Written by Shona Craig

May 23. Today was, in my opinion, the best day thus far.  We had breakfast again at 7 a.m.  The food was mostly the same, except there was a new dish that consisted of simply tomato with sugar, which I enjoyed very much.  Our last TCM class began with exploring the herb room.  There was a great variety of herbs preserved in jars including genseng and even sea horses!  We then learned about and experimented with cupping on each other, including Hongwei and our professor Gao Hong.

Today was also our last Wushu and Tai chi class.  We began with some fun Chinese games to warm up.  By this time in the week, we all have memorized a routine for Wushu and Tai Chi. Watch out! We are kung fu masters now!  After we showed off our skills, we introduced Ultimate Frisbee to our instructor and the Chinese students.  It was the most intense game of Ultimate Frisbee I have ever played!  Just like at water polo and pool races, Hongwei was the most competitive player!!  Just so you know, it was a tie game no matter what he tells you. 

After lunch, we visited the Jinsha Museum, which is for it is for the protection of, research into and display of Jinsha relics and archaeological finds.  It is very modern and new and is the most amazing museum I have ever visited.

After dinner, we walked around the city of Chengdu for a short while.  It is very much like NYC in that it has many tall buildings, a variety of shops and restaurants, and bright lights.

At the end of the day, we had a gathering that included Nick, Hongwei, the dean, many of the Chinese students we met in class, and us.  The students brought us some traditional Chinese snacks and we taught them how to play water pong.  I am beginning to realize now, as our trip in Chengdu quickly draws to a close, that the places we have experienced and the friendships we have made are something to treasure and remember forever.