Tobias in China (September 2009 - April 2010)

Last week in Shanghai

2010-05-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

My stay in Shanghai is over now. I can’t believe that eight months have gone by that fast. Here are some pictures of my last week in this great city…

Pascal, Andi, Tobi and Sven (f.l.t.r.) before eating hot dogs at a well-known Swedish furniture store. One hot dog cost about 0,30€!

My farewell dinner took place at a Sichuan restaurant very close to our apartment. Sven, Pascal, Flo and Andi (f.l.t.r.) were there with me.

Afterwards we went to a bar on the 33rd floor of the Hyatt on the Bund Hotel. They have got a Jacuzzi on the rooftop and there is an amazing view of Shanghai’s skyline. Some friends from Beijing and Shanghai had come to celebrate with me one last time.

On my last day I went to the Formula 1 race. It was quite an experience and I enjoyed it very much!

IN: You - thanks for reading my blog!
OUT: The ash cloud above Europe which was the reason why my flight back home was cancelled and I had to stay for another week.

China impressions

2010-05-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

During the past months I have seen many places, met a lot of people and experienced a bunch of unusual situations. Here are some pictures which I found most impressing, odd, funny, typically Chinese, etc...Here are some random pictures:

While I was taking a few pictures one evening, this poor homeless guy grabbed my beer, took a mouthful and then returned it to me.

This plastic bag is interesting. You may use it in a restaurant during dinner so your phone can lie on the table without getting spilled on – very convenient :)

Stretch limo night

2010-04-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

What happens if about 30 Germans living in a new industrializing country get bored on a weekend? Right, they rent three limousines, cruise through the city of Shanghai, go to a few bars and end up in a club which has got an aquarium filled with sharks near the dance floor and is situated on the 24th floor of a skyscraper…

Spring Festival

2010-04-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. The traditional way to celebrate this festival is to return to one’s hometown and meet the family. The whole country uses this opportunity to travel and so did we. The Chinese call this town “China’s Switzerland”: Qingdao.

Flo, Sven and I stayed at the so-called YHA Old Observatory which was an interesting hostel not too far from the downtown area. One of the first things that we have seen was the European Style Street:

Unfortunately, it was too cold to go swimming, but it was still a nice feeling to walk along the beach partly covered with snow:

It was funny because I had already been to this city in 2004 and I recognized many places even the hotel where we had stayed back then.

The Chinese New Year traditions concerning fireworks are very similar to the ones we know. The only difference is that all firecrackers and rockets are bigger, louder and more affordable and that they are lit during the whole week not just at one night.

When we usually get the chance to escape the smog in Shanghai, we like to see some nature. This time we went to see the Lao Shan Mountain. It is near Qingdao and as - described in the Lonely Planet China - ideal for day hikes, with waterfalls, temples, thickets of bamboo and pine, and a spectacular coastline in the lower region. Adam, a British guy whom we had met in the hostel went with us.

Actually, it was my first time to see how tea is grown:

On the top of the mountain the weather was very bad, hence we decided to climb back down. On the way, we had some nice views:

On the next day we went to the Tsingtao Beer Museum which is set in the original brewery and can be found in the Qingdao Beer Street:

We saw some old brewery equipment, but also some parts of the modern factory. At the end of the tour we were rewarded with a few sample beers:

Train tickets were sold out and flights were too expensive so we tried a new way of travelling: the night bus. It is common practice that a few extra passengers board the bus between departure and arrival city, but I have never seen a bus that crowded before. I thought the beds were uncomfortable, but what will those people say who slept on the floor?

IN: Chinese fireworks :)

OUT: Cold weather!

New apartment

2010-04-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Heuft Systemtechnik GmbH I did not have to search for an apartment by myself. I moved in together with Sven who is doing his internship at their company. The apartment is really nice and cozy and I like it much better than the old one. Here is my room:

This is the living room:

Entrance area and dining table:

Kitchen:

Bathroom:

The apartment is on the 9^th floor. This is the view from the balcony:

The compound is really nice, especially the public park with its little lakes:

By the way, the compound consists of 47 buildings. Each of them has got 16 stories on which there are three apartments, respectively. Assuming that on average three people live in one apartment, there is a total of 6768 people living just on this compound. Isn’t that crazy?

IN: Heuft Systemtechnik GmbH

OUT: Living at least one hour away from the downtown area

Sichuan & Chongqing

2010-04-21T05:03:00.001-07:00

While my German fellow students had already started their internships, I still had a few days off before I was able to begin doing research for my bachelor thesis. Together with a few friends from Beijing I went to Sichuan and Chongqing Province. Sichuan is famous for its spicy food and also well known for its beautiful national parks whereas Chongqing is mostly known for its size: the municipality of Chongqing has a registered population of 31.442.300 as of 2005 (Wikipedia).

The next picture was taken while we were eating hot pot. My friends’ names are Hai Xia, Anne and Dian (f.l.t.r.):

One of our first stops was Jiuzhaigou, a national park and UN World Biosphere Reserve. Although we were there during offseason, we were still rewarded with some breathtaking views:

“Jiuzhaigou means “Nine Village Gully” and refers to the region’s nine Baima Tibetan villages. According to legend, Jiuzhaigou was created when a jealous devil caused the goddess Wunosemo to drop her magic mirror, a present from her lover the warlord god Dage. The mirror dropped to the ground and shattered into 118 shimmering turquoise lakes.” (Lonely Planet China)

This is the most beautiful lake that I have seen in my life. Believe it or not, this picture has not been “photoshopped”!

Despite the freezing temperatures, there was a couple taking their wedding pictures:

As mentioned above, there are several Tibetan villages, hence many prayer flags can be found in the national park:

On the summit it was even colder so that the lakes were covered with snow:

Huanglong national park was the next stop of our travels. Again, there were some Tibetan villages and of course some prayer wheels:

It is famous for its terraced, colored limestone ponds of blues, turquoises, yellows and greens. Most of them were frozen, but at the very top we were able see at least some of them:

In spite of the high altitude I was still feeling well at the top:

For the rest of the day I had to lie in bed and wait for my headache and nausea feeling to go away.

After the worst bus ride in my whole life (80% of the roads were not even paved!) we made it back to Chengdu. One of the city’s major tourist attractions is its Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. I had the feeling that the happiness and well-being of the tourists was more important than that of the pandas and I must admit that I didn’t like this institution too well. The pandas were cute, though:

Aren’t the babies adorable?

On this trip I also learned how to play Mahjiang. It’s a great game which makes it easy to forget about everything else. We kept playing for about four hours:

One more sightseeing place near Chengdu is called Leshan. With fingernails bigger than the average human, the Grand Buddha is the main reason why people come to this city. It is carved into a cliff and about 71 meters tall. Actually, it is the world’s largest Buddha statue which is sitting down and made out of stone:

You can see his toes behind me:

After saying goodbye to Anne, we had only one day left to see Chongqing. Of course we ate the very popular “Chongqing hot pot” while we were there:

And I finally made it to the Yangtze River, but only for a one-hour cruise:

IN: The variety of China’s sights

OUT: Acute mountain sickness (AMS)

Shanghai, Thailand, Hongkong

2010-04-20T20:05:00.001-07:00

January was the greatest month of my stay so far. My girlfriend came here for a visit and after I had had a stressful time in December I finally found some time to relax. She came on New Years Eve and we watched the celebrations and fireworks near the Bund.

One of our first trips was to Huang Shan (Yellow Mountains). It was my second time there, but this time is was completely different. It was freezing cold and the weather was cloudy. Once we made it above the clouds, however, we had some amazing views which I want you to see as well:

After about a week in China we went to Thailand. Bangkok was awesome, not only culturally interesting, but also a great city with laid-back people. In this picture you can see the Grand Palace behind the Chao Phraya River:

I haven’t seen that much gold in a city before. The Golden Buddha is said to be made of pure gold. It is more than three meters tall and is supposed to weigh some 5.5 tons:

Of course, there is more to see in Thailand than Bangkok. In order to escape most tourist crowds my girlfriend and decided not to go to the most famous islands. We chose Koh Samet (near Bangkok), Koh Chang and Koh Kood instead. It is almost impossible to tell you everything and to show you all the pictures that we took during this great holiday, so here are at least a few:

Delicious seafood:

Actually, we didn’t only ride on this elephant, but also went swimming with it:

This is the most beautiful beach that I have been to in my life:

On the way back we spent one weekend in Hongkong. Great city, awesome skyline, but quite expensive…

This was taken from the top of Victoria Peak:

Walk of fame (actually, it is called Avenue of stars):

IN: Getting to know new cultures, travelling, my girlfriend

OUT: Good times always go by way too fast!

Design and Manufacturing Project

2010-04-15T02:04:00.001-07:00

Many of you have been asking about the project which we had at our university.

Task: design and manufacture a device which is capable of lifting/lowering 24kg one foot perpendicular to the ground.

Boundary conditions: use given motor, belt drive system, power screw, max. size 300x500x500mm.

Here you can see Alex, Liam (Chinese team mates) and me working on it.

This is the team with our solution to the task:

IN: Working in international teams

OUT: No heating in the machine shop!!

Christmas

2010-04-15T01:59:00.000-07:00

I never found the time to write something about Christmas. I still want to write a few lines even though almost four months have passed since then.

Actually, my first Christmas dinner was a few days before the 24^th. Sven and I went to IKEA and enjoyed a delicious meal consisting of some western food and cake:

Some people call it crazy to wear Christmas hats while going to IKEA. We call it cultural exchange :)

On Christmas Eve, the four of us went to Church together. There was even a German service. It felt weird to see that many Germans in one place! After a very nice dinner in our apartment we all laid down on the couch because we had eaten so much:

We have grown together to a little family, so we had bought some gifts for each other and exchanged them after singing Christmas songs in the living room.

Check out our plastic Christmas tree:

IN: Christmas traditions

OUT: i) Having to go to class on December 25^th ii) Christmas abroad – it is just not the same without family and a real Christmas tree

Xi'an

2010-04-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like it has been forever since I have actually been on this trip. I haven’t written anything on here about my trip to Xi’an and some more trips. Now that I have got some time, I want to use the opportunity and catch up.

Together with Flo, one of my roommates and friends in Shanghai, I decided to go to this city since one of our exams was spontaneously postponed by one week. The train ride in a so-called soft sleeper was nice except from the three hour delay. After 17 hours and meeting an Australian family who was going to visit Karlsruhe after their trip to Xi’an, we finally left the train.

Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi province and one of the oldest cities in Chinese history.

On the first day, we went on the city wall. You can rent bicycles and take a ride around the ancient wall, so that’s what we did:

On the next day we went to see the tourist attraction and historical sight which the city is most famous for: the Terracotta Army.

To be honest, I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. But still, I believe it is a must-see when you come to China! If you have a closer look at each individual soldier you will notice that the facial expression is different for all of them – interesting!

One more great area which we saw is the Muslim Quarter. You can buy tons of different snacks and it feels like you are in a different country:

IN: i) my Chinese student ID because it makes student discounts possible and ii) riding a decent bicycle after a long time

OUT: Most of the maps in my Lonely Planet China guidebook suck!

Teppanyaki

2010-02-19T09:19:00.001-08:00

Because the guys had been such great friends and were caring so much about me when I was sick in Tibet, I decided to invite them to dinner once they had gotten back. We went to a Teppanyaki restaurant.

Unfortunately, Flo is taking this picture, therefore he is not in it:

There is a cook in each room who cooks the food in front of the guests. At this restaurant you pay 150RMB per person and get an all you can eat and drink dinner. Depending on how much you eat/drink, this can be a very good deal ;) We usually start with Sushi and then eat almost everything that they have got on their menu. Here is the Chinese guy who was cooking for us that night:

It’s really fun to watch him cook! I like the atmosphere and the variety of food which you can get. There are all kinds of seafood, steak, vegetables, etc. available and of course the fried banana with ice cream at the end is a good finish for the night.

Since you usually don’t eat rice, noodles or potato, it seems like you can keep eating forever. Well, actually just until 11pm because that’s when they close. After dinner we went to sing Karaoke with some other Germans who we had met at the same restaurant. Great night!

IN: Good food combined with nice people

OUT: This kind and amount of food is going to be very expensive once I get back to Germany :)

Beijing #2

2010-02-18T23:49:00.000-08:00

After staying in bed for two days recuperate I decide to go to Beijing again. I didn’t make it to the Great Wall on my first trip and that’s one of the things which I really wanted to see while I am in China. Besides, my three German friends are still in Tibet at that time and I am jealous because they are travelling and I’m not. I don’t want to go by myself so I call a friend who I had met in Beijing during my first trip and who also wants to go to do this trip.

There is more than one place where you can see the Wall and go hiking, but the one that we pick is supposed to be the least touristic. It is a 10km hike from Jinshanling to Simatai. We take the public bus from Beijing, but after the final stop we have to change into a “black taxi”. It is not really a taxi, just a minibus with a driver who is going to take us to the entrance of the Great Wall. Then he is going to wait for us at the exit and take us back to the bus stop. After a little bargaining, we take off and the hiking can begin.

The weather is not as clear as it was supposed to be, but there are still some nice views!

The hiking feels good. I like it especially because there is almost nobody there with us. Unfortunately, some Chinese people decide to walk with us. They probably only want to sell stuff, but they explain a few things about the Wall and its history. And they take a few pictures of the three of us.

Sarah, Tobi and Anne (my friend who is studying in Beijing)

By the way, it is St. Nicholas’ Day today. That’s why Sarah is wearing the hat. On the way, we stop for a German “Brotzeit”. I have brought some bread from the German bakery in Shanghai. We all love it and the cheese and sausage.

Some parts of the Wall are rebuilt and look very new. But the further we go, the less of the Wall is restored. I like that a lot more, because it looks more authentic. In the next picture you can see the difference between old and new.

At the end of our walk, we see a nice rope bridge which we have to use in order to cross a little valley. I am very glad to have come here. This hike was not very tough, but definitely worth going there!

Once back in Beijing, we meet up with another friend and eat at a Korean restaurant. It’s my first time and I really like the food and the company of my friends.

On the next day, I go out sightseeing on my own. There are a few things which I wasn’t able to see during my last visit. One of them is Beijing underground. It is a city [Lonely Planet description]. Sounds very interesting, but unfortunately it is closed. I do have a chance to see the Lama Temple, though, but it is not as impressive as I had expected. Maybe that is because I have seen much better ones in Tibet. Here is a picture:

In the evening, I meet the other guys and we have dinner and desert together. That’s the end of this trip. My flight leaves in the morning and I have to go back to university.

Tobi, Dian, Anne and Sarah after eating doughnuts for desert. Yummy!

IN: spontaneous travelling

OUT: having to go back to Shanghai because of university classes and upcoming exams

Tibet

2010-02-18T23:31:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, November 28th, the four of us finally enter the so-called “Tibet Express”. After lots of preparation, comparing prices, getting the permission to go and buying the train tickets, the longest train ride that I have ever been on begins. The train goes from Shanghai to Lhasa (about 4340 km) and it takes around 51 hours. There are a few stops on the way, but only every four or five hours.

We have got a “hard-sleeper” ticket. This means that there are 6 beds in one compartment and each ticket costs some 80 Euros. It feels good to have so much free time. During the day I read and play games with the other guys, eat instant noodles and talk to Chinese people who are very interested in the four German students. After about 30 hours we stop in Golmund (2890m above sea level) and the railway locomotive is being changed.

From here on, the landscape is breathtaking. Whenever I look out of the window, it amazes me and I take a few pictures.

No more trees at this altitude...

On the way, the train goes over a pass at an altitude of 5000m. I begin to get tired during the day, a headache is on its way and I start feeling sick. While the other guys are feeling fine, my body is not doing great. My stomach is not feeling well and it gets worse, but I think you don’t need to hear any details.
Once we have arrived in Lhasa, I feel a little better. There is a driver to pick us up and this is the first time for me that someone is waiting for me with my name written on a sign :) He takes us to our hostel where we are going to stay for the next two days. Unfortunately, the heating system doesn’t work very well and there is no hot water in the shower.
In the morning we meet our Tibetan guide. He is a very nice guy and knows a lot about Tibet, its culture, history and Buddhism. His English is also a lot better than expected and we all like him. We start our sightseeing at the Yokhang Temple and afterwards go to the Sera Monastery.

Although I am feeling sick again, I really like what I see and I am happy to be here.

People praying:

Here are a few more pictures which I took in Lhasa:

Prayer wheels next to a temple:

Busy life in the streets of Lhasa...

The Potala Palace:

We go on a short hike around a monastery which – although it is only a few kilometers long – is killing me. My body doesn’t feel normal, everything is exhausting and my headache is not going away. Something has to be wrong and I guess it is the acute mountain sickness. The symptoms match 100%. Here is what Wikipedia says: “Altitude sickness, also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS), altitude illness, hypobaropathy, or soroche, is a pathological effect of high altitude on humans, caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude. It commonly occurs above 2,400 metres (8,000 feet). (…)” If you have never experienced it yourself or never even heard of it, you should read about it. Maybe that will help you understand the next part.
Once we are back at the hostel, the other guys want to get some food, but I’m not hungry. I need to lie down and sleep. When they come back, I feel so bad that we all decide that I should go to the hospital and get some oxygen for one hour. It’s very cheap and it turns out help a lot. However, I am still worried about myself at that time. And of course, I do want to keep staying in Lhasa and then towards Mount Everest Basecamp as we had planned it. During the next night, I cannot sleep at all and in the morning we decide that it is best for me to go home. I am too weak to pack my bag and just getting dressed is almost too big of a task. I have to go to the hospital again in order to get more oxygen into my body. It will get dangerous very fast if I stay at this altitude much longer. That’s why my friends book the next flight to Shanghai for me while I enjoy my oxygen treatment.
They escort me to the airport, I take my last picture (see below) and am very disappointed that I have to return home early. Once I am in the airplane, I go to sleep and after changing flights and getting back to Shanghai, I feel a lot better. Still, it was the right decision and I don’t regret it.

A picture taken from the airplane:

The guys went almost all way to the Mount Everest Basecamp and brought back the left bottle. They had closed it at the high altitude and it is a great way to show the pressure difference between the bottom of Mount Everest (left) and Shanghai (right). Now I understand why my body was going crazy.

IN: Andi, Flo and Sven. Thank you so much for you help and for caring about me when I needed it!
OUT: AMS (acute mountain sickness)

The Bund

2010-02-15T06:26:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

before I start writing about the Bund in Shanghai, I need to say I'm sorry that I haven't written anything in such a long time! There was a lot going, but now I want to concentrate on writing a bit more and especially more frequently. My girlfriend Josi was here to visit me in January and we have had a great time in China, Thailand, and Hongkong. However, I would like to catch up with everything else first, before I am going to write about the most recent trips.
Hannah, a friend – whom I had met in Beijing – came for a visit last year. Together with her mother she spent a few days in Shanghai. On one night we went out to a bar at the Bund and of course I also want you to be able to enjoy the view from up there – enjoy! (Sorry for the bad quality...)

The Bund:

Pudong:

Flo, Sven, Tobi and Hannah:

Nice cocktails:

IN: Shanghai's Skyline
OUT: high prices at places with a nice view

Beijing

2009-12-16T02:49:00.001-08:00

In November, I was invited to a meeting of all DAAD scholarship holders in Beijing.

The hotel was paid for as well as the food and our day trips (thanks again!). On Friday night we had a meeting in the German embassy and afterwards an amazing buffet (German food) which everyone enjoyed a lot.

Andi was there with me and we both had a great time. We went out to a bar that night and got to know some of the students who also received the scholarship a little better. All of them were great people. On Saturday morning we were welcomed by the associate leader of the DAAD office in Beijing and learned about the work that is done by them in China. The next highlight was the speech of Frank Sieren, China correspondent of “Die Zeit” (German newspaper). He talked about the history of China and also about its role in the world now and in the future. It was one of the best speeches that I have ever heard. Additionally, it was more on the pro-China side which made it even more interesting. I learned a lot!

In the afternoon we went sightseeing in Beijing. The group that I had joined went to the Hutongs – narrow streets which are very typical of the city. On the next photo, you can see me in the drum tower which was used to mark the hours of the day back then.

Later, we saw the Bird’s Nest (the stadium in which the Olympic Games took place in 2008):

At night we went to a club – great day!
Sunday morning: brunch at a German restaurant and chatting with Alumni. Afterwards, Andi and I went to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

We stayed in Beijing for one more day and did not go to our language course on Monday. Instead we went to see the Summer Palace, the summer residence of the imperial court. It was really worth going there. We went for a long walk around the lake and of course I took lots of pictures:

By the way, we had originally planned on climbing the great wall that day, but we were too tired to get up in the morning. We just hadn’t slept a lot during the last few nights…

IN: DAAD :)
OUT: German media who sometimes only seem to care about bad news that happen in China, but seldom show the other side of the coin

Huangshan

2009-12-16T02:22:00.000-08:00

This mountain range in the Anhui province is also known as the Yellow Mountains and surely one of the must-see sights in China. Granite peaks, twisted pines and lots of idyllic views are what many poets and painters have drawn their inspiration from. Our trip started from a nice hostel in Tangkou called “Mr. Hu’s Restaurant”. In order to see this UNESCO World heritage site and one of China’s major tourist destinations, we decided to climb up the western steps rather than taking the cable car. I did not regret this decision, however, it was not easy to get up there. Probably because our backpacks were filled with food and drinks so we did not have to buy them for ridiculous prices at the top. About 1000m of altitude difference were waiting for us and it took us about all day to reach our hotel at the summit. Some breathtaking views were the reward for the hard work. There is not much I can say, just look at the pictures see for yourself. On the next day, we went down into the West Sea Canyon, an 8.5km hike and a path where tour groups don’t go. We enjoyed it very much, especially the silence down there. So far, this is one of my favorite places and I can only recommend it to anyone who gets a chance to go there!

Still at the bottom...

On the way up...

Can you see the steps?

The way into the canyon...

Views from the bottow...

Doesn't that look scary?

Finally at the top...

Again, some people wanted to take a picture with us:

The locks are brought here by couples. Sometimes, their names are engraved. After locking it, the key gets thrown away and their relationship is supposed to be strengthened.

The crowds…

And some more amazing photos:

IN: breathtaking views and nature
OUT:
i) once again crowds and tourist groups that follow one person who is holding up an umbrella and has got his/her megaphone’s volume on max
ii) Steps! It seems impossible to find a regular hiking path. There are only steps, nothing but steps!

National holidays (part III)

2009-12-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

After the rice terraces we went on to Yangshuo, a place also very close to Guilin. There we went on many day trips. One of them went straight to the moon! At least if you believe this sign:

Actually, we went to the moon hill, which you can see in the next picture:

Here is one more funny sign which we saw on the way. None of us really knows what it is supposed to mean, but we survived without knowing the deeper meaning.

On the way back, we went to a nice restaurant. You can see part of the menu in the next picture and please don’t worry, we only had some burgers ;-)

The landscape is typical of this area and you can even find a picture on the back of the 20 Yuan banknote. And when we told our Chinese friends that we were going to go to this place they all went green with envy! Moreover, there is plenty so see under the ground. We went to see a cave which was truly beautiful. We were even able to go swimming and take a mud-bath. Fun stuff!

One other day, we rented some mountain bikes and took them for an amazing ride along the Yulong River. Luckily, we had taken the bikes. Nearly all other tourists had decided to take the bamboo-raft. The second picture shows the crowd on the river which we successfully escaped from.

Here are some pictures of the Li River. We went on a hike from Yingping to Yandi and then went back by bamboo-raft. Beautiful!

IN: The strong Euro compared with the Renminbi
OUT: Crowds at tourist spots

National holidays (part II)

2009-12-09T04:57:00.000-08:00

After Guilin we headed to Longsheng in order to take a bus to Dazai. On the way we had to stop because the breaks of the bus were getting ready to overheat. In this picture you can see how the problem was solved:

In Dazai, we saw the so-called rice terraces. I will not say so much about this place in general because it is obvious that rice is grown here and people come to see how rice is grown. And of course the landscape is amazing. Unfortunately, this place was also very touristic and we had to go on a long hike (from Dazai to Ping’an) in order to escape the crowd. Enjoy the pictures!

A traditional village on the way to the rice terraces:

Some breath-taking views:

Have you ever seen that many chilis in one spot?

Eine Anmerkung am Rande: Ich wollte mich eigentlich an dieser Stelle über diejenigen Leute auslassen, die sich ihr Gepäck (Rucksäcke, Kamerataschen, Objektive, etc.) von den einheimischen z.T. alten und gebrechlichen Frauen tragen lassen oder sich gleich in einer Sänfte den kompletten Berg hochtragen lassen und dafür nur einen Hungerlohn zahlen, habe aber entschieden, das doch nicht zu tun.

National holidays (part I)

2009-12-09T04:47:00.000-08:00

I’ve been a little busy during the last weeks, hence I neglected my blog. Now it’s time to make up. In order to start travelling here in China, I had to renew my visa since my first one was temporary and only valid for 30 days. In order to apply for a temporary residence permit, a health certificate is required. Luckily, I had already gone to a doctor in Germany because I had needed a health certificate to apply for the temporary visa in the first place. Unfortunately, the appropriate authority does not seem to trust German doctors/hospitals. Although we all brought the original of our German health certificates, they were not accepted and we had to do it all again: blood collecting, eyesight tests, you name it. Of course we had to go to a hospital which was everything but close to our apartment. And I want to mention that this whole thing could have been a lot easier if someone at our university had informed us that there are health examinations especially for exchange students. Anyway, I am healthy and ready to apply for an extended visa.
Anyone who has ever been to China knows about the National holidays (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China). Since Chinese employees are not able to go on holiday as much as people are in other countries, just about everyone uses this opportunity in order to travel. All the institutions such as schools, universities, offices, are closed during that week. So is the bureau of entry and exit which is responsible for issuing visas. It seemed like there was no chance for the four of us to go travel because our passports were supposed to be ready just after the week of the National holidays. Thanks to a receipt – which is the temporary equivalent to a passport – we were able to travel within China without a problem. So this is what my passport looked like for this one week (please understand that I erased some of my personal date):

The first destination is called Guilin and situated in the Guanxi province (southern China). Shanghai is a very modern city, so that’s why I was glad to see some of the traditional China (which in my opinion is much more beautiful!). Train tickets had been sold out which is why we had to take the plane. And because we wanted to be as flexible as possible, we had not booked a hostel in advance. I guess that is just the way we like to travel. Chinese folks seem to want everything to be organized before they leave. Since we don’t need much comfort, booking the hostel when we get there it is a good way to save some money. Long story short: we found a nice hostel and stayed there for a few days. It was close to the downtown area which meant that we did not have to take a taxi every time we wanted to go sightseeing. There were many parks and peaks to see and all of them were beautiful.

The next picture needs to be explained. As mentioned above, lots of people travel during the national holidays. Even people from the countryside and those who had not been able to afford going on holiday in the last years are now able travel. Many of them have not seen “Western” people before and even if they have, it is still something special. If they return home and say that they met four German students who study in China, their families will be amazed and interested. That’s the reason why a lot of people ask us if they can take a picture with us. So far, we never said no and I am sure that we can be found on a lot photos here in China. Usually, people are fascinated by our long noses. Please imagine the following situation:

Chinese person says: “Hey, you have a very long nose!!”
Tobias says: “Thank you”
Tobias is confused and thinks: “Was that meant to be a compliment??”

And whenever someone was brave enough to ask us whether they can take a picture, many of their friends - who had been afraid of asking us - join them and get in the picture. If you can’t imagine, please see for yourself:

Here are some more impressions of Guilin by night:

Miscellaneous things

2009-10-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

There are a few more things that I have to talk about in order to keep you up to date. The exams that we have written so far were alright. I can’t say that they were outstanding, but there is nothing to worry about. The last few weeks have been pretty stressful, but somehow we still managed to go on a hiking trip last weekend. And I even took the time to finish the book that I had started ages ago. Pictures of the hiking trip to the yellow mountains will follow. Just let me catch up with everything else.

One of the most useful things that I have bought so far is a new cell phone and a contract with China Mobile. It is very cheap compared to Germany. We pay 2.70€ per month and we have got 160 free short messages. No matter if you call another cell phone or a home phone, it only costs about 0.2 cents per minute. I think it is essential to have a cell phone in such a big city and it has been very useful so far. If you want to call me, just write me an email and I will tell you my number. I just don’t want to post it on this website.

I promised to upload some pictures of our apartment. We like it a lot and it already feels a little like home. Don’t worry, I have already decided that I won’t stay here for the rest of my life. However, this doesn’t mean that I don’t like it here!

On these two pictures you can see my room:

The living room with a huge TV (it was already here before we moved in):

The kitchen:

Here you can see the four of us while having breakfast:

So much for the apartment. One other thing that I have not talked about is school. I am taking both engineering and Chinese language classes. The engineering courses are called “Design and Manufacturing II”, the corresponding project and “Fluid Mechanics”. I really like Fluid Mechanics. I am even thinking of doing something similar later for a job. But that’s just an idea. The language courses are tough. I feel like I have understood the basics of the language, but now there is so much vocabulary that has to be memorized. I got to know a Chinese girl (Annika is her German name – Chinese students often give themselves English or German names in order to make it more convenient for none-Chinese people to pronounce their name) who studies German language and she gives me private lessons in Chinese. Today was our first lesson and it helps a lot. She is very good at explaining the grammar. Unfortunately, our teachers at the university don’t speak English well enough to explain the complex rules of grammar. I am glad that I met Annika. She is also planning on telling me more about Chinese culture which I am already looking forward to.
You can see my university schedule in the next picture. The yellow courses take place at the campus in the downtown area. We can walk there and it only takes about 20 minutes. The green courses are on the campus which is situated a little outside of the center of Shanghai. We take the subway to get near the university and then our bikes in order to get around on campus. It takes us about 80 minutes to get from our house to the lecture hall. If class starts at 8am we have to leave our apartment at 6:30am which is way too early for me. While being in the metro, I read a lot. This way, I don’t waste the time and additionally it doesn’t seem to take so long.

University is much different compared to Germany. The first thing that I had to get used to is the compulsory attendance. And because in the engineering classes we are the only four western students, it is impossible to skip the class without the teacher noticing it. Furthermore, we have to hand in homework once a week and there is not only one exam at the end of the semester as we are used to, but there is a midterm exam and also some quizzes. My first thought was: “Welcome back to school…”, but by now I feel like I have successfully adapted to the new system. Hopefully, the grades won’t be too bad at the end, but we will see.
By the way, these are the bikes that we have bought (next picture). Everyone has got the same one because that way we could get a better price. We paid around 15€ which is very cheap, but I have to admit that it is not the greatest bike that I have ever had. At least they are not likely to be stolen because of their low value.

IN: I imagine that I have gotten better at the Chinese language
OUT: homework and studying vocabulary

Sightseeing in Shanghai

2009-10-22T05:02:00.000-07:00

The weekends after we have written an exam usually consist of sleeping, sightseeing and having fun. Since we have not had a whole lot of time of getting to know Shanghai, yet, we use those weekends to see if the “Lonely Planet” is right about all the sights in this city. One of the things that you have got to see when you come to Shanghai is the so-called People’s Square. It is a place where it is always crowded and in the nearby People’s Park you can take some time to take a break and sit down. The area is surrounded by skyscrapers and we were pretty impressed by the architecture. Doesn’t the building in the second picture look like it would fit into “The Lord of the Rings”? ;)

From this place we started walking into Nanjing Road – the main street and known for its great opportunities to go shopping. I don’t think that I have ever seen that many people in one day. And whenever there are crowds of people, locals will try to sell you something. “Have a look! DVDs, watches…” or “Rolex, Rolex” are one of the sentences that will start annoying you once you have walked into the street. But our hard work for the Chinese language course paid off and we were able to tell them that we did not want to buy anything. I took a few pictures, but then we decided to head to the even taller buildings of the city and watch the sunset from up there. A few picture of the area that I have just talked about. In my opinion, the second one is very typical of Shanghai. You can see the contrast between an old building which seems to have been there forever and a very new building in the background.

We walked to the “World Finance Center” which is the world’s 3rd tallest building! It looks like a huge bottle opener and the view from the top is amazing. We were a little late for the sunset, but it was still a great view. Of course, I took a few pictures in order to make you jealous :) In the first one you can see the bottle opener right next to the former city’s tallest building. In the second picture you can see us at the very top of the building and in the third one you can see the amazing view which you have from up there.

Last weekend, we treated ourselves with a ride on the “Maglev” train which is also known as the Transrapid. It was quite an adventure and I must say that it felt a little scary to basically fly over the city. 431 km/h is just incredibly fast! You can see the train in the next picture:

There are still many sights to see and luckily there is also some time left to have a look at the rest of the city. However, I think on the next free weekend we will plan a trip to a place outside of the city. The countryside is waiting to be explored…

IN: German engineering (Transrapid)
OUT: all the annoying people who never seem to stop bugging you because they want to sell their souvenirs and other junk

Big City Life

2009-10-19T05:34:00.001-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post. By now, we have successfully moved into our new apartment!! It’s great, finally a place that feels like it can be a temporary home. Believe me, it was not easy to find an apartment in the downtown area of Shanghai with four bedrooms for only 5 months. Oh and of course we could not even say one sentence in Chinese and the majority of the realty agencies did not speak English. So here is what we did:

The process seemed to be the same in every agency. They offered us some apartments with only three bedrooms instead of four, but then just before we were ready to walk out of their office, they found an apartment that sounded worth looking at. We decided to get help from our Chinese friends who were a big help because we were not able to negotiate in Chinese and they were there to do the talking. One decision we had to make was whether we wanted to look for an apartment near our campus which is situated in the downtown area (this is where we have to go for our language course) or near the other campus where our mechanical engineering lectures take place (disadvantage: far away from the center of the city). The decision was fairly easy and we all agreed on the possibility downtown :) After spending a lot of time walking around and going from one agency to another and looking at many apartments, we were able to decide on one of them.

In the next picture you can see the four of us with a Chinese friend before signing the Chinese (!) contract. We had to pay the first rent and the deposit (27000 Yuan) in cash and the largest banknote over here is 100 Yuan. It was strange to walk around with so much money, but everything worked out and we are happy to live in the area that we have chosen.

After we had signed the contract, we invited the guy who helped us to negotiate with the Chinese landlord to have lunch with us. He also translated the contract and made sure that everything was correct. This was the first time that we ate food from the Hongkong area. You can see all of us during lunch in the next picture. I loved the various dishes and drinks and besides it felt good to have a nice place to stay for the next few months - great day! Pictures of the apartment will be coming up soon…

IN: our new apartment and neighborhood

OUT: the slowliness of this internet connection

Campus of Jiao Tong University

2009-09-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

I want to start out by writing a few lines about the dorms that we are living at until we move somewhere else. Unfortunately, it is very loud here. They are building a new house right around the corner and the construction workers seem to be working 24-7. Besides, the employees seem to be unable to speak with low volume, which makes it very hard to study in our rooms. I’m so glad I brought earplugs! It’s also not the cleanest place that I have ever been to, but oh well. The good thing is: using the washing machine only costs about 20 Cents.

This is me in our room:

and the shower:

The campus is very nice and well-kept. Yesterday and today, we went running on our campus and we experienced that it is huge. We were running for about an hour and I am sure that we haven’t seen everything, yet. Even a highway crosses our campus. I really like the buildings and that they look new.

We have seen a lot of Chinese students wearing camouflaged clothes. We asked a friend and he explained to us that all students (male and female) have to go through military training during their first two weeks at the university. At the end of those days, they march in the footballs stadium and show off what they have learned. We went by the stadium by accident and watched the little parade. Seemed a little strange to me to see this at a university campus, but it reminded me of my year in South Carolina, USA, when I was in the marching band of my school. Here is a picure of them standing in line. You probably have to click on the picture in order to see it better:

Right now, I have to study for an exam which is coming up on Friday (engineering mechanics III). I would rather go sightseeing and check out some places in the city, but there is no time for that. I can’t wait until Friday night when the exam is over. Then I won’t be that busy anymore and hopefully keep the blog updated a little better.
And I hope we can finally manage to eat healthier food. Our nutrition schedule really needs to change. In the mornings we usually eat toast (untoasted of course…we don’t have a toaster) with marmalade or Nutella. Lunch is horrible. We started out by buying a water boiler and eating instant meals. Although they are all supposed to taste different, I got sick of them very fast. Thus I decided to eat bread again for lunch, but this time with sausage. At least we have bought lots of fruits and vegetables that you don’t have to cook. And one of us brought some vitamins that we take in the mornings. In the evenings we eat at restaurants, but generally it takes too long. This is why yesterday we decided to order pizza and today we ate at KFC. I’m really looking forward to having our own apartment and being able to cook! We talked to some of our Chinese friends and they said that they will teach us how to cook Chinese. I’m excited about it and I hope that we will start learning soon!

IN: the weather: still around 30 degrees celsius!
OUT: studying engineering mechanics

P.S.: By now I do know that you guys are not able to write a comment unless you have an account for this website. Thank to everyone who wrote a comment and sent it to me via email :)

My first few days in Shanghai

2009-09-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

I know that it’s about time for a new post, but I’ve been kind of busy during the last few days. But now I want to let you know what has been going on here in Shanghai.
Our arrival was great. After filling out a few forms in the airplane we had to go through some body scanners that were checking our body temperature. The government seems be doing a lot in order to keep the swine flu out of China. Luckily, we all passed the first test. Immigration was no problem because we had all gotten our VISA in advance and after we had picked up our luggage and gone through customs, there actually was someone to pick us up and take us to the dormitory at the university campus.
The rooms are not great, but it is a place where we can stay for little money and there is air conditioning. Outside, we have been having about 30 degrees Celsius during the last week. Furthermore, we have one desk per person and also internet access. Please don’t ask about the connection speed…
In the evening of our arrival day we went to a Chinese restaurant near the university. We just picked one randomly and it was a lot of fun to eat at that place. In almost all restaurants at which we have had dinner so far the menu was written in Chinese characters, which means that we couldn’t read it. Luckily, at our first night the waiter knew two English words: meat & chicken. That narrowed down our choice and we pointed at random items on the list. We ended up with some pork, chicken, ribs and a plate with vegetables. And we loved the food. So far, I haven’t had anything to eat which I disliked! I’m always thrilled around dinner time because every time the food is so different and still good. On our second day we went to dinner with a Chinese friend who had been to the University of Karlsruhe during the last semester. His name is Kaibo and he is a great guy. He was incredibly friendly and helpful and made our first days great. Kaibo, if you ever read this: you’re the man! Thank you so much!! We told him to go ahead and order food for us since (again) we weren’t able to read the menu. This was my first time to try swine ears without even knowing :) But I can’t complain. Except for the gristly part, it didn’t taste bad! By the way: 5 people ate dinner including appetizer and desert and we only had to pay about 17€ total!!
Speaking of food: the procedure of eating is a little different over here. Usually, several dishes are ordered and placed on a rotatable platform. Then you rotate the platform whenever you want to try something from the other side. That way, everyone gets to try some of each dish. If you can’t imagine, look at the pictures below.

IN: Chinese food, friendliness and helpfulness of the locals
OUT: cars that honk their horn for no reason, scooters with headlights switched off while it’s dark outside

Here you can see the typical set-up when eating at a restaurant. In the middle you can find the swine ears that I was talking about:

This is another way of eating your meal. It is called "hot pot". You cook the meat and other foods in the pot in the middle. Everyone at the table uses the same pot. It is similar to "fondue", but you don't use just water for the cooking. The red half is a very spicy soup, the other one is milder and you can actually taste the spices. Very yummy:

Dubai

2009-09-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
I was writing this while sitting at the airport in Dubai. My laptop batteries died before I was able to upload this, so just read what I wrote a few days ago:
We got here this morning at 6am local time and our next flight to Shanghai is going to leave in a few hours at 2:50am. As you might have recognized, we have had a lot of time to spend here in Dubai so far and of course, we didn’t just stay at the airport. Luckily, we were able to store our luggage, so we only took our backpacks filled with swimsuit, towel, camera and a few other things and went sightseeing.
First stop: jumeirah beach!
By the way, it is not only hot over here (35 degrees Celsius = close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade), the humidity makes it feel even worse. You don’t have to do much and you will start sweating like crazy when you are outside. So the beach seemed like the perfect place to go.
The taxi driver was pretty nice and since he used a taximeter, I believe that the price was fair. At the beach we had the idea to spend the day at that part of the beach that belongs to the 5 star Hilton hotel. So we went ahead and asked how much that was going to be. The answer was “two fifty per person for the whole day”. In our eyes that seemed great because 2,50 AED equals about 50 cents and we decided to go in and pay. We also found out that towels were included in that price, also the use of changing rooms, showers and the hotel pool!! We thought that we were very lucky, but then it turned out that “two fifty” meant two hundred and fifty which equals 50 Euros. That was a little too much for our budget and we went to the regular beach. I admit, it was kind of naïve to think that we could stay at the Hilton beach for that cheap, but we were still pretty disappointed.
Anyway, we found a place to lie down at and it was crazy hot outside. There’s nothing wrong with that, just the fact that the water seemed to be even hotter than the air which made it impossible to cool off. That’s why we left the beach right after our last water bottle was empty and we decided to go to a place with air conditioning.
Second stop: Dubai Mall! The largest mall that I have ever seen and just the food court seemed to have the size of the mall near my hometown. Not only the 1200 stores inside this 4-story-building were very impressive, but also the humongous aquarium and the ice rink inside (!) the mall. All in all, it seemed very American, which was a little disappointing in my eyes. I got to eat at Taco Bell which I hadn’t done in quite a while, but that’s about it. All the other stores weren’t much cheaper than German stores. The fountains outside were pretty impressive. It reminded me of the fountains in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but from my point of view the show in Dubai was better. The tallest skyscraper that exists on this earth is right next to Dubai Mall. It was unbelievable how high it was (800m). My neck started hurting after a little while. But I heard that the construction of a taller building in some other country is already in progress.
Of course, we were hungry by that time, but since “Ramadan” is taking place right now, Islamic people are not allowed to eat until the sun has set. This means that 4 hungry Germans have to wait until 7pm until they can buy anything to eat. Seems unusual to us, but there was no other way for us than to wait and eat when it was time for dinner.
We waited outside and watched the sunset:

After the Mall, we went to Dubai Creek, a small river that is situated in the middle of the city. We were told that a nice thing to do would be to cross this river by water taxi. So we did. Water taxi seems to be another word for an ancient small ship. It was pretty scary, but a nice experience and it only cost 20 Cents to go from side to another. Eventually, we took the taxi to the airport and took a shower at a hotel (man, this felt good!) and got some rest at the hotel bar. 10$ for one small beer was expensive, but they had wireless internet and we were tired so we stayed until it was time to catch our airplane. In summary, Dubai was interesting and there were many things that I hadn’t seen before, but I don’t think that I will ever want to live there. If you want to fill up your car, one liter of petrol only costs 0,30€ and the buildings were amazing, but I wouldn’t want go there for more than a few days. Now it’s time to go, I’m looking forward to Shanghai and I’m very excited!

Tobias

Here you can see us (me, Flo, Andi and Sven) in Dubai:

(if you click on the picture, it will enlarge!)

The world's largest skyscraper...

...and me right in front of it:

The Great Wall of China 2.0

2009-09-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, my laptop batteries died at Dubai airport. Now that I am in China, the Chinese government doesn’t seem to like this website. I have no access to it. I guess it is blocked. Luckily, one of my German fellow students has found a way to overcome the Great Wall 2.0! For more information (in German), check this out:
http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-56756404.html
Thank you for your understanding!

Tobias

Welcome to my blog

2009-07-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hallo zusammen,

dies ist der erste Eintrag in meinem neuen "Internet-Tagebuch". Während meiner Zeit in China werde ich zwar wie gewohnt via Email erreichbar sein, es wird aber sicher schwierig, jede Email zu beantworten und zu erzählen, wo ich gerade bin und was ich dort mache. Anstelle von regelmäßigen Rundmails habe ich mich also entschieden, einen Blog zu schreiben.
Zur Erinnerung: ich bin von September bis April 2010 in Shanghai, werde an der Jiao Tong Universität (SJTU) studieren und im Anschluss ein Praktikum absolvieren.
Wenn Ihr bis hierher gelesen habt, dann hat alles soweit funktioniert und Ihr müsst nur noch regelmäßig auf diese Seite schauen, falls Ihr wissen wollt, wo ich mich herumtreibe und was ich erlebt habe.
Eine Sache noch: damit auch meine Amerikanischen Freunde nicht zu kurz kommen, werde ich diesen Blog auf Englisch schreiben. Ich hoffe, das geht in Ordnung.

Grüße

Tobias

Dear all,

I am not sure if everyone knows that I am going to go to Shanghai, China from September 2009 until April 2010. I am going to be studying at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) for 5 months and afterwards I will be doing an internship somewhere in China. In order to let you all know how I am doing, where I am and what I am up to, I decided to write this blog. I have got some good news for English native speakers: I am going to write my posts in English!
Please feel free to comment on what I wrote, I hope that you will check this website every once in a while.

Tobias