Entries: Liz Reising

A Visit To Tsinghua University

Today I checked out Tsinghua University to interview athletes and students. Toby, my guide, biked around the University with me riding on the back of his bike, which was quite the adventure. I got the chance to interview two Olympic hopefuls, including a member of the Chinese National Shooting Team. I even went to a shooting range today…but I’ll save that for my story. The University, one of the most prestigious in all of China, as Toby explained, is quite large, with numerous athletic facilities where athletes can train. Numerous classes were outside today, because the weather was so temperate. That includes the martial arts class, hopefully which you can see in the video below.

Students practice Martial Arts at Tsinghua University:

Fudan University

We did a little exploring and interviewing today at Fudan University, in the heart of Shanghai. What a beautiful place, like a retreat in the middle of the city. It was so peaceful, and I was able to speak with two students, one who played intermural basketball and volleyball. Jack, the volleyball player, was very nice and hopes to make it to Beijing for the Olympics. He wants to see the swimming events at the Water Cube. So do I! After the interviews, we took some pictures and went to lunch with Aisha, our translator for the day. She was so gracious and helpful, and is thinking of coming to the States for journalism. After another delicious lunch, we went to a track meet. I got some pretty good natural sound of the long jump event, bullhorn and all. Later tonight we’re walking around the Bund, seeing the new and old buildings in China. Hopefully we’ll get some good pictures and see some great stuff. More to come later…

Big Day

It’s been a full but exciting day here as we close out Day 1 in Shanghai. It’s so neat to walk around and see everything, especially the beautiful temple next door. I got some great shots of it today. There’s so much to see here that I’m afraid I’m missing it all. Tomorrow will be another long day, so I think I’ll turn in.

Yay Finally Here.

Thank you God, we are in China. United Airlines: we’re not friends right now. However, I did appreciate the brownie you served earlier. Props on the brownie. Anyway, the airport here in Shanghai is absolutely fabulous. The architecture was sweet. Column like bars were hanging from the ceiling. It was really neat. We made it to the Bailemen Hotel, and it’s on Nanjing Street. Nanjing Street East is where the shopping is, so I have big plans for that, and seeing the Bund. Tomorrow should be interesting, we have a meeting at 1:45, but I hope to do a little exploring. We’re across the street from a Buddhist Temple, so I plan to see that. It’s very western here. There’s an H&M really close, and an ad featuring Forrest Whittaker outside. Kinda nice…not too big of a culture shock yet. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.