Travel to Bejing

Today, we travelled to the final city on our itinerary:  Beijing.  While our transfer from Chengdu to Xi’an took 16 hours by train, the plane trip from Xi’an to Beijing took less than 2 hours.  While the students enjoyed the train experience, I’m sure they also liked the convenience and speed of plane travel.

After arriving in Beijing in the morning, we visited with representatives of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), which is where we are staying.  I had the opportunity to interview several Chinese students from BUCT that may be going to SUNY-ESF to complete their senior year of studies through a dual-degree program that we have with BUCT.  Many of these students will also help our students with their touring in Beijing.

Over the next week in Beijing, the students will be visiting a number of different sites throughout the area including, the Great Wall, the  Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Olympic Village, the Beijing Zoo, and the Yong He Temple.  While the students are  visiting these sites, I will be visiting a number of other universities in the area with Dr Liu, who has made many of the arrangements for this  trip.  Hence, our students, with the help of students from BUCT, will be seeing the sights while I make these and other visits.  Beth Arthur, one of our graduate students on the trip, is also blogging at http://ramaraophdstudent.blogspot.com/.  Please also look at her site to keep up with the students.

Beijing skyline with Olympic Media Building in the background.

Beth Arthur presenting to students and faculty at Shaanxi University.

Touring in Xi’an

Today we learned more about the history of China by visiting the Shaanxi History Museum which contains many items collected from the area of historical note.  Xi’an is the China end of the Silk Road and so had a great deal of interaction with the West. 

Pot with dragon handles in the Shaanxi museum.

Bells in the Shaanxi museum.

We also visited a local park in Xi’an which has the Wild Goose Pagoda as its centerpiece. The pagoda is park of a Buddhist monastery.  The park surrounding the monastery also had many statues and also included the largest water fountain in Asia.  Three times a day, there is a fountain show that is coordinated with music.  During the show many people (including several  of  our students) run through the fountain. 

Wild Goose Pagoda.

Statue near the Wild Goose Pagoda.

Sign in the park.

Fountain show.

The final stop was the Muslim street near the Drum Tower in Xi’an.  This street is known for its plethora of restaurants and shops.

Shopping street near the Drum Tower in Xi’an.

Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an

Today we visited the famous Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi’an.  These figures were buried to serve the first emperor of China in the afterlife.   To assure that he had an army in the afterlife, he had lifesize clay figures of his army created and buried.  Unfortunately, they were discovered and partially destroyed before being found again by a farmer digging a well.  The farmer that found them was also there.

The location is still under excavation with the archeological work being done at night while the museum and the pits are open to the public during the day.  So in China, archeology is a night job. 

Farmer (sitting at the table) who discovered the Terra Cotta Warriors.

Terra Cotta Warrior Puppet from the Olympics.

Four horses in the pit.

Original State before restoration.

Restored Terra Cotta Warriors.

Bamboo Park in Chengdu/To Xi’an by Train

In the afternoon, Dr Liu and I had the opportunity to walk around Bamboo Park in Chengdu, which is right next to Sichuan University.  The park lives up to its name, growing many different kinds of bamboo.  In addition to growing bamboo, the park contains a significant number of pieces of artwork created out of bamboo, some of them quite large. 

Bamboo art.

The park also contained a number of museums to an ancient poet, to paper making, and even exhibited artwork from a local school.  The park was also popular for tea and to enjoy a game of mahjongg.

Mahjongg players.

Stone bridge.

In the evening, we headed to the train station for the 16 hour train ride from Chengdu to Xi’an through the mountains.  As it was an overnight train trip, we booked into the “hard sleeper” car, which lets you lay down to sleep for the nighttime portion of the trip.

Inside the sleeper car.

After boarding at 9:00 pm, it was lights out at 10:00pm until 7 am the next morning.  With the morning light, we were well into the mountains, climbing to a peak of about 4600 feet in elevation before dropping to 1400 ft in Xi’an.  The views through the mountains were incredible.

Following the river through the mountains.

Mountain road.

On the train, there were six people to a “compartment” with two fold down seats in the aisle next to the windows.  Each traincar slept 66 people and the train was full.

On the train.

After arriving in Xi’an and getting to the hotel, we had an early dinner at the hotel.  Tomorrow, we will be heading to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an.

Dining at the hotel.

Salmon for dinner.

Pandas and Ancient History

Today (Wednesday), the students and I visited the Chengdu Research base of Giant Panda Breeding.   This is one of the primary sites in the world dedicated to breeding and maintaining the population of giant pandas, of which there are only about 1000 left living in the wild.   Walking around the research center, we saw at least a dozen giant pandas and about a half dozen of the smaller red pandas.   The giant pandas diet consists of primarily bamboo, requiring approximately 40 kg of bamboo a day.   Because of this large amount of food required, pandas spend a large amount of time eating and resting.   Several of the students paid additionally in order to pet a panda and to have their picture taken with one of them.   

After lunch, we visited the Sanxingdui Historic Site.   This is an archeological site of civilization that existed in this area about 4000 years ago but has since disappeared.   They left behind a large number of artifacts including various jade pieces, pottery, and bronze statues and masks.  The most interesting were the masks, which bear a striking resemblance to faces depicted in the ancient Incan culture.   

Tomorrow, after visiting at Sichuan University, we will board a night train for Xi’an.  

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The PBE Department Returns to China

Dr. Shijie Liu and Dr. Gary M. Scott are once again taking a group of students to mainland China as an international experience organized by the PBE Department.   The last time a group of students went to China was the Spring of 2008, when a group of 5 students visited Guangzhou, Xiamen and Beijing for 3 weeks.  On this year’s trip, 10 students will visit and study Chinese culture, history, and environment  from 14 May to 1 June.   As I write this, the students and Dr. Liu are already in China and I am awaiting my flight to Beijing to catch up with them, having to stay through the weekend for the SUNY-ESF commencement activities.  

This years itinerary includes visits to Chengdu, Xi’an, and Beijing.   It is hard to imagine that it has been two years since the earthquake in the Sichuan province of China had prevented us from visiting this area of China on our previous trip.   After a couple of days in Chengdu, we will be taking a train to Xi’an, the home of the famous Terra Cotta Warriors.   The last leg of our journey will take us back to Beijing to visit popular sights there including, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace.  

During their stays in the various cities in China, students will have many opportunities to interact with students at various universities across China.   We hope that these exchanges will benefit not only the students from SUNY-ESF, but also help Chinese university students learn from our students.   Based on our experiences from two years ago, we expect that students from both countries will be richer from this experience.

As our travels progress, I plan on keeping you up-to-date on our experiences with descriptions and pictures.   Please remember that China is exactly 12 hours of Eastern Daylight Time ahead, so posts will most likely appear either late evening to early morning as I find the time to post.  

Dollar Bill Origami

(Courtesy of Linda Fagan, Administrative Manager for the Syracuse Pulp and Paper Foundation)

Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding.    The goal of this art is to create a representation of an object using geometric folds and crease patterns preferably without the use of gluing or cutting the paper, and using only one piece of paper.

Won   Park  is the master of Origami.  He is also called the "money folder", a practitioner of origami whose canvas is the United States One Dollar Bill.

Bending, twisting, and folding, he creates life-like shapes in stunning detail.
One Dollar


One Dollar      Butterfly


One Dollar        Camera
 
Two Dollars            Battle Tank
 
Two Dollars        Chinese Dragon
 

Two Dollars       Spider
 

One Dollar     Toilet Bowl
  

One Dollar      Penguin
 

One Dollar      Shark


One Dollar     Jet