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Pressley On China Trip
Madison, Wis.

When Badger football fullback Chris Pressley is asked about what he did during the summer of 2007, his answer will be different than most of his teammates.

Pressley is currently in China. He is taking part in a three-week trip (with other UW students) that is set up through the UW Business School. Students have the opportunity to learn about the business and financial culture in China; learn about the biological, economic and social dimensions of Chinese agriculture through lectures by Chinese faculty and local officials and field trips to markets and to local farms; see firsthand the eastern Himalayas of southwest China, a “global biodiversity hotspot” and hear about China’s biodiversity conservation and sustainable development efforts in that area; visit cultural landmarks like The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace.

Pressley will be sharing his observations, experiences and photos here at UWBADGERS.COM. Here are the first two of Pressley’s blogs. He is pictured, toward the middle with yellow rainjacket, with other students.

MONDAY, MAY 21

So, after a 14 hour plane ride, we finally arrived in Beijing, China. The ride was very long, but ended nicely because we got to see some of the mountainous regions of Bejing from the plane. I was a little cramped up, but even more excited to breathe in the China air for the first time in my life. It did not hit me right away because most of the other people I was traveling with on the plane were speaking English and it didn’t feel like I was in a foreign country yet. But as soon as we hit the airport lobby for the baggage claim I saw hundreds of Chinese people holding signs up in Chinese and I realized that we were here. When we arrived we met our tour/bus guide named Duncan and he was soon leading us on our way for the short few days that we are here in Beijing. The hotel is on the west side and it was really nice. Beijing is such a huge city. It has (about 13 million) people and it is so crowded. Everyone wants to sell you things and bargain at the same time. On the first day, we went to the hotel and had a really nice, large dinner prepared for us on the second floor and soon after we went to the internet cafe where it was very crowded with very limited computers. Wakeup call was at 6:30 the next morning and we had a very long day planned for Tuesday.

TUESDAY, MAY 22

Wakeup was at 6:30 a.m. and it was a rainy day outside. I had a rough night because I was still trying to adjust to the time and the beds were really hard. But the breakfast made up for that. We had a really great breakfast with some interesting choices of food, a lot of fruit and dumplings and bread, but also the usual eggs and sausage. I have already noticed that I have a taste for the kiwi juice, which is good, especially considering that we cannot drink the water. After breakfast we took off to the Carrefour factory for a company tour and to do a little shopping. The Carrefour market was really large and we learned a lot about how they distribute and manage perishable food items. We met with the managers of the Carrefour market and were allowed to ask as many questions as we liked. After Carrefour, we went to a silk manufacturing company and learned about how silk is processed. The silk tour was really interesting, but the best part was the fashion show that they put on after the tour. Seriously, it was a really fun show. Afterward we got to shop for some really inexpensive silk blankets and got to bargain for the prices that gave us both a fair bargain. After lunch we went to the Forbidden City followed by Tienanmen Square. They were right across the street from each other and they were very large. All I could think about is how much history I was standing upon. These places were so much fun even if there was a lot of walking involved. I began to notice that people really liked taking pictures with me and I was getting a lot of stares. I didn’t know if it was because I was big or black or both. I think they were just interested in the way that I looked and that I dressed. After the square we went to a really fun and exciting acrobatic show. These acrobats and contortionists did some really amazing things. It made me say to myself, ‘wow, if you put your mind to something you really can do it.’ It made me believe that anything, and I mean anything, was possible because they were doing things that I had never seen before in my life. They where balancing themselves, bending themselves, and flipping in ways that I never thought I would see in this lifetime. After this we came back to the hotel for dinner, but I just fell asleep because I was exhausted and was still trying to catch up with my hours. Anyhow, tomorrow we will go to the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven, and we will all get to experience some Peking duck. I will tell you all about that next time.

Wisconsin Athletic Communications
5/23/2007 2:20:53 PM

(Badger football fullback Chris Pressley and other UW students in Beijing)