At their first culture tour in China, GEPers visited Shaoxing, a city imbued with history and tradition.

Our first culture tour in China was going to Shaoxing, which is a city close to Hangzhou, well known for its excellent Chinese yellow wine and history. We were leaving early in the morning with two buses from our dorms in Hangzhou. Unfortunately, the weather wasnt very good and it was rainy and foggy all day long. I was sitting in the front row of the bus, which offered me some nice impression of Chinese daily street life while we were traveling to Shaoxing. Jim, our tour guide, was sitting right next to me and provided us with interesting information about the city and its historic background.

Our first stop in Shaoxing was Shens Garden, a private garden from the Southern Song Dynasty. It is known for a story of tragic marriage. The famous Chinese poet Lu You went several times to this garden and composed many of his masterworks at this charming place. Our second stop was the Orchid Pavilion, which was standing in another first-grade park. We walked across bamboo woods and romantic lakes while our Chinese guide explained the story behind the places.

The highlight of our one-day-tour was the visit of a Shaoxing rice wine factory. The manager of the factory gave us a historic introduction to the art of making rice wine. Rice wine is for the western students a complete new taste experience. It is not comparable to western grape wine at all. We were all very grateful when the company presented one bottle of wine to every student as a gift. The bottles were made of porcelain and students could write personal messages on them. I will bring back my bottle to my home country, and it shall remind me of this trip and my stay in the great land of China.

Thomas Müller, GEP student 11