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!

Some photos

Hello!
Here are some photos from my time in China so far!

First two: the view from my window!

Next: the Study China opening ceremony

Beautiful flowers at the opening ceremony

Me at the opening ceremony

Out and about in Beijing

Cool name for a shop

 A fruit stall 

Some durians

 

Street with lots of food stalls

                                        

Selection of eggs

Seed stall. 

Seeds appear to be important to the Chinese as stalls like this are a common sight.

A Chinese lion

Callum! I saw this and thought of you!

                                     

The famous symbolic bell in the beautiful grounds of Beijing Normal University

A Chinese flag

Some of the nine million

Our first economics lecture

Calligraphy!

Calligraphy!

My attempt at the cursive hand form of the character for the dragon

Beijing Opera

The last lady is the Drunken Concubine who was my favourite character

Am about to go out to celebrate New Year's Eve with the group; I hope you enjoyed the photos and I will upload more as soon as I can.

 Thanks for reading! And Happy New Year!

 Liz x

One week in!

 Hello everyone! Ni hao!

 We have now been in China for a week, but it feels like we have been here for months! We are now accustomed to the system of Mandarin lessons in the morning, economic or cultural classes in the afternoon, and going out exploring in the evenings. I am getting to know more and more people in the group, and I feel I am making some good friends.

 Wednesday afternoon we had a calligraphy class, which was fascinating. We were taught by a Professor who I understand to be very well-respected in his field. 

 He taught us about the ancient art of calligraphy; what it is that makes calligraphy so different from ordinary writing; then he showed us how to do the eight different strokes of Chinese calligraphy. We had special brushes made from - I think - bamboo, and very black ink which from the nautical smell of it may have come from a squid but I can't be sure. We practised the brush strokes on special paper and those of us who have Chinese alternative names wrote our names in calligraphy. 

 The Professor then told us all about the dragon and its significance in Chinese culture, and showed us many different ways of portraying the dragon in calligraphy. He finished by offering to write up all of our names in Chinese calligraphy, which is extremely kind of him. It was amazing to learn such an ancient and special art form from a true master.

 That evening the whole Study China group went to see the Beijing Opera, another ancient and respected art. There are truly spectacular costumes - I cannot emphasize enough how amazing some of them were. The performance we saw was made up of four famous scenes from the Beijing Opera. The first was called, "A Dance With a Sword," and was about a woman singing and dancing with a pair of swords with great skill to try to comfort the King who has lost a battle and may be about to lose his kingdom. In the end she threatens to kill herself with the sword and it wasn't obvious to me whether or not she succeeded... hopefully she lived. 

 The second piece was entitled "The Crossroads," and was about an encounter at an inn which leads to a martial arts battle. I know this was a favourite for a few of the lads on the trip who were impressed by the kung-fu, but personally I preferred the other pieces which had more dialogue and singing. 

 The third piece was called something along the lines of "A Pact and a Promise," and was about a husband revealing to his wife that he is actually from a different background to what she had thought, and that he changed his name so he could marry her, as she is above his level socially. He wants her to steal a token that will get him past a border of some sort so he can see his mother. That is the gist I got. I must say, I think she took very well the revelation that he lied to her and is not who he said he was - she sung about it for a few minutes and then seemed to be completely over it - not very realistic, I don't think!

 Finally we had, "The Drunken Concubine," about a concubine who becomes "charmingly drunk" as the intro put it, when she finds out the King has left her to spend the night with another concubine. This was the most bizarre performance, but I really enjoyed it, and I found it the easiest to follow.

 So, the Opera was a great success and I really enjoyed it. Also, I don't know if she'll ever see this, but I want to thank Natalie again for being so kind and doing what she could to help me enjoy the show despite my phobia of loud noises - I had been afraid there would be fireworks used, though in the end there weren't any so my fears were unjustified. But Natalie got me a seat on the aisle so I could leave if I needed to, and was very kind, so xiexie! (That's "thank you" in Chinese.)

 Thursday morning we had lessons as usual, then we had a lecture on "Demographic Change and the Social Security System in China," which was really interesting. Then a group of us went to Tienanmen Square, where it started snowing, and it was lovely. The Square is magnificent and we all took what seemed like hundreds of photos! 

 We then met by happy coincidence with another group of Study China students, and we all went for a Chinese meal together. We got our own little room within the main restaurant, and were given mango juice and watermelon juice. We ordered various dishes to share between us, including the famous Peking Duck. I had been expecting it to still look like a duck, but it was arranged in slices. I liked it at first, then it became a bit too fatty so I left it. So far my favourite Chinese dishes have been sweet and sour pork/chicken and a dish you can get with chicken and roasted peanuts. (Peanuts the way they do them over here are absolutely amazing.)  

 When we left the shopping mall that the restaurant had been in, it was really snowing, and the landscape was very beautiful. The ground was very slippery though! But it was lovely, walking along in the snow, and it is one of the main memories I will keep with me of Beijing.

 Today we had lessons, then Abbie, Scott, Sally and myself went to a Cantonese restaurant and shared a delicious meal. Sally is a student at the University and is one of the student volunteers who is there to look after us Study China people; to guide us and help us out when we need her. She is absolutely lovely. 

 Today is the winter solstice which is celebrated by a festival in China, which was partly why we had our meal (and partly just to spend time together). Today is also the apocalypse according to some; I really hope we live to see tomorrow because I love it here in China and want to see some more of it!

 This has been a wonderful first week in China; I was a bit homesick at first but I am settled in now and am really having a brilliant time. Here's to another two amazing weeks! And to the world not ending!

 Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you are all well! ♥

 Liz x

The night before

 Hello!

 A bit about me: my name is Liz, I am eighteen and I am a student of French and Spanish at the University of Manchester. Since April I have also been studying Mandarin Chinese at night school, and I am fascinated by the Chinese language and culture.

 So when I received an email telling me about the Study China programme, which is managed by my university, I thought it looked like a wonderful opportunity, and I applied to take part in it. After sending off the application form, I had a telephone interview, and then I got an email telling me that I had been given a place on the programme!

 I was amazed and delighted. Not long afterwards, I found out that I was destined for Beijing, which was the city I had been hoping for, so I was even happier. The whole thing is so amazing - even now, the night before I am due to set out, I still cannot completely believe that I am actually going to China.

 I have never been outside Europe before, so this will be a big journey for me not only in terms of distance but also in terms of the difference in culture. I will get the chance to explore a country and a way of life unlike any I have ever experienced, and that will, I feel, broaden my horizons and teach me more about the world.

 One of the reasons why I applied for Study China was simply to go somewhere completely different to anywhere I'd ever been, and China promises to fulfil that wish. It will be a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I feel so lucky and privileged to have had this opportunity. Thank you, Study China!

 So, the plan is that I fly out tomorrow, get there Saturday and have a day to get my bearings before the programme begins on Sunday.

 I can't wait to go to China, but I am rather nervous - this is the furthest from home I will ever have been, and the longest period of time - three weeks - for which I will ever have been away. I am really hoping I won't get too homesick, especially as I am staying over Christmas. However, I have been promised a second Christmas when I get home ♥

 I hope you enjoy reading my blog and joining me on my adventures! It promises to be the trip of a lifetime!

 Liz x