I’m glad I’ve had neither the time nor the internet needed to update my blog until now because Shanghai makes me realise just how incredible our time was in Beijing.

Not that I dislike Shanghai, but it feels a world away from what I’d previously experienced. I thought at first I was sad to leave Beijing because of the amazing people we’d met there, but I think it was more than just this.

The drive from the airport not only seemed like we were entering a huge metropolis, but felt like we were moving forward in time as well. The sea of high-rise neon structures was never-ending, and when you finally descend into the suburbs it’s replaced by tree-lined streets more akin to those of France than to China. I was taken away by this place, visually, but it felt devoid of anything Chinese.

I think everyone here has mixed feelings on this place. We’re into our second week here, and I certainly feel like I could be anywhere on earth; personally I don’t like it so much, although of course I like the convenience and availability of western things here- I’m usually eating at an Italian restaurant near my metro stop so I’ll admit it- I’m a hypocrite.

It’s only right that in this international city we stay at an international company. Wall Street English is ideal for me, being interested in languages- It’s been an interesting week too. For sure we’ve gotten perhaps the most hospitable company in this programme, with Adam and Hywel deserving a special mention in this respect. I’ve been overloaded with information on how the business operates by the heads of department, which to my surprise I have found incredibly interesting. It’s really given me an insight into business here, and whilst I haven’t swayed from my stance that global business is not the right way forward for humanity, I can certainly respect the dedication these guys have for their company and the hard work they put in.

The importance English has in the business world is incredible. I think we all take it for granted that we’re native speakers, because it certainly seems tough getting a job without English competency. And I guess it’s quite representative of this place.

Frankly speaking I think the western world reaps more the benefits of China’s opening-up than anyone else does. GDP per capita ranked 91st

Next week should be even better; we’re going to some of the centres in Shanghai for some English teaching experience, although I’ll be sad to leave behind the bragging rights that working in the Jin Mao Tower gives. I’m pretty keen to see how the WSE method compares with how I’ve been learning languages, and if I can apply it in any way for my own language learning.

It’s over the half way stage now in the programme, and getting close to the furthest time I’ve spent away from home. I must say, I am really excited about seeing my family and friends when I get back, although I see that point also coming with having to leave behind this place and the people I’ve met.

I’ll end by saying goodbye from Starbucks, the only place where I can get the internet…Typical.

Love to all x x

It’s been hard to find the time to blog, and when I look at my last entry I realise how quickly time is going. When Ariel emailed us this weekend, she made the point that it was 11 days already into our 14 day stay here which came as quite a surprise.

The week was routinely structured with Tai Chi and Kung Fu lessons at 7am, which provided a decent wake-up call, albeit an unwanted one and one which led me to break my vow of not eating western food here. There’s a McDonalds in our hotel lobby, so in terms of convenience there’s no better place to grab a coffee and something to eat.

Our language lessons have been progressing nicely as well. We have 3 hours of Mandarin per day before cultural workshops in the afternoon, and with 3 days to go before our test I feel I’m doing okay. Retaining vocabulary is something I’m finding a challenge though, but I think it’s just another obstacle we just have to overcome.

Even after a few days of not recording what I’ve done, the details seem to fade and only the bigger picture seems to stay. Above everything else the shopping district gave the biggest impression of contrast and contradiction I’ve seen anywhere: streets lined with high-rise department stores and all sorts of ostentatious brands imaginable on show.

What’s more, the vast majority are western brands such as Nike or Gucci. From what I’ve seen, it’s the west that is benefiting from the huge market China has presented to global businesses, and not China itself. GDP per capita at 91st in the world is a serious issue that isn’t mentioned when reports constantly flow out about China’s GDP growth. It seems that the only benchmark for the success a nation is its combined wealth, and looking at the statistics I can’t help but wonder whether this is incredibly misleading when clearly very few people- both Chinese and western, must have huge fortunes.

On Saturday we left to go to a rural village for the night, which provided another huge contrast from what I’d seen previously that week. It surprised me just how much disparity there is when you venture out from the cities; rural, traditional China like I’d feared may have been lost is very much alive, yet for every beaten-up and worn truck seen there will be a pristine new Audi, BMW or Volkswagen shoot past.

I still haven’t been able to really find an answer to the one question that’s burning in my head: is China’s economic growth a good thing for its people?

Unfortunately I don’t think it is at present. One thing we’ve been told is that the obvious aspects of culture are like the tip of an iceberg, with far deeper and more important elements hidden from view. I think it’s the same with globalisation: superficialities like iPods, cars and designer brands catching our visual attention whilst blinding us to some of the less visible aspects which I still feel I’ve only scratched the surface of.

I’ll get to sleep early tonight; I’ve said this every night so far, and every night I haven’t. It’s the same tonight, as I sit here at 11:30 beginning to write. I can’t justify bypassing any opportunity to experience this amazing place, and this weekend has honestly been one of the best of my life.

The coach to Juyongguan Pass where we would climb the Great Wall slowly made its way out of greater Beijing until districts of flats, housing and construction gave way to countryside and shortly after, mountains. The coach stopped and we found ourselves amongst thousands of tourists, predominantly Chinese, many of whom had the same idea as us to climb to the top, and like the Chinese say, become a true man.

Heat and humidity turned the climb into a silent hike, except for moments when we occasionally stopped to take a photo or have a drink. The steepness of the wall is phenomenal, and even with the hoards of tourists and climbers there were occasions where you could find yourself alone with the spectacular views.

Twice I’d been asked to have my photo taken: the first time with some Chinese girls and the second time I’d been selected along with another westerner to pose with a Chinese guy. There’s a humbling innocence about their desire to have their photo taken with somebody from far away, and it surprised me nicely to see that there were still many Chinese here and that unlike so many other places it had not yet been overrun by Europeans or Americans.

Our next destination was the Bird’s Nest Stadium which hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympics, which after the Great Wall did not excite me too much. But when we approached it, the city changed. New buildings, apartments, hotels and parks had sprung up all around, and the traditional China gave way to the most modern district of any city I’d seen. The stadium was stunning architecturally, especially from the outside: I think London will struggle to match this place.

People continued to ask for photos of us, but it reached a whole new level when cries of “NBA” were joined with families and their children asking for a photograph with Asher, with more and more people crowding round to get a picture. At one stage it became surreal, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if local press came around to scoop the big story of the NBA star coming to Beijing. Once we’d moved on, and things began to feel a bit more real, somebody asked Aman to hold their baby and pose for a photo with him. How can you not feel something really endearing when somebody will let a stranger, a foreigner hold their baby because they think you’re special because you’re foreign? Thinking about what the Chinese guy at the British Embassy said, I really feel we’ve not seen the beginning of how kind and warm-hearted these people are.

When we returned me and Jason felt the need to go back to our favourite eating establishment in Beijing: the small street-stall that we’d eaten in on the previous day. After a shower we all gathered in the corridors to celebrate Anne-Marie’s birthday, and Ariel, Juliette and Toles made it too. Actually, I haven’t mentioned them yet: they’re the helpers from the University and the British Council, who have been incredibly kind, helpful and interesting.

Afterwards, me, Jason and Michael decided to grab a taxi and head to Tiananmen Square; Ariel had recommended a fantastic restaurant nearby specialising in Peking duck and we came up with the idea of going into the centre at night to explore the city. Our cab driver broke the ice by asking where we were from, and from that we managed, with my limited Chinese and his limited English, to have a proper conversation- my first in Chinese. He asked whether I knew Beckham, and reeled off a list of things he associated with Britain, including smart attire, Prince Charles, Manchester and the Tudor household- all of which quite impressed me for somebody with very limited exposure to foreigners. We talked about football as well, and from what I could understand he was disappointed England didn’t do well. We both came to the conclusion that we’re both better at football at least than France, and we explained to him why we were in China, for how long and what we hoped to get out of the programme when he asked us why we were in Beijing: a really nice cab driver, who refused our tip at the end.

We could tell we were in Tiananmen Square as we approached the famous portrait of Mao outside the Forbidden City, but aside from this and the consistently busy Beijing traffic there was only the darkness of an empty square at night. We were the only westerners, and we began to perceive a slightly less friendly atmosphere as almost immediately prostitutes spotted us and rushed over. Despite the heavy police presence I didn’t feel comfortable walking around with my camera out, so we proceeded to walk until the emptiness of Tiananmen Square gave way to modern high-rise buildings, indicated by the glowing face of Colonel Sanders outside a 24 hour KFC. We wandered around the fairly empty streets and reached a McDonalds, where I decided to go in to buy a drink and some fries. One oddity of China is that at midnight on Saturday night, McDonalds seemed the only place within a few square miles which was full of young people; it seems a bizarre concept to us, but they were in their socialising with friends, playing cards and even doing schoolwork.

I got up early Sunday morning after a short sleep to buy a coffee at my new local coffee shop/bakery before we all headed off to Tiananmen Square. The heat was unbearable as we walked through the crowded square- so much more different in the daytime, to reach the entrance to the Forbidden City. The square, the biggest in the world, was full of Chinese tourists, interspersed with the occasional westerner or two. The more sinister atmosphere of the previous night was not around during the daytime, but around the area there was a distinct lack of high-rise developments. The square seemed like a homage to the communism of the Cold War era, so far-removed from the capitalism of today which seems to be engulfing this country.

The Forbidden City was incredibly impressive, if still almost unbearably hot and crowded. The ornate regal architecture with all of its beautiful colours and patterns strongly contrasted with the simplicity and purposefulness of the communist constructions just outside. It seems that in history every action has an equal and opposite reaction; that is to say, looking at the Forbidden City- built for the purpose and pleasure of just one man, you can see how communist ideology can appeal. However, in terms of beauty, absolute monarchy beats communism as the gates and palaces in the Forbidden City act as a sort of gigantic, beautiful maze.

We didn’t rest too long when we got back. We needed to get some passport-style photographs printed for the University, so we went to a small studio, where for a fee of £2.50 you could have 4 photos taken and printed in a tiny room. The clutter and untidiness of the place accentuated the ingenuity of the people running it, as the result proved just as good as any conventional photo booth.

A few of us grabbed taxis and decided to make a trip to a silk market a few miles away in the city, where we were presented with countless stalls, each with friendly-faced yet pushy sales staff. I bought a few bits, but the main enjoyment I got out of it was getting a chance to practice my Chinese with the young people working there. They were very keen on talking to me (they’d stopped pestering me to buy things by this stage) and interested in Britain and learning English, which they all used by default when dealing with westerners.

To end the perfect weekend we went back to Tiananmen Square, to dine at the restaurant Ariel recommended. The duck was gorgeous, and brought out on trays and cut up by the chefs before us (who wore more hygiene gear than most British chefs). As we got up to leave, the Chinese people dining there all stared at us, with some even waving.

I’ve been blown away already with just how fantastic Chinese people are. And already, after just four days, our group of 40 has bonded incredibly well and we feel like we’ve known each other for years. With exactly six weeks left here today I cannot begin to imagine what I’ll be feeling in the weeks to come.

It’s incredible to think how much we’ve done during the past 48 hours. I suppose keeping a blog has its benefits when you can get a sense of just how much you’ve done.

We ventured out into the city for lunch on Wednesday morning and soon came across side streets littered with irregularly-built shops, cafés and market stalls, giving the impression of being far-flung from our modern hotel building and the University. People were curious about us; I’ve read that Chinese people can stare at foreigners, but I didn’t expect to be stared at quite so much.

I didn’t mind, though. A few of us found a street stall selling noodles, which I quickly ordered and gobbled up- a bargain for about 70p. The nice noodle lady even put them into a bowl for me and sat me down when she realised I was finding the concept of eating noodles from a carrier bag difficult. You don’t get that kind of courtesy often for what is after all cheap fast food.

Back at the University we met for an orientation and then got a chance to go on a tour of the campus with some Chinese students, with whom we talked about everything, from education and aspirations to more sensitive issues like the one-child policy. The two students our group was with had only been learning English (their major) for one year, yet their enthusiasm for Britain and their fluency was incredible. What’s more, it was quite saddening that they had not yet had the chance to visit Britain; they could go and study there for a year providing that they teach back in China for 10 years. If I’m honest, if it was the same choice for me I would think long and hard about my future year abroad for my language degree.  

For the evening we decided that a karaoke bar would be the best way to spend our first proper night in Beijing. Travelling by taxi was a good way of drawing closer to the centre with the Vegas-esque neon lights of new, big buildings giving the impression of a city embracing the future. The karaoke bar itself was spectacularly lavish, and even though I couldn’t get as enthusiastic about the music played as other fellows it was a great way of spending an evening.

Yesterday we woke early for our opening ceremony, all uniformly white-clothed in our BNU t-shirts for our group photo. We started our language lessons as well- mainly reviewing the basics which we’d already learned, but nonetheless they were enjoyable, and the teachers were very friendly. Already I want to continue learning about China and the Chinese language.

We were presented with a unique opportunity yesterday evening of getting to visit the British Embassy, where the Ambassador hosted a welcome meeting for us all, complete with a huge framed picture of the Queen, Victorian furnishing and a massive piano: just what we expect of a far-flung British outpost. Talking to people there was an incredibly informative and exciting experience, and left me feeling convinced that we need to see eye-to-eye with China more in the coming years

Talking to one Chinese guest in particular, involved in Corporate Social Responsibility was very interesting. Amongst many things he made the point that he hoped we would go back to Britain and view China in a more positive light, and to not simply believe the line taken by the media about his country, a point which stuck with me as he explained that above all else he considered China a forgiving country, bearing no malice for the wrongs done to it in the past by western nations. I believed him.

I’m in China!!!

I’m glad we’re here! The journey seemed to last forever, especially from Dubai as jetlag and sickness kicked in. It seems fitting that my main worry- getting sick in a foreign country, (a trip to A & E in Madrid was bad enough!) became reality. Or rather, big thanks to Emirates’ in-flight meal; I’m just glad I didn’t eat it all. But after a good night sleep in a surprisingly comfy bed, all is well and I couldn’t be feeling better.

Waking up to our view was incredible; there’s something I love about arriving somewhere at night to wake up to totally new surroundings. I think I’ll get used to the heat as well. It was 41 degrees at Dubai (a modest 35 at 8AM), so in comparison I think us China fellows have got it lucky compared to Brazil or India.

One thing I’ve definitely realised is that we’re all going to need to improve our language skills. Just going down the road this morning to grab a coffee was a challenge. I must say I don’t like the feeling of alienation I get when somebody tries to communicate to me and all I can do is point and smile.

The helpers and staff are so friendly and helpful, along with pretty much everybody I’ve met. We’ve been given a free pack of things from Beijing Normal University, including a dictionary, t-shirt and photo frame!

I’ve got a couple of hours free, so I’m going to explore. Apparently Tiananmen Square is near here, maybe I’ll find it.

Adam

So it’s finally arrived, the day we’re going to China! Regular things I’ve been doing these past couple of weeks: walking the dog, seeing family, going out, have all taken on some deeper significance as I realise they’re all ‘last times’. Yet it still hasn’t completely sunk in yet even as I type. I’m truly excited. I’m not sure what to expect, but I want to make the most out of every minute of it. If I can look back in September and know I’ve done this, I’ll be happy.

Thinking about the opportunities we've been given, I feel truly greatful. I think for all of us, it's going to be an eye-opening and insightful experience, and to get out of the media 'bubble' we're all in- to see first-hand the effects of globalisation without being spoon-fed with subjectivity is invaluable. In the questionnaire we were given from the British Council to evaluate our Pre-Departure Briefing, one of the questions, "which of the following influences your views on your host country?", really made me think. I had to put down "the media". How else would I find out about China?

Upon thinking about this, I read a small article this weekend about the World Cup. It wasn't front-page new- nor was it even in the main paper (it was in the separate sports section). But it was more poignant than the endless stories about goal-line technology or Paul the octopus. It talked about Fifa's £2bn tax-free profit from the tournament juxstaposed with the appaling £1.85-a-day salary for Pakistani workers stitching together the Jabulani ball and similar £1.95-a-day salary for Chinese workers producing Zakumi replicas. It went on to mention the crippling fines faced by ordinary South African bar and hotel owners who quite innocently made the mistake of mentioning the words "World" and "Cup" without Fifa's authorisation.

It's a saddening example of modern globalisation; the sinister overtures of an aggressive profit-churning machine being drowned out by the joy and celebration of billions of ordinary people. It's disconcerting, and what's more, I bought into it. I watched those endless infomercials about how positive it was, and how it was something unique- something special, which everyone in the world could enjoy. I went to one of those Fifa fan fests in Paris where they put up a big screen to watch the England-Germany game, and it was incredible to see how football could bring people together. It's a shame that the World Cup isn't as innocent as we're all led to believe...

Thanks to everyone: friends, family, teachers, who are reading this and keeping up with what I'll be up to over the coming weeks, it means a lot. I'll write soon.

Adam

再 見

I thought it's about time I started blogging as I'm counting down the days- 10 until exams are over, and 35 until China. With five weeks exactly until I depart for China for the Global Fellowship and the excitement kicking in, I thought I'd recap on my initial thoughts on learning some Mandarin Chinese.

At first, the prospect of taking up a language with an apparently "easy" grammar seemed blissful;  I could forget repeating all those hours learning genders and I could skip such stumbling blocks as learning the difference between la tour and le tour. Plurals, agreement and cases could be forgotten as well. Even verbs and tenses seemed blissfully straightforward.

So it was with high hopes I decided to order myself a copy of "Beginner's Chinese" by Yong Ho.

The first few lessons didn't disappoint either- it remained straightforward. Even learning the characters began as a leisurely process, and I soon learned to write Ni hao (hello/ how are you?) as 你好. It was still logical: 你 meaning "you" and 好 meaning "well", which is composed of the characters for a woman 女and a son 子 (interestingly, even the language relates to the stereotype that sons are well looked-upon in China!).  After building upon a few set phrases it was all surprisingly straightforward and followed  a logic I'd never come across in human language.

Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be that simple. I have yet to practice with a native speaker, which as past experience told me too well may open a Pandora's Box of problems. Last year in a school in Normandy I learned the hard way as my pronunciation of juin (June) sounded more like joint- a spliff, resulting in an embarrassing eruption of guffaws.

Harmless as it was, I've found several potential blunders I could make in Chinese- a language with so few sounds that they use different tones to differentiate between words.  One example is cāo, to speak- it's not out of the realms of possibility that I'll use this... Maybe I'll say something along the lines of "nǐ cāo yīngyǔ ma?"-"do you speak english?" That's fine, but if I were to slightly mispronounce it, and say "nǐ cào yīngyǔ ma?" I'd be asking " do you fuck English?".  Maybe there's a reason people say Chinese is difficult...

And there's Chinglish as well to deal with. If you've ever been on the website www.engrish.com you'll see what I mean. However, I can to a degree sympathise with our Chinese friends when badly translated signs, at least after looking at the above website, seem to generate more interest than sights of natural beauty and thousand year-old temples. I'm sure there was something of cultural importance behind the slightly sadistic sign in the picture.

I sympathised more with them when I decided foolishly to try to decipher one sentence of a dual-language Pride and Prejudice: "Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts.", using my basic dictionary translated as "Mr. Bennet really eccentric man, aspect like sincere mixture.".

I think it's going to take a lot longer than 35 days to get any grasp of this...