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← 11.05.2018 Warning: some unnecessary candour coming up. 12.05.2018 1. I arrive at Guangzhou at 0705, local time. My first thought? So much Chinese around, get to the terminal for the next flight ASAP because it'd be quite a story if I missed my flight after a halt of ~5h. Next thought: I'm back to the realm of toilet paper (uff!). Next thought: Hey, they have Indian style toilets in China, wonder how that happened. [Next thought: why am I so obsessed with pooping ..] 2. Someone had once told me, China runs on WeChat. Well, the airport had free Wi-Fi in two modes. If you wanted to use a browser, they needed to authenticate your number with an SMS; or you could simply use the WeChat mode. I tried, but found just one person in my address book who also used WeChat. Finally sent a message to my family that I was okay, so far. 3. Had my first Chinese meal, "Ishigah coffee" (I think that was the name of the brand, not a type of coffee) and a black forest ...

11.05.2018 Background: I got selected for a training program focusing on my area of research (Paleoclimatology, the study of past climates) at the Institute of Earth Environment, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The schedule is very exciting, with seminars by world renowned scientists, and several field excursions. Not sure what I did to deserve this. ^_^ The Chinese visa application seemed quite strange to me, but in all fairness, I don't have a lot of experience with visa applications. I have only been to the U.S. so far, and every one (Indian?) who's filled out the DS-160 knows what I'm talking about. The Chinese application form feels just so simple and casual compared to that grilling. It's 4 pages long, you don't even need an appointment, you go submit it to some Indian person at a counter (not an official), and they say, sure, come collect it a few days later. Every other person I have mentioned my trip to, since, has felt the need to joke saying...