China 2011

This was my first visit to China. The major purpose of my visit was a Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Protein Homeostasis in Health and Disease in Suzhou. I got a chance to give a talk about my research, which went very well. I met tons of great scientists and learned about latest discoveries in the field of protein folding diseases. After the conference, I enjoyed some time together with my brother and my friends to visit Shanghai and Beijing. Overall, my experience in China was great! I am amazed by the culture, the environment, advanced technology, food, and especially safety and cleanness of the cities. How does a country so populated as China keeps its people free of violence? I have no idea. I cannot imaging walking through Chicago in the middle of the night and meeting people who are absolutely friendly and mean no harm, huuu... Well, China does a great job on that. One of the best experiences in China was being there during the National Holiday when estimated half a billion people (Chinese) were traveling. I have never seen so many people in one place as I have seen on the streets of Beijing during the first day of the holiday. Probably the most interesting thing that I encountered in China was the way people perceived visitors from the "west". Multiple times I would get approached and asked if they could have a picture with me :)
Overall, I rate my trip to China A+