Couchsurfing in China: Images of Shaoxing

In some ways, I hesitate to say that I've been to China. The country is incredibly immense and diverse and I only spent an inadequate number of days seeing one small piece of it. I spent most of my time in Shaoxing, the city where Justin and Candi live and work. They teach at Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages and live in an apartment on campus. My trip to China was in no way typical because I had the opportunity to experience the day-to-day life they live in Shaoxing and around Yeuxiu. Today's post will mostly be pictures of that life. I could say something trite like "a picture is worth a thousand words" or "words could never do it justice." But the reality is that today I'm feeling a bit lazy. So, here are some pictures of Shaoxing and the university campus - the tiny piece of China I visited - accompanied by minimal words. Because I'm lazy.

The Apartment: 

This is the apartment building where the foreign language teachers live.

The view from the apartment

The "garage," complete with outlets with which to charge the e-bikes

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The Campus: 

Setting out to walk across campus

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This is across the street from campus. So. Much. Good. Food. More on that in a later post!

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Speaking of the campus, I got to help Candi teach some of her classes! Because I am both a psychologist and a lefty, things that are practically nonexistent in China, I was a bit of an anomaly to her students. Also, you haven't lived until you have played Balderdash using English language idioms with a group of Chinese students. It was both funny and incredibly impressive. I couldn't help but imagine how terrible I would be if the situation were reversed.

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The City: 

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What was amazing to me was that Shaoxing is not considered a particularly large city - millions of people live here.

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Today's post is all about the pictures, fleeting glimpses of Shaoxing and Yuexiu University. Every moment was so packed with colors, noises, smells, and people. It is impossible to describe the overwhelming wonder of it, each chaotic second leaving me exhausted and wanting more. Now that I'm home, sitting in my comfortably air-conditioned, quiet, organized home, I can't help but ask myself: when can I go back?

 

Trip ReportCora Hartcampus, china, city_view, trip reportComment