Memories from Shanghai University of Electric Power

It was the end of the third semester at university, when we came across a competition organized by a university from Shanghai, China. The name of the competition was ‘Cesim: Electricity market business simulation competition’. In a nutshell, it required all of us to participate in a computer simulated electrical industry environment. Two of us, Harindu Jayarathne and Chathura Jayasankha, are from Electronics and Telecommunication engineering department while the other two, Sehani Tharindra and Roshana Tharindi, are from Electrical engineering department. After the first round of the competition, the final round was scheduled to be held at university premises in Shanghai, China. After we managed to secure a place in the first round, we were sent the official letters to visit the final round.

After spending days and days trying to obtain VISA to visit the country, we finally managed to obtain them only two days before the flight.

Day 1: A day-out in Pudong city

After arriving at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai our next destination was the Shanghai University of Electric Power. When we contacted them, the university was not ready to welcome us too early. We had to stay at a hotel near the airport till the university contacted us to collect us.

First thing we noticed was there was no one to speak in English language. Finding directions by asking from people was not a very good idea. When we called a hotel also they were not able to contact us without using Chinese language. We reached Wanxin Huixuan Hotel near the airport after contacting a taxi vehicle.

I was not much of a fan of Chinese food. The breakfast was looking great though. After having the first spoonful, we opted for survival mode!

It was the first chance we got to explore the city. There was a lot to look around. The city was full of small gardens and parks made for the public. Young people were not to be seen though. It was either old people or very young children that wandered around these parks freely.

After visiting several free and public parks, we tried out the public bus service as well as the public metro underground train service. It was a great experience to see how accessible, cheap and convenient these public services were. After the first day, we opted to use this large map of metro lines that allowed quick travel inside the city.

Using the metro line we could visit a large botanical garden named Century Park. It was a garden in the middle of the city with attractive views.

The University - SUEP

The university Shanghai University of Electric Power(SUEP) was in the middle of the Shanghai city, but not the heart of the city. The heart of the city is full of sky scrapers with an elegance of its own. The university area was rather a calm area with normal sized buildings. This university was not a large one. I would see it as a university with a size similar to our university.

The competition was a little bit formal, but I saw it as a competition organized for the purpose of improving connections between students from different countries. Anyway after the competition was over, we felt free from the responsibility of representing the university.

The food in the university was very different from the food we came across in the first day. They were surprisingly edible. The cooks in the canteen helped us to add spices and taste that we wanted. Additionally there was a small shop to buy food items.

Near the university we had the time to walk freely. Even in China, American food chains such as KFC and Starbucks were available. They seemed to be well established, with few new food items changed to match the Chinese tastes. A metro station was available near the entrance of the university. This made it easier for us to visit many places in the city on our own.

Shanghai City Tour

The Shanghai University organized a Summer School Programme after the competition. As the first event of this program, we were taken on a tour in Shanghai City. They were kind enough to spend behalf of us for the summer school in addition to the food and the accommodation. The city tour was a very nice experience. Most notable place to visit was the Shanghai tower, which is a unique land mark in the world renowned financial city Shanghai.

Shanghai Railway Station - High speed railway 🚄

This was one of the most thrilling moments in our tour. First we had to take the subway to shanghai railway station. From there, we got both up and down tickets to Wuxi, a city about 130km away from Shanghai, but it took only 45mins to travel to Wuxi. Inside high-speed train was bit like an airplane and there were attendants to help the passengers. We selected Wuxi, only considering the experience of high-speed rail. We hadn’t enough time for sightseeing even, because we had to be in university before 11pm. Later, we got to know it’s a city full of culture and famous for Honey Peach, a fruit you can only find in China.

Science and Technology Museum

First, we had to take the metro line to go to science and technology museum station and then, had to walk through a verity of shops to reach the actual place. It was an amazing place focusing science, mankind, and technology. There were 12 different thematic exhibition areas. In each area they had emphasized a notable contribution a Chinese person had done to that area of science.

Longhua Temple

The most ancient temple in shanghai was the Longhua Temple. It has a history over 1000 years. There was a pagoda and six halls which keeps Sutras, golden seals and buddha statues in the temple. The pagoda had the octagonal floor layout. At the entrance three incense sticks were given and those had to be fix in incense censer in front of the temple after praying.

University trip to Suzhou and Hangzhou 🐉🌳

Initially, Shanghai University had organized this trip as an optional in the summer school program. If we wanted to go on this, we had to pay, but fortunately they change it to a free tour for all the participants. First day, we went to one of the oldest towns in the Yangtze River basin, Suzhou. There we were taken to lingering garden. It was a very beautiful place with exquisite architecture. Then, we went on a boat ride on the ancient canal in Suzhou. That area was like a little Venice. After tour in Suzhou, we headed to Hangzhou. In Hangzhou, we went to famous Longjing tea village and then on the West Lake Cruise. This two-day trip was like a journey through Chinese culture.

China town in China 🤨

In China town, there were lot of stores of different kinds of fancy items and clothes for cheaper price. The price shown is not the reasonable price of the item. So, if you want to buy it to a reasonable price, you should be a pro in bargaining.