Because Aki is taking care of writing our blog "Kolme Kuukautta Kiinassa" (Three Months in China) in Finnish, I will make sure also other people outside Finland can read what we are experiencing in Asia during the fall 2010. :)

For a quick overview…

We are both Finnish business students at Missouri Southern State University in the USA and on our way to spend a semester in Guangzhou University in China. The exchange semester in Guangzhou is arranged by a Finnish organization Asia Exchange which provides study abroad semesters in different universities in Thailand, Indonesia, and China. Many Finnish graduate students and undergrads have been using this opportunity to expand their global view, and for us, China seemed to be the most interesting choice.

For more information about Asia Exchange's programs, go to www.asiaexchange.org.

Happened before - Beijing…

We started our journey a week ago flying from Helsinki to Beijing. After staying four nights at a hostel "Happy Dragon" near Forbidden City, we travelled to Shanghai, and now, when writing this blog, we are on a train going to Guangzhou.

The capital of China gave me the first touch to the Chinese people and culture. During the summer, I had tried to "ease" the upcoming culture shock by reading books and articles written by people studied and worked in China…but like can be imagined, the reality was totally different…

Beijing was even more populated than I had pictured in my head. The city is huge, but still people are just everywhere! Bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, cars, rickshaws, and busses are all over the place too, making the traffic noise tremendous. I also consider myself as a fast walker, but all the billions of Chinese seemed to pass me on the Beijing streets. The walking pace gets even faster when the Chinese are going to the local subway system. They elbow you if you are not moving and pushing the person ahead of you. When the train finally arrives, people rush in and out at the same time, and finding a free seat reminds me about the game of the musical chairs- without the music though.

So people and the traffic offered the first culture shock. But after getting used to the pace of Chinese traffic and walking across the street when the light is red, everything started out just great. I can recommend Happy Dragon Hostel and great places we had dinner like Hou Hai bar street. However, I was maybe I little disappointed to Beijing. The capital did offer great historical places like the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square, the Great Wall, and the Olympic stadium, but still I had a feeling " was that all?".

Shanghai and the World Expo…

After breathing the Beijing's gray air, we took a 14 hours long train tip to Shanghai's metropolis. It is funny how the body can feel the difference in the air. Shanghai's pollution is nothing compared to Beijing's, although the traffic stayed the same.

The World Expo is held in Shanghai this year. On the other side of the Huangpu River, bigger and bigger country pavilions are competing in getting more and more visitors. Since Expo opened in May, millions of people have visited the Expo already, and because of that, I thought maybe there would be a little less people when I go…but...I was wrong again.

The first pavilion at the Expo we wanted to see was the Japanese but we gave up when we saw the line. The Saudi Arabian pavilion with palm trees on top of the roof looked interesting too, and after disappointment at Japan Pavilion, we tried the Saudis. Well…a sign at the end of the queue stated: "after this point: 3 hours", so we gave up again. The Expo main attraction, the Chinese pavilion we did not even try to get in, because you should have booked your spot days before. Can you imagine how many people there were?

After the dissapointments, we moved forward the European pavilions. There were no huge lines there and finally we got what we came for. We visited Finland's, Sweden's, Belgium's, the Netherlands', Ukraine's, and Denmark's exhibitions. African join pavilion, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brasilia were also worth visiting. I personally liked the Belgium's pavilion the best, maybe it was because they offered cookies when you went in. :)

Time to move on...

….the train has arrived at Guangzhou railway station…more story coming up…

-Carita