We left Hangzhou at about 8 o'clock in the morning and rode our bus to WuZhen, a famous Chinese water town. It has been said this town compares with Venice since all the houses line the canals running through the city.
We had an early morning because we had to catch a morning flight to HangZhou. The hotel had kindly provided us with pre-packed breakfast because we left the hotel at 6:10am before they even started their breakfast. It was one of the few times we experienced clear traffic on the road which made it easy for us to arrive at the airport on time.The plane ride lasted for less than an hour; the trip was so short that the seat belt sign did not even turn off the whole time. We also had the luxury of being served a succulent and delicious chicken burger during our flight.
We woke up early in the morning to rain after a soothing night on the train to Wuchang train station. The train station did not have any escalators or elevators so we all carried multiple suitcases up and down several flights of stairs. Now we know what the packing list was referring to when it said pack light.
Our day begin bright and early, as usual, with everyone getting up around 6 a.m. However, today was a little bit more hectic because we had to checkout and pack for our upcoming sleeper train ride to Wuhan. After our quick breakfast, we boarded the bus to go to Heibei Agriculture University. The drive to the University took almost 3 hours, but they time flew by with most students sleeping, playing cards, or journalling. We arrived at the Heibei Agriculture University around 11 a.m. and Dean Wang was waiting to greet us.
We woke up to a rainy Tuesday morning at the Jin Ma Hotel in the Haidian District of Beijing. Since we were about to go to the US Embassy, we had to wake and eat earlier than usual because of morning rush hour and required security procedures. Fortunately our tour guide, Jane, was able to arrange for us to still get breakfast before our departure.
It was our first full day in China and we had a lot to fit in. We visited the China Agricultural University (CAU), the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square and Monsanto and her biotech center. We had an early breakfast at the top floor of the Jin Ma Hotel, overlooking the city of Beijing. We had an authentic Chinese spread for breakfast, which included: Soy milk, fried dough fritters, congee with the different preserved foods, et cetera.
Today at 9:45 a.m. we met at ORD for our long 13 hour flight to Beijing. Half of the class took a bus from Champaign that left at 7:15 a.m. and the rest left from their respective houses. Everyone was very excited for the trip ahead but the reality of being in China had not yet set in. During the flight we had the opportunity to view a variety of movies and T.V. shows (i.e. Dexter, Wall-E, Leap Year), which helped the time pass by quickly. We were also served two meals and one snack throughout the trip.