Wuhan, China
Monday, July 21, 2008

It was great to wake up at old Hubei U. After a quick breakfast our morning class was an introduction to the Development of China’s Economy by Dr. Rong Qian. It was a great class that talked about the development of the Chinese economy in general. He then focused on the role of the city of Wuhan and the province of Hubei.

Dr. Rong and Bret further discuss Economics during a class break

The similarities of Memphis and the Mid South to Wuhan and Hubei are striking. There are both centrally located and both receive a great amount of national economic attention due to transportation hub status. Another unique similarity is that both cities have a number of universities therefore many young educated students. The problem they share is keeping those young educated students in the area and away from larger more metropolitan cities. (Mind you Wuhan has 8 million people but Shanghai and Beijing have more appeal to the young people).

After the lunch we worked on a different side of our brain, with calligraphy. The professor Dr. Zhou Houhong made each of us our own stamp with our Chinese name on it. I am telling you the people of China in general and Hubei University specifically have really rolled out the red carpet for us.

Dr. Zhou explains the brush holding and stroke technique

As many of you know my handwriting is well …, challenged so one cannot conceive of the artistic damage I did to Chinese calligraphy. Let’s just say I struggled. It was quite enjoyable and gave us another way to appreciate the beauty and art work of yet another part of Chinese culture.

Top picture, the professor. The bottom, Pete.

It is supposed the say, "Chinese and American Friendship"

In the evening we made a bus and short ferry trip across the Yangtze River to the Hankou section of Wuhan. It is the Manhattan of Wuhan. The views of the city from the river were awesome. We strolled along the Bund (river area) and even went to a western style restaurant for our meal. The name of the place was the Bordeaux Bar. It was pretty nice but a bit pricey by Chinese Standards, three bucks for a bottle of Heineken. However they had grilled cheese sandwiches with ham, tomatoes, and cucumbers for less than three dollars so who can complain. Afterwards, Sabrina, Bret, Celeste, and I cruised around the back alleys of the Hankou section of Wuhan. We had a beer outside a local shop and just basically chilled out.

Check out the "pea pod" right next to the big boats on the Yangtze River.

The crew on the ferry ride back to Wuchang section of Hubei.

It was good to get out and see a little more of the city. It was nice to get to get back to the Hubei University area though. A few of us rolled over to the “Quarter” for a nightcap at out local. We split some street potatoes, see earlier blog entries, and hung out for about a half an hour.

Bret enjoys a Coke at the local.

Another great day. If this makes any sense but it some ways it seems like we just got here and in other ways it seems like we have been here a long time. I mean this in good ways. This university, city, and country are teeming with life. It has and continues to be an awesome experience.

More photos of the day