China - Day Six - January 12

After two enjoyable days in Xian, it was time to move on to our next location, Suzhou. We boarded our plane after being treated very respectfully by our young, “mei nu” flight attendants (that means beautiful ladies in Chinese)!

After 2 ½ hours in the air, we landed in Shanghai and enjoyed some American KFC for lunch on the bus. There, we met our tour guides, Helen and Lily, who explained some of the differences between Shanghai and Beijing. This allowed us to gain insight into the beliefs of government, language, and culture of the people in Shanghai versus people from Beijing.

We quickly traveled from Shanghai to Suzhou where we toured the Uni-President Enterprises Corporation, one of the largest instant noodle and beverage distributors in China. We were surprised to learn that this corporation has joint ventures with companies such as Starbucks, Coldstone and 7 Eleven throughout Asia. We toured the facility and learned about the mass production of these products.



Since Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East, it was no surprise to find ourselves wrapping up our day with a ride through the famous city canals. We even stopped in the city to tour some of the markets. This brief visit allowed us to see what a true Chinese village is like. Although we only have one more day in Suzhou, we are thoroughly enjoying seeing and experiencing another Chinese city.



Zai jen, (Goodbye) !

Team Yin Yang
Neil Bringle, Tennessee
Katie Frenzen, Nebraska
Austin Gibson, Florida
Lora Gonzalez, Texas
Kiersten Kasey, Illinois
Allyson Ladd, Iowa
Whitney Perkins, Virginia
Caitlyn Prichard, Florida
Ken Quick, New York
Erica Ramsey, Idaho
Zach Wakeman, Virginia
Nick West, Oregon