One day to go L yes that is right it is our last full day in Beijing! So today we managed to have a little lie in as we finished Tai Chi yesterday so none of us had to get up until 8 o’clock which made all the difference. So after I was up and dressed and we made the journey to the main building at BNU. We had a two hour slot at BNU in which we had to do our presentations. The teachers were all present and were marking these presentations for our final grade. It was such a laugh seeing all the way people tried to portray the same information we had learnt in Beijing Language Classes we all thoroughly enjoyed that two hours.

            After our exam we had the second BC workshop in which we talked about what we had learned in Beijing and what we expected from Shanghai. We also discussed our preconceptions and thoughts about Shanghai. Everyone had a mix of ideas and pre-thoughts that were all so very different. But there was a consensus in that we all were egger in learning more about shanghai. After the class we had about an hour to get changed and get ready for acrobatics and o my god it was so brilliantly amazing! It was the best acrobatics I had ever seen in my life the stuff they were doing I didn’t even know was humanly possible to do like breathtaking. All the fellows of course as ever were showing there support! One of the acts was a girl holding six others girls on a bike was awesome.

Today was a very interesting day for us because it was the last day of Tai Chi and Language Class. So in the lessons we had to make sure we had everything sorted for our language test the next day. We wrote out all the speeches and dialects so we had everything prepared and we didn’t have to worry about anything. Lilly, Kate and I decided that we would all pair together lets see if the dream team can all pair up and pull out all the stops and get top marks. After class all fellows split into four groups of ten and us all visited social enterprises. I visited one called Golden Wings Art Rehabilitation Centre for Children with Disabilities. It was a really good centre and the only one of it kind in Beijing which I was really surprised about it compared to the UK the availability of centres like this is so much more than here. But nevertheless they were determined to ensure that helped everyone they can which I could tell they had a real passion and a drive to do this. They wanted us to visit the centres so they could get information from us and our views and opinions on the centre and were they could strive to do better. Well none of us had any negative comments we were all really pleased with the centres work and will stay in contact and help where we can.

Another day down and the flight to Shanghai is getting ever so closer. Today we have had a jam packed day literally we are on the go all day. I won’t tell you in detail bout what we did this morning because as you guessed it was Tai Chi and Mandarin Lessons and you probably already know exactly what we have been doing in those if you have been reading all my Blogs! My Chinese is getting better I can now string a few sentences together now. Well I say I am getting better but when I speak Chinese and try and order something in a restaurant my janner accent must come and then they normally look at me so I just pointJ.

            Come midday we are ready to leave for the temple of heaven we arrived and I could not believe the sheer size and scale of the temple it was huge truly unbelievable. I though the Forbidden City was big but this was like 10 times bigger!

            Next stop of the day and what a lot of us were waiting for was the Pearl Market. We all had experienced the silk market and the staff and now it was time to see if all the staff here was the same. Whenever we lot got to the markets we always walk away laughing about stuff that has happened and some awesome stories. We all just love haggling with them it so funny!

            If you go into the market not looking confident and strong minded then you will have no chance of getting anything. You will have no chance of winning over the sales people they will use any technique to get you to buy there products.

            So after the market we all went out for a lovely meal which I must say was absolutely stunning! It felt like we were all royalty because the food we were eating was beautiful cooked and presented. After the meal we went to the Beijing Opera. 

So we are in our final week in Beijing how time flies! It has been weird that we are in the final days already this place has finally started to feel like home and already it is our time to depart !  Friday is fast approaching! We began with our normal daily routine Tai Chi and Kung Fu as always a nice refreshing start to the day. But I am finally starting to pick up the routine which is good come Friday you can call me master Shefu!  But enough about that lets move onto the next things on today’s agenda Language and Culture class. These lessons are more and more important than ever this week as our final exam is on Thursday and everyone is worried that they will fail but to be honest I am sure we are all really good and we will all do fine well Juliette keeps on telling us that. Today we felt the need to give our Chinese teacher an English Surname as she has a first name. So that was one of our tasks to do before we leave Beijing. I was so excited for this afternoon’s activity Calligraphy. I have always wanted to learn Chinese calligraphy so I was even more excited for this lesson than everyone else. It is such a respected part of the Chinese culture I just wanted to attempt the art of it. The lesson went so fast and it was really productive I learnt how to write my own name Calligraphy style in Chinese. I did surprise myself for someone who has no artistic bone in my body I did do so much of a bad job when it cam down to it. Come the evening we were all so tired so most of us decided we would all chill out and relax in the hotel.

This blog is going to be one for the whole week as some of the days were quite repetitive so I didn’t want 4 or 5 small blogs and 1 or 2 large blog so I thought would put it all into one! Monday seen the first stage of the Tai Chi class this involved getting up at 07:00 to begin and master the art of Tai Chi. Well this was a struggle for 40 tired fellows but we began strong ! If someone ever said you would be doing Tai Chi I would have probably turned around and said that’s easy but well it isn’t. Trying to master the steps and co-ordinate your body and hands well let just say it wasn’t easy ! But it was fun and relaxing. After Tai Chi each morning we would then go back to the hotel and have a bite to eat and then get all our stuff together and begin our language classes. These classes are so fun trying to learn mandarin is so funny you find yourself thinking you doing amazing then after you have finished speaking you teacher goes that is really good and deep down you know there are thinking hmm that is Chinese. Each afternoon after language class we have organised culture courses barring Thursday. Monday we began with the Art of paper cutting. Well for someone who has no artistic bones within I think I did pretty well. We made a complete random pattern inspired from within then we made another pattern which was the snow flake and then finally we were taught how to make pairs of animals in this case a Panda maybe umm wasn’t to sure but we will go with panda. I was surprisingly quite good at this but I don’t think I could say it is my forte in life :D. Tuesday we had the chance to learn Chinese painting we felt really fortunate to be able to have a go at something that has been passed on through generations. Well I knew i would epically fail at this class and well I did to a certain degree but regained it slightly. The guy was teaching us how to paint a orchid and the technique then he gave us are materials and we began. After failing to draw leaves I decided I would paint Chinese characters instead which I didn’t do to bad at doing and the teacher was impressed. Wednesday we received a lecture about the global economics in china it is hard to really comment on this time of topic so I will just tell you what it is about “Development of Chinese Society”. After the lecture we then got changed and went to watch a Kung Fu Show and o my god it was amazing the people within the show we absolutely amazing and so talented also the kinds that were acting and doing flips was something that surprise you but it was awesome and if anyone ever visits china you must see this it was awesome ! Thursday was a pretty quiet day with all the standard stuff we have been doing all this week but we Friday was completely un predictable. All the information the fellows was given was 30/07/2010 Fellows leave for Humen Village, Lunch in Countryside and Visit silver Pagoda Loop which that last bit meant nothing to me well when we left we were briefed to bring trainers because we were walking up a mountain well that was a nice shock for everyone. But yeah we left for the village and we climbed the mountain and a good 1 hour we made it to the top such a sense of relief and the fact you could rest easy. After the mountain trek the fellows were organised a party to celebrate what happened so far and also put on a show for our teachers it was really good and we enjoyed ourselves after the party we went to the village centre and celebrate with the villages and had a dance around the camp fire which was a great experience. So yeah that pretty much it for this week it went so fast and been fin I also missed out we went to the Zoo ! See Ya! X

Today blog is about Tian’anmen square we went here to go visit The Forbidden City. We were all so excited about seeing the city as it has said to be so beautiful and elegant a must see for anyone who visited China. So after leaving the Hotel and a short bus ride we got to the square. Today’s temperature was about 36c so it was really hot and well we felt the heat 10 minutes after stepping of the bus. Tian’anmen Square was so busy I don’t think I have ever seen so many people in one area before. Wherever we seem to go the first thing that happens is that we get mobbed by street vendor and this becomes a lot worse when one fellow decided to buy something that they like within seconds all the vendors will crowed us all selling the same product it quite amazing how they do it ! Hats of to them :D but it does get frustrating sometimes. So after a short walk we made it to the Forbidden City Entrance but we had to wait a bit before we could go in. So as we were waiting we started taking photos of each other, group shots and some of the city we could see but then instead of taking photos people started to come over and take photos of us. This happens quite regulary if we ever go out all 40 of us to tourist spots everyone wants to take picture and the locals are so kind and complimentary and they really want to be in a photo with you. So a few of us started to take photos with people that were coming up to us and it was a laugh and all a bit of fun then a couple of us noticed a massive group of Chinese people sat on the floor so we went over and had a photo with them which was cool. After a 30 minutes photo period we headed inside words alone could not describe how beautiful and spectacular the forbidden city was everything had so much detail and you could see they took time over building and preserving all the buildings you would believe how big it was you would walk through a doorway and there would be this massive courtyard buildings all right in front of you it was just unimaginable. The city stretch for miles and miles but we had little time so we walked through a section then come out. I took so many photos today so I had plenty to go back with and it would help me remember what a beautiful place it was!

Today was the day we were going to take on the Great Wall of China! I being as naïve as I am didn’t even imagine what I was letting myself in for. After a rather lengthy coach journey of about 1 ½ Hours we made it to the base of the section of the Great Wall we were going to climb. We started of in about groups of 10 as we began our climb of the wall but lets say people were dropping off step by step it was extremely hot and it was very busy it was the worst conditions imaginable for this kind of thing. We were all so determined to make it to the top the fact that we could say we climb the wall and we were true men as the ancient Chinese proverb goes “ those who have not climb the great wall, can not call themselves true men!” The section of the wall had watch towers along the way which we used as rest points also if you needed to stock up on water and souvenirs (vendors were trying all the can to buy there goods by what ever means necessary) by after about 2 Hours the people that was left made it to the top and when we did words can’t describe the sense of pride and relief you felt and not to mention you get to rest it was just unbelievable. After a quick 10 minutes rest and a few pictures with everyone we had to get down as fast as we could because we were already late and everyone was waiting but they were all pleased we made it to the top. After the Great Wall we all went for a buffet lunch to stock up as we just burnt a million and a half calories but all this was on the first couple of days and we will have many more stories to tell! 

Today was the first proper day of the program early start of 9am which meant getting up at 7:30am getting dressed and showers and popping out to get some breakfast. But after that we went to the opening ceremony of the program we had talks about what would be happening throughout our time in Beijing what kinds of things is expected of us and how we should follow the program. After the opening ceremony it was straight into the first mandarin lesson we learnt some of the basic phrases and how to say our names. Also we had many class discussions speaking in Chinese and practising. Also we learnt some information about the Chinese culture and what there way of life is like. Next up was a lecture about the Chinese economy in its past and present state and then also and insight into what they believe that will happen in the future and what they expect to happen with it economy. After the lecture we had about an hour or so to get ready and prepare ourselves for a evening at the British Embassy. After travelling a good 45 minutes on the Chinese roads I had never been so happy to walk! The roads over here are crazy I am not quite sure if there is any rules on the road because everyone seems to do there own thing especially buses and taxis they just do whatever! So after making it to the embassy we had a meet and greet with all the sponsors and the cooperate partners of the project as well as project leaders, managers and other very high profile people. After a couple of hours at the embassy and being bitten by a mosquito we headed to the hotel for the night.

Today was the first full day in China we started off bright and early in the morning with registration we had to go and get our Beijing Normal University Goodie Bag in we received our books and leaflets, photo frame and also our University t-shirts. After we received our goodie bags we had our introduction to China so we met some of our new teachers and had a very brief introduction to what we will be doing during the two weeks in Beijing. After the talks we had a little wonder round Beijing to see all the different sites on and around campus but after this most of us all wanted some nice food and then we wanted to rest so a lot of us went to the Chinese buffet and spoiled ourselves with all the choice of food then after the buffet a couple of went to the hotel to rest as we were so tired though 16 of the fellows went to a Chinese karaoke bar I heard they had fun though you will have to check there blogs out to find out what happened ! So that is pretty much it sorry it is so short but it was a pretty quiet and relaxing day. Off to bed now will blog again tomorrow.

So this is my first official blog from China ! Well first of all I am going to say is what a journey that was to China. I left Plymouth in Tuesday at 12 noon to catch the train from Plymouth to Heathrow this journey was about 4 hours long though had great company I was with a China fellow Katie but also two of my friends came up to London to say goodbye to me which was ace, great moral support. Also saying by to the family in Plymouth was a bit emotional but I know it won’t be long until I am home again time is going to fly bye. So yeah after the train journey next stop was the flight from Heathrow to Dubai after waiting around in Heathrow Airport till around seven we were then met by the British Council who gave us our tickets which meant we could check in. So after the process of checking in forty very excited people and getting them through security and the duty free shopping we were on the plane. FINALLY! We boarded the Emirates flight with more than enough time and we all got to our seats to prepare for the 5 hour plane journey to Dubai. It was such a nice air line we had loads of free food and drink though a few of us didn’t have appetites for the food nevertheless we were on our trek to China. So a few films and sing songs later we arrived in Dubai stepped off the plane we was hit with heat of 40 degrees of pure sunshine. So we made a dash to the air conditioned airport and just relaxed until the next flight. Whilst in the airport a few of us decided to have a traditional Burger King well I say traditional hmm I asked for a chicken burger meal £8 later I got a burger, fries, a massive coke it was huge o and some strips which looked like chicken smelt like something I never smelt before and well I didn’t taste them but Katie said they were nice! So the last plane journey to China lasted for what felt like forever. But from the moment we took off to the moment we landed was pure rollercoaster of excitement, tiredness, homesick and whatever else everyone was feeling but when we stepped of that plane we new this was our home for the next six weeks. The Beijing airport was huge in fact I couldn’t honestly tell you how big it was I genuinely couldn’t see where it ended. The fact we had to get a train / tube to get taken to baggage collection might give you an insight into the size of the place! So after the 8 hour or so plane journey and the previous 5 hour plane journey I think I clocked up a lot of air miles to say the least. Finally we arrived at the Hotel met by the most polite and awesome students at the University which were so kind and friendly in welcoming 40 tired fellows and we checked in to our rooms. En-suite single rooms, TV, DVD, Internet, Phone and maid service was luxury. Last thing on the agenda SLEEP so night all hope you enjoyed my first blog.