Arrived In Atlanta Safely

After a 14-hour flight from Shanghai to Chicago, a 3-hour lay over in Chicago and a 2-hour flight to Atlanta, we all made it home safely. Other than being travel warn and a few of us having acquired colds, we were all still very excited about our trip but very happy to be home.

While taking the train from one terminal to another in Chicago, I found it interesting the observations that were being made now that we were back in the U.S. One of my traveling companions remarked how happy they were to see letters again, that it was nice to be able to read and understand the writing posted everywhere around them. Another remarked how nice it was to see American food that wasn't from McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut or Star Bucks.

I was noticing how beautiful, crisp and clear everything was out side. It took me a little while to figure out that it was because there wasn't any smog. It made me realize how bad the pollution was in China. Now that I’m back in Atlanta, I see that our pollution and smog is not as bad as it is in China. However, I don’t know if that is anything to be happy about.

Leaving For Atlanta

Due to internet issues and technical difficulties, I've only been able to post information about days 1 - 10. Today is actually day 14 however and we are leaving for Atlanta in about an hour. So, I will let you know when we arrive in Atlanta and catch you up on days 11 - 14 over the next few days.

Sorry for the delay!

Day 10 - More About Zhongshan Mausoleum

Diane Vagnini, Instructor of English, is pictured above taking a photo along with other pictures.

Dianne wrote, "Today we explored Zhongshan Mountain National Park. Also known as Purple Mountain, the compound includes many attractions, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum and the Ming Tomb Ruins. The walkway leading to the Ming Tomb is called the Sacred Avenue. This avenue winds through a garden and is lined with stone warriors and animals that guard the path to the tomb. We actually started at the tomb, so we worked our way backwards. The warriors (huge, standing and holding big swords, boring in comparison) and animals are carved from a grayish color stone. They line the Sacred Avenue in groups of 4: one pair resting, the other standing guard. It is a spectacular view, gazing down at what appears to be an endless, enormous line of unicorns, horses, 2-hump camels, and lions.

Along the Sacred Avenue, we encountered a Chinese man and his 5 year-old (I’m guessing her age) daughter. She was the cutest thing wearing a floral dress, stockings, and sandals with a pink bow in her hair. When she first noticed us, she was very shy. She would examine us and then run behind her father. As we continued down the walkway, her confidence grew and she began to pose on and around the animals for us. During our visit to China, most of us have experienced what I can only describe as a “rock star” moment: Chinese who appear to be fascinated and excitedly pose for pictures with us. It was curious to watch the little girl’s attitude toward us go from timid curiosity to hamming it up for our cameras."

More About GPC Study Abroad

The good thing about meeting with our GPC study abroad students was that our GPC faculty got to discuss many things with them. It gave them a good idea of the students' experiences and situations while studying abroad.

Pictured above are a few faculty talking with Brian Reynolds, a GPC study abroad student in the lobby of the Grand Metro Hotel at Nanjing Normal University. Below is a short video interview with Fred Bounds, Associate Professor of Business/Computer Science discuss the study abroad experience.

Day 10 - Nanjing

Day 10 was another busy day. After arriving to Nanjing, on the overnight train from Xi’an that took about 14.5 hours, we checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Grand Metro Hotel on the campus of NanShiDa (Nanjing Normal University). Once we settled in and got breakfast we took off to Ming's Tomb and the Zhongshan Mausoleum for the rest of the day.

That evening we were able to meet up with some of our GPC study abroad students in the lobby of the hotel. We discussed their experiences in China, their majors and their futures. They were accompanied by Ming Her, a GPC study abroad faculty member. Afterwards a few of us went to a cafe to talk further with Ming and one of the students.

Pictured above are three GPC study abroad students. From left to right you have; Brian Reynolds, Elijah Luttrell and Danyis Toranzo. Brian is currently studying at Nanjing University, while Elijah and Danyis a currently studying at Nanjing Normal University.

Brian just graduated from GPC with degrees in Foreign Languages and Business Administration. He will be headed to Arizona in the fall to complete his bachelor degree. Elijah has been at GPC for a year and is planning on changing his major to Foreign Languages when he gets back. After getting his associate degreee, at GPC, he plans, to go to GSU, to finish his bachelor degree in Chinese. Danyis has also been at GPC for a year and is majoring in Business Administration. Once she has her associate degree, she also plans on finishing her bachelor at GSU.

Below is a short video interview with Danyis Toranzo.

Day 9 - Xi'an/Nanjing

Before leaving Xi'an on an overnight train to Nanjing, we ventured out to the country side to visit with a few peasant painters. Ding Jitang, the peasant painter we met the day before, joined us on our bus ride out to Huxian. We were lucky because we got to see and meet some of the painters working on the walls that lined the street leading into the small town. Some of these artist, along with the others we were originally suppose to meet, were students of Ding Jitang.

Pictured above is Dr. Crystal Garrett, Professor of Political Science, totally captivated by and taking pictures of the peasant painters' artwork. Also shown are a few other wall works of art, a painter at work and me with Pan Xiaoling. She was one of the peasant painters we met with and famous student of Ding Jitang. We met with her, at her studio and gallery located in her home.

For more of a personal reflection, Crystal wrote, "While we traveled to Huxian, a small town of village painters, we were pleasantly surprised to see paintings on the walls that lined the road leading the village. The paintings were passionate with vivid colors like yellow, orange, pink, purple, and blue to express the painters’ feelings. Expressing feelings openly is unacceptable in the Chinese culture as they are taught to conceal their feelings and save face. However, as we studied the paintings, we realized that artists’ feelings spoke loud and clear.

When we arrived at a painter’s house, we viewed artwork created by art teachers and their students. The students tended to mimic their teachers’ work without deviation. Both works were similar to each other as though the student has to pass a test to duplicate the teacher’s work. The copies were intriguing to compare.

Most of the painters seem to capture their culture by animating Chinese workers in their daily lives. One painting in particular captured the struggles of a poor Chinese family; it revealed a family selling food in the snow with no shoes and tattered clothes. The artists used muted tones such as dark blue, light blue and black to elicit a feeling of sadness and desperation and white snow to give the viewer a sudden chill of pain and empathy for the family. In some ways you felt like you were there; it was quite emotional to see.

On the other hand, a brighter painting of pink, purple and yellow showed twenty small children with smiling faces and rosy cheeks playing in the park, riding bikes and playing games. This painting put a smile on your face because it expressed joy, happiness and peace. Most people like to see children having fun. Both canvases were filled with joy and pain.

After looking at many paintings, that revealed not only extreme passion and deep emotion but also an expression of social, political and ideological feelings of the past, present and future, I realized that we all have similar lives but live in different places and express our ideas differently."

The Great Mosque of Xi’an

Fred Bounds, Associate Professor of Business/Computer Science is pictured to the left at the Great Mosque.

Fred writes, “After breakfast we walked from our hotel to the Great Mosque. It was built during the Tang dynasty, as were others in other major cities. Centrally located inside the city walls, it is west of the iconic Bell Tower and Drum Tower.

We approached the Mosque by entering a web of narrow alleys, lined on both sides by vendors selling an abundant variety of items both beautiful and bizarre, but always interesting. It evoked images one has of the teeming, noisy bazaars symbolic of Muslim cities in North Africa. The merchants, as expected, were assertive in their sales pitches but not aggressive or overbearing. I think our group found that a welcome change from other venues.

The Mosque was built for the Hui Muslims, one of modern China’s fifty-plus recognized minority groups. The structure itself, however, is unlike any one would see say in the Middle East, and so is distinctly Chinese.

Although we were not allowed to enter the area where the faithful gathered, we wandered around the complex of small pagodas that periodically interrupted a series and of delightful courtyards with trees, shrubs, and singing birds. I wished we had such a place back home, convenient to where I live. I would go there to read, think and of course look at the birds.”

Day 8 – Xi’an

We started off the day with breakfast and then visiting sites with in Xi’an’s city wall. First, we stopped briefly outside of the Drum Tower. Then we proceeded to the entrance of The Bazaar, which is located within the Muslim district of Xi’an. After getting instructions not to shop and proceed directly to go to the center of The Bazaar to where the Great Mosque is located, we did so and enter the Mosque. There we got a brief history of the Mosque and were instructed to browse the Mosque and then go shopping in The Bazaar. We were to meet up back at the entrance of The Bazaar at a certain time.

I found the Great Mosque very interesting, ornate and beautiful. It was different from any other Mosque I have ever seen. It definitely has a strong Chinese influence. There were depictions of dragons and other mythological creatures, which I found interesting because usually the followers of Islam do not believe in replicating life in art.

After that I spent most of my shopping time in The Bazaar at a peasant painter’s shop/gallery. Ding Jitang is an artist, a friend of the Krebs and owned the gallery. I thought his works were amazing! He had collections of wood cut prints and paintings.

During the afternoon, after lunch at a hotel restaurant, we went to visit a jade factory and then the Shaanxi Historical Museum.

The jade pieces were very beautiful but out of my price league. There was even a section in the stop area for museum quality pieces. Since I thought the regular area was expensive, I don’t even know why I walked in there. It was very nice to look at all of the exquisite pieces however.

As for the museum, it was small but nice. I did liked that it had a few interactive exhibits with video presentations, digital maps and diagrams. The grounds and courtyard were also nice and relaxing.

Debra's Departure on Day 8

Debra Denzer, Director of Center for International Education, could only come for half of the trip to China and left us on day eight. She is picture above from left to right; in Tian'anmen Square with the Krebs, Heather Lucas and me, at the Great Wall with the group, and then at Jiaotong University with Dr. Crystal Garrett and Dr. Neal McCrllis listening to Liang Li, Vice Director of International Cooperation & Exchanges, point out the layout of the campus. Below are some departing words from Debra.

Debra wrote, "I’m packing to leave the group tomorrow and am really sorry to break short my part in this experience. It took a great deal of effort, cooperation, encouragement, and advocacy for us to bring this dream to fruition. I am sorry that I won’t be here to see the final days and experiences of the group. It has been a wonderful time of learning and each person has brought his/her gifts to the group. Some make us laugh, some make us think, some keep us on time, some give us courage. Together we have been a community and this is a wonderful by product of the program. I have really enjoyed getting to know each person and hope that they will continue to write in the blog and that they will share the understanding and amazement and curiosity that has been inspired by this glimpse of China. I’ve learned a lot and thank everyone."