Category: China

One of the trips we took as an UCEAP group was to the Lama Temple 雍和宮，Imperial Academy 國子監，and Confucius Temple 孔廟. Lama Temple (Yong He Gong) is a Tibetan style Buddhist Temple. From what I remember, it is the biggest in China.

Continue reading “Beijing: Lama Temple, Imperial Academy, & Confucius Temple (Post #16).”

The Old Summer Palace is only one subway stop away from our school. After we visited the Lenovo Headquarters, the PKU shuttle dropped us off there and we received a tour of the place.

I’ve never been to Greece, but I sure felt I was there that day. The Old Summer Palace was where the emperor used to relax during the off-season (as if there was one) of his reign. The school hired a tour guide to tell us interesting facts about the place, but because there were too many of us, many people weren’t listening to what he had to say. I didn’t hear most of his words, so I can’t give much information about the place. Continue reading “Beijing: Old Summer Palace (Post #15).”

One of the trips we took as a UC group was to the Lenovo Headquarters, Beijing branch. Lenovo is a Chinese electronics company and is the second largest PC vendor in the world, after HP.

The lobby.

We were able to tour the place and got to see the history behind the company, the history of computers and laptops, as well as new products not yet released to the company.

The coolest thing about the tour, I felt, wasn’t even computer-related. Lenovo had sponsored the 2008 Olympics and, as a thank you gift, received one of the Olympic torches used during the opening ceremony.

And guess what? We were able to hold it.

Having a feeling-cool moment there.

When I first arrived in Beijing, the first thing I bought was a mobile phone 手機 and SIM card. ￥280 or so for it, which was $44 USD. Elizabeth had gone to the same shopkeeper earlier and asked for the cheapest phone possible, and the storekeeper showed her the cheap Nokia black and white phone. When the program bought the same exact phone in bulk for everyone who needed one, they paid about $100 each. My first time getting scammed! Continue reading “Beijing: chopping off the prices (Post #13).”

Beijing has been kind to me this time of the year, for it brought along a few friends from California that gave me a change of pace. While here, I’ve met up with Jackie – someone I’ve known since my sophomore year in high school. She was accompanied by Stephanie, someone I’ve known since second grade in elementary school! Lastly, I’ve met up with Li who lived on my floor this past year at Berkeley. Continue reading “Beijing: to see friends from back home (Post #12).”

I love getting massages. Moreover, I’ve always wanted to get a professional massage. The problem is, it’s far too expensive in California. What better time to add that to my have-dones in China? Continue reading “Beijing: a professional massage from a blind therapist (Post #11).”

After spending our afternoon at Olympic Park and Tiananmen Square, John, Kaitlyn, Tara, and I walked towards Qianmen 前門 to eat dinner and drink tea at the famous Lao She Tea House 老舍茶館。

Continue reading “Beijing: the tea culture experience at Lao She Tea House (Post #10).”

This post is about the two times I’ve been to Tiananmen Square 天安门. The first time I went there, it was just to look at the environment of the square during sunset. The second time, I went early in the morning to see the Mausoleum of Maozedong. Today, I will be going there for the third time with the UCEAP program for I-don’t-know-what. Continue reading “Beijing: Tiananmen Square (Post #9).”

I’m guilty. Four years ago, as the 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies took the world by surprise, I was holed up in my own nest playing World of Warcraft. The rest of the family sat in the living room watching the magnificent firework display above the Bird’s Nest, the drumming and countdown of the games within the stadium, the baton pass and the lighting of the fireworks. In the meantime, I was staring at pixelated characters draw their swords, shoot their wands, fire bolts out of crossbows, and other meaningless shenanigans. Continue reading “Beijing: Olympic Park (Post #8)”