Looking back on my visit to China, I am so glad that I took the chance to sign up for Urban Lab. Although we were only in China for nine nights, I feel as though I experienced and learned so much about it.
It was interesting to compare Shanghai with Beijing and recognize how different they are. I previously never thought that they were much different from each other. While Shanghai is very cosmopolitan and cutting edge, Beijing is more conservative and traditional. This was clearly evident even though we were only in both cities for a couple days each.
However, this is still much that I want to learn about both Shanghai and Beijing. First off, I am still interested in learning about the effects of pollution in Beijing and how the local or national government is handling it. Now that I have actually visited Beijing, I can see that it is a substantial problem that needs to be handled now. Additionally, I am interested in censorship and how much the local government can actually do to prevent access to blocked sites. While in China, I used a VPN app on my phone and computer to access the blocked sites quite easily. Thus, I wonder if most people in China also have these same apps.
If I could go back and do the trip all over again, I honestly would not change much. It was very eventful and a great learning experience. The only thing I would like to do more of is meeting with more Rice alumni or professors from different universities. I enjoyed listening to their lectures and getting to know them more and how they ended up working in China.
Now that I am back in the U.S., I definitely appreciate certain little things more. I appreciate being able to freely roam the internet, breathe in less polluted air, and openly discuss political views. With that said, there is still a part of me that misses China. I will definitely return again to visit in the near future.
