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Guangzhou Day 2

Our morning started with breakfast in the same restaurant where we had lunch yesterday. There were a number of choices including vegetable dumplings, pork dumplings, bread with a meat center, and noodles. After breakfast we prepared for a tour of the Sun Yat-Sen University East Campus and dragon boat racing (more on this later). Mr. Jay instructed us that we should wear clothing that could get wet and bring a change of clothes. After preparing we departed on a bus for East Campus.

The University’s East Campus is beautiful. All of Sun Yat-Sen University has 60,000 students! This is an enormous enrollment. The East Campus was mostly built since 2004, and the architecture of the buildings is absolutely sensational. There was a very interesting arrangement made when these buildings were constructed. Most of the Universities in China are public. For this construction, nine different Universities collaborated and share the buildings.

SYS East CampusIt was interesting to see that many of the SYS students walking on campus (not the ones with our delegation) were using umbrellas to shield them from the sun. We also noticed that these came in handy for the brief rain storms that came through. We were given a tour of one of the gymnasiums where there was a provincial volleyball game taking place, which was fun to watch. Next we headed out to the river running through campus (sorry, I don’t know the name). There we met with about 2 dozen SYS University students and were given the history of dragon boats. These vessels are about 25 feet long equipped to hold two rowers per seat. On the front of the boat is a dragon head with a long goatee, and the back had a dragon tail. In the front of the boat is a drum which is used to set the cadence for the rowers.

We were then told that we would split into two teams, each a mix of students from SC and SYS. The teams were given the names Tiger and Dragon. Mr. Jay arranged for the dragon boating coach to give us a brief lesson in paddling technique. We then had two of our SC students lead all the participants in a dynamic warm up to prepare for a dragon boat race between the two teams.

Warm UpAfter the warm up we donned life jackets, and removed our shoes. We then boarded the boats and were led through some practice for about 15 minutes – then the race was on! We lined up and took off on about a 300 meter race which was a straight path that took us under two bridges. The competition was fun and exhausting; the teams were neck and neck through the finish, but the dragons were the victors! Editorial note: I was on the dragon team. Though I intend to be completely objective, some members of the tiger team may dispute the results I have reported! It was a lot of fun and a great experience.

Dragon Boat RaceAfter the race we were given hotel rooms to shower and change, then we went to lunch. Since arriving we have been treated like royalty. Some of our students were interested in having lunch in the SYS student dining hall to see how they eat on a regular basis. So it was arranged for us to have lunch there. We were provided with what we would call a box lunch that consisted of chicken (the chicken here is served without the bones removed), rice, vegetables, and soup. We were also provided with Coke and Sprite, which I was told is much less sweet than we are used to at home. This was another nice social event for all of us. The students talked a lot about cultural differences and took pictures and exchanged email addresses. After lunch we were given down time to rest or walk the campus.

Dining HallAfter resting, the students attended a Sports Medicine lecture then played traditional Chinese games together. At the Sports Medicine lecture there were acupuncture and other medical demonstrations for our students. The teacher was engaging the students and testing their knowledge. The students then returned to the guest house to prepare for dinner.

During the lectures, myself, Dr. Liu, Mrs. Liu, and Dr. Guyer had the very special honor to meet with Mr. Liu Jiang Nan, who is the Deputy Secretary-General for the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee. He was a very nice man who spoke so highly of Springfield College. A number of the individuals who have worked under Mr. Liu had some training at Springfield College. Also, Mr. Liu gave a lecture at SC in 2006 where he explained the process of bidding for the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou. This process seems to be similar to what is done to determine the sight of the Olympics.

After dinner we left for a cruise of the Pearl River. This was a very nice relaxing way to end the day. Along the river are buildings all lit up for the spectators, which makes for a nice show.

Off to rest for the night, thanks again for reading, I look forward to communicating with you again tomorrow.

Springfield College 263 Alden Street, Springfield, MA 01109-3797 413.748.3000
Page updated on: 05/24/2008 05/24/2008