Today was another eventful day. In the morning we had a lecture about some of the religious/ philosophical beliefs of the Chinese. A lot of their customs (such as respect for family and friendliness to foreigners) made sense to me. Now that I have learned about the basis of Confucianism (and therefore the Chinese belief system), it is easy for me to see it every day. At the markets and on the streets I often see people walking with their parents or grandparents. This is the respect for elders that is one of the main tenants of Confucianism. I have also noticed that everywhere we go, the locals are extremely friendly and accommodating towards us. One of the analects of Confucius states: “Isn’t it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?” I have experienced this analects directly and it is comforting to know that the mutual respect shared between the Chinese is also extended to foreigners. It sort of makes me embarrassed of Americans who are ignorant and rude toward foreigners visiting our country.
The main part of our day was spent touring Capital Bio, a company that makes biomedical instruments as well as performs biochip research. The things the company is able to do astounded me. For instance, the company makes a Deafness Gene Mutation Detection Array Kit that can actually determine a child’s risk for deafness when given a certain medicine, all by mapping out the child’s genome. The actual company headquarters was very impressive and no detail was left unnoticed. I also thought it was interesting that some of the workers actually live in the dormitories behind the company. It made me wonder how those workers can truly separate themselves from their work, and whether or not they see the arrangement as an advantage or a disadvantage. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see the labs but that was soon replaced with the excitement of going shopping! Even I, who hates to shop, can spend hours at the market finding things and bartering to lower the price.