Work = ∫Fdx

Today was my first day at work! I am working in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China at a company called Lantian Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd. (Lantian (蓝天) literally translates to "blue sky") I am on the boiler design team, and I luckily get my own office that no one is currently using right now. It's pretty nice; I got the internet working with the help of an IT guy, and I get a nice view, my own desk, and phone. For the first week they gave me a bunch of pdf files to read about a Biomass Power Plant that they are planning to build in the Philippines. It's pretty interesting; they plan to use wood, cane, and coconut residues. But the specifications itself is a 120 page report. Should be an interesting week =).

My Office:
View Outside my Window:

Food

So I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd post some pictures and descriptions about the food in China. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I felt weird taking pictures of food at fancy restaurants with people around. Hopefully you'll get the idea. Ordering food in China is vastly different than in the US. In China you order a ton of different dishes that everyone eats. It's usually placed in the center on a revolving disk so everyone can get to it. To start you eat cold dishes as sort of appetizers and then you eat the warm dishes which are kind of like the main course. If you want rice, that comes at the end and dessert is usually some small pastry type items and fruit. The food is extremely diverse and also very fresh. Also the same thing can be cooked so many different ways with different flavors. It'd be awesome if they had anything close to the food here in China in the US.

Fancy Dinnerware:
Fancy Dinner Room: (You can see all the food in the middle, and we had our own room and servers)
Chickens!
Chicken Soup! (See previous for freshness)
Fresh Seafood: (You picked what you wanted, and then they would make it for you)
Lots of Choices:

Lingyin Temple

We just got back after a morning/afternoon at Lingyin Temple. I've been here every time I've come back to China, and it's the biggest Buddhist Temple in all of China. And they keep adding more and more parts to it. The first few times I came I participated in praying to the Buddhist gods, but being a Christian now I just walked around and watched. It's an extremely interesting culture nonetheless. People take incense and burn them as part of a ritual to pray to the gods, and they also kneel in front of the large statues and ask for various prayers: health, wealth, good fortune, etc. Afterward we had lunch and rode the bus back home.

Lingyin Temple:
This is where they burn the incense:
They throw away the incense into this large cauldron:
Various Buddha Statues:

Group Photo!: (My aunt and uncle are on either side of my mom, dad, and me)

Beijing: Day Three

Today we visited the Olympic stadiums that were used in the 2008 Olympics.  The only one that we could enter was the Bird's Nest, which hosted the track and field events.  Afterward we took a small tour around the area.  The most interesting thing was this building with a bunch of apartments in it.  Apparently the rooms are 7 万元 (70,000 yuan or about $10,000) per square meter, and they're available only for rent.  After the tour, it was the end of our trip, and we were driven to the airport.  This whole trip we were extremely spoiled.  My dad's old classmate in Beijing is a, let's say, VIP, and he had his secretary take care of us the whole time.  He drove us around to the different locations and took us out to eat as well.  That's also how we were able to stay at such a nice hotel.  It definitely was a good time, and I'm looking forward to going back in the future.  He even offered to give me a car next time I come so I can drive around myself =p.

I'm back in Hangzhou now for pretty much the rest of my time in China until August 5th.  I will start work by the start of June, and my parents are leaving either the 27th or the 28th of May.  I'll still continue to post updates letting you know what I'm up to in Hangzhou.

The Bird's Nest:

Inside:

TV Tower:

The Water Cube:

The Gymnasium:

Beijing: Day Two

Finally a sunny day with blue sky! It's starting to feel like summer; it was over 85 degrees today in Beijing. We visited the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City in a fun-filled, albeit tiring, day. The Summer Palace was in the morning, and it was the perfect place for a cool relaxing walk around a beautiful lake. The Palace was built for Empress Cixi for her 60th birthday. A nice birthday present if you ask me; the Summer Palace is huge. We walked around for about 2 hours and probably saw less than half of what there is to see. The center of the palace is a large man-made lake that really resembles West Lake. You can see for yourself with the pictures. We left around 11:30 to go to have lunch with my dad's old classmate at a really nice restaurant.

After lunch we went to the Forbidden City. First we went up the Tiananmen and took some pictures overlooking Tiananmen square. Then we continued to the center of the Forbidden City. It was filled with some of the most interesting history and culture I have ever experienced. The Forbidden City was used from the Ming Dynasty until the end of the Qing Dynasty and was where the Emperor, his family, and all the high-ranking political and military officials stayed. We had a tour guide explain the different details about the city, or else it we would have no idea what everything meant. For example, the emperor had special buildings for events, relaxation, and then living. There were places where military would stay, places where non-military officials would stay, and then places where the wives would stay (He would have numerous wives, and they would be ranked from highest, or the Empress, to the lowest). Again the Forbidden City is extremely large; after probably about 2.5 hours of walking around, we only saw 20% of the entire city. It looks like I'll have to come back in the future to see the rest of the palace and the city!

The Summer Palace:


17-Arch Bridge: (If you count from the center, there are 9 arches on each side, and the number 9 is good luck in China)



Tiananmen Square:

The Forbidden City: (Special events were held in this building)

This is where the Emperor relaxed. There are no doors, only windows.

The Imperial Garden:

Study Rock:

Fooling Around =P:

Beijing: Day One

This morning we first visited the Great Wall of China. It was the first time I had ever been there, so I really didn't know what to expect. Little did I know that it's pretty high up in the mountains and extremely windy. Combined with my fear of heights, it definitely was an exhilarating experience. I have posted some pictures below. There were tons of people visiting from all over the world, from Japan to Somalia. It's just amazing how people were able to build such a magnificent structure in the mountain tops; no wonder it's considered one of the wonders of the world.

We had a pretty fancy lunch afterward at a restaurant our guide found. We then went to visit two of the 13 Mausoleums in Changping, Beijing. Back in the Ming Dynasty when China was ruled by emperors, they would build elaborate burial grounds for the emperor when he died. It would bring good luck to the family to continue their reign. On the surface there would be a large area with a bunch of trees and stone trails and steps, as well as temple like structures. Behind all this would be a hidden underground tomb where the emperor was buried. Usually there would be a lot of valuable items in the tomb as well to symbolize the emperor's wealth and fortune. The first one we visited was called the Ding Mausoleum. They actually excavated the underground tomb and we were able to go inside. Everything was mostly stolen, but they had replicas of the coffins and items left inside. The second tomb we visited was called the Chang Mausoleum. The tomb here has not yet been discovered, I'm not sure why, but we were still able to see everything on top.

Gondola ride up to the top of the mountain, where we then proceeded to climb down the Great Wall:
The Great Wall of China:




Ding Mausoleum:

Replicas of the Coffins:


Chang Mausoleum:

Statue of Emperor Zhu Di:

Pre-Beijing

We will be leaving for the Hangzhou airport shortly to fly to Beijing. I'm not sure if I'll have internet connection and an adapter for my laptop or not, but we are being taken care of by my dad's old classmate, so it should be a fairly nice hotel. If I don't post later tonight, it most likely means I won't be able to post or upload anything until I get back. Stay tuned.

Edit: (I have internet and my laptop can plug into the wall. Huzzah!)
I arrived in Beijing around 4:30 pm and went straight to the hotel. It is owned by an extremely nice German hotel chain called Kempinski; we are definitely being spoiled. We had dinner in a hotel restaurant, our own private room and all, with a bunch of my dad's old classmates. The food was great, better than what I've had in Hangzhou. Below is a picture of my room (I get one to myself =D).

West Lake

My mom, a couple of her friends, and I went to West Lake (西湖) this afternoon.  This lake is what Hangzhou is most famous for, and you could definitely tell with all the tourists and visitors.  There was even a couple of newly weds taking wedding photos.  It was a fun and relaxing time, and I posted some pictures below.  There's just something about sitting in a boat surrounded by water and beautiful surroundings.

Three Gorges Cruise: Day Four

Today marked the end of the cruise. In the middle of the night, the boat passed through the Three Gorges Dam by going through five stages of lowering the boat until it reached the lower water level. This process takes about 3 to 4 hours in total. We visited the dam during the morning and got to see the surrounding location via several tourist areas. We also passed through the third and last gorge today, but it was so foggy that I unable to take any good photos. The cruise was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The intricacies and awesomeness of the mountains were more amazing than I ever could have imagined. If anyone is considering visiting China to see beautiful scenery, I would definitely recommend a cruise in the Three Gorges area along the Yangtze River.

Area where ships are lowered:


Three Gorges Dam:

Three Gorges Cruise: Day Three

Today was an action-packed day. It started at 5:30 am; my dad and I paid some extra money to visit Baidi Cheng (White Emperor City) to get a view of the first gorge. We learned a lot about the history of the city, as well as how it's changed since the new dam was built. Since most of you probably do not know, the Chinese government built the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangzte River to produce electricity. However once the dam was built, it raised the water level almost 170 meters. Therefore, it drowned out a lot of villages and people had to relocate. After we got back from visiting Baidi Cheng, the boat moved through the first gorge. It was definitely very humbling traveling through the narrow river with enormous mountains on either side. It is unlike anything I have ever seen. The feeling was almost as if we were in an imaginary place straight out of a poem or painting. In reality, some of the most famous poems were written about this area of the Three Gorges. Once we got past the first gorge, we stopped to get onto a smaller boat which took us to the Lesser Three Gorges. The mountains seemed even taller, because we were on a smaller boat. After about an hour and a half, we got on to even smaller motor boats and visited the Mini Three Gorges. This was probably my favorite part, because we were very close to the water and right up to the mountains. After this four hour long excursion, we entered the second gorge. This gorge is famous for three mountains (which are shown below): Goddess Mountain, Caps Mountain, and Scissors Mountain. There was so much to see today that it was hard to process all of it. I don't think I can put it any other way; the views were simply amazing.

First Gorge (Top View):


First Gorge (Boat View):


Lesser Gorge (Sleeping Beauty):


Lesser Gorge (Buddha Mountain):


Mini Gorge:


Goddess Mountain (Look carefully for the little rock on the top that looks like a woman. Follow the rock that looks like two fingers down to the right and you'll see a little tiny rock jutting out):


Caps Mountain (it looks like a cap):


Scissors Mountain: