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SHC 2025 Day 14, Sunday, July 20

Hey wsg, this is Ko checking in! Today is July 20th, 2025, marking the start of our third week here in the SHC. Today included a morning city walk, hanging out with our Chinese classmates, and saying our goodbyes as today was their last day here with us at ECNU.

This morning, we woke up to meet in the lobby at 8:45am to depart for our third and final city walk in Shanghai. Many of us grabbed breakfast in the canteen before leaving as we prepared for the day. Some of our canteen breakfast favorites include: 生煎包 (Pan-fried pork buns) and 豆浆 (Soy milk)!!! (The pork buns tend to be soupy and spill sometimes but they’re still really good) We hopped the bus to The Bund and East Nanjing Road, meeting up once again with our familiar guide, 古老师 (Mr. Gu). 

It was really windy but we persisted, walking along 黄浦江 （Huangpu River) as 古老师 told us about the rich history of these old buildings located on the Bund. He also briefly discussed that the Bund was a popular date spot, mentioning that in his youth, he too brought a girl on a date here by the river. A little while later, we got half an hour of free time, allowing just enough time for us to find ice cream. I believe all of us ended up at the same little coffee shop that sold matcha soft serve. While some opted for drinks, the majority chose to get the matcha ice cream (including me) to cool off from the hot morning. (The sun was beaming down on us brightly 💀) 

After our ice cream break, we got back on the move, hitting a few more stops and going over 外白渡桥 (Waibaidu Bridge). Our city walks ended with a few closing remarks by 古老师. We thanked him for his city walks and boarded the bus back to ECNU campus. Once there, our Chinese friends began to pack up to leave campus. As our last activity with them, we got to hang out, spending meaningful time together before having to say goodbye. Many accompanied students to meet their families and some shared meals and spent times in these homes. We ended up going to East Nanjing Road today! Walking around, trying out a photo booth here in China, checking out some stores and buying tea were all various things we did today in our time after the city walk. We ate our final meal together 🫡 and alas, it was time for the students to leave. :( We walked out Judy and Juliet, saying our goodbyes and wishing them well with plans to meet again in the future! 

When discussed, many of us agreed and wished that the Chinese students could spend more time with us in this program. (Note for future! Maybe 2 weeks instead of 1) Nonetheless, we enjoyed our time with them this past week and hope to keep in touch. Today opens up another eventful week that will have so much in store, guess we’ll have to wait and see. Until next time, peace! ✌️

Text and Photo Credit: Korina Lee

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SHC 2025 Day 14, Sunday, July 20

Hello! My name is Loise Wardhana! Although I am not todays assigned blogger, I just had so much fun that I just had to share my experience. Today was so amazing! While the city walk was fun, the highlight of today was definitely the family visit. After the city walk in Nanjing road, we (Julie, Vincent and I) went to one of the Chinese student's house, Alex (潘子穆). We were surprised with 奶茶 and fruits. We took a tour of their house including their roof garden and their pet room with birds and turtles. Then we ate a bunch of snacks and played the guitar while singing songs. We also received a personalized signed copy of Alex's grandfather's book.

Afterwards we went to eat at the mall close by their house and ate XinJiang food including lots of spicy food, milk tea, skewers and lamb. Then we walked around the city and bought different snacks like sunflower seeds and Lotus flower buds which we tried for the first time. Then we biked to the East side of the Huang pu river where we took photos and even joined in on public square dancing, a form of exercise for older people in which they dance to the music in sync to an instructor, arranged in a line.

Afterwards we went back to their house where we ate ice cream and sang more American songs. Alex also showed his guitar skills. After we said goodbye, we sang Chinese songs on the way home.

Today was such a fun day. I felt so welcomed in their home and really enjoyed learning about their life and family.

Photo and video credits: Loise, Alex's parents

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SHC 2025 Day 13, Saturday, July 19

Today we had an early start .We were supposed to wake up at 7:45, but we actually overslept and woke up at eight, after our teacher came and woke us up. In the end, we still made it on the bus and started driving to our destination 苏州. 苏州 is a 水乡, water town, which means it has multiple 河道s in the town. The ride was long, but finally we made it to our first stop 长廊. This was our first destination and it was beautiful. The entire place was composed of 假山 or man-made mountains, which the wealthy owner of the house used to turn his backyard into his own forest.

After exploration, we got back on the bus and made our way to the actual town of Suzhou, where we went in an even bigger garden 羡园. In the garden there were 亭子, the small chinese temples. 石桥, stone bridges, connected different parts of the garden that had multiple 河道, rivers. 花窗, flower windows were placed throughout the garden so we could view the scenery. After taking a lot of pictures we left the garden to explore the town. Most buildings had the same traditional look with 白墙 (white walls) and 黑瓦 (black tiles). In the rivers below we saw 乌篷船, the boats that frequent the many rivers of 苏州. After exploring we went to eat at a traditional 苏州 restaurant where we ate 松鼠鳜鱼, a fish with sweet and sour sauce in the shape of a squirrel. This is an extremely famous dish in 苏州 and it was really good. After visiting 苏州, we drove to the museum of 苏州 which had multiple cultural exhibits, which were all super interesting.

Our favorite feature the museum provided were the interactive screens that contained activities corresponding to the exhibit. After visiting the museum, we finally headed home. With a long drive ahead of us, we decided what we were going to do when we got back to campus. we thought it was finally time to visit the bund at night, and enjoyed crab roe dishes. We had the most delicious rice and noodle dishes and were so stuffed after the meal. After dinner, we walked to 外滩 and saw the 东方明珠. even though we’ve already seen 外滩from far away I highly recommend going there at night because it is just so magical looking at night. That is definitely one of the highlights of my trip and that is definitely a 上海 must see.

Text and Photo Credit: Madison Nguyen & Kian Cooper

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SHC 2025 Day 12, Friday, July 18

Hello all. My name is Theodore Romero. Today I had a very good day. First I started the day kft with class as usual. I was able to get some curry from the family mart, but the whole store was ransacked so I wasn’t able to acquire my daily 1.5 liter bottle.

After class, we went to the Volkswagen factory and learned about the process it took to manufacture a Volkswagen car. I was very intrigued with how eco friendly and advanced their technology has become. It was pretty bueno. Then we went got hot pot at Banu as a group. I took great pleasure from the meal and as a bonus I was able to sit with my close companion, Eric.

After, we went to the gym and Kian and I put his new friend, a capybara plush, onto a weight and I thought it was pretty funny. I came home and I had to use my extension to get my heytea for Madie and I had a movie night with some of my buddies. Finally, I went to bed like a good kiddo. Overall 9/10 day, I learned a lot about how cars are produced and the thinking that goes into the design.

Text and Photo Credit: Theodore Romero

Group photo by Madison Nguyen

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SHC 2025 Day 11, Thursday, July 17

大家好！ 这是苏乐典、我告诉你们上课做了什么。昨天intermediate 课的老师had us rehearse a car ad that we filmed today. I played the part of the narrator and 外婆。可是I kept messing up 😞. We had to redo the end about three times till I finally nailed my lines down. Even then, they weren’t perfect but that’s okay. We also talked about love and poetry in class and made our own love poems.

下午我们去了甜爱路。今天的天气很热、所以everyone was a bit tired at the end of the walk. On the bright side, 甜爱路很漂亮！Did you know that 甜爱路is 500 meters long and over 10 meters wide?

We had a bit of free time to go around and a friend and I stopped for drinks. The coffee shop was super cute! I ordered an Osmanthus latte thinking it would be a tea latte but it ended up being a coffee latte, so I was a bit sad. But! It was still a good drink, so it was worth it.

Once we arrived back to campus, it began to rain. Most students had umbrellas to take out to shield them from the rain. The funny thing was, once we were back on our floor, most everyone left their umbrellas out to dry. As you can see from the sign, we aren’t supposed to… but who’s keeping track anyways? •v<

回来以后，everyone had free time. After taking a short break, 我跟我的朋友去Joy City商场。昨天我买了一个包，可是there was an issue with it. 所以今天我要去商场so I could get it replaced. We went around before stumbling upon an accessory shop. Going around the shop was an uphill battle between our restraint and inner voice of reason. （对不起妈妈）Once we finally left that shop (which took over about 30 mins), we finally went to find something for dinner. There were these really yummy sandwiches that me and my friends bought from a cute bakery. That was it for my day!

Till next time!

Text and Photo Credit: Joydex Soldevilla

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SHC 2025 Day 11, Tuesday, July 17

我们的中文课was very entertaining and lively today due to the amount of activities our teacher planned out. Our teacher started the day by teaching us different words used to play 麻将 such as 碰， 吃， and 和了。 After our teacher finished teaching us the basics to play the game and enough Chinese material to consider it teaching, she allowed us to play 麻将 with two of the Chinese students. Since we had 9 people, we had 3 teams of 2 and 1 team of 3. In the end, I won 1 out of the 2 rounds played. All in all, I think today’s Chinese class was a success due to the fact we learned new words in Chinese and also played 麻将.

After our classes and lunch, we went the 多伦路trail where 古老师 showed us around the area and taught us some history about the place. He was able to do this due to the fact that he used to live there. Once he finished guiding us through trail, we took a break from baking in the sun as it is never a cold day in China. During this break we went to a Chinese book store where we saw a cat lying on some books just like in the movies. We then preceded to go to 鲁迅公园 which included a gorgeous lush park with many different metal statues of famous writers like Charles Dickens.

Following the 30 minute ride back home, my friends Kian and Theo decided to go to the gym. We spent 2 hours working out and ended up working up an appetite so we went to one of our favorite dumpling places near our dorm to eat some dumplings and fried rice for only 5 USD.

Text and Photo Credit: Zachary Green

Group photo by the Chinese teacher, Ms. Li

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SHC 2025 Day 10, Wednesday, July 16

Howdy y’all, this is John and Vincent. I woke up at 8:30 and my brother at about 8:45. Before class, I bought some breakfast (curry katsu) for 13.8 yuan.

Today’s class was a mix of games and holiday discussions. We played Charades with Chinese words. “这个” — I’ll never forget the furious tapping of the paper like cavemen. It was entertaining.

Anyway, I had a brief panic about losing my wallet. After buying lunch, I realized it wasn’t in my backpack or purse. I retraced my steps, searched the cafeteria and classroom, and talked to security. My brother decided to run around retracing my supposed route in an over-the-top fashion. Eventually, I found the wallet—on a table I’d overlooked. All was well, crisis averted.

The Xiaolongbao experience was really fun. My first one was a sad little runt, but I got better after a few tries. I’ve made Jiaozi many times, so I started to find a rhythm. I learned thinner dough helps the juice come out properly—mine stayed trapped unless poked. They weren’t super filling, but tasty and satisfying to make.

Text and Photo Credit: John Hwang

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SHC 2025 Day 8, Monday, July 14

大家好、我是潘予涵！

We started the day as usual, with our Chinese classes. On the way back to the dorms from class, we caught a glimpse of two of the cats on campus which we see often passing the bridge. My friends and I stopped to take a few pictures!

The day didn't end there, we also had our first company visit to Canature. While there, we sat through a thorough presentation about the manufacturing process of canature filters and the origin of the business. We took a small tour of the facility, which is how we found out that the power behind each job is a collaboration between humans and robots. This not only decreases costs but also, increases the efficiency! At night, when the workers have returned home, the robots work to set up for the next day to continue the manufacturing process.

See this small looking river? It can be found on the manufacturing site of Canature. Fun fact: during the summer, that turns into a pool and the company holds a swimming contest. There's also a little house that resides on the top floor of the building, as well as ponds with koi fish! Today was such an incredibly eventful day, and I’m excited to see what my next adventure here is!

Text and Photo Credit: Isabel Pan

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SHC 2025 Day 9, Tuesday, July 15

你好, my name is Jamie and my last name is Fung, and together it makes Jamie Fung. 👏This morning I woke up at 7:50 and got ready for class. I drank coconut milk and ate egg and rice for breakfast that I bought from Family Mart for only 20 yuan. 很好吃！

Today was a productive day for studying and practicing Chinese. In class, we made a mini project based on our English and Chinese names. It included the meaning of our name, origin, and if we liked it. Afterwards, we asked and answered each other’s questions about our names in front of the class. For example, one classmate asked what my chinese nickname is and I responded with 「我的小名是銘」. It was fun to watch everyone present.

In the afternoon, Ashlyn, Julie, Loise and I went to the cafeteria to eat chinese food. I went to the self-serve bar and got myself fried chicken, rice, green beans, broccoli, and soup. It was basic but yummy. 

Then, we went to a Chinese seal carving class where the teacher taught us how to carve our names into a stamp. It took me about an hour and it was kinda hard to sand the block straight but it' s okay! 

Later, we had 2 hours to eat dinner so we ordered food on JingDong, a food delivery app. I love how boba drinks are only 2 dollars! I bought from Molly Tea and ordered Jasmine milk tea. Our food took so long to get out of the lockers that we got bitten by so many mosquitoes by just standing there for 20 mins.

We headed to the writing workshop by bike and during class we learned about different verbs. So much so that the same day we took a test on it and I failed but at least I get to retake it.

Lastly, the day ended with trying to reach 10,000 steps by chasing Julie and Ashlyn in the hallways and on the campus. My last name is Fung and my first name is Jamie, 🙌玩安！

-Jamie Fung

Text and Photo Credit: Jamie Fung

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SHC 2025 Day 9, Tuesday, July 15

大家好! Today I woke up naturally at 8:15am so I had to rush to get ready for class since I usually get up at 7:30am when Akaylah wakes me up. Nonetheless, I got to class on time but I was only running on one banana. Then, in class we went over the holidays of the year–writing down one for each of the twelve months (ranging from events such as the Spring Festival to the Mid-Autumn Festival). For the second half of class our teacher brought in a mahjong set so we played until class ended which I thought was the best part of my morning.

As lunch approached, I headed to the canteen to eat some actual food on the second floor, and after a long time of trying to decide what to eat I settled on 红烧牛肉面 (braised beef noodle soup). During lunch I got to speak with other international students from the U.S. who were studying abroad just like us–some were from Texas, Connecticut, and New Jersey. I learned that they were staying with a host family and had to commute an hour to the ENCU campus and back to their homes for their Chinese class.

The next activity scheduled for the day was seal carving with our calligraphy and brush painting teacher. Halfway in my carving process I realized I made a mistake so I had to restart all over again but it turned out a lot better than I expected. I think because my seal turned out good, seal carving was a lot more fun than calligraphy and brush painting.

I hit the hay as soon as I got back to the dorm but I woke up to order dinner from jingdong while giving my cousins a call. When it was almost time for our writing workshop at 6, my friends and I went to the delivery room to pick up our 外卖 (takeout) but it was a whole ordeal. The writing workshop went by really fast especially because we got to play a game at the end. Lastly, I ended my nightly activities by taking a 6 minute trip to Family Mart and buying our fellow Chinese students some Yakult while keeping my 10k+ step steak strong. Anyways, until next time!

晚安, Julie 吴小利

Text and Photo Credit: Julie Ngo

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SHC 2025 Day 7, Sunday, July 13

After breakfast, we all got on the bus and went to Wukang Road and Anfu Road. We did lots of sightseeing and even saw 石库门, which is a building we've been learning about in our Chinese class. We also went to an art gallery and saw some cool pieces of art. It was extremely hot the entire day, but definitely worth it for all the amazing buildings and artwork we saw.

Later in the afternoon, we got to meet seven Chinese high school students. We all got to know each other and also made dumplings (包饺子) together! Everyone had so much fun chatting while making their own dinners.

Today was such an eventful day. We all got to try making our own dumplings and also practiced our Chinese with the Chinese high school students. My favorite part of today was definitely making new friends, and also seeing a cat in the morning because I miss my cats so much!

Text and Photo Credit: Ella Wu

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SHC 2025 Day 5, Friday, July 11

What an exciting day today was! This morning in class, we learned about the different customs of multiple provinces in China. Improving our vocabulary and knowledge on Chinese culture, we are one step closer to curating our final project everyday.

Rain down poured all day today, especially when we left to our afternoon calligraphy class. The skies were a cloudy grey, the streets were jam packed, and there were big puddles all along the road. Thankfully, today was one of the much cooler days with a nice breeze, but the humidity was at an all time high! Our calligraphy class was in a 1,500 year old building filled with beautiful displayed works of calligraphy! Surprisingly, calligraphy turned out to be very very difficult as beginners!

After writing on traditional-style scrolls and our hand painted fans, we explored the walking streets along the famous Yu Garden. We spent about an hour there until we headed to our group dinner at Nanjing Dapaidang. The restaurant was filled with warm-colored lanterns, traditional red banners, and was overall a great way to end the night!

Text Credit: Evee Vu

Photo Credit: Evee, Haylee, Madison

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SHC 2025 Day 5, Friday, July 11

July 11, 2025:

侬好！That's Shanghainese for 你好 (Hello)! 我是朱丽施，and my English name is Loise! This morning, my roommate (Ashlyn) and I woke up late and headed to 全家 FamilyMart for breakfast. Today, My Chinese class (3班），learned about 上海的声音 （Sounds of Shanghai) including things like street vendors, subways, and cicadas. Today was a particularly fun class as our class had to interview several ECNU students about their life, hometown, and dialect. One student taught us the opening Shanghainese term, nong hao meaning hello. During this task, it started to rain suddenly, and we were stuck under a roof with several Chinese 2-4th graders, with whom we also talked to them a little bit. Next we also began to learn a song for a performance, called 小幸运, one of my current favorite Chinese songs。I personally think that we did great.

After a quick lunch at the cafeteria, we went to a calligraphy studio that kept authentic calligraphy pieces from history to learn how to create calligraphy. We learned how to hold a brush and write with intention so that the brush strokes and spacing communicate personality and meaning to its reader about the writer. We also learned that there are several styles of calligraphy depending on when the calligraphy was written in history.

Next we were given free time to explore the streets next to the Yu garden (豫园). This was a very beautiful place as the buildings were created with a traditional architecture. Here I bought a large beef skewer (大牛肉串), then went to look at souvenirs. While I didn't personally buy anything, my friends bargained (还价了）with stall vendors, some successes and some failures.

Afterwards, we gathered to head to our program group dinner. The restaurant was called 南京大排档. We ordered duck, dumplings, rice cakes, pork ribs and fish. During the dinner there was live traditional southern Chinese musics. Afterwards we took the bus back to the dorms and spent the rest of the night together.

While today was certainly not as tiring as yesterday, it was so much fun! A great day 5 to add to my memory.

谢谢侬 and/or 谢谢你 for reading!

Peace, Loise Wardhana

Text Credit: Loise Wardhana

Photo Credit: Loise and Ashlyn

大家好! We've finally completed our fifth day in 上海. After our daily lesson, everyone had the rest of the day for free time. So, my friends and I took our first DiDi ride to Nanjing road! Nanjing road is infamous for being one of the busiest shopping streets in the world: we totaled nearly 15,000 steps. Our first stop was W Management, where we spent over an hour to shop. The most memorable part of my day was redeeming a free token for a chance to win a blind box! Shopping from light till dark, I was famished for some delicious food; we ended up finding a hidden 火锅 restaurant to satisfy our cravings! To complete our successful day out, my two other friends and I collectively bought 6 cups of boba to share: carouseling each drink every 2 sips! I'm excited to see what else 上海has to offer!

Text and Photo Credit: Haylee Vu

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SHC 2025 Day 4, Thursday, July 10

Hello! This is Korina (Ko) checking in tonight after our fourth day here with the SHC program 2025! Today was a very long but eventful day, definitely one to remember :] 

We started our morning by grabbing breakfast before our morning classes in our neighboring canteen and convenience stores. A lot of us sat to eat our breakfasts of yogurts, rice balls , etc. in front of our campus family mart! Today was an especially enjoyable day because the entire afternoon after our classes, we were given free time- an entire day for ourselves to do as we pleased. (off AND on campus) In our intermediate class this morning, we learned to express metaphors and in a way, "express ourselves poetically." Our teacher, Ms. Yang taught us about 留白. In a traditional Chinese artwork, it means to have intentional negative space, white space. Like these unique pieces, it is important for our lives to have 留白. We need time to rest and do what we want and need to do in the times we purposefully leave space in our days for enjoyment. Today certainly acted as a day for our “intentional empty space.”

Upon being dismissed from class, all of us who were going out signed out and grouped up to make our way to 南京东路， East Nanjing Road! We walked to our nearest subway station in order to catch the metro to our destination! When we reached Nanjing Road, we were all VERY hungry since it was around lunchtime. We opted to eat at 小满手工粉，a rice noodle restaurant that we spotted as we walked along the new path. Our first priority was to eat, so we would feel comfortable and well-nourished to explore and check out the city. After our tasty meal of soup and noodles, we went ahead and walked through the street, taking a peek into several stores and making purchases and escaping summer’s afternoon heat. Notably, through the day we bought small goodies such as white rabbit candies, drinks and popsicles- even sharing tanghulu! Although some of our original plans couldn’t be followed, we went with the flow, enjoying the day even through the evening rainfall. 

Ko's highlight of the day!!!

To finish off today’s grand venture out to the city, we chose to eat hot pot at 海底捞 （Hai Di Lao). As we were seated, we were impressed and charmed by the service and perks at the restaurant. (THEY GAVE US WATERMELON IN THE BEGINNING) Ordering a half-half spicy and non-spicy broth, we began to cook our chosen ingredients in the pot. We ordered as we went using the tablet, selecting meats, tofu, mushrooms and baby bok choy. We got to make our own sauces at the sauce station and snack on little foods as we waited for our food to be ready!!! We got to watch a special show put on by the staff that included choreography and singing as the staff swayed around cute little up signs. Additionally, we ordered 面条！！！With our ordered noodles came ANOTHER show. A man came out and prepared the noodles for us by dancing around with it and moving it almost like it were a ribbon. 真的好厉害！ It was pretty cool. Near the end of the meal, the staff came and told us that we had an opportunity to partake in a restaurant game with a chance to win DISCOUNTS to today’s meal. Eagerly, we all ended up choosing to participate, confidently making our way to the front of the restaurant to join a large crowd of other diners in a DJ, school dance-like setting. Party lights were flashing, and the staff handed us light sticks. We were surprised to find a DJ on a stage dropping beats in a Hai Di Lao. The DJ handed out small keychains as gifts for the customers who came to participate in the game. After listening to the DJ drop some bars and hit them beats, we tried our luck in playing a game that involved shaking your phone the most in a short timeframe to win. Unfortunately- we were unable to acquire any discounts, but we emerged from the restaurant having had a yummy dinner and an entertaining time. 

Another day has passed :] It was the most fun being surrounded by friends and peers, being able to spend the day together. Through rain and shine, we were flexible in our plans, capturing meaningful memories and enjoying our “留白。” This is Ko checking out for the night! What a day. 

Text and Photo Credit: Korina Lee

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SHC 2025 Day 3, Wednesday, July 9

This morning we woke up late and our campus cards weren’t working so we had to go and run all the way over to this breakfast place. It had steam buns and we ordered 鲜肉大包 and 桂花豆包。After that we had to run all the way back to catch up with our class who is almost leaving. We barely made it on time. Today in class we discussed the acrobatic show that we saw yesterday, 杂技。 Our teacher 杨老师，even brought this acrobatic red spinning toy that we learned how to use. After class, we went to find lunch in the city. I found this great place and I ordered 蛋炒饭 and 锅贴。We came back to class and we had a brush painting lesson. I was able to use traditional Chinese brush painting to paint a beautiful image of a panda on a fan. After the clear lesson, we went to a Chinese gym and had a quick workout. Then we had to hit up Starbucks to get our favorite drink, 抹茶 or Macha. we realize we’re running late and didn’t have time to stop for dinner so we stopped at our favorite 包 place again and got six or seven 包s. We came back in time for our final lesson and then we hit the hay.

Text and Photo Credit: Kian Cooper Video and Last Photo Credit: Yang Zhen

For our third day in Shanghai, some of us walked to get fruits in the morning and we bought a watermelon to cut for later as a refreshing snack. During lunch, we went to the ECNU gift shop and got wristlets for our ID cards as well as other souvenirs. In the afternoon, we did a brush painting workshop where we painted on fans with everyone choosing a different design. After the workshop a few of us decided to try the bikes and ride to McDonald's because we needed a change of pace after two days of beef noodle soup. At night, we decided to cut the watermelon open, which turned out easier than we thought it would be!

Text and Photo Credit: Akaylah Cote

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SHC 2025 Day 2, Tuesday, July 8

大家好!

Ashlyn: In class 1, we learned about the different colors, connecting it to Shanghai’s vibrant city life. Such as the bright white lights of buildings reflecting against the 黄浦江.

Julie: Meanwhile, in class 3 we began introducing ourselves by drawing three things that could describe a bit more about each one of us. Personally, I loved how 许老师 gave us a mini activity to break the ice and ease into the learning process. Next, we were lucky enough to play another game where we were given colorful headbands with a sport related word for each one of us to guess by asking yes or no questions. Overall, class consisted of describing Shanghai through colors, taking notes on an introduction to Shanghai video, and describing America’s night life through activities like going to the 酒吧 and 音乐会. 

Ashlyn: After our Chinese class, we made our way to the 上海博物馆. While enjoying pyramid shaped ice cream, our group saw traditional furniture and clothing from regions like Egypt, Tibet, and China. 

Ashlyn: Our dinner was 上海生煎， 馄饨， and an oddly salty matcha latte to wake us up from lack of sleep. 

Julie: Lastly, we took a 40 minute ride to watch the acrobat show at 7 o’clock. However, as I was walking into the stadium I was immediately taken aback by the view, and very soon the acrobats began walking out. So much was happening at one time that my attention was completely occupied by the show. The entirety of it was strung together through a sort-of love story, but the most interesting part of the night was definitely the gigantic ball cage that came out as seven motorcyclists entered one by one. Ultimately, day 2 of Shanghai was really eventful and I give it a 10 out of 10!        

Love, Julie and Ashlyn

Text and Photo Credit: Julie Ngo and Ashlyn Pham

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SHC 2025 Day 1, Monday, July 7

For our first full day in Shanghai, we attended orientation and then toured the campus in the morning. We saw the buildings where we’ll be attending classes, eating, and spending time for the next three weeks. For lunch, we ate traditional Shanghai food including 宫保鸡丁 and shrimp from a nearby lake which the locals would call hu ni. It is the perfect dish for our first lunch here because hu ni sounds like 欢迎 (huan ying), the Mandarin word for welcome. At night, a group of us went out for dinner. We got a glimpse of a busier part of the city, and we ate Shanghai’s famous 小笼包. 

Text and Photo Credit: Cara Lee