

Besides a Chinese bible and hymnal there were no other worship aids (like a service folder or bulletin). I was impressed with the congregation’s seemingly intuitive understanding or memory of worship order, bowing, kneeling, and recitation of various prayers and chants. The service proceeded very smoothly with no obvious lapses in procedure or even a more casual time (at the beginning or end) for announcements.

Unable to understand the Chinese sermon (or anything else), I instead found the most interest in observing congregational dynamics. Overall, the similarities to Lutheran worship (that I’m most familiar with) far outweighed few differences.

Although the service (and communion) were presided over exclusively by men, the readings (and psalm?) were read by women. While it would have been nice to see greater gender equality, I’m not sure if Roman Catholicism does any better.

Communion was served without wine, whether for religious or practical reasons I don’t know. Maybe wine was reserved for the priest? When the ‘passing of the peace’ came, instead of handshakes congregants gave one another small bows with their hands clasped in prayer. Interestingly the passing of the peace was a rare instance where the American counterpart is more physically intimate. The bowing felt authentically Chinese—maybe handshakes and hugs are a western phenomena.

One thing I was not expecting was the turnout and the vocal participation of the Chinese congregants. The sanctuary was completely filled, with worshipers sitting on stools in back or even outside! While the congregation seemed skewed towards the older generation, clearly the Chinese population boom paired with governmental restriction on religious expansions (this particular church was established centuries ago) have kept the attendance up.

No offering was collected, so how the church budgets I do not know. The hymn style reminded me the simpler tonal music of Greek Orthodox worship. It seemed like nearly the entire congregation was singing, and singing unabashedly—which is a stark contrast to often quiet American congregations. In a service that seemed quite routine the strong congregational participation in music was wonderful.

The service also showed the growing divide between old ritual and modern technology. The sprinkling of baptismal water and the burning of incense had roles in the service while small video screens displayed the chancel or hymn numbers. Yet the most common distraction was the occasional beep of someone’s smartphone. While often unintentional the encroachment of technology was never the less very obvious.

The standard attire fell between the casual jeans and the formality of suits & ties, personally I thought it was a nice balance. The priest and assistants were dressed in green stoles and white albs. (According to the liturgical calendar I’m most familiar with, green is the color of Pentecost—the season we are currently in.)

In a section near the front of the sanctuary were a couple dozen congregants communicating with sign language. Accessibility for disability doesn’t seem to be as codified in Chinese society as ADA laws are in the U.S. so it was great to see two women signing the whole service. I wonder if the church’s inclusion of those with disabilities (particularly deafness perhaps) might be one historical good deed of Catholic missionaries. I know traditionally under karmic views one is directly responsible for their own physical ailments (even from birth), therefore other Chinese religious traditions may not accommodate so easily.

Though at the end of the ninety minute service it only a few differences left the Hangzhou Catholic Church feeling surprisingly similar to Lutheran services back home.

written: October 12th, 2014

Visiting Qiandao Lake during the National Holiday Break

“Picturesque” Qiandao Lake, two hours by bus southwest of Hangzhou

The view from my Chinese classroom

Mr Egg and the Chinese countryside

October 11, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

On Thursday morning Mr. Egg invited me visit his home. Mr. Egg (that’s his self-chosen English name) is a local who teaches English at a school near Yuquan Campus. We met a couple weeks earlier as Mr. Egg organizes informal weekly “English clubs” around Hangzhou. What I thought was going to be a couple hours at Mr. Egg’s apartment turned out to be an overnight trip into the Chinese countryside and an intimate look at (one form of) Chinese lifestyle.

We used Hangzhou’s extensive bus system to get out of the city. At one point where we switched buses we met up with Mr. Egg’s girlfriend, Sue, a nurse in Hangzhou. The Hangzhou bus system operates very similarly to those in the United States, with the exception of personal space—during rush hour many buses are packed to the doors. On our hour long journey into the countryside the bus “played” leap-frog with mountain bikers and moped riders. The bus stayed on a high way intermittently broken by stop lights. Besides in Beijing I haven’t seen any roadways around Hangzhou that would qualify as interstates, so even when the roads are not crowded the traffic is slower than in the U.S.

From a countryside bus station we took a brief taxi ride to Sue’s family home. When we arrived her parents were cooking lunch in a make-shift outdoor kitchen. Behind the kitchen her family’s new home was being built. We took a brief walk along the narrow lane around the neighborhood. Almost every home had a dog (for scare off thieves Mr Egg told me) and chickens roamed freely. Ponds, small vegetable patches, crumbling brick walls, groves of bamboo were wedged between houses and small fields of tea trees.

The rural homes were actually quite surprising to me. First off they almost all lacked any sort of grassy front yard which was instead almost wholly paved over. The homes themselves were quite large (I’d estimate +1,500 sq. ft.), built on a roughly square base, two or three stories, and with rather fancy exterior decorations. I wonder if the rather opulent exteriors had to do with the notion of “face”? The homes were also built entirely of concrete—almost as if they were a mini apartment.

Sue’s family was welcoming and seemed very relaxed, unfortunately communication was limited as it had to be translated by Mr Egg. Lunch was quite a feast, which Mr Egg emphasized was natural and organic—much of the produce had been grown by the family! Interestingly both at Sue’s and at Mr Egg’s we ate at different times from the parents (and grandparents). The food was far more than we could eat (and given how it was prepared I doubted it could be easily saved for leftovers). While I prefer not to waste food, I expect that over abundance of food was a purposeful way to honor guests and show one’s “wealth.”

Although Mr Egg referred to Sue as his girlfriend, they are what we’d call engaged, (Mr Egg refers to Sue’s parents as his in-laws). I learned that they will get married next year when Sue’s family’s home is finished. According to Mr Egg their “engagement” came by visiting both sets of parents and seeking their approval. Therefore “meeting the parents” is a pretty serious affair in China. Weddings (or at least Mr Egg and Sue’s) will have no formal service but instead be comprised of fancy dinner gatherings for friends and family at both of the family’s residences. I also learned that cohabitation is not frowned upon in China.

After lunch we took a taxi to Mr Egg’s small town where his father picked us up in a new Lexus SUV. We stopped by the family bamboo mat factory to move some mats inside in case it rained. The factory was worn but well kept, reminding me of the canneries in Alaska, and a pallet of boxes stamped with ‘Made in China’ was a quick reminder of how globalized even small businesses have become.

Mr Egg’s grandparents live with his parents in a large home nestled between steep bamboo forested hills. Actually, their old home still stands next to their new one. The old one is used as a garage for laundry, moped storage, and the old fireplace-heated bathtub. The interior of the house was surprisingly empty, exposed CFL bulbs often hung from cords poking out of the peeling and dirty plaster, cooking was done between a gas stove and woodfire heated wok, while a big flat screen TV broadcast CCTV the entire time.

Between meals we were offered tea along with nuts, grapes, dates, and dragon-fruit. After a dinner with similar food to lunch we visited Mr Egg’s aunt who lived just down the road and talked with her for a while. I asked Mr Egg about the Hong Kong protests, he was aware of them and seemed passively supportive, insinuating that democracy was probable eventually in China. It makes sense I guess, while China is economically expanding most people (such as Mr Egg) have little urge to disturb the political norm.

I never got the impression that countryside life was declining (whereas American small towns often seem to be struggling)—simply the job and entertainment offerings of cities were so much larger. Mr Egg felt bored at his family home. A funeral had taken place earlier in the day and Mr Egg told me briefly about it although his vague explanation exposed the growing distance of the younger generation from the traditions of his parents.

Overall I found the trip to be fascinating, from the style of countryside homes to the interactions of multigenerational households, to the focus on food as the center of hospitality in what was otherwise a very casual setting.

written 10/5/2014

Myself, Mr Egg and Henney (from Norway)

Lunch!

Bamboo mats

Mr Egg’s family home

Outside Mr Egg’s family home

Just up the road from Mr Egg’s home

A hilltop tea tree plantation above Mr Egg’s home

Dragonfruit!

Cooking dinner!

Sunday night's English club

汉语难

October 3, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

Happy China National Day! 65 years ago today the People’s Republic of China was founded. Think of it like 4th of July in the United States.

As a student, China National Day means I get a week off of classes. Although I just started last Tuesday, I’m not complaining.

For someone who is far from gifted when it comes to language, I’d say the Mandarin classes have started off pretty well. My class has just under twenty students, a few of the students are teachers themselves (retired, or in other subjects) and many students are in grad school or have just graduated, I’m one of the youngest. Although we haven’t had a lot of time for conversation it is really neat to be in a class with students from large swaths of the globe—though South America and Africa are notably absent (and seemingly underrepresented in the International College as a whole). The students in my class hail from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, and England.

The Russian and Ukrainian are pals and I haven’t got anything worse than friendly greetings from the Pakistani or Yemeni, even though the American government conducts unlawful drone strikes in their countries. It may simply be the type of people study abroad attracts, but I get the impression that we all are far more open to conversation and friendship than reflecting the fractious policies or conflicts of our respective governments.

Our class has developed a sort of bashful good humor as our three Chinese teachers frequently call on us to speak or write on the board, which we often do with great trepidation. At first I found the pace and newness of the language to be staggering but by yesterday I felt as though it had balanced out. That said, we are learning 10-15 new words daily and spend fifteen hours a week in the classroom, so it isn’t far-fetched to believe we may actually learn “a year of Chinese” in eight weeks.

The Chinese teachers also bring their own unique style to class as well. Alex, the speaking teacher, is the most casual of the three and enjoys watching movies or making fun of the Beijing accent’s excessive use of the ‘r’ sound on word endings. He also gets points in my book for the Anonymous wallpaper and Google.com bookmark on his laptop. (Although Google’s services are blocked here, the company’s name is still treated as a verb, and I haven’t heard anyone say “Baidu” or “Bing” it.) Since listening is my worst subject I’m extra luckily that the listening teacher is the nicest of the bunch. The grammar teacher, Ma Laoshi, is strict, but she is still very nice.

Although China National Holiday is one of the most popular times for locals to travel, we still decided to venture out today. (That said, we’ve all rescheduled our travel plans for the week and are staying in Hangzhou because of the steep prices and crowds.) We visited Hefang Street, just south of downtown, which is jammed with eateries and little shops selling jewelry, clothing, and other touristy nicknacks. I wasn’t in a shopping mood, I’d seen many similar items in Beijing or Xi’an. So I tried to make the best out of people watching, and ending up starring in the occasional Chinese tourist photo. Many Chinese who come to Hangzhou during this week aren’t accustom to seeing foreigners so we are get a little celebrity treatment.

At dusk I went for a run in Forest Park just behind campus. It has become my favorite almost daily getaway and takes less than thirty minutes to get to the top and back. Though haze always obscures the horizon, it is a treat to look out on a city of millions from such a forested haven. The hills stretched to the southern horizon, cradling West Lake on their eastern flank, the Xixi wetlands faded into obscurity to the southwest, an office complex covered in photovoltaics stood next to large construction project at the base of the hill while a small fireworks show burst above the apartments.

With the start of classes, the prolonged excitement and newness of China has definitely been dampened for me. Lazy afternoons of wandering around Hangzhou are now replaced by copying Chinese characters and practicing pronunciation. Also gone is the newness of the most obvious cultural differences which initially provided much to ponder and entertain. I am still trying to go to as many ‘English clubs’ as I can. They provide me the best way to interact and get to know the local Chinese—or in the case of last Sunday’s club, a German woman who’d just road tripped from L.A. to Seattle. (We got to talk about Oregon!)

And lastly, as much as I like to follow current events, I’ve spent a growing number of hours in the recent days glued to the BBC’s live coverage of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Even though I’m hundreds of miles from Hong Kong and except between the international students not even whispers of #OccupyHK have reached me here. (The increased police presence I noticed today is most likely for the holiday and its the proliferation of tourists.) While the BBC has published reports noting Beijing’s heavy hand on the Uighur minority and violence in Xinjiang, the scale and coverage of Hong Kong’s protests has the potential to be a defining moment for years to come. I’ve found it disheartening that among my Valpo peers there is so much seeming apathy—especially when we hail from a country that is supposed to be emblematic of freedom and democracy. (Though it shouldn’t be a surprise, I’ve known about the general public’s political apathy since starting debate in high school.) While China sensors Weibo terms, blocks Instagram and publishes almost comically skewed views of the Occupy protests I’ve been thrilled by the amazing teamwork and civility of the Hong Kongers. While the BBC and western media may clearly highlight the best of the protestors, I haven’t read anything to suggest that they’ve done anything worse than protest—the economic and stability harm argument is weak. For perspective, Hangzhou, one of the nicest cities in China, often can’t keep its streets clean (even with a near army of public servants) and meanwhile the protesters collect their own recycling and trash! Being in China makes following the protests all the more exciting, especially given the entrenched stances of both sides. Two years after the violent protests of the Arab Spring it is hard not to whole-heartedly root for a group with such a strong claim to the moral high ground after Sunday’s teargassing. #UmbrellaRevolution

written on October 1st, 2014

Sunday night’s English club

The main quad of Yuquan Campus

The crowd on Hefang Street

The National Silk Museum with Zhejiang University of Technology students

A Luxurious Life!

September 22, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

Time flies when you’re…in China…taking only two classes…eating lots of pastries…enjoying long walks…talking with locals…window shopping at ultra luxury malls…running in the rain…visiting museums and temples…reading the Analects…meeting new friends…watching movies…and having fun!

My extended and wondrous welcome to China is drawing to a close. Although we (the Valpo group) have been in Hangzhou for a month already due to scheduling differences between Valpo and Zhejiang U we haven’t started our Mandarin classes. That all changes tomorrow when we begin eight weeks of intensive study—fifteen classroom hours a week just for language and who knows how much homework.

Although I’ve been fully enjoying the luxury of open-ended exploration and long weekends it will be nice to start learning Mandarin. (“Thanks,” “Hi,” and “I want…” will only get me so far.) But my thoughts on school itself will have to wait until next week, so I’ll devote the rest of this post to a review of last week’s activities.

The quiet summer campus is gone, the number of students on campus has probably quadrupled since I arrived. From daybreak until late into the evening Chinese students steadily stream along the many roads through campus, when it rains a sea of colorful umbrellas stretch down the sidewalk. At the official “International college” welcome assembly last week we packed the auditorium with students from over one hundred nations. Wow! The assembly ended with performances of traditional music and dance of various Chinese provinces by ZJU students. The troupe’s performance was a lot of fun to watch, the performers clearly enjoyed what they were doing and they were incredibly talented.

Rainy skys have been more frequent, but the blessed cool and clean air they bring are well worth the grey drizzle. Besides, I’m from Eugene, I like the rain. After constant sweating for the first few weeks the ability to stroll around Hangzhou for hours while the air whispers of autumn is delightful.

On Saturday evening I attended Catholic Mass (in English) at a church tucked between shops and apartments near downtown. The service was very similar in liturgical order to the Lutheran services I’m familiar with. I found many of the hymn melodies hard to follow and the Priest’s message calling us to ‘evangelize’ seemed odd given Beijing’s restrictions of religion. Partitioners scattered through the narrow pews, the majority were Chinese but there was also a fair number of foreigners, especially Africans.

After the service Professor Pati, Michael and I walked the few miles back to campus. We stopped at various hole-in-the-wall bakeries and bemusedly strolled through a shopping mall filled with clothing and accessories imported from many of Europe’s finest brands. The wealth here is incredible, even if Alibaba’s IPO does create scores more millionaires in Hangzhou they already have plenty of competition to stand out among the BMWs, Benzs, Porsches, not to mention the occasional Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Tesla, or Maserati which dot the luxury mall parking lots. (Yes I’ve seen all those car brands.)

The best part of long walks though is the time they have provide to people watch. As someone who is not likely to strike-up conversation with a stranger I am more than happy to gather my experiences in a more passive manner. I’ve watched older folks practice tai chi and gather for dance groups in small parks; I’ve watched tired orange-garbed workers sweeping litter with homemade brooms; I’ve watched children enjoy snacks while riding on the back of their parents’ moped; I’ve watched young adults constantly on their phones; I’ve watched people sleep on buses with many times more passengers than seats; I’ve watched business men and women deftly negotiate thick traffic while blaring their car horns.

Also as a group we have visited the Dafo Temple in Xinchang, the Hangzhou Silk Market, the National Tea Museum, and the Zhejiang University of Technology campus. The Dafo Temple, a two hour bus ride south of Hangzhou, is set amid verdant hills. We visited on a drizzly day which added to the tranquility of the winding paths and various temples built into the hills—including the famous ‘Big Buddha’ sculpture (over 10 meters tall) which was carved out a mountainside over a millennium ago.

I picked up my textbooks today and so hopefully I am all ready for class tomorrow. Being in an international dorm, diversity is for once exists far more in actuality than in discussion—my class of sixteen has students from fifteen different countries. Should be fun!

A typical rush-hour intersection

The National Silk Museum with Zhejiang University of Technology students

Visiting Dafo Temple in Xinchang

Looking west from the top of Forest Park on a particularly grey day

Watching the fountain and light show on West Lake for Mid-Autumn Festival.

Thursday night English Club!

Zinjingang Campus

We are not in Indiana any more…welcome to the future

September 13, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

Except for the unfamiliar banter around me I might as well be sitting in some coffee shop just blocks away from any American college campus: Worn brick accents on the walls, chic wooden shelves, the occasional potted plant, a wall covered in sticky notes, colorful couches, abundant wifi, and cartoon chalkboard art. Instead I’m in 1897, a little cafe tucked into the first floor of one of the Yuquan Campus’ numerous dorms in Hangzhou.

Mr. Egg, a local English teacher and tutor who I met last Sunday invited me here last night (just a five minute walk through the maze of buildings from my dorm) to participate in another English club. There were seven Chinese at the club this evening. All of us were college students except for Mr. Egg and a guy named Erik, a software designer. I was the only foreigner. Most of the students happened to be studying some form of mechanical engineering which I thought was pretty neat, and provided at least some initial fodder for conversation.

We talked about job aspirations, hometowns, families, sports, transportation (trains and vehicles) and eventually politics. (Fun Fact: Hangzhou grants license plates via a lottery system: 10,000 a month, though they often get 100,000 applicants a month.) Erik asked about my opinion on a Scottish independence. Unfortunately I was caught flat-footed on that particular topic because although I’ve had plenty of time in the last week to indulge my news-reading appetite I had not read anything on the subject. Erik seemed surprising concerned about the economic effects (in China) of Scottish independence. I was at first very surprised, but his reasons were not too far-fetched. Then today on CNN International I noticed an article highlighting fears in China over Scottish independence. Although the article was substantially more focused on the political implications of successful separatist movements.

~ ~ ~ Post interrupted: time to go to dinner with Leifeng, new friend from Sunday’s English club. ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ 24 hours later… ~ ~ ~

Well this place is just incredible.

Leifeng picked up four of us (foreigners), took us to dinner and then an English Club. Now if I’ve experienced any “culture shock” since arriving it hasn’t been the numerous people, the odd smells, the lack of a personal bubbles or the new food—it has been the utter generosity, friendliness, and curiosity of the Chinese. In comparison Americans seem cold, aloof and overly private. Back to the story…

I felt surprisingly safe riding shotgun as Leifeng deftly maneuvered his Porsche Cayenne through the obstacle course that is Hangzhou traffic. Dinner was at a ubiquitous yet wonderful hole-in-the-wall restaurant. At the English Club I spent most of the time talking with a man named Alan, who works in the financial sector. He taught himself English as a hobby, and loves reading classics such as A Tale of Two Cities and keeping up with world (western) news. Though we ended up talking about the cultural differences in relationships, dating, and marriage—why? (Yes, why are on the Chinese so interested in the American hook-up culture and our terrible divorce rate?) Alan’s explanation of for his relationship-oriented questions was brilliant: “Love is universal.” Whew, being a conduit for the American-norm is a rather gargantuan task, though it provided ample opportunity to reflect on norms we take for granted.

Now going back in time by a day: On Wednesday the Valpo/Luther group took a city bus to Zhejiang’s main campus. Huge slate and glass academic buildings surrounded the southern perimeter while an expansive park and lake filled the middle of campus (with dorms on the northern half). No American campus can compare except maybe Stanford. (In an attempt to be politically correct I’ve tried to use United States instead of America whenever possible, but the international community clearly recognizes us as America or American.)

We ate lunch on the Zinjingang campus in at complex that can serve 15,000 students per meal. The cafeteria we were in had a single counter (probably a 100’+ long) with every dish individually plated and a slow progressing crowd of Chinese often two or three people deep filling their trays while the cashiers did the mental addition so fast that number pads would be superfluous. (Turns out the second cafeteria was closed so this one was doing double duty, but for the price and variety I was completely fine with giving up all personal space and tolerating ten minutes of gently pushing through the crowd.)

China has somehow managed to become a model of efficiency (probably out of shear necessity). The controlled chaos of traffic and nonexistent lines can leave more regimented foreigners scratching their heads. It helps immensely that Chinese exhibit very little aggression or need for personal space.

Since ZJU’s orientation doesn’t start until next week our dorm has seen an increasing number of new foreign students arriving in the last few days. In the last hour I made new friends from Belgium, England and France…nothing liking traveling to the opposite side of the globe as a way to make new friends! We’ve shared a meal, visited the ATM and convenience store, climbed the ridge behind campus and are going clubbing together tonight!

Made in China… I’m not the best pink hat model.

Zinjingang Campus

Olympic Park - Beijing

A Grand China Tour

September 2, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

Two days ago the Valpo group returned to Hangzhou after a weeklong whirlwind trip through Chinese religious, cultural and political history. We visited three cities: Qufu, Beijing, and Xi’an. In those cities we toured the following sites (listed in chronological order): The Temple of Confucius, Confucius’ Grave, The Temple (Altar) of Heaven, The Hongqiao Pearl Market, The Great Wall, The Beijing Olympic Park, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Wild Goose Pagoda, The Terra Cotta Warriors, Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter (including The Great Mosque), and the Shaanxi History Museum.

Now I’ll see if I can compress the highlights of those places into a reasonable length post.

The high speed rail system in China shares more similarities with the American airline industry than our Amtrak. The Hangzhou East Railway station is a huge high-ceilinged building with numerous security check points, fast food joints, and nearly a dozen gates/escalators leading down to the train platforms below. In the train huge windows and ample leg room treated us nicely on our three hour ride to Qufu. The quietness of the train and the smoothness of the ride did much to hide the fact that we cruised at 300km/hr (or ~180mph).

Qufu is a small town (~200,000 pop.) and most notably home to Confucius. As we drove to the walled-in old city we pasted dozens of high-rise apartments in various stages of completions which our guide informed us were part of the “new Qufu.” In Qufu (and likewise in most of China) many historical structures have undergone continual restoration or rebuilds since their original conception centuries ago. The Temple of Confucius is set in a forest with a central corridor which has numerous “gates.” These gates, pavilions, and stone tablets were erected by various dynasties after Confucius as ways to honor him and provide a place to “worship” Confucius. The roofs and eves of the gates and pavilions are massive, repetitive and intricate structures combining brightly painted symbols, patterns, and often dragons. (As an engineer the quantity of rafters looks like overkill.) Stone lions, dragons, and turtles were also common along our path (a few unicorns too)! After the temple we visited Confucius’ simple grave—a giant mound of earth a forest. Smaller mounds at the entrance of the forest were the graves of commoners, and the mounds grew in size with the importance of the thinker they contained.

The next day we took the high speed rail to Beijing. In Beijing we visited the Temple of Heaven (technically it is more like the Altar of Heaven) where the emperor would make biannual prayers and sacrifices to Heaven. Much of the architecture was similar to Qufu, but here the importance of colors (blue roof tiles) and shapes (circular buildings for Heaven and rectangular walls to symbolize Earth) stood out.

We then visited the Hangqiao Pearl Market who’s fourth floor has been visited by numerous foreign dignitaries to shop for jewelry. Meanwhile the bottom three floors are crammed with stalls selling counterfeit design handbags, silk scarves, fake-iPhones, loads of Beats products and other miscellaneous electronics of dubious authenticity. I had fun bartering for fake iPhones and found a few real Galaxy S5s. For dinner the non-vegetarians in the group had Peking duck (a Beijing speciality).

The following day we visited the Great Wall outside of Beijing. The highway weaving up a mountain valley reminded me of Colorado and I had fun climbing and descending the Great Wall——it is the closest I’ve been to hiking a mountain in a long time. After a couple hundred vertical feet the number of folks thins out dramatically and I could more easily ponder the massive effort to both build the wall and run an army up and down the variable height and often far too steep steps. In the afternoon we drove by the Olympic Park, walked through Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and climbed a hill in a local park to get a 360˚ view of Beijing. Unlike the many cold monolithic monuments of Washington D.C., the Forbidden City is filled with color and extravagant detail, all the while great attention is given to overall symmetry and mathematical relations between walls and buildings.

On Thursday we took the high speed train to Xi’an where we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda—a nearly millennia old Buddhist library and meditation center. Xi’an was a very neat city—it had a newer feeling than both Beijing and Hangzhou, although it is famous for being the ancient capitol city of China. We drove past Aston Martin and Lamborghini dealerships and Gucci and Prada stores. For dinner we found a bustling street near our hotel with numerous locals frying and cooking in little stands where we got some delicious and cheap noodles.

On our second day in Xi’an we visited the Terra Cotta warriors. The vast scale of thousands life-size clay soldiers each unique and detailed make it a well-deserving contender to be the 8th Wonder of the World. In the afternoon we walked through the Muslim Quarter of Xi’an which contained the Great Mosque (one of the first mosques in China)—yet with a small single minaret and Chinese style architecture only the Arabic inscriptions gave away its religious affiliation.

On our final day of traveling with visited the Shaanzi History Museum in Xi’an which contained numerous artifacts and replicas (often undistinguished from the “real” items) from ancient China. The handiwork of their jewelers and stone carvers was quiet impressive though I felt as id most of the exhibits didn’t provide enough historical context to accompany the numerous artifacts.

We then flew back to Hangzhou on a new A321. From jade to jet it was one amazing trip!

Outside the Temple of Confucius

A common occurrence: impromptu photos with locals

A traditional Chinese gate in Qufu

The Great Wall!

#Pride – Luther & Valpo

Hangzhou: First Impressions

August 26, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

It is hard to believe I’ve only been in China for a week. With the exception of the language barrier I feel that I’ve acclimated very quickly to my new life in Hangzhou.

Our group had safe and smooth flight from O’Hare to Shanghai where we met Professor Pati. Even though the flight was 14 hours long we chased the sun westward so the window shades in our 747 were the only respite from continually bright clouds and sky all the way from Chicago to China as we flew over Canada, Alaska, the Bering Sea, South Korea and finally the East China Sea.

We took a bus from Shanghai to Hangzhou, about a two hour trip. It may sound cliche, but as our bus weaved towards Hangzhou I felt as though I had been dropped into a Soviet-era James Bond movie set—the monstrous scale of unfinished apartment complexes, verdant fields and farm houses abutting sprawling power plants, a concrete suspension bridge rising as a sword into the hazy sky, and most of all reddish sunlight filtering through the thick smog.

We spent the next three days exploring Hangzhou. Sometimes as a whole group with Professor Pati and his family, or in small groups or solo. Our wandering walks were thoroughly enjoyable.

Hangzhou truly has a mixed-use transportation grid. Taxis and buses practically clog the streets while bicycles and electric mopeds scurry in and out of traffic, often in dedicated lanes at the edge of the street while pedestrians stroll past various shops and stalls on wide sidewalks. Traffic at first looks to be a recipe for disaster as lanes vanished in intersections—but after further observation it looks as though the Chinese has a much more fluid approach to driving—constantly speeding up, slowing down, weaving around parked cars and mopeds—versus the rigid, aggressive and territorial driving of American cities like Chicago.

Three aspects of Hangzhou though have stood out to me:

First is the widespread aim at electricity and water conservation. Our dorm rations electricity and reduces water pressure to a functional minimum—living at Holden I completely understand the importance of these measures. Recycling receptacles are common sites along city streets and nearly all the apartment buildings surrounding campus have laundry hanging out the window. While the signage and small steps won’t completely satiate China’s consumption it is very heartening to see a government taking conservation seriously.

Second, is the absolute abundance of greenery. When the sun is not blocked by smog or tall buildings I often find myself under a roof of leaves—the street just outside my dorm is a verdant tunnel. Shrubs and trees hug the sidewalks and squeeze between buildings. The Zhejiang University campus where I’m living abuts a ribbon of forested hills which contains numerous trails—the ridge trail probably runs at least a dozen miles to the south. Only a mile or so from campus is West Lake (think China’s equivalent of Central Park). I spent on free day walking around the Lake (about 10 miles)—the park space was well maintained and lovely. The use of well-marked paths cordoned off green areas allows lush vegetation to thrive among the throngs of locals and tourists.

Third, the Chinese people are incredibly friendly. Growing up in Eugene I was used to making eye-contact with strangers in passing and saying ‘hello.’ The shear volume of people make that difficult in Hangzhou, but whenever I (or our group) stumbled through a food menu or asked for directions or found a local English speaker they were always more than happy to help. When walking around West Lake I was invited by an elderly gentleman to visit the “English Corner” where every Sunday locals gather to practice their Chinese. Never in the US could I imagine myself (or anyone else) spontaneously spending twenty minutes of my day telling total strangers in a city park about my life, but there I found myself in front of a score of inquisitive Chinese.

Currently I’m sitting in a Beijing hotel room, tomorrow we climb the Great Wall—so more stories and pictures will be coming soon!

Shanghai Airport: Still smiling 15 hours later!

The International Dorm

Walking Near West Lake

West Lake

Hangzhou, China: Tomorrow*!

August 19, 2014 / Tobiah Meinzen / 0 Comments

With the exception of a few hours in Canada I have never been out of the United States, now I’m less than 48 hours away from beginning four months living on the opposite side of the globe. Wow.

At this time tomorrow I’ll be boarding a Boeing 747 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with half a dozen of my Valpo peers and a couple students from Luther College in Iowa for a direct flight to Shanghai. At the Shanghai Pudong International Airport we will meet our Valpo advisor for our semester China, Professor Pati who holds the Surjit S. Patheja Chair in World Religions and Ethics at Valparaiso University.

The Chicago Skyline from Millennium Park

Hanging out with Valpo friends at the Bean yesterday.

I arrived in Chicago yesterday after spending a short month at home in Eugene, Oregon filled with camping and hiking adventures. Going to school at Valpo and spending my summers working in Alaska I’ve become a fairly decent domestic traveller and I hope my compact packing and public transit experience will translate to an smooth time across the Pacific.

Packing almost done!

My knowledge of Mandarin is nill, as an engineering major the semester in China for me is purely for the experience. I’m especially glad that most of my peers know some Chinese and have travelled to China before. We will be living in an international dorm building on one of Zhejiang University’s campuses in Hangzhou, China. Besides taking Mandarin we will also have classes on Chinese History and East Asian religions.

Given that this is my first time overseas I’m not at all sure what to expect and have thus tried to keep my assumptions to a bare minimum. I expect my biggest difficulty will be the language barrier—I’m not good at language to begin with, especially distinguishing subtle tonal differences in words. (How did I make it in choir? Good question, I still don’t know myself.) Therefore I’m going to have to try extra hard to be outgoing and form connections with my Chinese peers. Hopefully the linguistic hurdles I will undoubtably encounter are more often humorous than frustrating.

Although I will be far more informed about my new city in a few weeks I also realize that the “small” (6 million) city of Hangzhou will be a new type environment as well. The ‘big Alaskan town’ I worked in has hardly two thousands residents and barely 50 miles of roads total, Eugene qualifies as a city with a big university and approximately 200,000 people and Valpo is distinctly small town at 30,000. So my brief visits to Chicago are the closest I’ve come to somewhere like Hangzhou. Luckily Hangzhou has generous green space around West Lake which is located near the city center which I look forward to exploring. And explore I shall!

*It might be Thursday by the time we actually get to Hangzhou, not sure how it all shakes out with the International Date Line and time zones.

Valpo Voyager

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