2007 Program:
Photo Diary for the China-to-US group
Week 2
Jun 8-14
Welcome
to UM PKU - 2007
The University of Michigan/Peking University Summer
Undergraduate Exchange Program
2007 Pilot Program in Chemistry
8 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Taking a break at Starbucks
after language class.
8 June 2007 (5:00 PM CST) - After a terrific session on the "Rural
to Urban Migration" in China led by one of James Lee's graduate
students, we headed to the Wudaokou area, just east of campus,
for dinner. After one week, it was time for a little more western
fare, so this is a fairly traditional Italian restaurant.
8 June 2007 (6:30 PM CST) - One of the drivers for the Joint
Institute is Ma Wudan and her famous Snoopy-mobile.
8 June 2007 (6:30 PM CST) - After dinner, we headed over to the
campus of Tsing Hua University, just to the East of PKU. If PKU
is the Harvard of China, then Tsing Hua is the MIT - it is the
premiere engineering campus in China. Here is one of the classical
'gates' of the university.
8 June 2007 (6:30 PM CST) - The UM group at the Tsing Hua gate.
8 June 2007 (7:30 PM CST) - One of the newly admitted UM graduate
students who is graduating from PKU (Ming Lang) has a girlfriend
who is quite an accomplished musician. She is a Chemical Engineer
who plays in the Tsing Hua student orchestra, and their final concert
happened to be this evening, and she invited us to attend. It was
a terrific show that lasted about 2 hours.
8 June 2007 (8:30 PM CST) - Lang's girlfriend is the one in the
blue and white dress, on the left. She is playing a 2-stringed
traditional Chinese instrument called an ErHu. She occupied the
"first chair" of the orchestra.
8 June 2007 (8:30 PM CST) - This guy was outstandingly good and
is probably headed for the first chair. He's a sophomore Civil
Engineering major.
8 June 2007 (8:30 PM CST) - Here is a short video clip of the
concert. Enjoy! You will need at least Flash-7 player.
8 June 2007 (8:30 PM CST) - Here is another short video clip
of the concert.
8 June 2007 (10:30 PM CST) - Lang and Yang. After the concert,
she brought us on stage and we got a nice introduction to many
of the traditional Chinese instruments... and if we wanted to,
we could try to play them. She was quite gracious with this invitation
to us, and for the tickets.
9 June 2007 (9:30 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (10:30 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple. Tiffany
is surrounded.
9 June 2007 (10:30 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (noon CST) - Visit to the Lama Temple.
9 June 2007 (noon CST) - On the way to the Confucius Temple with
Sophia. More language to be learned every day.
9 June 2007 (noon CST) - Visit to the Confucius Temple.
9 June 2007 (noon CST) - Visit to the Confucius Temple.
9 June 2007 (noon CST) - Visit to the Confucius Temple.
9 June 2007 (1:30 PM CST) - "How do you say...?"
10 June 2007 (6:00 AM to 6:00 PM) - We drive for 3.5 hours and
visited two sections of the Great Wall. Both sections are relatively
newly opened to visitors; both are not restored; both are not visited
frequently and so you can litereally have the Wall to yourself.
The first section we visited was the Jinshanling, and the second
was Simatai. I had never been to Jinshanling before, so this was
a treat. This was the first time I have visited the Great Wall
at a time of year other than Winter. It was about 95 degrees F
this day... I don't think you need much other commentary for these
pictures.
Justin, Sophia, & Dennis (the son of one of the women who works
with the Joint Institute).
Justin, Tiffany, & Brian
(Hi, it's me again. As it turns out that the filename for
this photo is IMG_0250.jpg... and for those of you in the know,
you know what that means, and why it is appropriate.)
Here's one of two video clips just to give you a sense of walking
the Great Wall.
Two words to the wise when climbing Simatai in the Summer: "cable
cars."
Sophia
Here's the other video clip to give you a sense of walking
the Great Wall.
Tiffany and Dennis are coming down the steep vertical steps
you see in the previous picture.
Professor 250, resting in the shade whenever possible.
Just a scene.
Chronologically, lunch was between the two sections of the Wall,
but I figured I would end this with food.
Justin: "I can't believe we're eating again."
Tiffany: "Hi Mom. Hi Dad."
Brian: "500" (that is, 2 x 250)
Here is a short clip of the multi-person production that is
known as "ordering food."
Lunch for 12: 118 yuan ( roughly $14).
11 June 2007(9:30 AM CST) - Beginning of the second week routine.
Language in the morning, and a fascinating culture class on religion
in China. Here is Sophia, Tiffany, and Brian at the language class.
11 June 2007(4:00 PM CST) - The PKU outdoor gym.
12 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Jim and I visited one of the (currently)
two Chemistry courses taught completely in English at PKU. These
are highly sought-after sections because of the competitive advantage
they will give these students in the future. The culture class
today was about the minority populations in China.
13 June 2007 (10:00 AM CST) - There is clearly not a lot of
action during the week that is visually appealing.
Language in the morning. Today's culture
class was on the efforts to return to a more Confucius-based
harmony as a socio-political framework for the country (from
the time prior to Mao). At midday, Jiim and I met with some representatives
of the Beijing Science and Technology University about possible
collaborations. At lunch, we learned about baijiu
(literally "white liquor" - a sorghum based distilled
product that, I would say, ran in the 100-plus proof part of your
grocer's shelf... or perhaps the paint thinner part of the Home
Depot). That's what happens with you have lunch with social scientists,
I guess. On the good side, we can read 3 of the 6 characters
on the top of this building on sight, and pick up a 4th when
in context.
14 June 2007 (11:00 AM CST) - Hanging out at the Joint Institute
after class.
