Bike Ride Out Into Chengdu

By:

Christopher Covington

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I love these people.

In this video, I take a bike ride outside of my host university, Southwest University for Nationalities, out on the 1st Ring Road to my favorite cafe, Kaffestugan. One must understand that most Chinese cities are laid with 3 roads circling the city-center; the outer most road being the 3rd Ring Road, the middle being the 2nd Ring Road, and the inner most being the 1st Ring Road. My university is located at the south end of the 1st Ring Road. I hope by watching this video you can understand not only how Chengdu looks, but how much development is occuring at the moment (from the subway system to small mom and pop business and big corporations) and the future that is in front of cities within China like Chengdu. I hope you all enjoy!

Christopher Covington

Nว hวŽo, my name is Christopher Steven Covington. I am a 25 year old, lifelong resident of a small, quaint town outside of Spartanburg, South Carolina called Sugar Tit. True to my southern roots, I was raised to hold hard work and dedication in high esteem, and to never underestimate the strength of the human spirit. Unbeknownst to me, these childhood lessons would prepare me for some of lifeโ€™s most grueling obstacles; including but limited to, being diagnosed with epilepsy my freshman year in high school, and losing two grandparents and a fraternity brother/friend during my first semester of college resulting in my untimely withdrawal from college. But with unwavering persistence and the help of family, I persevered to become a more mature and resilient man all while returning to college to further my education. Now, I am a junior pursuing my BA in Modern Language with concentration in Chinese at Clemson University. GO TIGERS! Thanks to FEA, I will be attending USACโ€™s program in Chengdu, China for the 2013-14 academic year which will enable me to meet my majorโ€™s study abroad requirement, reduce my time in college by one academic year, and gain direct experience of Chinaโ€™s culture and language critical to my future career as a foreign language teacher. As an educator, I hope to foster the next generation of students and leaders of the world with the knowledge and, even more importantly, the appreciation one can gather from learning about different cultures, customs, and beliefs that differ from their own.