The Wanxiang program goes to Hangzhou directly after getting back from Xi’an. We’ve been here for a week. The classes are a different topic each day, each with a different focus on energy supply and development in China.
We were also assigned “ambassadors” who are local students who speak English pretty well. They have been really helpful and sweet. They organized all of our travel and outside excursions, and even took me to fix a pair of my shoes. They aren’t even being paid to help us out, as far as I can tell all they want to do is practice their English.
During the weekend, the ambassadors organized a trip to Yellow Mountain for us. 11 out of 13 of us all went for the day, a five hour bus ride there and back, with five minutes at the actual mountain. A very long trip, but it was so worth it!!!
(This sign has a random Chinese poem about staying away from the monkeys. Unfortunately we didn’t run into any though.)
Yellow Mountain is the most popular mountain to visit in all of China. It rains a lot in the south of China, and so one of the main attractions are the waterfalls that fall naturally down the mountain.
This was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. We climbed to the top and went swimming every time it got too hot.
This wasn’t part of the trip for us, and it was organized and paid out of our pockets directly and not by IPD, but we recommended it to Professor Chung, and hopefully it will be added to the program next year. I highly recommend going to Yellow Mountain. In Chinese, there is a saying:
“After you’ve been to the Five Sacred Mountains, you won’t need to visit another mountain. After you’ve been to Yellow Mountain, you won’t need to visit the Five Sacred Mountains.”
Totally agreed.
