XJTLU, Opple Lighting, and the Brightest City I've Ever Seen

Thursday, March 12, 2015:

            I want to go to Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University! It's a university joint between Liverpool, UK and Xi'an Jiaotong in China. The British guy really sold the school.  I admire how it is one of the first schools to really implement globalization at the root—with the youth of the country who will grow up to run it.  When students attend a school that is joint between countries, it helps them develop not only professional communication skills, but also social skills with students from all over the world, which actually benefits you professionally in the long run.  As an industrial engineering student, I believe it is essential for students and employees to be able to work together and surpass any differences, and this University has the perfect idea for training their students like this.  XJTLU was more modernized and had more evident technology than Peking University.  Personally I liked it better than Peking because I felt more at home.  Also, the students we ate with were much more open and friendly.  The campus focused on inspiring students and setting their creative minds free, whereas I felt Peking University trapped students’ minds in traditional standards.  Of course, Peking is the higher ranked and “better” education, but I cannot wait to see XJTLU’s potential as it grows and develops and as it obtains more experienced professors.

            Opple was an interesting visit.  The company is Chinese and has been the number 1 lighting source for China for a long time.  It also was joint with Europe in the sense that the company is made to have European (advanced, respectable) standards for all people—even locals in the rural communities.  Again, the tour was very clean.  Opple is heading towards automation and has plenty of room for expansion.  It is planning to expand, unlike AMD which has the same space but too much financial stress to use the space.  From what I saw, Opple seemed like an extremely organized company, almost too organized; all the cars are required to be back in, which is easier in the long run, but who else has that kind of rule?  Again, however, the company’s technology is advanced and following the development of the rest of the country.  China is advancing so quickly I cannot imagine how everyone keeps up.

            I fell asleep on the bus ride to Shanghai, but waking up driving into the city was like a dream.  There were vibrant lights absolutely everywhere, and skyscrapers stretching for miles.  It was the most amazing site I have ever seen.  I hate to say this, but Shanghai puts New York to shame.  Passing Hershey World, M&M World, and the rest of the lit up stores on the way to dinner and the Bund was mesmerizing.  People's Square is a mixture of the Vegas Strip and Time Square--all these bright lit up shops lead to the the Bund. 

Of course, the Bund was the best part, like the finish line to a light race, but the pictures I took do not do the view justice.  Just simply seeing the lights over the water put me in a trance.  Every time I think China cannot get any more exciting, it sweeps me off my feet once again.