Goodbye Beijing

Our time in Beijing is over. Our flight back home leaves tomorrow at 6:30. Most of us our leaving. Justin is staying to visit his girlfriend in Xi'an, Wenjie is going to her home town to visit and I am staying to go on a quick tour of China with my mom and grandma; everyone else is leaving. We are all really sad to go but also excited to get home and see our friends and family. It has been an awesome trip.

On behalf of all of us I want to thank the people who put this program together. The faculty here at PKU have been amazing. They've helped us so much and worked so hard for us. Also Dr. Burgess has been amazing and also worked extremely hard. The students here have been the greatest. They helped so much and went so far out of their way to show us their country and help us get around. I'm sure we will all stay in touch with them. This has definitely been the experience of a lifetime.

All of us with our Certificates of Completion

This experience has been unforgettable. Not only did we get a chance to learn the basics of TCM but we also experienced the rich culture of China. We saw some beautiful sights and met some amazing people. I'm sure we will all cherish this experience for the rest of our lives. One of the best parts of this trip has been making such good friends within the group. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know these people. I know we'll all stay friends.

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For the last time, Zai jian!

Visit to Tongretang

Today we had our last field trip to Tongretang, a more traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical company. It was interesting to compare and contrast between Tasly, the more modern TCM company. We first took a quick tour of the facilities. We saw the quality control area, the medicine preparation areas, the packaging facilities, and the warehouse. It was a good tour.

The group in the Tongretang lobby

Then we had a quick introduction to the company from one of the workers followed by a video about the company. This was very interesting. Tongretang is a very old company, about 340 years old. It was orginally started as a supplier of TCM for the royal family of China and evolved with the surroundings to become the TCM factory that it is today. It was awesome to be in a place that was so deep in history. After the video we had a quick question and answer session and then we all had a chance to sign the Tongretang guest book. It was a very nice field trip and we were all very grateful.

Manas signing the Tongretang guest book

Zai jian!

The Legend of Kung Fu!!

Tonight we went to a show entitled "The Legend of Kung Fu". It was really fun. Two of our friends from PKU, Richie and Monica, came with us. The show was amazing. It was a play about a young boy, Chun Yi, who came to a temple to become a monk and study Kung Fu. The play was a coming-of-age story where he grew up to reach his ultimate goal of enlightenment. Not only was the plot really interesting and entertaining, but there was some awesome Kung Fu action! It was so cool to watch them do all the crazy flips and martial arts moves. We all were really happy we got to see this. Again, we weren't aloud to take pictures of the show so unfortunately I have nothing to post on the blog, but you will all just have to take my word for it that it was awesome.

Zai jian!

Last Weekend in Beijing :(

Our last weekend in Beijing is over :( We had a really fun time though. Ana, Lena and Greg went to Tai Shan mountain to hike and camp for the whole weekend. We missed them but they had a really fun time. They're going to write something about that so hopefully that will be up soon! The rest of us that stayed enjoyed some more of Beijing's attractions!

Saturday was a day full of shopping! We went down to Beijing's famous Silk Street. It was very impressive. It was six huge floors of everything you can imagine. They had everything from clothes, to shoes, to jewlery, to traditional Chinese everything. It was a lot of fun. I think we all spent a little too much money though! Some people (who shall remain nameless) even bought a new suitcase and filled it up with all the stuff they bought. They even had to unzip the expandable zipper!

Me carrying the suitcase FULL of stuff from Silk Street

Sunday was also a good day. Some of us went to a museum in Beijing called NAMOC. It was very cool. The bottom floor was all modern exhibits. There were some crazy and weird things. There was a room that had a wall that you rub and it smells different scents in different parts of the room. There was another exhibit that was a CGI head on a big screen and you could type into a computer to talk to it and it would talk back to you. There was a computer that was programmed to be continually infected with the Y2K virus and automatically disinfect itself! It was a very neat museum. There were two more floors that were art exhibitions. It was very beautiful exhibit. We really enjoyed that museum.

After that we went to Temple of Heaven. It was a very beautiful place. The most famous building is the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvest. It is a huge circular temple on top of a hill it was very gorgeous. There was also a rose garden that was very nice. One of the most impressive sites was the Echo Hall. It is a circular wall surrounding the Imperial Vault of Heaven. One person stands on the east side of the wall and the other person stands on the west side of the wall and they can talk and hear each others echo. It was very cool. We had a very fun weekend but it is a little bittersweet because we are all sad that we don't have any more weekends together in Beijing.

The Hall of Prayers for Good Harvest at the Temple of Heaven

Zai jian!

Celebration Dinner!!!

Tonight was Dr. Burgess's last night in Beijing so we all went out for a celebratory program dinner. It was a wild adventure! There was a HUGE thunderstorm in Beijing tonight. It poured for hours! This wouldn't have been such a big deal but it seems like the drainage system in this city is really poor. The streets were completely flooded. There was at least a foot of water covering the pavement.

The view of the flooded Beijing streets outside our van

Despite the crazy weather we still had to make it to our dinner! So we left our dorm and climbed into the van. We were in the rain for about 10 seconds between the dorm and our van and we were soaked! It was raining so hard. We drove to the restaurant and saw cars stalled on the side of the road and the streets were so flooded there were waves and wakes from peoples cars! It was really exciting.

We all got to the restaurant in one piece and began our dinner. We were joined by some of the faculty at PKU who helped put together our fantastic program. It was a really nice time. We did many cheers and had a lot of laughs. It was nice to have a fun dinner before Dr. Burgess left. It was also nice to have a chance to thank the faculty at PKU for all their hard work putting together our program as well as Dr. Burgess! The only down side is this means our time in Beijing is running short. We'll just have to enjoy the little time we have left as best as we can!

Some of us at one of the tables at the dinner

Zai jian!

Mandarin Presentations!!

Today we had our final for Mandarin class. We all had to perform a Mandarin presentation. We had to say an introduction speech also. It was fun to watch everyone say their speeches and do their performances. I recorded them all on my camera so everyone can see them! We all did really well.

The first group to go was Alex, Anh and Manas. They all did their introductions and then they did a skit of a Beijing taxi ride.

Alex's Introduction


Anh's Introduction


Manas's Introduction


Alex, Anh and Manas's Presentation

The second group was Ana, Katie and Lena. They said their introductions and then they recited a Chinese poem while doing a dance.

Ana's Introduction


Katie's Introduction


Lena's Introduction


Ana, Katie and Lena's Presentation

Justin went third. He said his introduction and then sang a Chinese love song and translated it to English.

Justin's Introduction and Presentation

The fourth group was Greg and Laura. Below are the videos of their introductions and the skit of a bargaining scene.

Greg's Introduction


Laura's Introduction


Greg and Laura's Presentation

Me, Susan and Wenisa went last. We said our introductions and then did our skit which was made up of three different scenes: a taxi ride, a shopping scene, and a restaurant scene.

Andrew's Introduction


Susan's Introduction


Wenisa's Introduction


Andrew, Susan and Wenisa's Presentation - Scene I


Andrew, Susan and Wenisa's Presentation - Scene II


Andrew, Susan and Wenisa's Presentation - Scene III

After all the presentations our whole Mandarin class got together and sang the popular Chinese song, "Tian Mi Mi".

Tian Mi Mi

Hope you enjoyed our Mandarin Presentations!

Zai jian!

TCM Herb Garden

Yesterday we visited the TCM sample room at PKU. A few graduate students at the university were kind enough to show us around and explain was some of the herbs were used for and how they were collected. There were a lot of samples, including animals! There were dried toads, seahorses, turtle shells, and starfish. There were also thousands of different herb samples. It was neat to see such an extensive collection of TCM sources.

Ana admiring some herbs in PKU's sample room

Today we visited a TCM herb garden in the suburbs of Beijing. It was really interesting. Our tour guide walked us through the garden and showed us many different plant species that have a medicinal purpose in TCM. It was cool to see some of the herbs we've discussed in class in real life. We also saw their library chronicling all the herbs they have in the garden. They had a dried sample and a description of each herb in books and stored in a huge room of filing cabinets. It was an impressive display.

Alex inspecting one of the TCM herbs

After the tour we ate lunch at a very unique restaurant. It was a restaurant that has food made from TCM products. There were salads made from medicinal herbs and dishes made with medicinal animals. It was a really cool experience and a delicious meal! We had tea that was brewed from flowers that are used to treat a sore throat and we had vegetables that promote good circulation. We all left that meal feeling really healthy! We had a really good tour.

Zai jian!

Chinese Acrobats!!

Tonight we attended a Chinese Acrobat show performed by the China National Acrobatic Troupe. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The things these people could do was amazing. They had everything from a tight-rope walker, to people jumping through hoops about 15-20 feet in the air. It was incredible. We all just sat in awe for the entire show.

Anh practicing to audition for the acrobat show

My favorite part was the tight-rope walker. He was amazing. He not only walked along the rope, but he walked on his hands on it and rolled along it and swung it back and forth. It was just incredible. Also there was an act where these women rode bicycles and at one point they had about 20 people on the bicycle just wheeling around stage like it was nothing. I don't know how they do it Unfortunately they don't allow pictures so I wasn't able to take any. I guess its a good idea. We wouldn't want the flash to through them off and have twenty people on a bicycle come tumbling down. It was such cool show.

Zai jian!

Beijing Botanical Garden

This morning some of us visited the Beijing Botanical Garden. It was beautiful there, but the journey was not so beautiful. It was about an hour long bus ride and as I said before, Beijing public transport is VERY crowded. Not only was it extremely cramped, but today was definetly one of the hottest days we've experienced in Beijing. So we spent an hour on an overfilled, hot and sweaty bus. Besides that it was awesome!

The lake at the Botanical Garden

Manas, Alex, Anh, Laura and Katie relaxing in the garden

The gardens were amazing. There were a lot of different types of plants and flowers. There was also a lake and waterfall. It was very peaceful and serene. We ended up just sitting and relaxing for most of our visit. It was very nice to get out of the city and and enjoy fresh(ish) air and nature and not hear the cars zooming down the road and honking their horns. We had a very good and relaxing day.

Zai jian!

The Forbidden City

Today we visited the Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing! It was an awesome trip. Before we went I didn't understand why it is called a city but now I do; it is HUGE!! We spent about 5 hours walking around and we still didn't see the whole thing. It was beautiful to see the ancient halls and palaces where the emperor used to live and rule China. The thrones that they sat one were beautiful and so intricately decorated. I certainly wouldn't mind being an emperor of China in ancient times! There was a beautiful garden in the back of the Forbidden City as well. There were many old plants and trees. There was even a tree called the "Love Tree" that started growing as two trees and joined to form one tree. It was really cool.

One of the halls at the Forbidden City

We also visited the Gallery of Treasures which had all the ancient jewlery from the emperors and empresses as well as other artifacts from the ancient dynasties. After the city we explored Tiananmen Square which is right outside the Forbidden City. It is a huge plaza in the middle of the city. It was amazing. At the south entrance to the square is a huge gate that in ancient times was used for the defense of the city. It was a really good day and we saw a lot of amazing things.

The group in Tiananmen Square!

Zai jian!

The Tasly Group

We just returned from a two day field trip to The Tasly Group, a modern TCM pharmaceutical company, in Tianjin China. We had a really fun and interesting trip. We left Beijing on Tuesday morning and had about a 2.5 hour drive to Tianjin. When we got there we were brought to a conference room and given a brief introduction to the company. It was really interesting. They discussed how the company researches and implements the modernization of TCM through improving quality control and dosage strategies. They also discussed how a division of their company is dedicated to modern pharmaceutics and developing western medicine. It was a sharp contrast between western pharmaceutical companies where the sole focus is on western medicine. Tasly has a good balance between refining and modernizing TCM and also developing western medicines. Their strategy seems to be working because they are one of the most successful companies in China! We then had lunch with some of the executives of Tasly. It was a lot of fun to get to know them and to learn more about the company.

After this we went to visit Tianjin University of TCM. There we had a brief introduction to TUTCM. This is a very specialized university that solely focuses on the study of TCM. We had a tour of their campus and facilities. We saw training rooms where the students practice TCM techniques. There were machines with robotic arms so the students could practice reading a pulse (a very important diagnostic method in TCM). There was also a machine that takes a picture of a person's tongue so it can be used to diagnose a patient's disease state (another important TCM diagnostic tool). Some of us had our tongues read by the students. It was neat to see this specialized TCM school.

Katie learning how to check a pulse

Ana getting her tongue examined

That night we stayed in Tasly's company hotel. It was nice to escape our accommodations in Beijing for a night. Tasly also was a gracious enough to allow us the use of the Recreation Center. That was a lot of fun. There were a lot activities, such as a karaoke bar, a bowling alley, and ping-pong tables. We had a really good time.

The next day we had a tour of the Tasly factories and grounds. We saw where they process the herbs for the medicine and also where they package and store the finished products. To go into these areas we all had to dress up in white lab coats and wear hair nets and shoe envelopes. We looked pretty funny. We also explored the grounds. It was beautiful. There were many fountains and sculptures throughout the company land. There was also a beautiful, long carved stone wall that told a story of the development of TCM throughout China's history. It was a beautiful tour. The trip culminated with lunch and then we began our long drive back to Beijing. It was an amazing field trip and we are all so grateful for Tasly's hospitality.

The group dressed up to tour the factories

Zai jian!

Beijing Zoo and Aquarium

Today some of us went to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. It was a fun trip. It was really close to campus, only about a 20 Yuan taxi ride. The zoo was so crowded. It felt like all of China was there. There was hardly any room to walk and people were pushing and shoving all over the place. Aside from the crowds it was a lot of fun.

The zoo had a lot of different animals. We saw everything from zebras to tigers to a peacock. And of course a trip to the zoo in China would not be complete without seeing the giant pandas! That was really cool. We saw 4 different pandas and one was even climbing a tree. Some of the animals in the zoo seemed out of place. They had raccoons, squirrels and chickens in the zoo. They didn't seem like zoo animals to us.

The Giant Panda climbing a tree

After the zoo we went to the aquarium. It was probably the nicest aquarium I have been to. We got there just in time to watch a dolphin show. It was awesome. The dolphins did amazing tricks and were so fun to watch. They also had escalators that went right through the fish tanks. That was really neat. It was a really fun day.

Wenisa and Susan in front of a fish tank at the aquarium

Zai jian!

The Summer Palace!

Today we visited the Summer Palace. It was really beautiful. We left our dormitory at 8:30 in the morning. The Summer Palace is really close to PKU so it didn't take long to get there. Once we arrived we all split up into smaller groups and began to explore the grounds. It was an excellent day for this trip. The weather was beautiful; it wasn't too hot or too cold and there was a beautiful blue sky.

The Summer Palace is where the emperor would spend the summer in ancient times. There is a giant lake in the middle of the grounds surrounded by gardens and temples scattered throughout the area. We walked around the entire lake and saw a lot of temples and ancient buildings. There is also a marble boat! Ana's guide book sort of ruined the wonder of it by telling us it is made of wood and just painted to look like marble but it was still really cool.

Susan, Wenisa and I looking out at the lake at the Summer Palace

The lake is surrounded on all sides by very large hills. There was one point when we climbed to the top. It was beautiful. On one side we saw the view of the lake and the summer palace whith all the classic Chinese architecture and on the other side of the hill we saw the skyline of Beijing filled with bustling traffic and modern skyscrapers. It was a very interesting contrast showing China's rich cultural history and also their modern present and future. This was an awesome trip and definitely a must see for anyone who is visiting Beijing.

The view of Beijing from the top of the hill

Zai jian!

Visit to Beijing Shijitan Hospital!!

Today we had our last hospital visit. This time it was to Beijing Shijitan Hospital. It was a very interesting tour. We began with a short introduction presentation from the hospital director about the hospital. It was interesting to learn the history of the hospital. It began as a health care facility that was strictly for the workers of the Chinese Railway system and their families and slowly evolved into a more extensive hospital. It was then brought under control of the Beijing local government and it now serves as a public hospital in Beijing.

The hospital director and a doctor at Shijitan Hospital giving and introduction about the hospital

It was interesting to also learn a little bit about the hospital health care system in China. The director told us that most (about 95%) of the hospitals in China are public and funded and supported by the Chinese government. Also, every hospital in China is required to have a full TCM department within the hospital. Shijitan Hospital focuses mostly on western medicine, yet it still has a full TCM department and pharmacy.

After the discussion we took a tour of the hospital. We saw some of the modern facilities and departments and also the TCM departments within the hospital. We also took a tour of the TCM pharmacy and saw the pharmacists preparing TCM prescriptions. Some of us even tried some herbal medicine. The pharmacist gave us a very bitter herb. It was the most bitter thing I have ever tasted. The taste stayed in my mouth for hours! This was a really neat tour and very interesting to see yet another hospital in Beijing and also learn more about the Chinese hospital system.

The group with a nurse and the director of the hospital at a nurses station on our tour

Zai jian!

Peking University Third Hospital

Today we had our second field trip to a hospital to view the pharmacy department, this time to Peking University Third Hospital. This was a very neat experience. We began with a brief introduction from one of the pharmacists about the hospital and the pharmacy. She discussed to various departments in the pharmacy at the hospital and also the way in which the pharmacy was structured and organized. It was very interesting because I anticipated there to be a stark difference between the American pharmacy profession and the Chinese pharmacy profession but there was not. The only major difference is that a large portion of the pharmacy is dedicated to TCM (about 40% of the prescriptions are for TCM). The pharmacy department has inpatient and outpatient services that are similar to what one would find in an American hospital and also a strong clinical pharmacy program.

The group outside Third Hospital with some of the pharmacists

After the brief introduction to the hospital we were given a tour. We saw a drug information room where hundreds of journals are kept. We also saw a lab that analyzes data collected during some Phase I clinical trials conducted in the hospital. Then we moved to an area where medicines were compounded in the hospital. This was a sterile area so we had to put on lab coats, hair nets and plastic shoe covers. We all looked pretty ridiculous.

After this we moved to the TCM warehouse where all the imported TCM drugs were imported. It was a huge room filled with boxes and cabinets containing various herbs and other medicines. Then we moved to a TCM pharmacy where they filled TCM prescriptions. There was huge cabinets with many drawers filled with medicines and a pharmacist who puts together the various herbs and other medicines prescribed by the physician.

The TCM pharmacist preparing the prescriptions

Finally we visited the inpatient pharmacy within the hospital. This looked very familiar. There were racks all around stocked with medicines we all recognized. We saw how the prescriptions were filled and the system used for the nurses to pick them up and deliver the medicines to the patients. This was a great experience to learn and experience the pharmacy system in China. It was interesting to see how similar it is to the pharmacy profession in America.

Zai jian!

Weekend in Beijing

We just had our very first weekend in Beijing! Since this is one of our only completely free weekends, with no scheduled events, some students decided to go to Shanghai for the weekend!. Katie, Lena, Greg, Ana and Wenjie all took the overnight train to Shanghai. They are working on a blog post so hopefully that will be up soon! The rest of us who stayed behind had an awesome weekend!

On Saturday we had a long day of walking and sightseeing. We went to see Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace). It was amazing. There were gardens upon gardens all over the area and also an area of ruins of the Old Summer Palace that were destroyed in the Opium Wars. It was amazing to see the beautiful landscape that is so deep in history. After Yuanmingyuan, we visited the main campus of Peking University. It is a gorgeous campus with many beautiful buildings and sites to see. We also bought PKU t-shirts! It was a fun day filled with LOTS of walking.

The group on a bridge over a lake at Yuanmingyuan

Saturday night was also fun. The next day was the birthday of one of the PKU students , Monica, who had been helping us out a lot. We decided to take her out for dinner to celebrate. It was and excellent time and she was able to order us a lot of good food.

Anh, Laura, Dr. Burgess, Wenisa and Susan pose for a picture at PKU's main campus

After a long day on Saturday we were all ready to sleep in on Sunday. So we did! Then once we woke up we decided to go downtown to wander around and get lunch. We took a taxi to the subway station about a mile down the street. This was an adventure. We had to take three taxis and only one made it directly to the subway station. Another was dropped off miles away the station and had to take another taxi to the correct station. The taxi that I was in dropped us off far away and we took another taxi that drove around the street and dropped us off in the same spot we were dropped off before. These taxi drivers need sharpen up. So after about 2 hours of wandering we finally made it to the subway station about 1 mile down the road from our dorm.

We were all very hungry after this adventure so we ate at the first restaurant we saw. Then we walked around downtown for a while and came back to our dorm. It was a very fun weekend and we all enjoyed getting to know each other better!

Zai jian!

Meeting the Students of PKU!!

Today as part of the program we had the first of three discussion section with students of Peking University (PKU) about the differences between our cultures, universities and pharmacy systems. Today's was more focused on campus life at each university and getting to know our peers at PKU. We all sat around a large table and each UConn student sat next to a PKU student. Once the discussion got going there was an eruption of conversation as each student began speaking with their neighboring student about differences between the two universities and the two countries' cultures.

It was an amazing experience to be able to have an intimate discussion with a college student at your same level at a Chinese university. We discussed everything from the differences in curriculum at the two universities all the way to the cultural norms of public displays of affection! It was a great part of the program and wonderful to connect so well with the PKU students. I know we all are looking to building stronger bonds with our Chinese peers. The two coming discussions promise to be just as interesting as we will discuss differences in the two countries' takes on the profession of pharmacy and the laws and regulations of pharmacy in each country!

The students of PKU and UConn

Zai jian!

The Great Wall of China!!

We left our dorm at 8:30 this morning for the wall. We drove about 1.5 hours to reach the site. We could have gone to a stretch of wall closer to Beijing but we wanted to go to a less "touristy" and crowded section. We traveled through a few smaller villages on our way. These were very interesting to see with some of them having traditional Chinese architecture.

Once we got to the wall we began climbing. We were all anxious to get to the top. About 1,000 steps later we made it to the wall! It was amazing. Being on top of a structure that has so much history was such a cool experience.

The Great Wall of China

On the wall we all split up into three groups. Susan, Greg and Dr. Burgess went ahead and ran the farthest along the Great Wall all the way until they couldn't go any further because the wall was crumbling. Then most of us (Lena, Wenjie, Justin, Ana, Wenisa, Katie, Laura and I accompanied by the three students from Peking University, Monica, Chin and Alice) went at a moderate pace along the wall. And Anh, Manas and Alex took their time along the wall. We all had an amazing experience.

Wenjie on the wall

Wow!

If one word could sum it up this would be it. This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. It is amazing to me how the ancient Chinese built this huge beautiful wall along the top of a mountain!

On the way down some of us decided to take the tobaggon down. This was so cool. It was a metal slide down the mountain side. And we sat on plastic sleds with a handle for a brake and just slid down the mountain side. It was so much fun.

Dr. Burgess followed by Wenisa preparing to take the toboggan ride

Zai jian!

Acupunture

As part of our TCM class today we went to Peking University First Hospital in Beijing to watch our teacher perform acupuncture on his patients (and us!). Walking through the hospital was very interesting. There was all the departments and technology that are present in American hospitals, such as pediatrics and oncology and EEG, but there was also the TCM departments of acupuncture and moxibustion. It was very neat to see TCM practicing right along side the modern Western medicine.

We watched our TCM teacher perform acupuncture to a couple of his patients and also give a therapeutic massage to another woman. One of the patients given acupuncture was being treated for disturbances in her menstrual cycle but was having acupuncture on her legs and on her head. This is because acupuncture uses channels that run through the body and stimulating the acupoints at one area can affect different areas of the body along that channel. Once to acupuncture needles are inserted they are hooked up to electrodes to further stimulate the acupoint.

One of our teacher's patients

After our teacher treated his patients he treated us! The ear is very unique because it has acupoints that relate to the entire body. Our teacher inspected all of our ears and determined where our Qi (energy) was disrupted. He was very accurate. He pinpointed someone's head problems and they said they experience headaches almost daily! After he noted the area that needed work he would apply a tiny ball of Chinese herbs to the spot with some medical tape and push it on our ear to stimulate the acupoint. Some of us even got an acupuncture needle inserted into one acupoint. This was a very cool experience.

Susan experiencing TCM first hand!

Zai jian!

Downtown!

Tonight the 13 of us ventured to downtown Beijing for the first time! It was a very interesting trip. We walked from Peking University campus to the bus stop and got on the bus to downtown. It was crazy! The bus was sooo crowded and people in Beijing drive the craziest I've ever seen so we were all bumping around and hanging on for dear life. The bus trip cost 1 yuan so about 1/7 an American dollar. Very cheap.

The packed Beijing public bus

After about a 30 minute bus ride we got off in downtown Beijing. Now we had to get onto the subway, another very crowded mode of transportation, to get to our destination downtown. The subway cost 2 Yuan one way, again very cheap. We got off the subway after about 20 minutes and began walking the streets of Beijing. We walked only 3 Beijing blocks in about 40 minutes. Beijing blocks are nothing like American city blocks. They are huge blocks. We saw some interesting sights along the way.

The group (minus me) on a spiral staircase in downtown Beijing

After dinner it was getting late so we walked back to the subway station and took it back to where we got on. The buses to our area of Beijing stopped running so we had to take a taxi. This was an experience because only Wenjie, the only one that speaks Mandarin, could communicate with the driver. She had to take the last taxi so she could explain to them where to take us. This was the most expensive transportation of the night at about 4 Yuan per person (still much less than 1 US dollar!). Overall it was a very fun experience.

Zai jian!

Welcome to Beijing!!!!

Welcome to the first entry of the UConn Pharmacy in Beijing Blog!!!! On May 17, 2008 13 lucky students from the University of Connecticut left the United States to participate in their study abroad program studying Traditional Chinese Medicine at Peking University in Beijing, China! The students are Wenjie Chen, Grzegorz (Greg) Rdzak, Andrew Straznitskas, Katie Boynton, Manas Prasad, Justin Maher, Susan Dang, Ana Charalambides, Lena O'Keefe, Anh Nguyen, Alexandra Mooney, Laura Tuttle, and Wenisa Tran accompanied by our professor Dr. Diane Burgess. Now that the introductions are over let's catch up on the last few days.

The journey started out at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT where we caught a 10:14 am flight to Washington Dulles Airport in DC. From there we were scheduled to take a 12:30 pm flight straight to Beijing but this flight was delayed 5 hours for mechanical issues. Its a good thing they noticed these issues before we took off! So we spent a good 6 hours in the Washington airport. Despite the long layover it was nice to have some time to bond as a group and get to know each other better.

Our flight to Beijing took off from Washington around 5:30 pm on May 17. This was the longest flight ever! It was about 12.5 hours in the most cramped and uncomfortable seats that made it nearly impossible to sleep but we all made it safe and sound to the other side of the world!

We got off the plane in Beijing around 6:00 pm on May 18 (so, not taking into account the time change, we were flying for more than a whole day!). So now we had to make our way through customs and baggage claim in the Beijing airport. This proved to be no problem as we all speedily got through and no one lost their luggage!

When we exited to the unsecured area of the airport we were greeted by two students of Peking University. They led us out of the airport and to the van that would take us to our new home for the next five weeks. It was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to Peking University. We were taken to the international student dorms and checked into our rooms. Our accommodations were nicer than expected. We all have our own sizable rooms with our own bathrooms. The beds are firm (as most Chinese beds are) but not uncomfortable. The bathroom is...interesting. There is a toilet and sink with running water. The shower is the interesting part. It is just a shower head sticking out of the wall of the bathroom and just sprays all over and the entire room gets wet. It is different.

The group on our way from the airport to Peking University

After we saw our rooms and dropped off our luggage we went back to the lobby of our building and met Dr. Burgess who gave us a welcome gift (bath and hand towels, some toilet paper, and bottled water). We discussed the schedule for the next day and how our trip was. After our brief meeting we were all exhausted from our journey, so made our way to our rooms and went to bed.

May 19

This was a busy day. We met in the lobby of our dorm at 8:40 am and walked to the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences building where we had an opening ceremony and orientation to the program. Next our professor of Mandarin came to assess our knowledge of the language...or lack thereof. She had us attempt to read some Mandarin words and aside from Wenjie (who reads, writes and speaks fluently) we all were deemed beginners.

We then went to eat at Peking University's Student Restaurant, what we would call at UConn a dining hall with the only difference between the two is that the Student Restaurant has good food. Since we don't know the language it was interesting trying to ask for what you wanted. We realized you just have to point to what you want. The food was very good and the best part about it was the price. Like most things in China it was very cheap! We all ate lunch for no more than 2 American dollars!

After lunch we had our first Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) class. It was very interesting. We learned about the history of TCM and the philosophical theories behind it such as the Yin-Yang Theory, the Five Phases Theory and the Qi Theory. We can't wait to learn more about TCM.

After class some of us who brought our computers went to set up our internet accounts. We were all excited to get access to the internet after being cut off for two whole days! We were starting to go experience withdrawal symptoms.

Dr. Burgess treated us to a dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Since we have such a large group they sat us in our own dining room! We were accompanied by a Peking University student who ordered us traditional Chinese food for us to all try. I'm not sure what we were eating for some of it but it was all good. One thing is for sure, it is nothing like America's version of Chinese food.

Dr. Burgess was nice enough to buy us Chinese cell phones so we can all stay in contact while were here (seems like shes spoiling us a little bit, but none of us are complaining!) so after dinner we went to purchase the minutes for the phones. After another long day in Beijing we were all exhausted again and went to bed early.

All of us in front of Peking University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Building

May 20

Today has also been eventful so far. We had our first actual Mandarin class. It was...interesting. We began with learning the pronunciation of letters and letter combinations and then moved to a little bit of vocabulary and some sentences. Hanyu you yi si ke shi hen nan. That means Chinese is interesting buy very difficult. A very true statement. I feel bad for our professor because we butchered the Mandarin language. It is going to be a rough class.

We also had our second TCM class. This class focused on acupuncture. It was extremely interesting. We perfected our techniques and practiced on each other. Just kidding! We didn't get to acupuncture each other, we just learned about it. We found the four most important acupoints and learned what they were used for as well as the various techniques for acupuncture. TCM is proving to be a very interesting field.

So that has been a brief summary of the trip so far. I'm sure there will be much more to come. We're about to go to downtown Beijing for the first time in about 10 minutes so I gotta run!

Zai jian!