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POLI/ASIA 347: Urban Lab Shanghai
The student blog for Rice University's Urban Lab in Shanghai.
 

Posts Tagged ‘History’


Day 3 – Shanghai Subway System

March 5th, 2014 by mjr8

This morning, the morning of Day 3, had to be the most exciting morning I have ever experienced in all my life. We had traveled to Pudong, or better known as the financial district of Shanghai, and visited a very special building. This building is called the Shanghai World Financial Center. Standing at an impressive 1,614 feet this building remains one of the largest in the world. Even more impressive, the second largest building in the world is being built literally right next to it. This area of Shanghai makes me think that Shanghai really has the potential to become a global city. I have rarely seen such intricacy and modernism all clumped into one area. There were dozens and dozens of skyscrapers all resembling something of the future; there were overhead walkways all above the streets; and there were so many shopping centers. You cannot tell me that Shanghai is not ready to hold a status of being “global.” Sure, the outskirts may be not a developed, but as far as I know, not many businesses and MNCs like to operate of the outskirts of a city anyway. In terms of having a business environment that would allow corporations to thrive, I truly believe that Shanghai falls within that category.

Later on in the day, after lunch, we had a scheduled meeting with a very animated character. He goes by the name of professor Su Yunsheng. He works at the Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute as well as being the co-founder of a magazine called “Urban China.” I must say that this man knew his stuff. Although it was a very brisk presentation, we learned just how complex urban planning is. Since he had helped coordinate the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, he had showed us diagrams and renderings of how each building was built. For example, the Chinese Pavilion was built with a sustainable design in mind. It had natural ventilation, in addition to thermal insulation. It even had solar panels on the roof that helped generate electricity for the building. This was just one building that was built “green.” Almost every single exhibit was built with conservation in mind, resulting in the usage of less building materials, harvesting of rain and sunlight for energy, and natural ventilation. It was extremely surprising to see just how much emphasis was put on sustainable designs. Back home, many people assume that China is not even concerned with pollution or the environment, but after going to this lecture I would say that that is quite untrue.

We had saved the best for last. Our next meeting was with a lady who worked for the Shanghai Subway Company. She had provided very relevant details for my project, so naturally, I was very excited. This was the one lady who was able to answer my much needed questions. Here are some of the facts that I had gathered:

  • The subway solves over 50 percent of the traffic problems in Shanghai.
  • Some parts are built in China, some with French and German cooperation, and some are imported.
  • 6.9 million people ride the subways in Shanghai each day.
  • A station will be built with the “anticipated rider” flow in mind. The larger the flow, the larger the line.
  • The total length of the subway system is around 538 km. The plan is to build, in total, 1000 km with 800 km already in the works.
  • Shanghai has the longest subway in the world.
  • Safety is their biggest concern. They want to make sure that everybody is safe first and foremost.
  • They are hoping to get more carts added to the subway system to ease crowding.

These are most of the key facts pointed out during the lecture. Having ridden the subway here in Shanghai many times, I would say that you could tell it was top of the line just riding it. Getting this facts helped me further grasp the magnitude of their operations and future planning. What is really admirable is that the government invests so much money into infrastructure development in Shanghai. Even though it might be to unclog the streets, it helps with pollution and helps people with low incomes. In the United States I really feel that infrastructure is not a priority. Most of the cities in the United States I have been to lack much needed public transportation from the level of subways down to taxis. As we see with Shanghai, not only will the extensive development of public transport result in better traffic conditions, but it will also help the finances of lower income people and it will help the environment. We really could learn from cities such as Shanghai. Yes, it may cost a lot of money initially, but as I have seen, it looks well worth it.

 

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Day 2 – A Glimpse Into Shanghai’s Past

March 3rd, 2014 by mjr8

The second day was probably just as busy as or at least busier than the first. We had an entire day planned ahead us, starting from Yuyuan temple to a public media lecture at Shanghai Library. Speaking of Yuyuan Garden, that place is probably one of the most scenic areas a person could visit in their lifetime. Its history actual history, though, spans all the way to the 16th century with the Ming dynasty. This is a time when the North American colonies were not even established. It is such a weird, yet awe-inspiring feeling to be stepping where Chinese royals once stood and where the British had occupied during the First Opium War. Though I knew of how extensive Chinese culture is, I did not get the full picture until I stepped into ancient sites such as Yuyuan Garden. Most would agree that this is a “touristy” spot, but at the same time, going to cultural sites like Yuyuan is necessary to get an accurate perception of China. Most people think of Mao or Communism, but there is so much more to China. My best advice would be to explore the early beginnings of China and to visit such places while in China; you will begin to appreciate history much more.

At this point in the day it was still relatively early so we had much more to uncover about the wonders of Shanghai. Taking a little “pit stop,” we visited a marketplace nearby where merchants sell all kinds of goods ranging from “designer” glasses to teddy bears. While there are stores such as Gucci, GAP, and other name brands, going to these small marketplaces instills a sense of authenticity in a person’s trip here. Nothing compares to the crowdedness, the pace, or the bargaining that takes place in these markets. Where else could you convince a store owner to lower the price on glasses from 200RMB to possibly 100RMB? Besides a garage sale, I can’t conceive of any place in the United States that has the same characteristics. Going to these tiny street stores is definitely an event that will forever be stored in my mind.

Maybe an hour or so later we decided to go make our way towards the Shanghai library, the place where we had lectures over the history of Shanghai, in addition to the public media in Shanghai. The moment we walked in this place I was again impressed at the cleanliness of such public venues. I feel as if people indeed have a strong work ethic and a sense of pride in their work here. Everywhere I go I see people not toil, but work like their job is a “labour of love.” Now I am not saying that every place is as spotless as the Beijing airport or the Shanghai library, but so far most of these places have impressed me with their overall features. Anyways, we had gotten to the lecture room where both presenters were patiently waiting. Before I describe to you the actual content of the lectures, I must point out the hospitality of many people that we have encountered here on a professional level. Many of these people always look to make their guest comfortable and happy. They never hesitate to offer you tea, water, or anything else. This is very welcoming, which I think contributes to the instant comfort felt between people here.

Now it was time for the lectures. This was most interesting because there were some facts told during the presentation that I was not aware of such as what the First Opium War, the Treaty of Nanking, and the amount of influence that foreigners had in China during the 1800s and very early 1900s. To get a better understanding of the city you are in, I think it is necessary to build at least some sort of basic foundation in which you can see how and why the city developed the way it did. In lieu of this, we learned about the significance of the Bund. This area was a major spot of economic activity because of the nearby Huangpu River acting as an entrance into this area. Even more so, because of the heavy European influence, this area has many French, British, and English buildings stretched across the main street. On a side note, I find it so amazing that a country in Asia has districts that resemble European cities. If you face away from Pudong and the river, looking back into the Nanjing Road, you would probably confuse this place from being Germany or France.

Besides the history of Shanghai, we gathered some knowledge on the role of public media in China. I felt as if this was a very important topic to discuss because many people think of China as being a place where the media is continuously spouting propaganda and slogans. Based off of what was being told by our lecturer who worked at a news station, Chinese media isn’t as restrictive as we see it purported to be back home. It was mentioned that people work generally with freewill, with respect to the boundaries set by the government. To clarify, the government is not actively forcing journalists or news channels to cover what they want. They are not forcing anybody to do anything. The only thing that they do is set a boundary for certain topics, which generally isn’t much. I am guessing this is sort of a way to avoid inciting violence among certain groups of people or to avoid reporting offensive material. I still feel as if it is used as a way to stop people from making defamatory remarks about leaders in China, but then again she did mention that local leaders are always criticized in papers and other media outlets.

This was just the beginning of the week so I knew that we have so much left to explore. It is incredible that this city has endless amounts of attractions ranging from Buddhist temples to luxury stores lining row by row. I just can’t help but notice how quick Chinese society has progressed from a relatively poor country to one that is the holder of the second largest economy in the world. Despite this country being very “Eastern,” I just cannot help but notice how some of the city’s cultural characteristics mirror ours back home in the United States.

 

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Day 3 – Tongji Design Factory

March 3rd, 2014 by efd1

One of our lectures today was with a professor/practicing urban planner. We first met him at the restaurant while we were eating lunch, and he quickly gave us a history of the urban form of Shanghai, and an explanation of the political context under which the Shanghai’s reforms were taken in 1993. In particular, he mentioned first the success of Shenzhen as the first area to undergo economic reforms. Afterwards, reforms were undertaken in Hainan which were less successful due to regional economic troubles. What I found especially interesting about this explanation is the way that local governments were used as laboratories to experiment with policies. The professor indicated that the lessons from the failed special economic zone in Hainan were fresh in the minds of urban planners in Shanghai. Oftentimes in the west we associate strongly centralized government as slow to react and clumsy, but this example of urban planning indicates that centralization is not synonymous with poor policy making.

I asked the professor how far in advance he attempts to plan when designing city spaces, and he said the typical number is 20 years. I can’t even imagine an American government implementing a coherent plan for more than four years, much less five times that number!

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Day 1 – The Day of No Sleep

March 2nd, 2014 by mjr8

Day one had to be the craziest of them all. Not only did our flight leave at 12 A.M., but we also were scheduled to be in the air for over 15 hours on a direct flight from Houston to Beijing. In addition to that, we had two more hours to go because our destination is actually Shanghai. All in all we flew for around 17 hours. While it doesn’t sound entirely bad try doing it with constant turbulence, getting elbowed every 5 minutes by the person to your left, and do it when it is probably 50 degrees in the passenger section. This was absolute torture due to the fact that I could not sleep. Every time that I would doze off, thinking to myself that finally I can get some rest, we would hit more turbulent weather thus waking we up from my much needed slumber. At this point I was just anxious to get off and at least move around.

Watching the flight path and destination timer was probably the most reassuring aspect of it all because as the timer went from 15 to 10 to 5 to finally 1 hours till arrival, it finally hit me. We are going to China, a place that is halfway across the world and where most people have never been to. Despite the uncomfortable flight, I feel extremely grateful that I am able to participate in such a class that takes students overseas to do some field study work. During the last hour all this sense of joy and excitement started to pour in as I saw lights of Chinese cities below us, some 30,000 feet below. Before I knew it we touched down and taxied our way to our  terminal.

Stepping out on Chinese land was such a great feeling. I would have to say though, when we finally got to the main part of the airport I was impressed with the infrastructure. Truthfully, I was somewhat jealous because back in the U.S. our infrastructure is degrading, we have old airports, and we just don’t do anything about it. Even more impressive, the place was extremely clean. I swear I could not find trash anywhere on the ground. At this point most of my stereotypes of China has faded away, no longer being influenced by others as I get to see everything for MYSELF. I would admit that I came here a little bit skeptical, but overall I would say that is no longer the case. I now see that China is a great country with some problems, just like the U.S. or any other Western country.

Despite this, our journey was far from over. We still needed to make a connecting flight to Shanghai’s Pudong airport. This actually wasn’t so bad though because it would only last about 2 hours. So before we knew it we had landed and reached our final destination, yay! The journey was far from over though, due to the fact that we still needed to take a train and taxi to Jiao Tong University. The train that we took is called the Maglev. Little did I know this is actually the fastest passenger train in the world, traveling at speeds of up to 268 mph. To our disappointment we only traveled 300 km/h to our destination, but it is still much faster than anything in Houston that I know! The envy has just grown stronger and stronger at this point. Hey, United States government, you could learn some things from China as much as you probably deny it. Anyways…this train was extremely quick and smooth. It literally took us a few minutes to get to our stop. As soon as we get out and head down to the street level chaos ensued. There were maybe 10 different taxi drivers walking around and asking us if we needed a taxi, probably because we all had cameras, looked like tourists, and looked pretty clueless. Luckily we were accompanied by two Chinese professors so they knew exactly what to do. Finally, we found a competent driver who had agreed to take me, Evan, and CJ to Jiao Tung. I must say this before hand, though, taxi drivers in China are insanely bold. Our driver and another driver almost got into a fight just because our driver waited a minute or two to leave. I thought to myself, “this would never happen in the states,” but then again this isn’t the states. It is a different country with a different culture so I tried my best to understand why these things happen here in China.

As we drove along and got onto one of their highways I couldn’t help but notice that some of these people had very expensive cars. I had seen Porsche, BMWs, and Mercedes Benzs. Everytime you see China on the news or in foreign media it always portrays their citizens driving cars from the 1980s. This was definitely a huge surprise to me nonetheless. What was also a surprise was the pace at which the drivers drove. I swear that they have no regard for traffic signals, rules, or other drivers. We zoomed down the highway and roads at a slightly scary rate, avoiding a few potential collisions and accidents. Some 20 minutes later we finally arrived at Jiao Tung University! To our relief we only had one lecture that day so there was plenty time for rest and sight-seeing. Talking about sight seeing, that following night we traveled on the subway to go to the Bund. If you don’t know what that is, it is one of the most famous places in China and in the East. There are building styles that resemble Europe and Asia all conglomerated next to each other, making it a very unique place unlike many others. This had to have been the height of the day. I have seen many pictures of the Bund and the famous Shanghai skyline, but to actually be able to see it personally is amazing.

After we were done looking around at the many marvels the city has to offer we headed down Nanjing Road which happens to be one of the busiest shopping areas around. There were thousands upon thousands of people strolling down the streets. It was a little overwhelming, but I had gotten used to it, after all, being in a city of 20 million you have to. Ironically we avoided all the shopping and went straight to where the food was at. We had stopped at some little restaurant that professor Fung suggested because of  their tasty, steamed dumplings. I had only tried one, but that one was enough for me to know that they are, in fact, good at making dumplings. The time was maybe 8 o’clock local time when we finished , which would be 14 hours ahead of Houston. Due to this, we all were pretty jet lagged and were ready to call it a night. Shortly after dinner we took a taxi back to Jiao Tung University and slept like we never slept before.

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Day 3 – Yuyuan and City Temple, Shanghai Library, Shanghai Documentary Channel, and Tianzifang – Tina

March 2nd, 2014 by Tina

I felt good and ready to go today! After breakfast at the hotel, we visited Yuyuan, a gorgeous garden for the royal family during the Ming Dynasty.

Then, we went to the City Temple. It was interesting seeing so many people praying there. I guess I wasn’t expecting the Chinese people to be that religious before I came to China, for one reason or another.

Next, we had lunch at the oldest Vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai. Everything was really good, and as Evan mentioned, the vegetable “beef” tasted a lot like real beef.

After that, we went to the Shanghai Public Library and listened to the librarian; give a lecture titled “Shanghai in the Past Century.” She divided her talk into three sections – “Ancient Shanghai: A Traditional Town in the South of China,” “Modern Shanghai: A Treaty Port City,” and “Contemporary Shanghai: An International Metropolis.” Some interesting tidbits I learned about modern Shanghai (the librarian showed us a wonderful, witty video during her lecture):

–          It is the 8th largest city in the world

–          It has been described as the “Paris of the East”

–          While it is the largest Chinese city, it has the lowest fertility rate in the nation

–          Shanghai is sinking at a rate of 1.5 centimeters per year… yikes

–          Shanghai is the birthplace of Chinese theater

–          Shanghai consumes the most sugar out of all the other places in China

–          Shanghai’s Marriage Market – Google it

Next, we listened to someone from the Shanghai Documentary Channel. She showed us a portion of a documentary she had directed about Ürümqi, China, the place furthest away from an ocean in on the entire Earth. During her talk and the Q&A afterwards, I learned some interesting things about TV media in China:

–          The Chinese government owns TV stations, although the state is not responsible for the TV station profiting

–          Virtually no TV stations are privately owned in China

–          Each channel has a different team working on the corporate content

–          Not all documentaries are for governmental interests (the word used during the Q&A was “propaganda”)

–          Someone looks over the final product (documentary, in this case), but not for checking that a certain message has been sent to the public

–          Nowadays, the government outlines boundaries as to what TV media can’t do, as opposed to saying they need to do “x,y, or z”

–          People in the industry feel that the process of journalism/TV are moving more towards an open avenue

–          According to her, air pollution is not a very prohibited subject, as long as the government does not get the blame for the environmental issues

These points have painted a better picture of so-called press freedom in China than I expected going in, but I still raise my eyebrow at the Chinese government 1. owning all TV stations, and 2. outlining boundaries. This is, even if on minimally invasive level as her implied today, still press censorship. A free media is not obligated to answer to any third party but the public.

One of the most interesting things I learned from her was that when deciding on a topic to make a documentary out of, the documentary team will ask a range of half a pool of experts from various fields for suggestions. One thing Professor Fang mentioned is that even if experts propose things with no apparent third party hovering over them, they probably self-censor. Which brings me to…

At the end of the day, don’t all journalists self-censor? George Orwell put it interestingly – “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.” Writing for the campus newspaper, I don’t come across many stories that warrant me getting information someone else would “not want printed,” as people aren’t generally defensive about the location and details of the upcoming homecoming dance or sexual assault information talks at orientation week. But, I would imagine that covering more controversial stories would require a degree of self-censorship for the sake of getting at least some information to the public – for instance, if I were covering a new famous upcoming product, I would be able to find out details about its release and basic functions, but probably not its name, if the company was waiting for a big reveal. Therefore, the increase my chances of getting the former information, I would either wait until the end to ask about the name, or not ask out all, after feeling out the situation and determining where everyone stands.

On a more obvious level, journalists self-censor all the time because journalistic writing – pure, ethical, journalistic writing – is supposed to be objective. Being unbiased requires self-censorship; it requires holding back your own thoughts and opinions on the subject matter at hand.

Afterwards, we went shopping and sightseeing at Tianzifang, and we had Taiwanese food at a nice little restaurant in the area.

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Day 2 Reflection – Melissa

March 2nd, 2014 by mrv3

Today was a day of shopping, walking, and LOTS of picture-taking.  Oh, and food, of course.  We started off the morning with a beautiful walk through the Yuyuan Garden – it was actually perfect, because the weather was cool and clear and sunny, and it was not very crowded within the Garden itself.  We got split into two groups because my group wanted to take 5000 pictures at every spot (definitely worth it – we got so many fantastic photos out of the experience), and I think we spent more time at the Garden than we originally planned…but, like I said, completely worthwhile.  I went to the Yuyuan Garden last time I came to Shanghai, but this time around it was much more fun because the weather was too hot last time and there were too many other tourists.  After the Garden, we ate a delicious lunch of vegetarian cuisine and then walked around and shopped at the nearby market before heading over to the Shanghai Library for a lecture on Shanghai history and documentaries.  I really enjoyed the portion about documentaries, because I had previously never really thought about the time, work, and planning that goes into making documentaries.  It seems like a wonderful thing to be a part of – but also lots of stress.  We concluded the day with what should have been my favorite part (jetlag killed a bit of my fun today, so I was quite tired by the end), Tianzifang.  This area is absolutely perfect – Wikipedia describes it as an “arts and crafts enclave,” and I agree with this assessment, but it’s so much more.  There were stores selling arts and crafts, yes, but there were also themed restaurants, mini bars protruding into the narrow alleyways, fantastic and funny original t-shirt designs, teahouses with enticing aromas – I could go on and on, but it was fabulous.  I definitely plan on going back sometime!  But now it is time to sleep.  Peace.

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March 2, 2014 | Day 2 in Shanghai

March 2nd, 2014 by hb10

After having breakfast at the hotel this morning we headed to Yuyuan Garden. While on our walk to the garden, we saw a mosque right off the street. I made my way in and learned that the mosque has been standing there since the year 1870. Because I doing my research project on the Muslim presence in Shanghai, it was great to run into a mosque on a busy street. It made Islam in China seem like less of an anomaly.

The garden was beautiful. There was hardly an inch of the space that I had to resist taking pictures of. After the garden, I got to do my favorite thing: shopping!

We made our way through a couple of markets in the surrounding neighborhoods and I found a great pair of sunglasses. CJ helped me barter the price down, and I’ve gotta say that I got a pretty good deal.

Next we made our way to the Shanghai LIbrary where we learned about the history of Shanghai and more contemporary issues that face China. It was great to hear some insight about where China has been and where it is headed.

We finished off the day with some more market shopping and a great Taiwanese dinner. I am loving Shanghai thus far and can’t wait to see what’s next!

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Day 2 Reflection – Evan

March 2nd, 2014 by efd1

Our first full day in Shanghai began with a short walk around Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where we are staying. The university is almost exactly as old as Rice, but around ten times as large in population. The university is a mix of old mid-rise buildings and new high rise buildings, some of which are simply rented out to businesses to earn the university money. The university is located near two subway stops and so makes for a staging area for our trips into the city.

The first trip today was to the Yuyuan Gardens, a part of Shanghai which features traditional Chinese architecture. We first passed through several markets, where all kinds of trinkets were being sold. The entrance to the gardens was actually a bridge which zig-zagged across a large pond. The gardens were filled with buildings on stilts, bronze statues, and antique carvings. When we finished walking through the gardens (our journey slowed by a substantial amount of pictures…) we continued to a vegetarian restaurant in the market. Though the restaurant only served vegetarian food, most of the food looked exactly like meat. The “steak” in particular was deliciously uncanny.

After lunch we traveled to Shanghai library (which, like most of Shanghai’s buildings, was much taller than I expected) to meet a historian and a documentary director. The lecture on the history of Shanghai was especially interesting in the context of just having visited the Bund and seen many buildings dating back to the era of the foreign concession.  The documentary director gave us interesting insights into the role which the central government plays in media creation in China. Two principles stood out. The first was that in general no research is prevented from being carried out by censorship – censorship only applies to the release of certain material to the public. The second is that the central government does not typically encourage production of certain media in order to achieve political goals, rather it acts by restricting the topics which can be broadcasted, with the intent of preventing civil unrest.

After the lectures we got back on the subway to go to another market, this one more upscale than the one we visited in the morning. I drank some delicious boba tea, and we ate a delicious Taiwanese dinner in a restaurant above the market.

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Day 1 Reflection – Evan

March 1st, 2014 by efd1

The first day of our trip felt much longer than 24 hours. Our flight left Houston around 11:00 PM Thursday night, and we flew with in the darkness all the way to Beijing, more than a 15 hour flight. We arrived in Beijing at around 4:00 AM in the morning (local time) on Saturday, after crossing the international dateline. I personally didn’t manage to get much sleep on the flight, so I figured I was only going to be half awake the whole day. I was wrong; after a short domestic flight, we finally arrived in Shanghai and excitement counteracted sleep deprivation. To get to the city from the airport we took the maglev train which transported us at a speed greater than 180 mph! We had a delicious lunch in the faculty club of the university we are staying at. After lunch we took a quick walk in the area immediately around the campus. The streets were chaotic and packed with cars.  The area nearby the university was filled with tall residential buildings. We barely made it back to the university in time for our afternoon lecture.

 

The lecture was with a high school teacher from one of the most selective  public high schools in Shanghai. The education system in Shanghai sounded much different from my experience in the United States. In Shanghai the high schools are evaluated based on how many students get into top universities. The high school is actually split into two divisions, the “foreign” division which is made up of students with at least one parent with a foreign passport, and the “domestic” division. Students from the foreign division typically study abroad, while students from the domestic division mostly go to domestic Chinese universities. Because the students typically go to different kinds of universities, the curriculum is necessarily different between the two divisions. Chinese universities base their admission decisions almost entirely on the results of a standardized national examination, and so most of the work is based on preparing the students for the examinations.

 

After the lecture we traveled to the Bund using the subway. The Bund is the historic waterfront of the city, and from it you can see the new Pudong area where most of the skyscrapers have been been built. We had a delicious meal of steamed dumplings in the shopping area nearby. Finally we returned to the university to get some sleep.

 

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Day 1 Reflection – Melissa

March 1st, 2014 by mrv3

Our first day was a day of travel and rain.  The majority of us did not sleep very long or at all on the long flight over to China, so we were all a bit exhausted by the time we reached Shanghai.  However, for the most part we were alert and awake because being in Shanghai is so exciting!  I’ve been to this city before, but apparently I remembered it all wrong, because it’s surprising me at every turn.  I didn’t remember all of the excessive lights – on bridges, buildings, trees, poles – that make the city light up  beautifully after dark.  I didn’t remember the streets lined with trees that are now bare in the winter but make the city look magical.  Most of all, I didn’t remember the dazzling scenery at the Bund, where we visited in the rainy nighttime, shortly before we all finally crashed at dinner.  Xiaolongbao (steamed dumplings with soup inside them) are perhaps my favorite Chinese dish, but even I was only half as excited as I should’ve been about the food because I was fighting exhaustion at that point in the day.  I am glad that it only kicked in at dinner time, because the lecture on education in Shanghai that we had in the afternoon was very interesting, for two reasons: firstly because I am interested in education in Shanghai, and secondly because I was able to understand most of what they were saying and practice my Chinese skills.  I hope that the rest of our days in this city will be equally as eye-opening, engaging, and fun!

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