[May 22nd] Our Final Day In China.

Figure 1 – Efficiency of air conditioning demo
图1 – 节能空调效益模型

It was quite difficult to write this blog as our journey in China comes to an end. Regardless we wish to make the most of our last few hours together. Our day began a little later than usual, 9:30am, as we made our way to the WWF site in Shanghai where Wenwei Ren gave us a presentation on biodiversity conservation in the Yangtze and WWF’s role in the matter. The presentation was very emotional as we went through species that have gone extinct over the few years including the river dolphin. WWF dedicates their time and effort in saving animals as best they can and we want to thank them for all that they do. A short walk away we explored a museum that provided insight on how energy can be used and saved.  The main objective was to be able to store or harvest heat that is lost through energy producing machinery. It was quite interesting as there were demos on site that display where and by how much can we improve residency.

Figure 2 – The beautiful ladies at the final lunch
图2 – 告别午餐上美丽的姑娘们

因为我们的中国之行即将结束，写这篇博客实际上很难，但我们仍想好好地度过最后在一起的这几小时。这一天开始的比平时要早一些，在上午9点半，我们前往WWF的上海办事处，那里的任先生为我们展示了长江流域的生物多样性保护情况以及WWF在其中起到的作用。展示内容中，白鳍豚等近年来灭绝的物种给我们留下了极深的印象。WWF在拯救濒危动物上尽最大努力花费了大量时间精力，我们不禁想要感谢他们所做的一切。走了几步路之后，我们来到一所介绍合理用能节能的博物馆，其主要目的是储存或收集供能机械中散失的热量。馆内还有很多有趣的模型，向我们展示如何通过改善家居进行节能。

Figure 3 – Saying our goodbyes to the amazing five Southwest students
图3 – 我们向五位出色的西南大学的同学们告别

It was time for our final lunch together as we headed to the beautiful Madison Restaurant that served us a western meal, including beef burgers and french fries, DELICIOUS! It was a great experience as it felt as though the Canadian students were introducing their taste of Canada to the Chinese students. Followed by lunch we quickly moved the tables apart and Christopher Chalis gave us a talk on Good Earth Project, ChongMing Island. Interestingly enough, he informed us of a website that can predict pollution from wind currents known as the Real Quality Air Time Index! This helps people in knowing whether they should wear masks or not to protect themselves. Most of the talk revolved around the issue of pollution and how Good Earth Project help create opportunity for society to help with the local farming community of the Yangtze River.

Figure 4 – The last full team photo of the Red Swamp Crayfish
图4 – 克氏原螯虾组的最后一张全组合影

接下来到了最后的全员午餐的时间，我们来到了精致的Madison餐厅，享用了一顿包括牛肉堡和薯条的西式午餐，美味极了！这就像是加拿大同学向中国同学介绍“舌尖上的加拿大”一样，是一件很棒的事。午餐后我们迅速地搬开了桌子，Christopher Chalis先生为我们介绍了崇明岛的Good Earth Project。有趣的是，他给了我们一个能够通过风向预测污染即实时空气质量指数的网站！它能帮助人们确定是否需要戴口罩来保护自己的呼吸道。介绍的主要内容集中在污染问题和Good Earth Project如何协助社会创造机会来帮助当地江边的农村人民。

After our talk, tears began strolling down our faces as we said farewell to five Southwest students who were leaving to catch their plane back to Chongqing. It was very difficult to part as we had all grown very close to one another over a short period of time.

介绍结束后，我们因为要向五位将要乘飞机赶回重庆的西南大学的同学告别而落下眼泪。在我们经历短短的时间就变得亲密无间之后，分离是如此地令人难受。

Figure 5- Canadian students farewell group picture
图5 – 加拿大同学们的临别合影

Our final stop at around 3:45pm was at the East China Sea Aquaculture and Fishery Research Institute where Mr.Zhang kindly showed us around and explored 3 parts of research including aquaculture, fishery and environment and resource for fishery. We also got to see live Chinese Sturgeons!

The Red Swamp Crayfish alongside all the other teams would like to thank Dr. Wang, Dr. Cumming, Dr. Stewart, Dr. Lougheed, Dr. Lefebvre for making this trip possible and a special thank you to MingZhi Qu who, without all his hard work before and during the course, this trip would have not been as amazing as it was. Thank you to all the Chinese students who were so kind, helpful and patient when translating and allowing us to immerse ourselves in the Chinese culture. With that I wish to leave it at a see you later and never a goodbye. Also, anybody thirsty?

我们的最后一站大约在下午3点45分，是在中国东海水产渔业研究所，张先生在那里热情地带我们参观领略了三个主要研究部分，包括水产、渔业和环境及渔业资源。我们还去看了活的中华鲟！
克氏原螯虾组以及其他小组为了这次课程能够完成而向Dr.Wang、Dr.Cumming、Dr.Stewart、Dr.Lougheed和Dr.Lefebvre致谢，并特别向铭志致谢，有了他在课程开始前和整个课程中的辛苦付出，这次旅程才会如此美妙。也感谢所有中国学生在为我们翻译、让我们沉浸中国文化中时热情耐心的帮助。因此我想对你们说“回头见”而不是“告别”。还有，有人渴了吗？

Figure 6 – Chinese students farewell group picture
图6 – 中国同学的临别合影

[May 21st, 2014] Shanghai fish market & WWF

Figure 1. The Finless Porpoise Group at the Fish Market.

To avoid the heavy traffic from Chongming Island to Shanghai, we set out quite early this morning and arrived at the Oriental International Seafood Market at about 8:30. We were given the mission of finding out as many different kinds of species as we could in an hour’s time. Our group started at the market with Dr. Lefebvre. We divided up the work as well. Both Fang Cheng and Renee were responsible for taking notes, while Guo Xuan and Mengxi Wu took the responsibility for taking photos of the species we can’t identify and search for the English name respectively. Meanwhile, Grace was in charge of asking for the name and the price of each species since she is a local resident and thus may collect more information by using local dialects. In the end we reached a total of 52 species! It was a bit of a difficult competition as the fishermen were not always able – or willing – to answer all of our questions, such as where their products come from.

Figure 2. Various parts of the jellyfish for sale at the fish market.

为了避免从崇明岛到上海市拥堵的交通，我们很早就从崇明岛启程并且在8点半到达了东方国际水产市场。每一组都被要求在1小时内找到尽可能多的物种。Lafieve老师和我们组同行。我们组也进行了内部分工。方程和Renee主要负责记笔记，郭轩和梦溪分别负责拍下那些无法辨别的物种和查找英文名。Grace因为是当地人所以主要负责和店主打交道，她可以和店主用上海话交流并获取更大的信息。最终，我们组找到了52种生物！这是非常困难的，因为这些店主有的不知道有的不愿意告诉我们更多的信息。

Following our visit to the fish market we gathered at the Tongji University campus, where we debriefed about the events from the last week or so. We summarized the activities for the students that we only picked up on Saturday, and discussed our thoughts and opinions regarding the conservation efforts in China and Canada. After an hour-long discussion, we headed for lunch at a nearby restaurant.

接着我们到同济大学，对上一周的课程进行了汇总。我们为那些周六才加入我们的同学做了上半段课程的简介，并分享了我们的想法。经过1个小时的讨论，我们去附近的餐馆吃了午饭。

Figure 3. Dr. Wenwei Ren giving his lecture on Wetland Conservation at Tongji University.

After lunch, the students of Tongji University guided us through their campus to a lecture hall. There, we met Dr. Wenwei Ren of WWF Shanghai-China, who gave us a lecture on Coastal and Estuary Wetland Conservation in China. He specifically discussed the Dong Tan wetland, which we visited yesterday for bird-watching. Dr. Ren explained the importance of coastal wetlands as they provide many ecosystem services, and described the problems encountered in terms of wetland destruction. We learned a great deal about these ecosystems and the conservation efforts being put into action in attempt to maintain them. His vision is for a healthy environment with a sustainable estuary city.

午饭后，同济的同学们带着我们去了位于同济校园内的讲座厅。在那里，我们见到了WWF上海的负责人Dr. Wenwai Ren，他给我们做了关于中国海岸湿地保护的讲座。他特别提到了我们昨天我们观鸟的东滩湿地。Dr. Ren解释了沿海湿地的重要性，因为它们提供了许多生态系统功能，并描述了湿地的破坏。我们知道了很多相关的生态系统和人们为了保护这些湿地做出的努力。他的目标是让河口城市在一个健康的环境中可持续发展。

Figure 4. A group photo with Chairman Mao at Tongji University.

After the lecture we were all eager to head out into the city together, as we were free for the evening. The Tongji students lead the way and took (the majority of) us to Tianzifang, which is a beautiful little area with many shops and restaurants. The Canadian students bought souvenirs here for their friends and family, and had some snacks and dinner at the restaurants of their choice. Other students made their way to The Bund to see the city skyline. We all really enjoyed the evening and exploring the city with the help of the local students.

讲座后我们都非常渴望一起去参观一下上海这个城市，因为今天晚上我们是没有其他安排的。同济的学生将我们带到了田子坊。田子坊虽然地方不大但有非常漂亮而且有很多商店和餐厅。加拿大同学们为他们的家人和朋友买了很多纪念品，并在那里选择性品尝了小吃和食物。其他学生还去了外滩。我们都觉得那天晚上和当地同学一起参观这座城市很开心。

 

Figure 5. Grace with a neat fried potato snack at a mall in Shanghai.

In Tianzifang after a long day.

[May 20th, 2014] ChongMing Island visit

Figure 1 – A picture of the whole class in Dongtan National Reserve 图1 – 在东滩自然保护区的全班合影

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to Chongming Island from a hotel near Shanghai, we all gathered our belongings, left the hotel early in the morning and arrived at the organic farm known as Hexie, aquaculture and rice. The farm was very unique because to operate they needed to know the basic biology of each system in order for it to be effective. A lecture was presented to us by the owner of the farm, Dr. Shen, who stated the main goal of the organic farm is to eliminate pesticide use, chemical fertilizer and display how organic farming can be used to educate clients. Introduced into the ecosystem is rice, crayfish, soft shell turtle and later on the bullfrog and rice patties. Comprehensive understanding is necessary in order to maintain healthy populations. This farm has a net profit of 7,160 RMB/mu from a 9,000 RMB/mu annual investment. We had a wonderful lunch hosted by Dr. Shen and we got to see some live crayfish, soft shell turtle and bullfrog!  Hoping back on our Magic School Bus we headed to our next adventure at the Nature Reserve at Dongtan National Reserve where we had a friendly competition between the teams to find out who can spot the most bird species. The Chinese Sturgeons took the gold on that one finding 18 species, even beat the professors team! We also happened to find a dead Oriental Red Warbler who commit suicide by flying into a glass window. Of course as biologists, we further investigated the parts of the bird to deepen our understanding of the Oriental Red Warbler. Hoping back on the Magic School Bus off to dinner we went with our stomachs growling and our mouths salivating in a nice restaurant in the village in Chongming Island. Our final stop was just outside the reserve where we visited the mud flats where we spotted fishermen, saw wind turbines and noticed a dyke that was built.  Back on the Magic School Bus and unfortunately, the Chinese and Canadian students had to stay in separate hotels that night due to a conference that did not allow foreigners to stay there.  Going our separate ways for one night, we were counting the minutes until we reunited with all the good friends we made a long this journey.

Figure 2 – Yuxiang with the dead Oriental Red Walbler 图2 – 宇翔和死去的东方红苇莺

在从上海边缘一家宾馆前往崇明岛的路上，我们带齐了随身物品，在清晨就早早离开宾馆到达禾偕水产稻米有机农场。由于操作人员需要了解每个系统的基本生物理论以有效地进行操作管理，该农场得以在其他一般农场中脱颖而出。农场主人沈博士为我们进行了一次讲座，他开创了有机农场限制农药和化肥使用的主要目标，并展示了有机农业如何用于对顾客进行科普教育。引入农场生态系统的物种有稻米、小龙虾、甲鱼以及随后的牛蛙。保持种群稳定需要对其具有深入理解。该农场的净利润为7160元每亩，而投入力度为每年9000元每亩。午饭时我们获得了沈博士的热情款待，并近距离见到了活的小龙虾、活甲鱼和牛蛙！回到我们奇妙的巴士上之后我们前往东滩自然保护区开始下一项活动，我们在那里展开了一场友好的“谁能找到更多种鸟”的组间竞赛。中华鲟组找到了18种鸟并赢得了竞赛，他们甚至比教授组做得更好！我们还碰巧发现了一只东方红苇莺的尸体，它的死因是在飞行中一头撞在了玻璃窗上。当然，作为生物工作者，我们进一步研究了它身体的各个部位以加深对东方红苇莺的了解。再一次回到巴士上，我们饥肠辘辘、口中生津地来到一家崇明岛村落中很不错的餐馆。我们最终的目的地就在保护区之外，在那里我们前往一处有许多渔民的泥洼地，看到了很多发电用风车和一条堤坝。回到车上时中国学生与加拿大学生遗憾地必须前往不同的宾馆过夜，这是因为峰会期间外国人不允许留在村中。在我们分别的路上，我们都度日如年地期盼着与在这次旅程中交到的好朋友重逢。

Figure 3 – On our magic school bus            图3 – 我们正在魔法校车上

Figure 4- students were wandering in the organic farm 图4- 学生们漫步在有机农场内

Figure 5 – A crayfish group picture with crayfish  图5 – 小龙虾组与小龙虾的合影

[May 19th, 2014] Jiaxing Sustainable Development Park, Jinze Village, and Dianshan Lake

Group Name: Scutellaria 
Group Members: Kelli Charbonneau (Queen’s University), Yueting Xing (Beijing Normal University),Junshu Li (Southwest University),Yeqi Lin (Southwest University),Shulun Liu (Tongji University)
Weather: Overcast, 23 ℃

Figure 1: Visiting JinZe old village. Class photo on 13th Century bridge.

Day 11 of the Canada-China field course ended our short stay at the Jinjiang Inn in Suzhou. From there, the group headed to the Jiaxing Sustainable Development Park to visit their newly constructed Environment Specimen Bank (N 30°44′55.2″, E 120°47′40.3″). Expected to be operational in June, the facility is the only of its kind in China and places emphasis on the collection of environmental specimens of the Yangtze River watershed region. The 120 million RMB specimens bank includes impressive laboratories to accommodate large equipment and provide controlled environments for various sectors of biological research. The students and professors toured a portion of the facility, including the roof laden in solar panels that the institute is able to sell to China Grid for government subsidy.

Figure 2: Equipment in the research facility of the Jiaxing Sustainable Development Park (still under construction).

Next, we all gathered in the facility’s conference room to listen to two presentations. The first, given by Dr. Stephen Lougheed of Queen’s University, detailed taxonomically and geographically diverse tissue and DNA archiving for ecology conservation and wildlife management. His presentation outlined the importance of museums for systematics, national pride, public education, and collaborative research in species such as the dark barbel catfish (Pelteobagrus vachelli) and the rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis). The latter, given by Dr. Brian Cumming also of Queen’s University, detailed the role of paleolimnology in assessing reference conditions of lake ecosystems. His presentation focused on the analysis of total phosphorous in lake varves as an indicator of human impact on aquatic ecosystems. Both lectures had students thinking about important biological and environmental issues.

Figure 3: Solar panels on the roof of the Jiaxing Sustainable Development Park.

After lunch at the facility’s cafeteria (and getting lost on the bus multiple times), we all headed to a small 700 year old village called Jinze (N 31°02′19.5″, 120°54′56.1″), which thrives on a surrounding tributary of the Huangnpu River. The village, with a total area of about 0.6 km2 and a total population of approximately 5000 people, was filled with cultural relics and villagers partaking in cooking, fishing, sewing, and so on. Among the most fascinating features of the village was a bridge constructed in 1271. The trip to the village allowed us to compare the way humans use and interact with water resources in the past compared to that of the present.

Figure 4: Team Scutellaria posing in Jinze Village.

The next stop of the day was a brief visit to Dianshan Lake, a 62 km2 wetland west of Shanghai (N 31 04′ 24.0″, E 120 55′ 45.4″). Dianshan Lake is a unique body of water as it is the only lake within the boundary of Shanghai, and currently provides drinking water for approximately 2 million people. Though only a depth of 6 m, Shanghai could experience flooding if the water line of the lake is not regulated or managed properly. Other notable characteristics of the lake includes its vertical shoreline (which provides no transition zone for vegetation) and nutrient loading/ non-point source pollution from upstream. However, efforts by government and researchers using techniques such as bioremediation have allowed for the eradication of toxic algal blooms for the last 3 years. Dianshan Lake is a success story of reversing or correcting human impact on aquatic ecosystems to restore them to a more natural state.

After leaving the lake, we drove through Shanghai (marvelling at the impressive city lights) to our new hotel. After a late dinner, most students went straight to bed, exhausted from another busy day.

Figure 5: Students taking notes on the characteristics of Dianshan Lake.

随着载我们的大巴车缓缓离开苏州的锦江旅店，中加野外实习的第十一天开始了。我们的队伍开始向嘉兴可持续发展公园（Jiaxing Sustainable Development Park）进发，不久便驶到了目的地，他们带着我们参观最新建设的Environment Specimen Bank（N 30°44′55.2″，E120°47′40.3″），该馆预计在六月投入使用。负责人强调了其对来自长江流域水体样本的采集的功能，其建造共投入了一千二百万元人民币，此类设备在中国投入使用尚属首次。该馆包括可容纳大型设备并可进行多种生物研究的实验室；在屋顶，学生与教授们参观到了大量的太阳能电池板——这些电池板生产的电能可以销往中国电网，并能够获得相应的经济效益以及政府补贴。

接下来，我们在馆内的会议室听了两个报告。首先，来自加拿大女王大学的Stephen Lougheed教授为我们带来了关于“系统并且在地理上拥有较高多样性的组织与DNA样本归档对于生态学、保护生物学与野生动物管理方面的研究的重要性”的报告。他的报告概述了博物馆在系统学、民族自豪感、公众教育以及相关物种如dark barbel catfish（Pelteobagrus vachelli）以及rufous-collared sparrow（Zonotrichia capensis）的研究方面的重要性。接下来，同样来自加拿大女王大学的Brian Cumming教授带来了题为“古陆地水文学在探究湖泊生态系统中作为评估参考的作用”的精彩报告，他的报告主要关注于分析湖底纹泥含磷量以探究人类对水文生态系统的影响。两段演讲都引起了学生们对于生物与环境问题的思考，并引发了同学们的进一步讨论。

Dr. Stephen Lougheed giving his presentation on the importance of museums to conservation biology.

在馆内的自助餐厅吃过午饭（并且巴士在此过程中多次迷路），我们来到了有着700年历史的金泽村（N 31°02′19.5″，E 120°54′56.1″）。金泽村沿黄浦江的支流建设，总面积约0.6km²，人口数量在5000左右。金泽村蕴含着丰厚的自然文化遗产，这里的人们以捕鱼、缝纫等等为生。在整个村庄里，最吸引人的当数一座在1271年建造的桥梁。这段旅途让大家比较了现在与过去，人类对水资源的利用以及与之的相互影响，并再一次将我们带进了思考的世界。

今天的最后一站在淀山湖。淀山湖地处上海西部，是一个面积62km²的湿地湖泊。其作为唯一一个完全处在上海市内的湖泊，曾为六百多万人提供生活用水，并现在仍维持着二百万人的生活用水来源。其深度虽然仅有6米，但在上海市洪涝控制的方面起到了相当的作用。淀山湖的另外两个重要特点在于其垂直海岸线（并未为植物提供过渡带）以及营养负载/非点源污染（主要来自上游污染）。然而，政府与研究者们对于相应技术如生物矫正手段等的采用，使当地的水华在过去三年之中得以被控制。淀山湖是恢复或纠正人类对于水体环境的影响，并使它近似回归自然生态的一个成功案例。

在离开淀山湖后，我们驾车穿过了上海市（行程中，大家都为城市璀璨的灯火所倾倒）并到达了我们的新旅店，结束了我们一天的行程。

 

[May 18th, 2014 ] Algal removal centre and bio-assessment exercise

Group Members: Timothy Darrell Lee Kam Ok, Caitlin Carmichael, Hongyan Li, Tian Luo, Junnan Chen
小组成员：Timothy Darrell Lee Kam Ok, Caitlin Carmichael, 李红艳，罗天，陈珺楠，

Figure 1: Group common goldenrod at the vertebrate diversity station. 图1. 在脊椎动物观察站点旁的一枝黄花队

Yang Wan Algae Cleaning Centre

In the morning, we travelled to the Algae Cleaning centre by bus located on Tai Lake, Wuxi. Tai Lake is a source of drinking water for millions of people, but it has a history of algal blooms which negatively affects the water quality. We were given a tour of the facility by Mr. Dou. The centre is one of the eight stations along the shoreline of Tai Lake and has many boats which gather algal blooms and bring it back to the facility for algae removal. The cleaning centre operates during 6 months of the year, but was not being used at the time of our visit. The cleaning centre is located in an inlet which had a few small algal blooms which we looked at. At this location we also found a Chinese Brown Toad. Mr. Dou told us that gathering algal blooms can be a great source of biofuel, but only a model exists at the facility.

Figure 2: Group common goldenrod at the water quality/chemistry station with Yuzhuo Zhu, Junnan Chen and Dr.Wang 图2 一枝黄花队在水质/水化学检测站点旁和朱玉卓、陈珺楠和Dr.Wang

Tai Lake Treatment and Wetland Ecological Protection and Restoration National Demonstration Project

We then took the bus to another area of Tai Lake which was part of a large scale naturalization project. In the past, this area was converted from wetland to agriculture and aquaculture, but in 2003, the government got rid of most human activity in the area in aims to restore the wetland, lake and forest. This restoration of wetland is important because it allows for natural purification of Tai Lake which may improve its water quality.  To accomplish this, 20000 acres (about 81 km2) of rice patties were removed, as well as 4000 acres (about 162 km2) of net pens.  We only saw a small fraction of this ecological area, however we were told that this project includes 1 km of shoreline, and over 22,000 plants. After this we left for lunch.

Figure 3: Mr. Dou (black jacket, to the right) explaining the facility to the students. 图3.窦先生（右方，穿黑衣者）在向学生们介绍设备

Gonghu Restored Wetland

After Lunch we travelled to the Gonghu restored wetland and arrived at 2:30 p.m. We had a short (translated) presentation by Dr. Wang in the warehouse on the importance of the restoration project, and then we were split into 4 groups.

Team Common Golden Rod was joined by Ningdong Tan and Yuzhuo Zhu. Our first station was the vertebrate diversity station with Drs. Stewart and Lougheed. Here we used binoculars and bird guides to identify bird species we saw in the area. Some species in the area included the common Moorhen, the little Egret, and the intermediate Egret. We then travelled to the water quality station where we used a Secchi disk to evaluate water turbidity. We moved to a new location because the first location was too shallow, and then used the Secchi disk again, and then used the YSI to test the water for pH, salinity and conductivity and another YSI for DO (Dissolved Oxygen). After about an hour, we then went to our last station with Dr. Cumming who gave us a crash course in identifying macrophytes and then we viewed water samples collected from the surrounding area under a microscope from a bioremediated site and a non bioremediated site. We saw various organisms such as rotifers, microcyts, water mites and zooplanktons. We packed up the bus and travelled to Suzhou where we stayed the night in the Jinjiang hotel.

Figure 4: Yang Wan Algae Treatment Centre where algae is removed from the surface of the water.图4. 杨湾藻水分离站的藻水混合物在这里进行分离

杨湾藻水分离站

上午我们乘车来到了无锡的太湖边上的杨湾藻水分离站。太湖常常爆发影响水质的水华，而太湖是很多人的饮水来源 。中心的窦先生带领我们参观了藻水分离站。在太湖边上有8个像这样的藻水分离站，我们参观的只是其中之一。在这个分离站里有许多打捞蓝绿藻的船只，这些船只会将打捞的蓝绿藻带回分离站以进行下一步的分离处理。每年，这个站点会在赤潮爆发的6个月里运行，我们参观的时候并没有运行。在分离站旁的入水口我们看到了一些蓝绿藻繁殖的区域。在那里我们还惊喜地发现了一只中华蟾蜍。窦先生告诉我们收集的蓝绿藻可用于制造生物燃料，不过这项技术目前并没有投入使用。

无锡环太湖生态防护林建设工程

国家示范项目接下来我们乘车去了太湖边上的另一个区域，这里是一个湿地恢复建设的国家级示范点。在过去这里曾经由湿地被变为农田和渔田，而从2003年开始，为了恢复湿地、湖泊和森林生态，这里的农业和渔业被迁往别处。这个湿地生态恢复项目非常重要，因为它可以帮助净化太湖的水质。为了达到这个目标，2万英亩(约合81km2)大米稻田和4万英亩（约合162km2）的捕捞网箱被移走。我们们只看见了这一生态区域的很小一部分，不过这个项目包括了一条大约1公里长的堤岸和22000株植物。参观完后则是我们的午饭时间。

贡湖生态修复模式工程技术研究与综合示范点

在午饭后我们乘车离开，并在两点半的时候到达了贡湖修复湿地。在一个仓库里听了王老师的翻译的一个简短的关于湿地修复工程重要性的介绍后，我们被分为了四组。

Figure 5: Algae removal setup found at Yang Wan treatment plant. 图5. 在杨湾藻水分离站旁的藻类移除设备(

谭宁东和朱玉卓加入了我们的一枝黄花队。我们的第一站是由Dr. Lougheed和Dr. Stewart负责的脊椎动物多样性观察点。在这里我们用双筒望远镜和鸟类图鉴进行周边鸟种的鉴别。我们看到了黑水鸡，白鹭和中白鹭等。我们的下一站是水质测量站，在那里我们用透明度盘来测量浊度，由于该处水位过浅，我们到了另一个地点来用透明度盘测量浊度，然后用YSI计来测量水的盐度、pH和导电度，最后用了测量溶解氧的YSI计来测量了水中的溶解氧。在大约过了一小时后，我们来到我们的最后一个站点——由Dr. Cumming给了我们一个大型水生植物的速成鉴别课，而后我们用显微镜观察了从周围的生物治理的水域和未经生物治理的水域中分别采集的水样。在显微镜下，我们看到了很多有机体，比如轮虫、水蚤、微囊藻和许多浮游动物。之后我们收拾好行李然后乘车到苏州锦江之星宾馆入住。

Figure 6: Karissa and Dr. Stewart with the captured Chinese Brown Toad. 图6. Karissa 和 Dr. Stewart以及中华蟾蜍

Figure 7: Presentation given by Dr. Wang about the Gonghu restored wetland with their current results and future plans. 图7.王老师介绍了关于贡湖修复湿地项目的当今成果和未来规划

[May 17th, 2014] Trains, New Classmates, and Water Quality in Wuxi 火车，新同学与无锡水质

Group Name: Chinese Sturgeon
组名：中华鲟
Group Members: Holly Downey, Yifan Zhang, Ran Wang, Xuan Wang, Lauren Lehman  

Figure 1. A group shot taken outside of JDECO. 图1. 在江达生态公司门外的集体照。

 This morning was an early one, beginning with a 5:45 am wake-up call. We left Wuhan and travelled five hours on the high speed train to Wuxi. The train was traveling up to 250 km/h, much faster than any train in Canada. We passed many rice paddies. The closer we got to Wuxi, the more fields were being harvested – unlike the mountain counterparts which were just being planted. Many cities were passed along the way like Hefei, the capital city of Anhui province, and the capital of Jiangsu province, Nanjing.

  随着早上5点45的叫醒电话，我们早早地迎来了新的一天。我们离开了武汉，乘坐五个小时的高铁来到了无锡。高铁的最高时速可以达到250公里以上，比加拿大的任何火车都要快。我们途经了许多水稻田 ，与山另侧刚刚种下的稻田不同，我们越接近无锡，就会见到越多收割完毕的水田。我们途中经过了许多城市，比如安徽的省会合肥市和江苏的省会南京市。

Figure 2. On the high-speed train from Wuhan to Wuxi. 图2. 在从武汉到无锡的高铁上。

Around 1:30 we exited the train and met our new classmates on the bus. These students are from Beijing Normal University and Tongji University. Together, there are now 32 students in the field course. Dr. Wang says this is the largest group to ever attend this course.

    一点半左右，我们下了火车，在转乘的大巴上与新同学见面了。这些同学分别来自北京师范大学以及同济大学。现在整个课程一共有32名学员了，王教授说这是有史以来最大的一次阵容。

Figure 3. Mengxi introducing herself to our new classmates. 图3.毋梦茜在向新同学介绍自己。

 With a now full class, we took the bus to JDECO (Jiangda ECO Company) to hear a presentation about the management of water quality, focusing on projects rebuilding ecosystems to improve water quality in Tai Lake. In China, 64% of their ground and surface water are polluted. Suzhou and Wuxi are both major cities on Tai Lake, contributing to its high pollution levels. Not only is their visible pollutants, like floating garbage, but there are many invisible pollutants as well, degrading the water’s quality and making it undrinkable. This is why areas experience functional water shortages. The battle of this generation is between humans and water quality, according to Mr. Liu, president of JDECO. This company’s current management project is restoring wetlands using native species around the lake to act as its kidney; these wetlands are supposed to purify and drain the lake. The wetland has three different water sources: run-off from the cities, water from the river, and water from Tai Lake. Currently there is only one project to improve water quality via restoration of ecosystems in the lake, but JDECO hopes to see 16 running soon.

Figure 4. Mr. L? lecturing about water quality management at JDECO. 图4. 在江达生态公司吕先生关于水质量管理的讲座

   全班集合完毕，我们乘坐大巴来到JDECO（江达生态科技公司）听一个关于水质量管理的介绍，通过PPT我们了解到江达公司关注重修复生态系统来提高太湖水质量。在中国，64%的地下和地表水都被严重污染。除了我们能看见的垃圾污染，更多的是肉眼不可见的污染导致了水质下降，让我们无法饮用。这就是为什么这个地区遭受了功能性的水资源匮乏。江达公司的吕老师说，这是一个人与水战争的世纪。这个公司现在管理的项目是一个通过湖周围生长的本地物种进行湿地的修复项目，使之能够具有净化水源的功能。这些湿地的水资源来源有三个：城市来源的地表径流，河流以及太湖。目前这里只有一个项目已经能够通过生态修复来提高水质，江达公司希望能够尽快展开另外16个项目。

   After attending Mr. Liu’s lecture, we left for the hotel, located near the Great Canal. This canal was built about 1500 years ago, before the Tang Dynasty, and is still in use today. At the hotel we all had a group dinner where we got to know one another. Our new classmates are now our new friends!

 

Figure 5. Eating dinner together at the Grand Canal Hotel. 图5. 在运河大酒店共进晚餐

 在吕先生的讲座之后，我们出发前往位于京杭大运河之滨的运河大酒店。京杭大运河建于约1500年前，比唐朝建立还早，且至今仍畅通无阻。在酒店里我们一起享用了一顿美味的晚餐，也相互了解了对方。我们的新同学现在成为了我们的新朋友！

 

 

[May16th, 2014] – Visit to Wuhan

The class at the Department of River Dolphin Research.

Today was a very busy day! After an early start and breakfast at the hotel, we set out for The Museum of Aquatic Organisms at the Institute of Hydrobiology Chinese Academy of Science. This museum has the largest collection of freshwater specimens in all of China – over 400,000 in total! Although the displays were written in Mandarin, the Chinese students did a wonderful job translating for the Canadians, helping them to get the most out of the experience. We were able to see many unique species, including the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), which turned out to be far, far bigger than what we had been picturing. One sad moment was seeing a preserved river dolphin (Lipotes vexifillifer), which is now completely extinct. It was a beautiful creature, and really made us reflect on the importance of preserving our many endangered species.

Looking for frogs at the Wuhan Botanical Garden.

We trooped back onto the bus and promptly got completely lost. After traveling a long way down increasingly narrow alleyways, we thought we might be stuck for good. However, our bus driver skillfully maneuvered his way through a seemingly impossible turn, earning a well-deserved round of applause. Back underway, we finally arrived at our next destination, the Department of River Dolphin Research, which is also part of the     Institute of Hydrobiology. Our guide, Professor Hao , was patiently waiting to show us their resident population of finless porpoises (Neophocaena phoconoides). Sadly, this species is critically endangered and it is predicted that they will disappear completely from the wild within ten years, so we were very fortunate to be able to see them in person. It was, in a word, magical. The seven porpoises cavorted around their spacious tank, while we pressed up against the underwater viewing windows and snapped hundreds of photos. Their smiling faces and playful antics filled everyone with joy, and it was widely agreed that this had been the highlight of our trip so far. We could have happily stayed for hours, but there was still much more to do.

Professor Stewart getting up close and personal with a finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides)

  The next stop was lunch – delicious as always – and a quick mission to the supermarket to buy snacks for our long train ride the next day. Armed with fruit and nuts and every flavour of Oreo imaginable, we headed off for our last activity of the day, the Wuhan Botanical Garden. Our extremely knowledgeable guide, Professor Qing-Feng Wang, gave us a very thorough and informative tour of the whole garden, which contains more than 6000 species. Everyone was very taken by the beautiful orange-and-white Acanthea flowers from Peru (Pachystachyshys lutea). Another highlight was the kiwi garden, which contains 70% of all the species of kiwi! In addition to many exotic plants and trees, we also saw several animals, including some unidentified frogs and several birds, such as the common moorhen (Galinola sp.). The entire park was beautifully designed, and the trip was the wonderful experience for everyone.

Finless porpoises cavorting in their tank

 After a long day of working, everyone was very eager for dinner! Mr. Young, a colleague of Professor Wang, very kindly treated us to an extremely fancy meal. For the first time, we were all seated at one huge table, while the various dishes rotated slowly in front of us. The selection was incredible, and everyone was stuffed by the time we left the restaurant. Our wise professors decided to cancel the planned evening discussion, and everyone fell into bed almost immediately. The train to Wuxi leaves very early in the morning – on to the next adventure!

    今天是非常忙碌的一天！匆忙吃过早饭，就奔赴了我们向往已久的中国科学院水生生物研究所。他有超过400,000种的标本，是中国最大的淡水水生生物标本馆。虽然我们很想要把所有墙上的中文都翻译给加拿大学生听，但很多时候也确实无能为力。在标本馆里看到了许多中国特有的物种，像中华鲟（Acipenser sinensis）。它比我们想象得要大得多，约有2-3m。我们看到了几个世界之最：世界上海拔最高的鱼 – 斯氏高原鳅（Triplophysa stolicvkae）；世界上染色体最多的鱼 – 双须叶须鱼（Ptychobarbus dipogon）。还看到了四足动物的祖先：浚淡矛尾鱼（Latimeria chalumnae Smith），十分独特的造型最令人伤心的一幕就是看到白鳍豚(Neophocaena phoconoides)都已功能性灭绝。这种美丽的生物，引发了我们对于濒临灭绝物种的思考。

Darrell having a moment with the extinct river dolphin (Lipotes vexifillifer)

    “山重水复疑无路，柳暗花明又一村”说的大概就是我们去往下一站的旅程。历经千辛万苦，我们终于到达白鳍豚馆看到了江豚，萌得我们都要哭了。饲养员带领我们到水底近距离观看江豚，共7只，时而与我们隔着玻璃亲吻，时而对我们点头致意，不论何时它们都一直微笑，全部的人都被萌死了。但我们却了解到，江豚很可能在10年后就完全灭绝，不仅由于它们对声波敏感和对母乳的敏感，大部分原因是它们的栖息环境被破坏。而且我们还了解到他们睡觉的时候眼睛是轮流开闭的，更神奇的是它们可以自主控制呼吸，睡觉时呼吸速度是平时的二分之一。这种独特生物的灭绝让我们都陷入了思考：为什么人们总是不懂得珍惜这些美丽的生物呢？

    下一站我们去了武汉植物园，汪教授告诉我们这里的植物共有6000种，其中包括水生的和陆生的。植物园分很多区域，有美丽而色彩缤纷的兰花园，有种着令人不胜叹惋的珍稀物种园……其中最令我们印象深刻的就是有许多入侵物种的湿地区，那里有加拿大一枝黄花（Soildago canadensis），空心莲子草(Alternanthera philoxeroides）又名水花生，美洲商陆（Phytolacca americana），水龙（Ludwigia adscendens）。另一个吸引我们的就是有世界上70%种类的猕猴桃园，在那里我们还遭遇了一场大雨。除了一些引进的外来植物，我们还看到了一些包括不认识的青蛙、鸟、水鸡(Galinola sp.)。整一个园子都被规划得很好，所以我们都得到了很宝贵的经验。

A beautiful Peruvian Acanthea (Pachystachyshys lutea)

    经过一天的学习，每个人都期待着晚饭的到来，王叔的大学同学汪老师十分慷慨的招待了我们，这是第一次，30多个人一起坐在了一个大桌子上享用，大家热热闹闹地吃喝玩乐，食物多种多样，每个人吃得尽兴才离开。慷慨的王老师看到我们如此疲倦不堪便放过了我们计划好的讨论，为我们明天下一个的冒险地–无锡做准备。

Enjoying a fancy meal after a long day

[May 15th] HongHu to Wuhan

Group Name: Finless Porpoise
Group Members: Renee D’Souza, Mengxi Wu, and Yingwen Sun
Date: May 15th, 2014

Figure 1: Honghu Wetland Reserve
照片一：洪湖湿地保护区

This morning we had breakfast at our hotel in Honghu in Hubei province, before getting on the bus to go to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) restoration site, the Honghu wetland. The name “Honghu” directly translates to “Flood Lake” (“hong” = flood, “hu” = lake). Its name reflects its nature, because the Yangtze flows into this region, flooding the area and forming the lake. It is the seventh largest lake in China. Once we arrived we listened to a presentation by Dr. Feng Wen who told us all about the lake and its importance, as well as their accomplishments in restoration and conservation. We learned that Honghu lake functions in many things, including flood buffering, fish and vegetation production, water quality monitoring, public education, and tourism. The main types of agriculture in this region are rice paddies and fish ponds. One of the major plants grown is the lotus plant. Almost every part of the lotus plant is eaten here, including the stem, root, and leaves. After the presentation we took a short boat ride across Honghu through the wetland. It was a neat experience for all of us to see the wetland first-hand.

Figure 2: Chinese Flag on Honghu lake
照片二：洪湖上的中国国旗

Following the visit to the wetland we went for lunch. Afterwards, we took a bus to Wuhan, which took about four and a half hours. On the way we stopped at the Yangtze River dike, located on the south side of Honghu lake. The dike’s main function is to artificially regulate the water level in the lake. By doing so this allowed them to turn what they considered wasteland into useful land for farming. We also passed over the Yangtze River Bridge on our way, and we also got to see the Yellow Crane Tower – a well known landmark of Wuhan.

When we arrived in Wuhan we had dinner and then debriefed about the day. We talked about the parallels between China’s Honghu and Canada’s St. Lawrence River, as well as the Three Gorges Dam. We discussed our thoughts and feelings about the situation in China compared to Canada’s situation, and learned a lot more about each other as individuals as well as each other’s culture.

2014年5月15日中加野外课程博客
江豚小组
星期四2014年5月15日

Figure 3: One of our boats on Honghu lake
照片三：乘船游览洪湖

在老一辈耳濡目染的教育下听着“洪湖水浪打浪”的故事，今天终于有机会一睹这个中国第七大的淡水湖泊——洪湖。洪湖位于中国湖北省，形成于2500年前的战国时期，从字面意思看，洪湖是由长江水冲击形成的淡水湖。除了发生在洪湖的无数革命事迹被人们津津乐道之外，洪湖也以其丰富的生物多样性和美丽的自然风光而闻名。洪湖在调蓄分洪、淡水鱼生产、污水处理、科普教育以及旅游等方面的重要作用都使得当地人冠之以“母亲湖”的美名。带着对洪湖的的巨大期待，我们和公鸡起得一样早，睡眼惺忪地吃完了一顿早餐（加拿大的小伙伴仍然对食物表现出极大的不理解），之后，我们驱车赶往了洪湖湿地保护区。

在保护区，我们首先以小组合作的方式从展板中大致了解了洪湖的基本概况，展板的内容都是中文介绍，而我们的英文水平也因这次翻译“飞跃”了一次。之后，我们在会议室听了一场非常长的报告，报告主要针对了洪湖历史和现在的保护措施、成效及未来展望等做了一系列讲解（尽管报告很全面精彩，但由于时间太长我们中大多数人都hold不住打瞌睡，我更是不小心睡着了，惭愧……）之后，我们进行了今天最有意思的旅程。我们乘快艇飞驰在洪湖上，迎面吹来的风让每个人的头发凌乱起来，乘船的时候时间过得很快。午饭后，我们驱车前往长江上的一个码头，几位教授为我们讲解了大坝是如何进行调蓄防洪的，之后，我们要完成今天最重要的任务——赶往武汉。

Figure 4: Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge
照片四：武汉长江大桥

通往武汉的途中，风光实在是美不胜收，作为中国的中心地区，在这里的风光和我们来时的大有不同，一路上都是稻田，晒稻谷、捕鱼的景象随处可见。进入武汉市之后，交通也开始拥挤起来，但即便堵车也没能影响我的好心情，因为我们通过了中国的第一个长江大桥——武汉市长江大桥，之后，有远远看见了中国四大名楼之一的黄鹤楼，“晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲”，带着愉快的心情，我们入住了尼斯酒店，这个酒店坐落于湖北大学周围，环境非常好，加拿大同学也终于得到了他们梦寐以求的马桶君和wi-fi。接下来的首要任务就是填饱肚子了，晚餐一如既往的丰盛，更有不少我喜欢的重口味食物。餐桌上我们聊了很多有意思的话题，随着相互间日渐熟悉，大家更是开起玩笑来。Dana形象地把这几天的任务比喻成坐车找馆子吃饭，因为我们在路上花去了大量的时间，但我却很享受这种感觉，因为就像那句话所说，“人生的旅行不在于终点，而在于沿途的风光和看风景的心情”，Uncle Wang那句行万里路胜过读万卷书更让我们学会用眼睛去学习。

Figure 5: Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan
照片五：黄鹤楼

[May 14th] Three Gorges Dam

Group Name: Red Swamp Crayfish
Group Members: Dana Bakir, Ningdong Tan,Weihang Chen and Yuzhuo Zhu
Date: May 14th, 2014

Figure 1 – Dana is “immersed” in the book of history.
图1 – Dana“沉浸”在坛子岭的历史人文中。

On Wednesday May 14th at midnight The Three Gorges Boat entered the first out of 5 locks in order to get carried downstream of the Yangtze River. It was difficult to stay awake after a long day but it was an experience we didn’t want to miss out on. our boat was the first one in and as we waited for the next ship we took pictures and even got to touch the wall of The Three Gorges because we were so close. This process is used to transport boats from the downstream and vice versa. Each stage takes approximately Three hours and there was a loud machinery sound that sounded like elephants crying all night long. We had to be lowered to lower elevation so water was emptied in each stage to obtain a certain level. We happen to be on the boat not during the flooding season which is mainly between July – October, where the water level can reach heights of 175m. We were at a level of around 145m. We also had a tour of The Three Gorges Dam, with Max who spoke of himself in third person, we were able to see the 5 locks and 4 stages from a bird’s eye view. The main function of The Three Gorges Dam is to control floods that occur in the river due to heavy down pour, provide electricity and is used for navigation. This is also the biggest dam in the world! A new addition to the project included the construction of a ship elevator which should be used by the end of 2014. The vessel will be able to carry smaller ships and complete each stage within 40 minutes! During our time visiting, we experienced almost the scariest thunder any of us have ever heard, which was quite frightening. Our time on the ThreeG boat has sadly come to an end at around 1:45 pm and we are now headed to Jingzhou to pick up Professor Lougheed, after a nice lunch in a local restaurant. On the way, we experienced change in landscape from high steep elevation to low flat terrain and this affects vegetation type from tobacco, oranges and tea to rice and fish ponds were also seen. People started to fall asleep on the bus, so we busted out the microphone and caroled along with some karaoke! We want to share the laughter we experienced together as a group, and quoted by the famous Max: “Why is the Yangtze River the richest river? Because it consists of two large banks, yours and ours!”

2014年5月14日中加野外课程博客
龙虾小组
星期四2014年5月14日

Figure 2 – A picture of the whole class standing around the base stone of the ThreeG Dams
图2 – 整个班级站在三峡大坝基石边的合影

在14日的午夜，游轮驶入了西陵峡以北三峡大坝的5道船闸。尽管一天下来大家已经身心俱疲,但我们不会错过记录这工程史上的一座里程碑的机会。船坞很宽，但船长还是把船停在了航道的最左边，大概是为了给后面的来船腾点地方，才会把船停在石壁一臂之遥的地方。不多久，来船停在了航道右后方，闸门缓缓合起，水位快速下降。即便如此，这关门放水的程序要走上五遍，大概也需要三个小时。离开三峡大坝时的水位是145米；夏天雨季时的水位大约是在175米。早饭过后，大家被地陪导游Max领到观景台上鸟瞰大坝。三峡大坝的主要功能是控制因强降雨产生的洪水，发电和船只通行,同時它也是世界上最大的水坝！此外，工程规划中还新增了2014年末即可投入使用的船只升降闸。届时它将可以承载更小的船，并在40分钟内完成各个步骤!在我们参观的过程中，我们听到了一声响雷，它几乎比我们听过的所有雷声都更吓人。遗憾的是，我们的三峡游轮之旅在下午1点45分结束了，我们在一家当地旅馆吃完一顿愉快的午餐后，现在正前往荆州火车站去接Lougheed教授。在路上，我们见到了从高海拔的陡峭山地到舒缓平原的地貌变化，在这种地貌变化的影响下作物种类从烟草、橙树和茶树转变为稻谷，并且我们还看见了很多鱼塘。在巴士上大家都开始瞌睡， 所以我们拿出麦克风公放音乐并且唱得很尽兴！我们想把我们这个组一起经历的欢笑分享给大家，还有著名的Max的一句名言：“为什么长江是最富有（富饶）的河流？因为它有两家银行（两岸），你们的和我们的！”

Figure Three – Group picture of ours taken on the top of Tanziling
图Three – 坛子岭建筑顶端的全组合影

Figure 4 – Passing the Xiling Yangtze River Bridge on the way back to the ThreeG cruise
图4 – 在回游轮的路上我们经过了西陵长江大桥

Figure 5 – Guide Max saying goodbye after the excellent introduction
图5 – 地陪导游Max在完成出色讲解后向我们道别

 

 

 

[May 13th, 2014] – White Emperor City, Goddess Stream, and Captain’s Dinner (Team Scutellaria)

[May 13th, 2014] – White Emperor City, Goddess Stream, and Captain’s Dinner (Team Scutellaria)
[2014年5月14日]-白帝城，神女峰和欢送晚会（缙云黄芩小组）
Blog Entry Written by Team: Scutellaria
Team Members: Kelli Charbonneau (Queen’s University), Junshu Li (Southwest University), Yeqi Lin (Southwest University)

Weather: Intermittent rain, cloudy, Temp: 21 Degrees C

Landscape pictured on the 10 yuan bill in real life.

Today was day five of the China-Canada Field Course. The day started with an optional tour where students had the opportunity to disembark the Three Gorges Boat and explore the White Emperor City (3102′ 43.4″N 109.32 32′ 30.7″ E, Elevation 189 m). Over half of the class opted in for the tour. The visit to the White Emperor City provided us with an opportunity to experience an ancient Chinese city rich in history and culture. A 400 step climb (previously 1400 steps before the Three Gorges Dam caused the water level to rise 135 m) lead to the temple and statue of the White Emperor and various other historic monuments, including an exhibit on ancient cliff burial. Exploring the modern city allowed us to see first hand some of the impacts and consequences of the Three Gorges Dam project on a riverside village, such as the building of bridges following the flooding of reserves, a 3 year and six million RMB project undertaken in order to move and preserve an historic archway, etc. The city’s picturesque landscape, including the same scene pictured on the 10 yuan bill, was perfect for taking photos.

Canadian and Chinese students getting to know each other better.

During lunch, discussions of seemingly mundane and normal topics brought to attention some major cultural differences that exist between Canada and China. For example, Canadians students have 3 university semesters and a 4 month break in the summer, while Chinese students have 2 university semesters and a 2 month break in the summer. Canadian students usually have summer jobs, which was pretty unheard of among the Chinese students. Another surprising cultural difference involved the role of parents in personal relationships – in Chinese culture, parents ultimately decide who their child will marry, whereas in Canadian culture parents often play little to no role in this decision. We all realized that although many aspects of Canadian and Chinese culture are in many cases polar opposite, we were still able to relate to each other on academic and personal grounds.

Students who attended the excursion to the White Emperor City.

In the afternoon, the entire class went on a boat excursion through a narrow passage of the Yangtze River called the Goddess Stream. The stream lead through the village Wu Shan (31 01′ 5.7″ N 109 59′ 59.6″ E) inhabited by an ethnic group called the Tujia. The Tujia are best known for the tough life they live, gathering herbal medicine and not, until recently, having electricity. The ride down the Goddess Stream was scenic and beautiful, with a lush mountainous landscape and many named peaks, such as palm peak that looked distinctly like a human hand. The tour guides even sang traditional Chinese mountain songs for us. Despite the rain, it was a beautiful and memorable excursion.

The day ended with a special “Captain’s Dinner” where all the passengers of the Three Gorges Boat toasted the Captain and crew with champagne (or orange juice) and listened to their short speeches. We all enjoyed a fancy table-service meal, but definitely felt a bit out of place as everyone else was dressed nicely while we were all dressed like, well, biologists. After dinner, we all waited until midnight for the ship to enter the ship locks of the Three Gorges Dam. Overall, it was another great day of exploring the country’s and getting to know each other better.

The boats used to travel down the Goddess Stream.

今天是中加野外实习的第五天，我们可以选择是否参观历史悠久的白帝城，大多数的人都去参观宏伟的白帝城，参观白帝城让我们更深入的了解古代中国丰富的历史和文化。一个400级（三峡大坝建立使水位上升，部分阶梯淹没水中进而导致其由1400级变成400级）的台阶指引着我们到达白帝城的寺庙，看到了雄伟的雕塑和不同时刻的历史纪念碑，还包括一个被展示在悬崖上的悬棺。我们探索着这个城市，直观地看到了三峡大坝工程给两岸村庄带来的影响和造成的结果，例如：建造横跨长江两岸的桥来供人们行走、建造三峡博物馆保存历史文物。峡谷如画的风景和十元纸币背面的景色相同，同时这也是一个拍照的好地方。

在吃午饭时间，中国学生和加拿大学生共同讨论了两国之间存在的文化差异，例如：加拿大学生每年有三个学期，并且在暑假有一个四个月假期，在寒假有两周，中国学生每年有两个学期，暑假有两个月假期，寒假是一个月；加拿大学生会在暑假做临时工，而中国学生普遍没有在假期工作；另一个显著的文化差异是父母在孩子人际交往关系中的重要性不同，在中国文化中，父母在孩子的婚姻中扮演着重要的角色，但在加拿大，父母通常不会决定孩子的婚姻。我们都知道尽管中国和加拿大有许多文化上的差异，但是我们仍然能够在学术上和每个人进行学习交流。

Scenic cliff seen on Goddess Stream tour.

在下午，参加课程的所有人都搭乘了一艘小船，通过长江狭小的山谷，朝着神女峰的方向驶去。在长江的两岸山林中，有中国传统的民族—土家族在那里常年居住着。土家族以它传统的生活生产方式闻名于世，当他们生病的时候就会上山采一些中草药材熬水来治病，其中有些地方甚至没有电的供应。距离神女峰越近，景色就越发的迷人。仰头观望神女峰的奇景，宛若身临仙境。无数颇具特色的岩石（有些看起来像是人的手掌）、翠绿的树林、清澈见底的河流构成了神女峰这幅美丽的风景画。在返回游轮的途中，导游用她那清脆甜美的嗓音，唱了两首土家族传统民歌献给我们。尽管天在下着雨，但是仍然阻住不了我们对神女峰美丽景色的留恋。

今天的旅程在一个特殊的“船长欢送会“中结束，在欢送会上游轮中所有的乘客都在像船长敬酒，船员都喝着香槟或者橙汁，并且认真的听着船长短暂却充满感情的话语。我们都享受着今晚的盛宴，但是，有一点让我们觉得很尴尬，便是大家穿的都十分的正式优雅，而我们穿的就像生物学家一样。晚饭过后，我们都耐心的等到午夜，在甲板上看过至少一次”大船过闸门“的壮观景象之后才恋恋不舍的回到自己的房间休息。

总之，今天又是很棒的一天，我们既探索了乡村的历史文化，又谈论了当今的文化差异，同学们之间也彼此更加了解对方了，这真是一举多得呀！