Katherine Wang
How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
There are a few things you need to know before you make the leap and go to China.
Yes, it is a Communist country. Yes, the hygiene standards can often make a Westerner shudder. And yes, it will be one of the most amazing, transformative experiences of your life.
The NYU Center in Shanghai is hidden at the back of the East China Normal University campus, which boasts two rivers, endless bike racks and a giant Mao statue at the center.
All rooms in the on-campus residence halls are singles with a private bathroom. Living on campus provides a convenient 10-minute walk from the academic center, and students are just five minutes away from the "back gate," home to dozens of street vendors, convenience stores and small, hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
The luxurious, off-campus apartments are about 35 to 40 minutes from campus but offer rooms that put even Gramercy Green residence hall to shame. But the restaurant scene around the apartments is nowhere near as exciting as the bustle of the back gate.
Bigger is better in Shanghai, and one prime example is the Cloud Nine shopping mall, which is just two bus stops from campus and a quick walk from the apartments. Cloud Nine is home to nine floors of stores, a movie theater, a gym and Carrefour, the French megastore that rivals Wal-Mart in both size and low prices.
Under Cloud Nine is one of the stations of the Shanghai subway system, which leaves much to be desired. While it is extremely clean, it is not nearly as comprehensive as New York's, and it is infinitely more crowded.
While you're in China, be sure to take advantage of the cheap life. Taxis are cheap and so is the nightlife. Travel to the so-called "fake markets," but go with someone fluent in Chinese to haggle prices to below half.
In Shanghai, the past and future rub against each other like no other modern city, and there is nowhere better to observe this than the Huangpu River. On one side there are the historic buildings of the Bund, remnants of a time when Shanghai was occupied by foreign countries. On the other side is Pudong, full of some of the world's tallest and most whimsical skyscrapers.
