The flight in was uneventful and left me slightly jetlagged and a small headache. After fifteen some hours of sitting in a cramped plane, I was appreciative to be able to get off the plane and stretch my legs. The seats in economy seem comfortable at first but after the 5th or so hour, even the largest spaces on the plane seem to be quite small. During the plane ride, the food was ordinary; I found the Americanized versions of chicken and rice, and shrimp and rice to be just another Westernized meal. There was nothing too obscure that I had to question its origin which makes me think how much of the airline industry is based on the western culture. While I sat back and attempted to sleep, and as the princess and the frog materialized on the screen for the third time, I felt myself slip in and out of consciousness for the rest of the flight. Upon decent into Beijing International, I looked out of the window and found the visibility to be quite low. I have known from previous knowledge that dust storms from the Gobi desert have blown in over the past month and caused this smog like smoke. However, it upon exiting the airport, I found that the dust was nonexistent, and instead, the poor visibility was caused mostly by smog. I realize that as the Chinese industry has risen, it has sacrificed environmental standards and caused many environmental groups grave concern. While the rapid growth of Chinese industry may be great, this type of non-environmental sustainability will only last for so long. This relates to the engineering profession in that the preservation of our resources is in high demand. Henceforth, I believe China’s days of rapid grow may be numbered, as they are forced to deal with the consequences of their non-eco friendly attitude.
As we headed to our hotel, we played name games to somewhat break the ice, but fatigue had begun to set in. I was eager to settle into the hotel and get some need sleep, but a side trip was needed to fill in the late night munchies. We let our guide Vivian show us a local restaurant and a group of us had agreed to order a conglomerate of new foods. Unsure of what we ordered, we were eager to get our food, to say the least. I couldn’t resist poking fun at the English translations of some of the food on the menu; Pickles the cucumber being a personal favorite, as it appeared twice under two totally separate items. I had difficulty getting the idea that I was about to eat house cat stewed in rat urine, but when our potato pancakes arrived, I began to let go my previously held ideals. The food on the whole was not bad; however, it was not the easiest thing to digest. We then headed back to the hotel for some sleep; however, with the bed as hard as a brick, it would not come easy.