The hour-long commute from classes to my internship in downtown Shanghai is punctuated by a stroll past the Jing’An Temple. This temple — which literally translates as “The Temple of Peace and Harmony”—...

Regardless of where I wake up, the first thing I do when I hop out of bed in the morning is look out of my window. The first view of the world outside gives me an idea of the day’s mood. Beyond merely...

Waking up without the sound of my alarm jostling me from sleep is a wonderful feeling. Sleeping in is something I took for granted during my obscenely long winter break. Now I look forward to weekends...

Once again, I step onto a crowded subway train. The subway door beeps twice as a man hurries on during the last second. The doors close as the man squeezes in, creating a chain reaction that jostles everyone...

I stir in my bed, slowly becoming aware of the world around me. Sunlight leaks in through a slit of cloth, the window to my right barely showing the break of day. I turn over in bed and check the time...

Our bus pulled up to the stop. It was a cold and foggy — a typical winter day in Shanghai. Though rain was not falling, the evidence of a recent storm appeared in puddles haphazardly marking the navy...

Before coming to China, I had almost no idea what to expect of the Chinese society. Though traces of Chinese culture exist in America, they are often fragmented into an abstraction that doesn’t fully...

After months of speculation, nervousness, restless days and sleepless nights, I finally found myself on my flight to Shanghai. Although 14 hours of uninterrupted airtime is a lot for anyone to handle,...

In my 19 years of life I’ve realized that there isn’t much that’s more painful than waiting in line. I try to avoid situations involving lines as much as possible, but I somehow always end up back...

I love Mandarin Chinese. Even after nearly seven years of studying it, the language continues to confuse and amaze me. The origins of Mandarin Chinese date back nearly 3,000 years, and today is by far...

This February, I will begin the single scariest experience of my life: a semester studying abroad in Shanghai. I choose the word “scary” to describe my feelings toward this experience because of the...