Shanghai Oriental Tower, Urban Museum, Traditional Dance, and Archery

Tuesday, June 11th, 2019

On Tuesday, June 11th, 2019, we explored the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower in the aftenoon. The Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower is located in the Pudong New Area by the side of Huangpu River. On the opposite side, the Bund was available for us to complete our daily community conversations. Community conversations are interviews in which students complete by asking locals here in Shanghai. The questions reflect on what we learned in class, from topics like gift shopping to University historic sites, and classic popular dishes. Now perhaps one of the most recognized urban structures in the world, the iconic Pearl Tower has settled in from a new wonder to anchor of the dynamic Pudong skyline, best enjoyed from the other side of the river, along the Bund. The bund was a great place for us to take pictures because Shanghai is a big city full of skyscrapers. The pearl tower is tremendously beautiful at night because the lights are bleamingly bright. This is the number one attraction in town, even locals still come here to stroll with their kids. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to go up the tower, but we know that there is a 360 degree panoramic view to the whole Shanghai City, and there is also a glass floor experienece. We also went to the City Planning Museum here in Shanghai, it had a lot of cool housing strcutures. There was even a whole floor of the whole Shanghai CIty built with wood. It was super entertaining dispite the hot weather here. This busy city provides easy public transportation and unforgettable memories for us in which we will never forget as a part of the High School Summer Abroad experience. 

Thursday, June 13th, 2019

Every day after class, all the students go out to do the assigned activity. Thursday’s class activity involved traditional Chinese dancing and archery. When we first entered, we were quite nervous as we questioned our own abilities when comparing ourselves to the graceful teacher. Her moves were so smooth and graceful, it was as if she were floating on water. We got dressed in Hanfu to practice the traditional dance. We learned that the Japanese Kimono is derived from the Chinese Hanfu because both are flowy and modest. We continued to rehearse the dance that the teacher taught us. With the right rhythm and the right amount of elegance, most of our dancing was relatively close to the actual dance. Our class was split into two groups because there weren’t enough outfits for everyone to wear at once. When one group danced, the other group practiced archery. The archery was safe because the tip was foam. When the moment came, we rested the arrow on our forefinger, pulled back our opposite arm, and then released. That satisfying pull gave us a sense of empowerment. It was a fun activity that most people enjoyed and so it was a productive day for all of us.