Monthly Archive for July, 2009

It’s been awhile since I last updated; things have been really hectic around here and work has been ramping up. A couple weeks ago I sustained injury #2 in China, this time on my right ring finger. I was checking out some industrial fans in a factory outside Hangzhou (for a project at work) and while leaning on one of the fans my finger slipped through the casing and got sliced by the fan blades. The doctor at the hospital chuckled at the sight of me again. He fixed me up right and it looks like I’m off to a full recovery:

more battle wounds

This past weekend I got a chance to check out some places outside Hangzhou which I hadn’t seen yet. Accompanying me for the adventures was my friend from Stanford, Juliet Rothenberg, and her Chinese teacher from Shanghai:

We first went to check out the Lingyin Temple, a buddhist temple located in the mountains northwest of Hangzhou. One of the largest in China, the temple was established over 1600 years ago. The structures were beautiful, and the Buddha in the main hall was the size about the size of a small building! Although there were monks living in the monastery there, the temple seemed to be more of a tourist attraction than a place of worship. As most everywhere in China, the place was packed:

main hall of Lingyin Temple

the monks could ball, yo

a pagoda in the courtyard

The topic of religion is a touchy one in China. Due to their complex history and thanks in no small part to the Communist Party, the population today is generally atheistic. The other day my boss (who is nonreligious), chastised the country’s lack of faith and lamented that “Chinese kids these days begin to lie at a very young age, and grow up not learning how to distinguish right from wrong.” In the US, where faith is generally cast in a favorable light, I’ve always looked to highlight the violence and hate caused by religious fervor around the world. However, in the face of China’s extreme corruption and crime, it’s tough to argue against the positive effects of a religious populace.

After seeing the Lingyin Temple, we decided to tour the neighboring Longjing tea plantations to try our hand at some authentic Longjing tea. Unfortunately I have absolutely zero knowledge of teas, so it was rather difficult to appreciate their quality. The fields where they grew the tea leaves were quite pretty however:

tea fields

a worker at the tea plantation

All in all, thanks to the great company and cool sights, it was another awesome weekend in Hangzhou. On a side note, earlier today I got to witness something which I’ll likely never see again my lifetime–a total solar eclipse! It was completely dark for about 6 minutes around 9:30am, and hordes of people gathered outside to watch while fireworks littered the air. Awesome!

- Pu Anren

First of all, I’d like to thank everybody for reading the blog! The response has been overwhelming. Unfortunately I can’t go into more detail about my workplace than I already have due to NDA, so I’ll try to spice up my personal life here in order to keep it exciting.

It seems like a million things have happened since I last updated slightly over a week ago. Last Monday after work I went to play basketball with some coworkers (the first time in my life where I was one of the tallest players on the court) and got accidentally elbowed in the head, which opened up a gash above my forehead. My host mother took me to the hospital to get it stitched up, which was an interesting experience:

operating table

The hospital was a little dingy but all of the doctors and nurses were very nice. I waltzed in without an appointment and got my cut sewn up within about 15 minutes. After that I was given some amoxicillin (anti-infection) capsules and a tetanus booster shot. The total for all of these services? Around ¥80 RMB, or about $12 USD. Not to mention, I went in for free check-ups several times in the next few days to make sure there was no infection. The biggest nuisance from the whole ordeal was the bandage I had to wear on my head, as if people didn’t stare at me enough already…

my head bandage

You always read about how bad the US medical system is, but I didn’t expect “third-world” China to put it to shame like this. I would have waited for hours to get such treatment at any US facility, and the bill probably would have been at least a hundred dollars, even after copay! I’m not an expert on healthcare, but there is clearly something wrong with it in the States.

Another major development this week included the purchase of an e-bike in order to facilitate getting around town. E-bikes and scooters are very popular around here, and as a result, dirt cheap. I was able to pick up this model for a little over ¥1200 RMB, or about $170 USD. I doubt you would even be able to get the bike frame for that price in the US:

my new ride

As a budding engineer, I have to include at least some technical details. The electric drivetrain is an interesting piece of machinery:

batteries and rear drivetrain

The setup for these types of bikes is pretty simple. This particular model is basically just a 2-pack of 12V lead-acid batteries hooked up to a motor controller and in-wheel electric motor, which is also chain-linked to a set of pedals in case you run out of juice. I am still intrigued at how cheaply they are able to make these things. Some of the lower-quality models sold for under $100 USD! The scooter store also had some higher-performance lithium-ion models available in the $400-$700 USD range. Most of the people at Astronergy get to work either by bike or scooter:

bike/scooter parking structure at Astronergy

It’s nice not having to get into a car every time you want to go somewhere, and it also makes more sense from an environmental perspective. Why in the world do you need to lug around a 2-ton hunk of metal every time you go from point A to point B? It’s also more carbon-friendly to use energy generated from power plants (even if they are coal-powered), since they operate at higher efficiency regimes than your typical internal combustion engine. That being said, I don’t see Americans changing their driving habits anytime soon…

- Pu Anren