Welcome to my Summer 2010 Travelogue - China

Ni hao ma! Welcome to my 2010 Summer Travelogue. My name is Amy Huang, currently a third-year undergraduate student at Columbia University, and I will be visiting China this summer. The main purpose of this visit is to participate in an internship abroad for the Columbia Experience Overseas program, a summer program that offers Columbia students quality internships at Beijing, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

This year, I will be working in Hong Kong for Enlighten Action for Epilepsy, a non-profit, charitable organization founded in 2002, that aims to raise awareness of epilepsy in the Hong Kong community and provide programs for people with epilepsy, as well as for their families. You can read about their amazing work by visiting their website at http://www.enlightenhk.org/home/main/en/. By working with the Enlighten team, I hope to create new programs to educate and support patients and their families.

In addition to interning in Hong Kong, I will be spending my first three and a half weeks traveling around China and experiencing the vibrancy of my culture and people. Visits include Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, and possibly Macau. For Beijing, I will go with a tour group to make things easier. As for the rest of the stops, I will be staying in my relative's homes, people I have not visited in seventeen years. Though my last visit to China was when I was three years old, I am starting anew this summer.

Choosing a name for this blog is just as difficult as stuffing things into my luggage. I was just listening to a song by Kelsang Metok, a popular Tibetan singer. The name in English is "Falling in Love with Jiuzhaigou Valley". It illustrates the beauty of this Chinese valley with breathtaking clarity, which resonates through her strong voice. Perhaps the title, "Falling in Love with China", provides a broader perspective into the wonders of China, and my eventual love for her culture and peoples.

I apologize for belated posts. The first three weeks of posts were typed onto a Word document and posted now, since either I have no internet access or I am too exhausted from my day's travels to write in my travelogue. In any case, I'll try my best to keep updated.

Hope you will join me in this exciting trip!

Regards,

~ Amy

header photo: an original, zoomed-in shot taken from cable car to the Tian Tan Buddha at Lantau peak, Hong Kong.