Welcome!

                                                                 大家好！
                                                             Hello everyone!

       So has some of you may or may not know, I'm studying abroad in China from August to May and I couldn't be more excited. Honestly, it's a little frightening to be going to somewhere as foreign as China but, the amount of knowledge that I'm going to gain in this experience exceeds any fears that I have. I hope that everyone who reads this learns a little bit about China (I know that I'm going to be learning a lot and hope to share what I learn with everyone else). Whether it be Chinese culture, history, politics, or economics, I hope that you all come on this journey of learning a more about China with me.
       A little bit about my study abroad program for those that are interested. I will be studying at Peking University (北京大学) in Beijing (Sometimes called Beijing University. Beijing used to be romanized as Peking and Peking has stuck)  which I'm told by my Chinese friends is the Harvard of China so pretty prestigious. My program is through the China Studies Institute and they sound amazing. The China Studies program was established in 1986 by American University in Washington D.C. I'm going to be taken Chinese classes (obviously) as well as classes on Chinese politics, China's historical transformations, a literature class (obviously how could your girl pass up taking a class about books) and more. What really drew me to this program is the end of the term study trips. Because I will be there for a year, I will get to go on two of them. Each of the study trips focuses on a specific theme that is important in understanding Chinese culture. For instance, one of the trips is to Tibet and along the way we would be studying Buddhism in China.
       What I'm looking forward to most about being in celebrating the Spring Festival (春节）with my Chinese friends. It is the most important festival in China. One of the trips that I'm going on I will get to go to the panda research facility in Chengdu which is pretty cool. I'm also excited to go to the Great Wall (万里长城) and the Forbidden City (资禁成) but, I'm looking forward to experiencing everyday China and not just the tourist places.
      I hope you will all join me for this extraordinary adventure and opportunity. So sit back and enjoy learning about China from the comforts of your home.

再见！
郎马乐
Mara

Peking University in the Winter

Weiming Lake

Peking University Main Library

 Here are some pictures of Peking University :)

Humanities Buildings

Stone bridge on campus