Steve's sandbox

Tag: Beijing

  • New City, New Life: Alexander Johnstone, Beijing, China – September 2017

    新的城市，新的生活
    我现在已经在北京呆了四个星期了。虽然这段时间算是比较短，但是我所体验的事情真是很多！办理好多手续以后（比如说找公寓，拿到居留证等等）我终于能够开始好好地享受我在北京的新生活。在许多方面上北京已经超出了我的预期，下面就是我对北京受到的某些印象。
    1） 北京是个极大的都市！
    我刚到北京的最初的印象是北京是个真正的都市， 北京的规模每天会令我感到十分吃惊！因为我是在英国的郊外出生长大的， 所以我还没习惯这样的生活步调。再加上，北京的人真的太多，在我住附近的人总是川流不息。高峰时间我真的不敢坐地铁，要不然我要在地铁站排长队，地铁上太拥挤。
    2） 北京是个应有尽有的城市
    因为北京的人口是两万人多，有从世界各地中国各地的人般到这里，北京也是个多元化的城市。比方说，在北京，不管你喜欢吃什么，你想吃任何菜都可以。 我非常期待在这一年的时间品尝各种各样的地道中国菜，还有趁着机会去北京的画廊，展览，电影什么的。
    3） 其实，北京是个美丽的城市
    我来北京以前我以为北京是个不好看的城市，到处都是一摸一样的大楼。其实，北京有很多非常漂亮的公园，很容易能逃避城市生活。况且，我的校园有个很轻松的气氛，有很多平静的地方可以去读书。

    上个星期我的学期开始了，现在很乐意好好进步我的中文，更好了解中国这个国家的复杂性。

    New City, New Life

    I have been in Beijing for around 4 weeks by now. Although this period of time is still relatively short, I have already experienced so many things here! After getting through lots of admin work to set up my life here (such as finding an apartment and obtaining my residency permit) I can finally start to properly enjoy my new life in Beijing. In many different aspects Beijing has already exceeded my expectations – below are some of my impressions towards Beijing.

    1) Beijing is an enormous city
    My first impression of Beijing when I was arrived was that it is truly a metropolis. The scale of the city left me completed shocked! Since I grew up in the suburbs in England, I am not yet used to the pace of life here. In addition, there are really so many people in this city – in my neighbourhood there is a continuous stream of people! During rush hours, I don’t dare to take the subway, as otherwise I would have to queue outside the subway station to use it and face huge crowds once inside.

    2) Beijing is a city of endless opportunities
    As there are over 20 million people in Beijing, who come from all over the world and China, Beijing is a really multicultural place. For example, no matter what kind of food you like to eat, I am sure you could find it here. Over the upcoming year, I am really looking forward to trying out all sorts of authentic Chinese dishes, and making the most of this opportunity to visit different art galleries, exhibitions and film screenings.

    3) Beijing is actually a really beautiful city
    Before I came to Beijing I thought that it would be really ugly and that everywhere would just be identical-looking high-rise buildings. In fact, Beijing has lots of beautiful parks which means it is easy to escape the city life. Also, my campus has a really relaxed vibe and there are lots of quiet places you can go to read a book in peace.

    I just started class last week, and I feel motivated to keep working to improve my Chinese and better understand the complexities of China.

  • Case Study: Gavin Vine – China 2016-2017

    I began my year in China working at the British embassy in Beijing, before starting university at Peking University, one of China’s top universities, as part of my year abroad. It was at this time when my John Speak scholarship started, providing me with extra money that enabled me to make the most of my time in China. Whilst studying I also interned at a Chinese app company, which not only gave me an insight into the Chinese work place environment, but also provided me with the opportunity to make Chinese friends.

     

    However, as I’m sure many of my friends would agree, the highlight of our year abroad was the chance to go travelling and explore the many diverse regions of this huge country.

    Thanks to the John Speak scholarship, I was able to make the most of my school holidays, and over the course of the year visited 14 different provinces!

     

    Not only did these trips enhance my understanding of the large geographical and cultural diversity that exits within China, but also allowed me to deepen my knowledge of Mandarin. It is only through travelling that I came to understand just how much the accents and pronunciations of Mandarin vary across different regions.  This has helped me improve my ability to tell where a Chinese speaker comes from, a useful skill for any language student.

    I would like to thank the John Speak trust for the support they gave me during my year abroad.  It greatly enriched my experience of living in China, and proved to be a great aid in the development of my Mandarin.

     

  • Things I will miss about China: Gavin Vine, June 2017

    我在中国的时间快要结束了。考虑到这一点，我最近比往常更珍惜一些普通的中国经历。第一个就是吃北京的小吃。自从我来到中国之后，晚上的时候我的公寓外面一直站着很多卖各种各样好吃食物的摊子。半夜很饿的时候，去买一个手抓并或者炒饭已经变成了我的一个习惯。我知道回英国之后没有这个买宵夜的机会让我怀念我在中国的时光。同样的，我也习惯了点‘外卖’。当然，很多国家有外卖，可是中国的外卖真的独一无二。好像中国每一家饭馆（中国的饭馆很多！）都跟一个外卖应用链接了。这样你什么时候饿都能点你最想吃的菜，难怪在北京商业地区每天中午你都能看到上班族站在办公室外面等他们的外卖。最后，飞提及微信的便利性不可。好像在中国生活你唯一需要的事情就是微信，你能来用这个app买东西，打车，组自行车，付电水气的费用, 挂一漏万。

    Chinese lanterns near my apartment

     

    English:

    My time in China is sadly coming to an end. I will be heading back to the UK at the end of the month having learnt a lot over the course of my year in China. With this in mind, I have recently been cherishing more than usual a few ordinary Chinese experiences. The first is Beijing’s street food. Eversince I came to China, every night outside my apartment there have been food stands selling all sorts of delicious food. When I’m hungry late at night, going out to get a ‘shou zhua bing’ (a kind of pancake) or fried rice has become a habit. I know that when I go back to England, not having the opportunity to quickly go and buy a delicious, cheap midnight snack will make me long to be back in China. Similarly, I have also got used to ordering take away a lot. Of course lots of countries have take away, but the system in China really is unparalleled. It’s as if every restaurant in China (there are a lot of restaurants in China!) is linked to one of the take away apps. In this way you can order absolutely anything you want, whenever you want. Its no wonder that if you go to the business district at lunch time, you’ll see hoards of office workers waiting outside their office for their takeaway to be delivered. Finally, I can’t speak about China with out mentioning Wechat. It’s as if Wechat is the only thing you need to be able to live in China. You can use it to buy things, hire a cab, rent a bike or even pay for your water and electricity bills. The list really is endless!

  • The weekend of ‘one belt, one road’: Gavin Vine – China, May 2017

    一带一路的那一周末

    这周末中国举行了‘一带一路’的论坛，世界上各地的元首都来北京参加。‘一带一路’是中国和别的国家合作发展和倡议的理念，通过这个理念中国政府旨在和别的国家创建密切的贸易关系。因为这个论坛很重要，所以这周末北京经历了一些变化。第一个变化是北京大部分的酒吧和夜店被警察关闭了，连一些便利店也关们了。对于警察为什这样做了，我也不太清楚。我觉得这样的情况很好得证明了关于在中国生活的一个事实 – 你偶尔会碰到无缘无故的变化。但是，另一个跟论坛相关的比较积极的变化是我们都有机会享受‘一带一路蓝’- 没有雾霾的蓝天。在北京住了一年后，我发现每当中国举行很重要的会议的时候，所有的空气污染都神奇地消失。现在我和朋友们都很期待中国的每一个大会议！

    Enjoying the blue skies at Peking University

    ENGLISH:

    The weekend of the ‘One belt, one road’ forum

    This weekend China hosted the ‘One belt, one road’ forum with world leaders from all around the world taking part in the event. ‘One belt, one road’ is the concept of China and other countries working together to develop trade and infrastructure. Through ‘One belt, one road’, China aims to establish strong trade connections with other countries. Due to the importance of the forum, Beijing experienced a few changes this weekend. The first change was that the police closed the majority of bars in the city, in addition to some convenience stores. As to why the police did this, I don’t really know. What bars and convenience stores have to do with the running of a world forum on trade and infrastructure is beyond me. I feel that this kind of situation represents a unique aspect of living in China – things will sometimes happen with no rhyme or reason. However, another more positive change due to ‘one belt, one road’, was that we all had the opportunity to enjoy ‘one belt, one road blue’. In other words, a day with blue skies and no pollution. Having lived in Beijing for a year, I’ve noticed that whenever China hosts an important conference, all the smog magically disappears. My friends and I now look forward to every big conference! On this weekend for instance, we took the opportunity to have a picnic at ‘No Name Lake’ in Peking University. We made sure to make the most of the fresh air before the smog rolled back in the next day.

  • Sinead O’Connor: Case Study, China – 2016

    I began receiving the John Speak travel grant in September 2016, when I began my third year abroad in China as part of my university degree.

    China park

    As there is very little in way of any other monetary help for students choosing to study abroad, especially in this part of the world, it was with great delight that I discovered this grant. It has allowed not only myself but several other students in my department be able to more fully enjoy their time abroad, without the weight of financial worry.

    Being given this grant enabled me to make the most of what is a crucial period for my language learning. Having the opportunity to experience the complete language immersion of living and studying in Beijing, I have been able to deepen my understanding and knowledge of this language, and accelerate my progress in all four key language skills. I am now able to communicate in a way I could never have thought of at the beginning of my university programme – from opening a bank account to moving house, I have grown in confidence and accuracy in my use of the language.

    Equally importantly, this has also been an invaluable chance to experience life in a completely different culture to my own, and this grant has allowed me to more fully explore the many different sides to China. Living in an international city such as Beijing, I have learned a vast amount about the the way of life, customs, dialects, and range of cultures and ethnicities which populate this continent sized country. However as the students who went before us advised us, it is the opportunity grants such as this give to do some travelling around this country which change your perceptions of and offer a much more comprehensive understanding of China today. From travelling to the up-and-coming mega city of Chongqing, where the millions of residents speak an almost incomprehensible mixture of Mandarin and local dialect, to braving temperature of minus 20 to visit the northern city of Harbin which felt more Russian that Chinese, I have been constantly impressed by the diversity of this vast country.

    In the future, I plan to work in international relations or diplomacy, if possible focussing on the relationship between China and England. If there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that there is still a lack of complete understanding and knowledge of the other country from both sides, and I would like to work to help what is a very promising relationship progress further.

    For being afforded this opportunity, I would like to thank the John Speak Trust.

    Regards,

    Sinead

  • An interesting concert experience in Beijing: Gavin Vine, China – January 2017

    自从我来中国之后，我一直尽力去熟悉华语音乐，为此来提高我普通话的水平。因此，我的朋友门邀请我陪他们去看女子乐队音乐会的时候我毫不犹豫地接受他们的邀请。他们所说的乐队叫做‘BEJ48’。 之前我没听说过这支乐队，所以我问他们给我解释以下。结果把来自英国的我弄糊涂了。这支乐队不是普通的乐队，而是一支由三个队组成的乐队，每个队有二十多个歌手。我们决定最好了解这个概念的方法就是去看表演。然而，我们去看表演之后，表演给我留下的印象是我对中国文化的了解没我之前以为的那么好！首先，我去看音乐会前，我以为大部分的粉丝都是小姑娘，可是原来他们都是很宅的男人。他们的行为好像球迷一样，都在欢呼，不在跳舞。可是，最奇怪的事情就是歌手的装束。虽然她们都是大人，可是他们的样子和八岁的女孩子差不多，都戴着蝴蝶结什么的。对粉丝来说这些女生是偶像，代表他们理想的女朋友，可是对我来说这就是我不能了解的一个现象。

    My view of the concert (cameras weren’t actually allowed)

    ENGLISH:

    Since coming to China I have tried my best to familiarise myself with Chinese music in order to improve my Mandarin. With this in mind, when my friends invited me to go to a girl band’s concert I didn’t hesitate in accepting their invitation. The band in question was called ‘BEJ48’. I hadn’t heard of this band before so I asked them to tell me a bit more about it. What they said to me (their clueless foreigner friend) left me quite confused. Apparently, the bad wasn’t a normal band but was instead made up of three teams, each team having more than twenty members. We decided the best way for me to understand this concept was to go and see the performance. However, after seeing the performance, my lasting impression was that my understanding of Chinese culture was not as good as I had initially thought! Firstly, before seeing the performance I had expected the majority of fans to be young girls, but in actual fact they were mostly nerdy men. What’s more, their behaviour was much like that of football fans – aggressively chanting rather than dancing. However, the strangest thing was the clothes the performers were wearing. Although they were all adults, their appearance was more akin to that of eight year-old girls, with bows in their hair etc. From the fans’ point of view these girls were idols representing their ideal girlfriend. However, from my point of view this was simply a phenomenon I could not understand.

  • My first KTV experience: Gavin Vine, China – December 2016

    我这个月最难忘的经历就是我和我的中国朋友一起去KTV唱歌的时候。虽然我在英国从来不唱歌，并唱歌唱得很难听，但是既然在中国这个活动这么受欢迎，我就决定入乡随俗，毕竟在中国KTV的酒吧到处可见。这时候出去玩原来非常的特别， 我没使用公共交通，而是坐我朋友的劳斯莱斯去酒吧。坐在这么豪华的车不但让我欣赏自己的幸运，而且让我思考在中国存在的贫富差距。

    到了KTV, 我的朋友就开始喝酒，唱歌。幸亏，第一首歌是我认识的‘小苹果’，一首筷子兄弟的歌。歌词在屏幕上出现的时候，我注意到一个很有意思的事情，这就是屏幕上的一个句子是我们在课上刚刚学到的句子 – 红楼梦的 ‘不离不弃’。在那时，我发现连最平凡的事情都在中国很长的文学历史上有基础。

    ENGLISH:

    Singing at KTV

    My most unforgettable experience this month was going with my Chinese friends to sing Karaoke. Although I never sing songs in England and have a terrible voice, since singing is such a popular activity here in China, I came to the conclusion ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do.’ After all, in China KTV bars can be seen everywhere. Going out turned out to be a very special experience as rather than using public transport as I usually do whenever I go anywhere, this time I instead traveled in my friend’s Rolls Royce. Sitting in such a luxurious car not only made me consider my own luck, but also the wealth gap that exists in China.

    On arriving at the KTV bar my friends immediately began drinking alcohol and singing. Some played drinking games by the table, whilst others climbed onto the mini stage and sang as if there was no tomorrow. Luckily, the first song was one I recognized – ‘Little Apple’ by the ‘Chopstick Brothers’. This was a big hit a few years a go and was the first song I heard when I arrived in China. When the lyrics appeared on the screen I noticed something very interesting. One of the sentences (‘never leave each other’) was something we had just recently learnt in class, and was in fact straight out of the Chinese literary classic ‘The Dream of the Red Chamber’. At that moment I realised that even the most trivial of things here have their foundations in China’s long literary history.

  • An Internship in Beijing: Gavin Vine, China – November 2016

    Working in the business district of Beijing

    我这个月在一家创业公司开始实习，这就帮我更好地了解中国的企业文化。虽然我开始之前听说中国试企业环境很紧张，可是我很快地发现并不是这样，企业环境其实很轻松，大家很开放，什么忌讳都没有。再说，我居然发现这家公司和我所工作的英国公司比起来，它没有那么严格的等级制度。这家公司当然不代表所有的中国公司，毕竟团体很小，人员都很年轻。不过，我在这家企业的工作经验真的出乎我的意料。话说回来，我在这家公司还是遇到一些在中国经常遇到的问题。比如，尽管我在一间很现代，很先进的办公室工作，我们的网络速度还是特别慢。真是太烦人了！另外， 每次我的一个同事给我水，总是是开水。尽管我在中国已经住了五个月了，我还没习惯这个风俗！

    ENGLISH:

    Lunch with my colleagues

    This month I started an internship at a start-up company and was able to gain a better insight into Chinese business culture. Although prior to starting I had heard that the Chinese business environment was very tense, I found that this really wasn’t the case. The business environment was actually very relaxed and everyone was very open, there weren’t any taboos that we were unable to discuss. Moreover, I was surprised to find that this company had a less rigid hierarchical structure than British companies I have worked for. Of course, this company cannot represent all Chinese companies, after all the team is very small and the staff are all very young. This is also a creative company and I’m sure my experience would be very different if I were working in a different field such as finance. However, my work experience at this company has truly surpassed all my expectations, and so far I have really enjoyed working here. Everyone has been so friendly and more than happy to help with any problems I have encountered. Having said this, whilst working at this company I have still run into a few problems you commonly find in China. For example, despite me working in a very modern, very hi-tech office, the Internet speed is still extremely slow. It can get very irritating! Furthermore, every time one of my colleagues offers me some water, it is always boiled water. Despite having lived in China for five months now, I still haven’t got used to this custom!

  • Golden Week, China – Charlotte McGarry, October 2016

    每年在十月份期间中国人有一周的假期来庆祝庆节，叫 ‘黄金周’。很多中国人趁着这个机会到国内和国外各种地方去旅游。我们班的学生也不例外，同学们之间去了十个多城市在三个的国家。我跟我的同学恩诺去苏州和上海。

     

    我们参观第一座城市是苏州，江苏省东南部的一个地级市。该城市因漂亮的运河和花园而出名。

    我们花了整天沿着运河走，参观苏州最为优秀的花园，不停地吃各种各样的可爱小吃。最初我们打算花整个假期在苏州，但看地图之后而发现了苏州到上海的距离多么近我们 那一刻就决定绕路去上海。上海是中国文化和经济中心，比苏州繁华得多。我们参观了该城市大部分的名胜，如外滩，人民工场之类的。当初上海的热闹气氛对我有很多诱惑力但过了不久我们累了要命，花整天在这么挤满的城市 东奔西跑 让我们烦躁不堪。

     

    总而言是，黄金周去旅行是个不能错过的机会，让你自己体验中国各个地方之间的文化和语言区别以及玩的很疯! 不过我推荐去旅游之前要心理准备一下, 只有在中国黄金周去过旅游，才能真正地明白’人山人海’的意思！

    Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

    Every year in October, China has a week of holiday, called ‘Golden Week’ to celebrate its National Day.  A lot of Chinese people take this opportunity to travel, both within the country and abroad.  Us exchange students were no exception; between us, we went to over ten different cities in three different countries.  I went with my classmate Ellie (Ennuo) to Suzhou and Shanghai.

     

    The first city we visited was Suzhou, a prefecture level city in the south east of Jiangsu Province.  This city is famous for its canals and gardens.  We spent a whole day walking along the canals, visiting Suzhou’s excellent gardens and endlessly eating all types of cute snacks.  At first, we planned to spend the whole holiday in Suzhou, but after looking at a map and seeing how close Shanghai was, we in that moment decided to make a detour via Shanghai.

     

    Shanghai is China’s cultural and economic centre and is much more bustling and lively than Suzhou.  We went to most of the city’s famous sights, such as the Bund and People’s Square.  At first, I found the lively atmosphere in Shanghai to be enticing, but after a while we got really tired of it; spending whole days running around in a city this busy made us unbearably irritable!

     

    In conclusion, travelling in Golden Week is an unmissable opportunity – it allows you to personally experience the cultural and linguistic between different places in China, as well has have an excellent time!  But nevertheless, I recommend that before you go, you mentally prepare yourself – only after having travelled in China during Golden Week will you truly understand what ‘people mountain people sea’ (a commonly used Chinese proverb referencing a mass of people so large it extends to the mountains and seas) really means!.

  • My first few months in China – Gavin Vine, September 2016

    我现在在北京已经住了三个月了，这几个月一直在英国驻华大使馆实习。 这三个月过得很快，而我现在准备去北大学习。目前在中国的这段时间里经常想起一些难忘的经历 。有一次是我和我的同事 一起去了青岛，参加了那里很有名的啤酒节。 我一到青岛就注意到了青岛与北京相比有很大的区别，青岛的马路很窄，没有北京的那么宽，这显然是受到了德国建筑的影响，与北京灰白的高楼比，看到青岛的欧洲式建筑格调是一个十分可喜的不同。另外一个明显的区别是在青岛可得到的菜。我在北京的时候习惯每天都去买煎饼的摊子吃肉,可是走在青岛的街巷马上注意到蚝，蟹和虾的气味，毕竟青岛的海鲜远近闻名。

    话说回来，我并不能一概而论，只是简单地提及了北京的高楼，宽马路。 我发现北京的每一个地方都很独特，有自己的特色。走在胡同里你不禁感受老北京的味道。相反的，在繁华的三里屯逛街的时候好像穿越到了另一个时代。 如此多彩多姿的中国，我很期待开始探索这个充满乐趣的国家。

    The sleek modern buildings of Beijing CBD. Photo taken from balcony of the CBD area of Beijing

    ENGLISH:

    I have now been living in Beijing for three months, doing an internship at the British Embassy in China. The past three months have passed by so quickly and I am now preparing to commence study at Peking University. When I consider my time in China, a few unforgettable experiences come to mind. The first is when my colleagues and I went to Qingdao for the famous beer festival. As soon as I arrived in Qingdao I noticed a stark contrast with Beijing. The city’s narrow roads were far smaller than the wide roads of Beijing whilst the German- influenced European style architecture compared to the tall, grey buildings of Beijing represented a welcome change. Another notable difference was the variety of food available. While in Beijing I had got used to stalls selling pancakes (jianbing) and had mainly eaten meat. However, walking through the streets of Qingdao I was immediately struck by the smell of oysters, crabs and shrimp. Qingdao, after all, is known far and wide for its seafood.

    Having said this, I certainly can’t generalise and simply say Beijing is just tall buildings and wide roads. I have found that everywhere in Beijing is so different, each area having its own character. Walking through the Hutongs you can’t help but feel the old Beijing atmosphere. By contrast, strolling through bustling Sanlitun it like passing through to a different era. China is so eclectic and vibrant, I can’t wait to start exploring this incredible country.