Day 2 & 3 - Zhejiang University

The last couple days has been kind of a whirlwind, so I've condensed both days into one post. We were pretty much in the same place, doing stuff all related to the same thing, so it makes sense.

Morning in Shanghai, China

The morning after our arrival, and because of severe jetlag, we work up ungodly early at 5 AM to a beautiful sunrise from out 19th floor hotel room onto the largest city in the world. It was still asleep, so it was very peaceful. Over the next few hours it slowly woke up (as did we) and we set out on the day after a traditional breakfast. Today, in the morning hours, we were setting out to the southwest, down towards the City of Hangzhou. The city itself it is about 2-2.5 hours (180 km) south of Shanghai. We were actually headed to the University Center, which is a large section of town that contains 7 full and separate universities all in one area. We arrived in time for lunch. After the traditional 1.5 hour lunch, we set out for the University of Zhejiang University of Economics and Finance to work with the swim team.

The system of swimming in China at the University level is MUCH different then in the United States. It's pretty complicated and to be quite honest, I'm not sure I understand it fully. However, this much I do know. Every fall, just at the start of the school year, they have something called the University Games of China. This is an Olympic games-style competition that is held for 10-days near Beijing. The team are organized not by college, but by provinces. So all of the best athletes in a particular province will train together for the summer, then travel to this competition and compete as one team. So the team that we got to work with was the team from the Zhejiang Province that is training at the university we worked stayed at. We spend several hours observing and actually working with them as they did dryland and swam a workout. Some spoke fairly good English and could possibly make fine additions to our college team someday :). It should be mentioned that some of these swimmers are QUITE good and could easily swim at the highest University levels in the United states.

Zhejiang Provincial University Team.

That night, we had a very traditional Chinese dinner that went on well into the night. Our hosts were managers and administers within the college athletic program. After what seemed like a very short night sleep, we were up early again and off for the day. In the morning, we spend the day with several high level college administrators discussing our two colleges (Monroe Community College and their school) and the possibility of future opportunities that could involve brining our swimmers to train in China for a "training trip" or vice versa. We are all VERY optimistic about the making this happen. We then were taken to a very fancy restaurant and treat to a great traditional Chinese lunch with the same folks we met with. If you are getting the feeling that everything revolves out food and the good times that go along with it, you are quite correct. There is nothing to cement a good friendship and talk of future cooperation then a good meal, right?

Us with the Athletic Director and her deputy at Lunch.

Sticking with the theme of mixing business and pleasure, we then spend the afternoon about 1 hour north of Hangzhou in a historical Chinese village called Wuzhen. It's an actual small village that maintains the traditional ways of life from the Song Dynasty (200 years ago). It was very beautiful. Everything revolves around this small river (Dongshi River) and it was really an interesting learning experience. Also, the signs were written in both Chinese and English so that made things really helpful for us. I'll attach a few pictures, but they cannot capture the pure beauty of this place.

Bridge over the Dongshi River (Wuzhen, China)

Some Traditional houses along the River.  (Wuzhen, China)

By the time we got back to town, it was getting late for dinner (it was 7:30 PM), so our Chinese hosts wanted us to taste China's version of western food, so they took us to a Pizza Hut (they are very popular here). It was different for sure, but it was not bad at all and we were very surprised. They have a much more expanded menu and they put some weird stuff on pizza, but we stuck with the classics and it was a good meal. We were done early and because we we have a few full days ahead, we went back to the hotel and turned in early. Sleep is something our bodies have to figure out here in China.

Coach Tim