1:30 AM - November 22, 2016 - Chongxin, Gansu, China.
It's been 40 days since I arrived here at Chongxin Power Plant, which is in Gansu Province of the People's Republic of China. I'm in China for an official 5-month training program from Power China. In order to get rid of post-exam-and-training stress, I decided to write a blog about my experience in China so far (and Chongxin Power Plant in particular).
I stepped into China for the very first time with my college friends and colleagues on October 13, 2016, when our Air China flight successfully landed at Beijing Airport. The excitement level was still not the same as it was during my trip to the USA. When I saw Beijing from the plane's window, it looked quite like a typical Asian city, but after entering Beijing Airport, I had to change my perception. Beijing Airport was so huge with so many terminals. From my experience, I must say Beijing Airport is the busiest and largest airport I've ever seen. You have to take a train to go from one terminal to another. The train is super speedy. For a moment, I felt like I was at New York's JFK Airport, where I had taken the same kind of train to reach my departure terminal. Air China staff came to receive us (the Pakistani trainees) at Beijing Airport. From Beijing, we all had a connecting flight to Xi'an. After reaching Xi'an, the Chinese staff took us to a Halal restaurant. The food at that restaurant was completely inedible. I still remember my face when I saw an uncooked beef burger and some strange noodles that tasted terrible. I won't forget that day in my entire life. After the so-called dinner, we all moved to our bus, which was bound for Chongxin Power Plant. As the bus crossed different cities, we saw different lights that illuminated those cities. Finally, we all arrived at our dormitory at 10:00 PM. The Chinese staff took our luggage to our rooms, which gave me the impression that Chinese people are friendly and helpful. I was shocked when I saw a very skinny Chinese guy carrying my 25-kg luggage with one hand from the 1st to the 6th floor without even taking a rest or stopping on the way up. After putting our luggage and bags in our rooms, we all went to have dinner at the Halal restaurant inside our residence building. The food being offered at the restaurant was much better than what we ate at the airport. But still, most of us were not satisfied with either of the restaurants. After having a late-night meal, we were all so tired that we went to our rooms and slept deeply.
My journey as a trainee engineer started on the 14th of October when I had a healthy breakfast and went off to take my first class. The class was conducted by Mr. Yan Yi, who is a very friendly and down-to-earth guy. He taught the trainees some basic words of the Chinese language. It was a very interactive learning experience with Mr. Yan Yi. We got to learn Chinese food names specifically in that class. The next few days, we only had some not-so-important classes, including Chinese language class, a lecture on safety, and finally an exam. We got our uniform, safety shoes, thermal innerwear, and other necessary stuff in those few days. On October 18th, the opening ceremony for the training of Pakistani staff was organized, in which different managers and personnel from the parent company (PowerChina) came and delivered various welcome speeches to encourage the Pakistani staff. Mr. Ebad Ali Qureshi delivered his speech on behalf of all the Pakistani trainees about our goals and motivation for working on this project of a 1,320 MW coal-fired power plant. The ceremony ended with a remarkable group picture captured at the main gate of PowerChina.
After the opening ceremony, training classes started smoothly. Teachers from a couple of Chinese universities came to teach us and delivered lectures (one by one) on electrical, mechanical, chemical, environmental, and electronic technologies used inside the power plant. Prof. Dr. Dan from Shanghai University of Electric Power taught us everything about electrical power systems. Prof. Dr. Zhong Zhu from Shanghai University of Electric Power taught us the basics of boilers. Prof. Dr. Wu from Shanghai University of Electric Power taught us environmental protection. Prof. Li Qin from Shanghai University of Electric Power taught us about DCS and boiler control systems as a whole. Prof. Dr. Danmei from Wuhan University gave us a complete overview of turbines. We had exams after the completion of each training course. Our training classes and exams finished on November 21.
The training classes helped us gain an in-depth understanding of the technologies being used in the power plant. This training has boosted our technical skills and abilities. I hope the technical knowledge we gained from our teachers will help us all and prove to be a plus point in our future careers.
Talking about the Chinese food that didn't taste good in the start—it now tastes great! Noodles are the best dish in Chinese cuisine. Anyone can eat noodles because they taste delicious and are somewhat spicy. So noodles are a kind of replica of Pakistani noodles. Noodles in China are called MIAN TIAO (or MIAN). There are thousands of versions of noodles. Niu rou mian (beef noodles), jidan mian (egg noodles), and chow mein are the most popular ones.
The Chinese staff took us to the grocery store/supermarket in Chongxin City, where we all bought different food products. The journey was 10 minutes by bus. Many of us captured pictures outside the supermarket. The weather was so cold, which gave us that snow-is-coming kind of feeling. I enjoyed the day at the grocery store.
There is so much to write, but considering the time and my yawning face, I must put a full stop to it. PERIOD!
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