2009 Report - Hangzhou

Introduction // Hangzhou // Beijing // Conclusion

Beijing Arrival

We arrived at Beijing after a grueling 12-hour flight from Los Angeles International Airport. We were then greeted by medical personnel with hand-held temperature readers that measured each and every one of the passengers to see if anyone was sick in any way. Luckily, no one had a high temperature and we were free to leave the plane. After stepping off the plane, we were relieved to be able to stretch and move around freely again. We were also very amazed and excited to see the massive terminal that was Beijing International Airport. Professor Wang was waiting for us there; he then escorted us to another plane for travel to Hangzhou.

Figure H1 (Left to right): Andrew Juarez, Jacob Leung, Jorge Carrillo, Professor Albert Wang In front of the exit for international arrivals

Hangzhou Arrival

After the two-hour flight, we arrived in Hangzhou where we expressed excitement and relief in that we made it to our destination. We were also relieved that we would not be riding in planes for a while. The moment we stepped outside the terminal, we were shocked at how different the climate was from California. The immense heat and humidity immediately began causing us to sweat profusely. We were met by two of our hosts, Tom Wang and Yu Lee, where they took us to Hangzhou Dianzi University (HDU). They took us to the university's visitor's hotel where we were given separate rooms. The plan was to stay at the hotel for one week due to quarantine for prevention of an H1A1 virus spread; on the chance one of us was infected. After completing our quarantine, we were able to move to the student dorms and experience life as a student in HDU.

Figure H2 (Left to right): Professor Wang, Joyce Wu, Jacob, Andrew, Jorge, Tom Group photo with Foreign Affairs Secretary (Joyce Wu) and host student (Tom)

Student Life at HDU

Figure H3 (Left to right): Andrew, Jacob, Jorge, Nicolas Wu In front of the main HDU gate with host student (Nicolas)

Once the quarantine week ended, we received a full tour around HDU. Initially built in 1980 as the Hangzhou Institute of Electronic Engineering, it was renamed to Hangzhou Dianzi University in 2004. The school offers multiple disciplines of engineering, science, economics, management, literature, law, and education. The campus has beautiful scenery and clever organization of buildings, such as the arrangement of the main classrooms in the shape of a U for the first letter of university. It also has a couple parks, several cafeterias, and convenience stores. The dormitories are located in the northern part of the university. There are at least 16 dormitories with about four dormitories only for females. The rooms normally house four students at a time with a bathroom and no air conditioning. We were each given individual foreign student dorm rooms, which had a bathroom, and air conditioning.

Figure H4: Dorm rooms we were given

Some rooms even have their own washing machines, but no dryers. Most of the students have to hand-wash their clothes and hang them to dry.

Figure H5: Nicolas' Dorm room

There are six cafeterias spread out in the dormitory section of the university. The students can choose which cafeteria to go to, with each cafeteria having three floors and contains different entrées on each floor. To order the food, you can walk up to the window and point to what dish you would like. In our case we relied on this skill to order food due to our weak ability to speak Mandarin. After selecting the dish, you slide your dining card through a card reader and the food is yours. The dining card is also your student identification card; cash value can be added for purchases on the campus at the student services building.

We received our student identification cards upon leaving the hotel. After settling into our dorm rooms, we would be living there for the next week and a half.

Seminars

While staying in HDU, we attended a couple seminars that were very helpful in telling us what research topics some graduate students were studying.
The first seminar was an introduction to the university, provided information about the university, and a short history.

Figure H6: Introductory seminar

Another seminar was about microelectronics and the integrated circuit computer-aided design (IC-CAD). The seminar described some device modeling and CAD techniques that are used.

Figure H7: Seminar about microelectronics and IC-CAD

The final seminar was hosted by one of our hosts, Yu Lee. His seminar talked about electrostatic discharge protection for low-voltage applications and devices that could use such protection.

Figure H8 (Left to right): Yu Lee, Professor Sun Yu Lee's seminar

HDU Labs

For a few straight days, we attended the electronics lab for some experiments and gained experience on what students had to go through when classes are in session. Some experiments included waveform generation using circuits and simulations, FPGA programming, and DC motors using simulations and schematics.

Figure H9: Working on experiments

We got to visit various other labs and talked to students about their stay in HDU. We also had a chance to experience their workstations, lab work, and tests.

Figure 10: Asking questions to freshman students about daily routines in the labs

We also got to visit the graduate labs to see what devices the graduates would get to work on and what their workplace looked like. Some of the labs that the graduates worked in were protected by fingerprint scanners. Inside the labs, they had signs that prohibited any photography to be used in order to prevent information or projects from being revealed to the public. Sometimes, the Chinese government would ask HDU to work on military projects.

Figure H11: Touring a graduate lab

Places we also had a chance to visit were other institutes in the university that included marine engineering, acoustic engineering, signals and systems, and robotic devices. Each institute has a chance to participate in contests that involve their area of expertise. The robotics institute had a contest where they would make small cars that would automatically detect the track and follow it using either cameras or lasers.

Figure H12: Student showing us their robotic car

Sightseeing

West Lake

In addition to all the labs and seminars, we had a chance to visit tourist attractions such as West Lake. It is a famous fresh water lake near downtown Hangzhou.

Figure H13: View of West Lake from the center causeway

We arrived at the lake by taxi from HDU. The journey took about 45 to 60 minutes. We walked along the center causeway and had a view of the whole lake. On the causeway, there were a couple of museums that we had a chance to go inside and look around. We also walked around an area where an emperor spent his free time relaxing when he was not busy with his duties. For dinner, we ate at Lo Wai Lo, a special restaurant that is famous for being frequented by Mao Zedong.

Hupao Spring

Another place we visited was Hupao spring. The mountainous area is famous for the fresh spring water that emanates from it. Locals sometimes come here and drink or collect the water. We just mostly walked around looking at all the old buildings and beautiful scenery. Along the stream, we saw a few tourist groups collecting the spring water in containers and drinking from a small waterfall.

Figure H14: Group photo in front of tiger statues

Linyin Temple

An interesting place we visited was the Linyin Temple. It has many Buddha statues and places to pray and bless. Apparently, taking pictures of the Buddha statues inside the sacred buildings is not allowed; it is said to anger the Gods. This area is split into two sections: the first section is a scenic, mountainous area with Buddha statues in and on the mountain. The second section holds the Buddhist temples where monks live and where people pray. They have dormitories for the monks near the top of the mountain. Should people choose to pay for it, the monks would gather in the main temple to host a ceremony where they would sing and chant, while ringing bells and banging gongs. We got lucky and were able to see the monks perform this ceremony.

Figure H15: In front of a temple

Shanghai

We had a chance to visit Shanghai because it was only an hour away by high-speed train. We spent the entire day there and visited almost the entire city. Most of the city was under a remodeling campaign to prepare for World Expo 2010. We began our sight-seeing on the new Shanghai side and then proceeded across the Huangpu River by ferry to the old Shanghai side. When standing alongside the river, we were able to see many corporate buildings and ships traveling in the water. There are very many tall buildings in Shanghai. We felt so small compared to them.

Figure H16: In front of the new symbol of Shanghai

Hangzhou Zoo

A fun place that we visited was the Hangzhou zoo. The zoo contained various land, air, and sea animals. It's just like any other zoo except for some rare animals that are local to China like the panda. We were able to see some interesting animals such as wolves, baboons, bears, and gazelles. There were also ostriches and zebras. They offered opportunities for people to ride on horses and camels, but we were not interested; instead, we fed the seals. It was fun to feed them because they did tricks and played with us.

Figure H17: Jacob Leung feeding seals

Completion of Hangzhou

For our last day in Hangzhou, we had a farewell lunch with the faculty and host students. We received certificates for completing the Hangzhou portion of the IRES program. It was a great feeling for us, but sad at the same time. We're going to miss this entertaining and interesting place. We are also hoping to one day return to such a great place.

Figure H18 (Left to right): Andrew, Jacob, Jorge, Professor Sun Lingling, Professor Wang, Tom, Nicolas, Yu Lee, Joyce Group photo for farewell lunch

Introduction // Hangzhou // Beijing // Conclusion