Our last night

 Ni hao!

 Our last night in Beijing was always going to be very special and rather emotional as we didn't know when we'd next be together. Therefore, we wanted it to be as wonderful as possible and to make the most out of each others' company.

 A large group of us chose to spend our evening at Lakers - it had proved to be very popular during our time in Beijing. I ordered chips and some hot chocolate.

 It was lovely - so much so that I drank about three cups of it! Some people played table football, some of us just sat and chatted, but when Gangnam Style came on, we all just had to get up and dance! 

 Here are some photos of Lakers:

Glasses hanging from the ceiling!

 After Lakers some people decided to go out clubbing but as I had to get up early the next day to catch my flight I went back to our student accommodation for my last night's sleep in Beijing.

 As April and I wandered back through the moonlit BNU campus, I reflected on how amazing this experience had been, and I felt sad that it was coming to an end. 

 Mainly, however, I felt very grateful and happy that I had been given this opportunity to travel to the other side of the world and see, hear, taste, experience in every way possible this fascinating country and culture.

 It was a lovely last night of a life-changing three weeks.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Friends and cake

 Hello!

 Between my last post (Boxing Day) and New Year's Eve, I don't have many photos because I was ill for a few days with a flu-like virus.

 There are a couple of things that happened before I got ill that I don't have many pictures of but which were nice - I had a massage, and I went out for lunch at the Friendship Restaurant with friends. Both were lovely.

 This is Beijing Normal University campus at night; I took these photos on the way back from the massage.

 And this is the Friendship Restaurant.

 On New Year's Eve, I was feeling better and I went out for lunch at a coffee shop/café called Sculpting in Time with Kasia, Dinesh, Rick and Steven. We ordered four slices of different cheesecakes between us which we all shared. They were delicious.

Cool mug

 It was so nice... being with friends and eating cake; what better way to spend time?

 We then had an economics lecture, after which we went to Laker's for a bit, then a group of us - Marvi, Keisha, Ziggy, Jenny, Abi and I - watched Miss Congeniality in Ziggy's room, which had been transformed into Beijing's best cinema. 

 It was a brilliant day and night with great friends; I couldn't think of a better way to welcome in the new year.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Boxing Day at Laker's

 Ni hao!

 I want to share with you some photos from my first excursion to Laker's, a bar on campus which I had often walked past but never been inside until Christmas Eve when I went there for dinner with Abi, Kasia, Sarah and April.

 It is a lovely little place and the food and drink - I had a pizza and milkshake - was delicious. We had a really enjoyable evening.

The bar

My table ♥

Beijing beer

Beautiful tea set

Books on the window sill

 I hope I've managed to capture some of the cosy atmosphere of the place; it's certainly somewhere I would like to visit again if I ever go back to Beijing.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

The last two days

 Hello!

 I am home from China, and I want to tell you about the last two days of my Chinese experience - one day completely in China and one travelling.

 Friday morning we sat our HSK level 1 paper. It isn't official, but it gives us a good idea of our level of Mandarin Chinese so that if we want to sit the official paper in the UK we can. 

 I certainly intend to do the official exam - the next one in Manchester seems to be in May. Conveniently for me it seems that the exam is held in the Confucius Institute, which is part of my University, so I can get there easily when the time comes.

 Anyway, we did the HSK paper in Beijing and then had a final practice for our Graduation Ceremony performance of Beijing Huanying Ni. Then Naomi, Abi and I went to buy bouquets for our Mandarin teachers and the student helpers from Beijing Normal University.

 On the way to the florist we found a bookshop - I think it belongs to the university  though I'm not completely sure of that - and I had an amazing time looking at a huge variety of Chinese books. 

 I bought some really beautifully illustrated children's books - the stories are in Mandarin but the pictures make them easy to follow.

 We then progressed to the florist's and had four beautiful bouquets made up, as modelled by Naomi and Abi below, for our wonderful teachers and student helpers.

 I then went to the BNU university shop, as I really wanted some kind of momento of this amazing place where I have spent the last three weeks. They have lots of cool things, but I finally settled on a pretty blue keyring and a mug with the Uni logo on it, so that I can drink Horlicks and remember Beijing.

 Then it was time for our Graduation Ceremony! We were in the same beautiful room in which we had our Opening Ceremony, and the same pretty music was playing, and it made me think of what we have all achieved since that day three weeks ago. It has been truly wonderful.

 Hai did a brilliant job of presenting the ceremony, and there were lovely speeches by Natalie, Ziggy and Dinesh as well as from senior figures from BNU. There was also a slideshow of photos and video footage from our Study China experience, which was really nice.

 We then found out that we had ALL graduated, which was brilliant! We were then called up to collect our certificates, which are not just on pieces of paper but in gorgeous little books with our photographs in them! Really special things to keep. Thank you, BNU! (By the way, I got 195 out of 200 on my HSK, which I am really chuffed with!)

 We then had our performances! They went really well and all three songs are now stuck in my head. See the videos on the blog post, "Graduation Ceremony performances."

Me and Hai ♥

 Sarah, Marvi, April and I then posed for "jumping photos" outside the magnificent main university building. 

 We bought bubble waffles - an amazing snack that I had never tried before. They are gorgeous - I am a bit sad that I only discovered them on the last day.

 I did some of my packing, then went to meet some of the others at Laker's, an amazing bar on campus, where we had a really brilliant last night and danced one last Gangnam Style. 

 Writing your name on the wall seems to be the norm in Laker's, so I wrote the address of this blog alongside my name. If you came here from the wall in Laker's, an extra warm welcome to you! I hope you enjoy my blog!

 April and I then walked back to our accomodation together, and we said goodnight, then I finished packing and went to bed, setting my alarm for five in the morning.

 I got up at five and got dressed and breakfasted, then Marvi helped me to carry my bags down to the lobby - Marvi, if you are reading this, you are an absolute gem, thank you so much for everything ♥

 The group of us who were catching the early drop-off to the airport got onto our coach, said goodbye to the student helpers who were with us to the very end, checking we got our coaches - you guys are amazing, thank you so much - and then we were off to the airport.

 I was there early - better safe than sorry - and I had a bit of a wait before they started checking-in for my flight. I went through check-in and security, which is perhaps the most comfortable and efficient I have been through: other airports can learn a lot from the Chinese. 

 I was then free to wander and eat some ice-cream - vanilla Häagen-Dazs if you are interested. I will always associate Beijing International Airport with vanilla ice-cream now. Silly but true.

 Finally I got on my plane and we flew out of Beijing. We had an entertainment system on the plane with films. I tried to be cultured and watch The Godfather but gave up out of sheer boredom about twenty minutes in - sorry, Godfather fans - and instead watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and then American Beauty. Both of which were very enjoyable.

 We touched down in Moscow and I bought a Russian stacking doll. I then had my flight from Moscow to Amsterdam - the food on that flight was so amazing, thank you KLM - then from Amsterdam to Manchester, then I was HOME!

 Then I slept.

 It's lovely to be home; little things surprise you like how quiet it is compared to Beijing; how wide-open everything seems without all the skyscrapers; and the rain: I don't think it rained once while we were in Beijing. 

 It is so beautiful to feel rain on my face again. Some people may not like rain but I think it has its own very special beauty, and I love the sparkle of light catching on raindrops on tree branches.

 I will post lots and lots of photos of China, and probably more videos, so watch this space! Thanks for following my travels; this has been an amazing experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. 

 Thank you to Study China, Manchester University, Beijing Normal University, Natalie, Hai, Sally, all the student helpers, our teachers and lecturers, and all the participants for making the Study China experience truly fantastic and life-changing for me ♥

 Xiexie! Zaijian!

 Liz x

Amazing times

 Hello!

  I hope you enjoyed the photos on my last blog post. When I get home on Saturday I will add lots more photos and hopefully some video footage as well. 

 Just after my last talky blog post - which I believe was last Wednesday - I went out with a small group for a massage. The massage parlour we went to is not far from campus and the massages are done by blind masseurs. 

 I was a bit put out when I found out that everyone intended to have full body massages; I had been expecting just head and neck. I had never before had a full body massage, and was more than a little apprehensive, yet it turned out to be quite a pleasant experience. Certainly it was a new experience, and I'm glad I went through with it in the end. Thank you to Hai and Abi for being very kind and reassuring to me.

 After this there is not a lot to report for a few days as I was ill - as was a large proportion of the group - with some kind of flu-like virus. I was laid up from Friday to Sunday, but on Monday I was beginning to feel a bit better. In class on Monday we had our first taste of the HSK exam, which is the Mandarin Chinese exam we have been working towards during our language classes here. 

 We did a practice paper and I got something like 67%, 60% being a pass. We have done two papers since and I got 85% on both, which I am quite pleased with.

 Anyway, back to Monday - New Year's Eve. After lessons we went to Laker's and ate together, then some people went clubbing, and those of us who were ill, had been ill or just fancied a quiet night in gathered in Ziggy's room, which was converted into the best cinema in Beijing, and we watched the DVD of Miss Congeniality. I had never seen this film and I really enjoyed it. Thank you, Ziggy! It was a lovely night.

 New Year's Day saw us scaling the Great Wall of China, or part of it anyway. I only made it part-way up the bit we were climbing, but some people got right to the very top. To say it was freezing cold is an understatement. But it was worth the cold to see the beautiful views we got from up in the mountains.

There were lots of souvenir stalls and I bought something I'd been hoping to buy for a long time - a cloth wall-hanging thing of the twelve Chinese Zodiac animals. I will post a photo as soon as I can. It is lovely.

 A group of us then went to a restaurant which was really cool because you had a little barbecue stove in the middle of your table, and you would select raw meat, seafood and vegetables from a buffet and cook them on the hob in front of you. Obviously you have to be a good judge of when things are cooked properly. As I am not an experienced food-y chef (baking is more my thing than meat and stuff) I relied on Hai to be the judge, and she did a great job of picking out nice pieces of meat for me, so thank you, Hai ♥ I also found out she is a Pisces like me!  ><))))> <((((><  <- Supposed to look like two fish.

 Then it was yesterday, the second of January, and after lessons and an economics lecture I jumped upon a group who were going to the Bird's Nest Stadium, as this was the one place I was absolutely determined not to miss at any cost. We got a cab there, and when I first saw the stadium it was the most amazing moment. 

 I had thought it would be all grey, but it is lit from the inside in the most glorious ruby and amber colours. It is a truly beautiful and spectacular sight. I think of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics as the great TV event of my lifetime so far, and seeing the place where all of that happened was a really special moment for me. 

 The Olympic Park as a whole seemed very beautiful and a nice, peaceful place to spend some time. What I liked was that you can see the mountains in the distance, between the buildings - the natural beauty of China is always there if you know where to look.

 When we got back from Olympic Park I joined a group who were going to the Legend of Kung-Fu, which promised to be, "More energetic than River Dance." (according to the Deputy Irish Ambassador to China). It is in the highly impressive-looking Red Theatre, which was what felt like quite a long taxi ride away from our accommodation, but it was so worth it. 

 The show was amazing. It is the story of Chun Yi, as he grows from a little boy first learning kung-fu, to the Abbot of his monastery. I have a phobia of loud bangs and was afraid loud pyrotechnics may be used, but thankfully for me it soon became pretty obvious there wasn't going to be any of that kind of thing, so I could relax and enjoy the show. All the effects were created using lights, dry ice ( a LOT of dry ice) and on one occasion, bubbles. It was a real spectacle.

 I really liked when Chun Yi and the beautiful fairy were dancing together in the bubbles; however there was so much dry ice being blown into our faces at this point I could barely see some parts of this beautiful scene, which was a shame. 

 Another scene I loved was when Chun Yi, having fallen from grace, is sitting in remorse and the old master comes up to him and wraps his cloak around his shoulders and passes him one of the small bells that all the monks play. He begins to gently strike the bell, and the other monks appear, all dressed in white like angels, and they perform a very simple but extremely beautiful and emotional chant, as Chun Yi realises he is forgiven and is in good hands, among friends. As a scene it is so simple yet so effective.

 Today, those of us who are studying the economics module did our presentations - my group's presentation was about inequality in China with regards to wealth and income. I then went with some others to a fish restaurant, where we shared fish stuffed with vegetables, noodles and tofu. It was a lovely evening, so thank you to Abi for inviting me!

 Tomorrow we have our final lessons and then the closing ceremony, where each of the three Mandarin classes will do a performance - my group are singing Beijing Huanying Ni. I can't wait to see all of the performances!

 Thanks for reading my blog, I hope you are enjoying it.

 Liz x

PS the moon here is amazing!

Christmas in Beijing!

 Hello, everyone! 

 It is Boxing Day, and I am going to tell you about my Christmas in Beijing! It is the first time I have been away from home at Christmas, and I have been missing my family. However, I have still had a lovely Christmas with some amazing friends.

 I last updated this blog on Friday, so I will tell you what has happened between then and now. On Saturday a group of us decided to visit Beijing Zoo to see the giant pandas, which are so lovely! I also got the chance to see a golden eagle, a polar bear and boto dolphins! So many amazing creatures I had never seen before.

The aquarium, which had the dolphins and also a big turtle, looked really interesting, but my group didn't give ourselves much time to spend there and had to hurry back to our accommodation for lunch. Maybe one day we can go back and explore the aquarium properly - it looks fascinating.

 That afternoon we had our visit to a Chinese family. I was in a group of five, and our host was a lady who works with international students at Beijing Normal University. We spent the afternoon and some of the evening in her incredibly comfortable apartment, chatting in Chinese and English, making dumplings, eating a delicious meal our host made for us, and generally feeling really relaxed and cosy. It was a lovely, chilled finish to our Saturday.

 Sunday morning we got up early to go and visit the body of Chairman Mao in his mausoleum at Tiananmen Square. We then went to the Forbidden City, which was very beautiful. It was rather surreal looking over the walls of this ancient city and seeing the modern Beijing skyline beyond. Beijing really is a city of old and new combined.

We then went back to the Silk Market where I bought a few things, though I often feel uncomfortable in that place as the lights are really bright and white and make me feel claustrophobic. But it was wonderful spending time with Marvi, Sarah and April - three truly lovely people with whom I have become good friends.

 We had pizza together and then got a taxi back to our hotel. The taxi took us through a lot of skyscrapers and other cool buildings, such as the amazing new CCTV building (I'm hoping my Mam - who copies my emailed blog posts into my actual blog as Blogger is blocked here - will be nice and insert a photo of said building).

 That night we went to karaoke with Hai, one of the student volunteers here, who is really kind and lovely. Karaoke was good fun - there were memorable renditions of Small Things, Gangnam Style, Someone Like You, We Are Young, Mr. Brightside, Hotel California, 1,000 Miles, and L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.; the latter of which has been stuck in my head since! I don't mind because I really like it.

 Monday was Christmas Eve and we had lessons and then an economics lecture, which was on the sixteenth floor of the main university building. The view from the windows of the sun setting over Beijing was so stunning! I wanted to go to the very top of the building to see what the view would be like; I couldn't find any easily accessible windows on the top floor - the twenty third - so I went down to the twenty second floor where there was a lovely big window at either end of the corridor and I could gaze at, and photograph, the magnificent city and the gorgeous sunset.

 That evening some people were talking about going to karaoke again, but I decided to stay in, and I phoned my family to wish them Merry Christmas and that was lovely. Then the next day was Tuesday and was Christmas!

 We had lessons in the morning and learnt to say Merry Christmas in Mandarin - Sheng dan kuai le! We are also learning the song Beijing huan ying ni (Beijing Welcomes You - it is from the Olympics) and we are going to sing it at our graduation ceremony! I really like it.

 That evening we all met up for drinks in a coffee shop called Sculpting in Time, where I had some nice hot chocolate and a lovely chat with Scott. Then a large group of us went out for a meal together, which was really tasty. It was so lovely to have so many of us in one place on Christmas Day.

 We then went to play pool, and I played with Fay against Sarah and April. Fay had to teach me quite a lot as I am not a seasoned pool player, but by the end I had learnt quite a bit and potted a couple of balls! Fay also showed us some really amazing card tricks. It was a brilliant night and such a unique Christmas Day. I am glad I got to share this surreal but really enjoyable experience with such wonderful people as the Study China crew.

 Today after lessons we had a Tai Ji class, which was good fun, and the teacher was so talented! He showed us some of his skills and everyone was flabbergasted. We then went to see an acrobatics show which featured juggling as you will probably never have seen it, extreme bike riding, tightrope antics and umbrella juggling, which was something I had never seen before. It was a really well-choreographed and beautiful show, but it ended too quickly for me - I want to see more of it!

 Some of us then went to a little bar on campus called Laker's, where the lads in our group requested Gangnam Style and danced en mass, to the bemusement of half of the bar! I sat more serenely with some of my friends and had a pizza and a milkshake and both were delicious. Another really nice night with friends.

 So, that is you up to date with my antics! I don't think I need to say that I am having an amazing time. I feel so lucky to be here; it is just incredible being able to experience China in this way.

 Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!

 Liz x