"Impressions of Tibet" - Dave Ellison

Potala Palace, Home of the Dali Lama

Friday afternoon in Lhasa after arriving from terribly smoggy Shanghai yesterday afternoon. The good news is the air is finally clean. The bad news is there isn't much of it at almost 12,000 feet elevation. Even with Diamox, I had a rough start and didn't feel even close to normal until this morning.

This morning's visit to the Jokhang Monestary, we understand the holiest place in Tibet, was packed with pilgrims, for many of whom this is a once-in-a-lifetime visit. From there we visited - and climbed- the majestic Potala Palace. It's the signature landmark of Lhasa. Then after watching "monk debates" at the Sera Monestary, we stopped in the bazaar in Lhasa for an hour of shopping. It's been our most active walking day.

Impressions and some of what we learned:

Tibet is part of China and has about 25% of her land mass, but it is very different. It has its own language, ethnicity, and Buddhism is entrenched despite the best efforts of the Central Govt to discourage it. However, one sees the PLA (Chinese army) all over. And Han Chinese, the dominant Chinese ethnic group, now make up perhaps 40% of Tibet. China is paying the big bucks to Han to get them to move here. Lhasa is a combination of first and third world urban feel. And its very dry.

Dr. Kate Kaup is knowledgeable, fluent, full of energy and fun. Pretty good combination of qualities to lead us. This is an amazing experience for Frances and me. I hope Furman alumni and friends will take advantage of these opportunities in the future.

"First Full Day in Tibet" - Tom Triplett

Our Purple Paladin Bus

The Potala Palace

We had our first FULL day in Tibet on Friday, May 21st. Everyone suffered a bit on our first night from the altitude, but everyone answered the bell on Friday morning.

Our first stop was the Jokhang Monastery in the center of downtown Lhasa. It is a very old monastery and most crowded place I have ever been. Pilgrims were coming from all over to visit the shrines, some of them going full prostrate every THREE steps to pray. There devotion is unbelievable. There was much yak butter and incense being burned inside. Truly an experience of a lifetime being in there.

Tibet pilgrims praying outside Jokhang Monastery

A market outside of Jokhang Monastery



Amazing woodwork

Our next stop was a hospital nearby that practiced traditional Tibetan medicine. We had a brief lecture on their practices by a doctor there. It was most interesting. For all you biology majors out there, he told us they figured out that the development of the fetus closely resembles the stages of evolution. In Biology 21, Dr. Pielieu taught us that morphology recapitulates phylogeny.
They figured this out about 700 AD!

A native Tibetan Medicine Hospital

Our next stop was the Potala Palace, home of the Dali Lama. We had a set time we needed to be there, so we got take-out, Tibetan style. Kate ran into a shop and got us some Tibetan qiches and muffins to eat on the way.

The Potala Palace is so big you have to see it to believe and you can't take pictures inside. Going to the top is quite a feat, especially at 13,000 feet, but we all made it and were glad we did.

Information on the Potala Palace

After a late lunch, we went to the Sera Monastery just outside of town. We were able to observe monks debating religious topics in their unique style.

Monks debating at Sera Monastery

Prayer wheels at Sera

Kate then took us to the market ouside the Jokhang Monastery for about an hour of shopping and bargaining with the local vendors. Some were better bargainers than other, but everyone came away with some treasures from Tibet. We had a late dinner at an upstairs restaurant downtown and then crashed.

Market Square

Saturday we look forward to a monastery out in the countryside and a visit to a village medical clinic.

A beautiful Tibetan Family photo

"Arrival in Lhasa, Tibet" - Tom Triplitt

One Leg of our flight to Lhasa

Arrival at Hotel in Lhasa

We had a very early (5:30 AM) departure for the beautiful Pudong Airport in Shanghai for our trip to Tibet. We had two 3-hour flights and then a 2-hour bus ride to get to Lhasa, Tibet. Kate actually gave a us some free time to acclimate to the altitude of over 13000 feet before going out to dinner. Everyone turned in early to prepare for our day on Friday, which includes the unbelievable Potala Temple.

We are at 13000 feet and my brain is feeling the effects of the altitude!

"Octopus and Emperors" - Martha Kimmel

Editor's Note: Martha Kimmel graduated from Furman in 2008, Summa Cum Laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Martha double-majored in English and Asian Studies and participated in Study Abroad in China Fall Semester 2007. She is currently working as an Admission Counselor for Furman in China. She met with the group while they were in Suzhou and Shanghai. Here is her summary of her time with our group from the US

Octopus and Emperors

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting up with the group of Furman alumni and friends currently braving the adventure of traveling in China. I've been living in Suzhou since March working on introducing Furman to high school students here, and it was great to see a group of familiar Furmanites and hear their reactions to their China experiences up to that point. I've lived in China for about a total of two years now, but I always love seeing how people new to the country react to different aspects of a culture that in some ways is vastly different from our own.

For one thing, the food is always a shocker. Suzhou food involves a great deal of seafood: fish, shrimp, squid, and, what seemed to be David Ellison's favorite, octopus. As far as I know, I've never had octopus here before (I don't always know exactly what I'm eating here... I figure if my Comrades think it's edible, it can't hurt me!). But by the group's third day in Suzhou, David was willing to try anything. "What's this?" he asked, when the dish of gray, slimy looking chunks of something was set on the lazy susan, amongst the other dishes that we all shared family style. "It's that seafood with eight legs that shoots out ink when it's scared" Xu Chong, a Chinese teacher at Soochow University, explained to me in Chinese. "Octopus," I told David. "Great!" he replied, enthusiastically digging in with his chopsticks, with Frances happily following suit. Most of the octopus dish was left on the table when we finished the meal, which spoke volumes about its deliciousness, but I was impressed that there was enthusiasm at the thought of trying anything that could be described as "seafood with eight legs that shoots out ink."

The group also seemed charmed by the Chinese dining habit of "gan bei," literally "dry cup." Kate is the best at taking up this honor/challenge. She's learned impressively well how to deal with "Chinese vodka," a liquor made of sorghum which might be better described as Chinese white lightening. Every big Chinese meal involves multiple toasts, all of which require a dry cup in the end, and failure to dry your cup is considered loss of face. During the meals we shared with Furman friends from Soochow University, we all made a valiant effort to keep up with Dean Liu's toasts, but, in the end, only Kate was able to keep face while the rest of us looked on, faceless but admiring.

Suzhou is also famous for its canals, silk and beautiful women. Monday evening, after dinner, I joined the group for their boat tour on the Grand Canal, riding along in what we were told was imperial style, just like the Emperor of China 1,500 years ago. It was a beautiful evening, and the walls from the old town were lit, giving them a mystical aura. The aura lessened a bit, however, when we passed several structures advertising the World Expo in Shanghai. These were also lit, in neons and as many colors as you can imagine, making us feel less like imperial royalty and more like we were riding along in Willy Wonka's wackily terrifying boat. Thankfully, the Chinese love for bright colors was redeemed when we passed a more tactfully lighted fountain, also awash in a rainbow of color. The rest of the canal ride was made complete by a traditional music performance onboard.

After such enticing advertising on the Grand Canal, Richard and Carrie Tucker were kind enough to take me with them to the World Expo on Wednesday. We enjoyed wandering the vast expanse of pavilions that represent countries around the world in all sorts of interesting, artistic ways. We even ended up being a part of a TV commercial for the restaurant where we ate lunch.

I had to leave the group in Shanghai as they headed out to continue their adventures in Lhasa; I look forward to hearing stories of the crazy things they ate and colorful lights they saw there!

"Shanghai" - Tom Triplitt

400 Year Old Gingko Tree

We bid farewell to hot and humid Suzhou on Wednesday morning to drive to Shanghai, China's largest city at 20 million people. It is putting on its best face for the International Expo 2010. On our 2 hour drive east on a brand new toll road we passed development everywhere. The pace of progress here is staggering.

Night skyline in Shanghai, the smog never leaves

We went to another famous garden in the middle of Shanghai with amazing plants, lakes and structures. There was a huge shopping area outside the gardens and we all got a few souvenirs.

Famous Yu Garden

After another Chinese lunch (this one much more Americanized) we drove past Shanghai's amazing waterfront and then visited the Museum of Urban Planning. It chronicles the development of Shanghai and has a model of the whole modern city on the 3rd floor. It takes up almost the entire floor.

Model of Modern Shanghai

We then visited the Shanghai Museum which is a new building with many fascinating galleries featuring many aspects of Chinese History and culture. The bronze gallery was my favorite. Some of the pieces were from 1300 BC and had amazing technology.

We had dinner with Martha Kimmel and a friend of Kate's who works at an international school in Shanghai. We implored her to send us some of her best and brightest.

Martha, Kate and Zhang Xiaolu (who is training our Startalk Teachers)

We ended our evening with a performance of Chinese Acrobat.

"110th Year of Soochow U; The World Expo, and Cowboys!" - Carrie Tucker

The first week was very exciting with the Grand Dedication of the 110th year of Soochow University. They treated us like royalty with a special dinner with the President following the opportunity to meet and talk with him as a group. Everyone enjoyed the special treatment! The ceremony was a spectacular presentation with fireworks and fanfare. All of our dinners were hosted by Deans and/or attended by faculty. One of the highlights was the banquet after the Dedication ceremony. The President and all of the Deans that work with Furman came to toast our table, as well as many other tables.

The Tuckers with their Host Family in Suzhou

Who's the real cowboy here?

Our trips to the Silk Factory and Administrator's Gardens in Suzhou were very informative and special. The Suzhou Museum gave us the reality of how old China truly is.

We left for Shanghai on Wednesday morning. Richard, Martha, and I went to the World Expo. It was amazing to see the architectural design of all the buildings. We walked the entire EXPO, but only had time to see a few interiors due to the two hour wait. We did visit the USA building. It was not quite what we expected. It was great to have the chance to see it, especially with Martha, who guided us through all the obstacles.

We loved the trip and will definitely be going back!

"Barefoot Doctor" - Dave Ellison

Sending this via Blackberry. Hope I don't develop arthritis in my thumbs.

It's day 5 of our China In Depth adventure. We've been in Suzhou at Furman's sister university "SuDa". Now arriving in main part of Shanghai. This the biggest place I've ever seen and yet we've seen so little of it. We stop for a visit to the beautiful Yu Garden, and a brief shopping excursion before lunch. We see shanghai acrobats tonight and fly to Tibet tomorrow.

But first back to SuDa. Many highlights but perhaps the most appreciated was a lunch in a home. Our host is Dean Xu. He is an English lit prof who is retiring this semester. Born in a farming village, he is the first in his family and among about six from his village of 1,000 to go to college. His opportunity arose from his service as a "barefoot doctor" as a youth. Medical care was needed desperately in rural China and he was tapped. We learn his life story told in a genuinely humble manner. He tells us that prior to moving to Manchester, Eng for his PhD work, that he bought into the perception that Brits (and Americans) were "foreign devils". Great metaphor for why Furman needs rigorous Asian Studies. All for now. More later.