Period 22.5.-17.7.2002

Companies Ecology and Environment Inc., Shanghai and Wuhan offices, Environmental Resources Management, Beijing office.

Country China is a fascinating country with lot of development going on. In Beijing, there are also a lot of interesting historical sites to visit. However, there is still a lot of poverty as well, especially in Wuhan, where I stayed for four weeks. Traveling in China is a little bit difficult because of the poor public transportation and especially, the roads. Also, the distances between cities are enormous. And because of the large city areas, it is necessary to use local buses and taxis.

It would have been very useful to know some Chinese language, especially outside Beijing. I knew only English and therefore it was sometimes a little bit difficult to navigate from place to place and to communicate with local people. Only the educated people can speak English and the majority of them are not fluent. However, Chinese people are very friendly. Because of the great population, cities in China are very crowded, which can be a little shock for Finnish people. :)

China is a great country to visit. Beijing has a lot of historical sites and is very modern. Shanghai, on the other hand, does not have many historical monuments but is a modern financial center with many skyscrapers around. Wuhan was probably the most ¡äChinese looking¡ä country, i.e. not so developed. All the cities had very modern areas and also quite poor areas. In other words, the living conditions can be good but also quite bad. Prices in China are low, apart from Beijing where you can easily spend a lot of money on sightseeing, local transportation etc.

There are not so many western people in China (apart from Beijing) and therefore, everyone notices you. However, Chinese people are friendly and try to do their best to welcome you.

Work I was treated very well in both companies, as a guest. Everybody was friendly and trying to help me as well as they could. The work itself was a little disappointing because there was not a lot to do. I was mainly proof-reading World Bank reports, correcting their English and trying to find some other mistakes. I also joined a World Bank meeting, which were a great experience and a few site visits (local landfill and Budweiser wastewater treatment plant).

Living It was a big surprise to me that I was transferred from Shanghai (the city where I was supposed to spend the whole period) to Wuhan. I stayed 1 week in Shanghai, 4 weeks in Wuhan and 3 weeks in Beijing. However, the reason for the further transfer to Beijing was that I suggested it to my boss. After all, it was a good thing because I got experience from three different cities. In addition to this, I was living in six different apartments! Two of them were local families, one hotel, one guesthouse and two flats owned by the companies. It was very nice to live with the families and to see how Chinese live, eat and so on. Both families were very kind and friendly. In the hotel there was a little surprise: a mouse in my room! The apartments were mainly in good or even very good condition apart from the family in Wuhan, who were quite poor and so was their flat.

Free time When I was living with the families, I spent my free time with them, walking around, cooking, doing some sightseeing, shopping, going to restaurants etc. When I lived on my own, I spent part of the time by myself, and another part with my colleagues. However, I was not very willing to go out on my own because I felt a little scared, especially when it was dark. In Beijing there was a lot of sightseeing to do. Partly I did it on my own, partly with my colleagues and their friends and I also met an American IAESTE-trainee and an American-Chinese summer trainee.

Costs Prices in China are low apart from Beijing and therefore, the biggest part are the plane tickets. Here is an estimation of my costs in the trip: