Steve's sandbox

Tag: Beijing

  • 端午节 Dragon Boat Festival 20 June 2015

    Imogen Page-Jarrett – June 2015

    端午节

    端午节最初是中国人祛病防疫的节日，早期有在农历五月初五以龙舟竞渡举行部落祭祀的习俗。后因诗人屈原在这一天死去，便成了中国汉族纪念屈原的传统节。 因为屈原是跳河而自尽,人们借划龙舟驱散江中之鱼，以免鱼吃掉屈原的尸体。端午节有吃粽子，喝雄黄酒，挂菖蒲等有香气的草木，赛龙舟的习俗。这些习俗都起源于端午节本来的防疫驱邪习俗。

    什刹海龙舟赛

    端午节那一天我们去北京的什刹海看龙舟赛，这个习俗已流传两千多年。沿湖岸，几十条龙舟。每舟一个鼓手，一个舵手，另有水手约15名。舟上齐唱“嗨哟 嗨哟 嗨哟”。鼓点声响起，喊声震天，龙舟便如一支离弦的箭,在平静无波的塘河上来去如飞.水手动作整齐划一,坚实的肌肉随着动作一起一伏。赛到紧张处,更是精彩异常,两只龙舟齐头并进,争先恐后,岸上的呼声一阵盖过一阵,待到分出胜负,又是一阵的欢呼声夹杂几声懊丧的叹息声.我第一次看龙舟带真是好的一番景象。也是让我想起我在剑桥大学看过的划船比赛。世界各地的人举办基本上一样的习俗! 我那一天也爱上甜甜的小粽子（北方的甜，南方的咸）。

     

    接下来我想讲述位于湖南汩罗市的龙舟厂，下面照片中能看到工人们将几艘已经制作好的龙舟从车间抬出，不久就将装车运往各地。

    今年56岁的许桂生出在中国龙舟发愿地汩罗的“龙舟世家”，是这里的厂长。“每年临近端午节都是最忙的，我们请了很多工人，日夜赶工，基本上2天就可以造一个出来。”许桂生说。

    显而易见，每一艘龙舟经过好几天的努力才能下水参加比赛。因为特别的面貌而历史上的特征，我想多了解龙舟的来源并文化。希望大家从我的报告中也学到了一些新的关于端午节的事情。

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Dragon Boat Festival

    Dragon Boat Festival originates from China, and in the beginning was a festival where people for preventing and driving away disease. In early China, dragon boat races were a held by tribes to offer sacrifice to the ancestors on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Later, it became a traditional festival for the Han people to commemorate the death of the poet Qu Yuan, who died on this date. They took the practice of dragon boat racing to scatter the fish in the river where he killed himself, so the fish would not eat his dead body. People traditionally eat sticky rice dumplings on this day, as well as drinking realgar wine , hanging sweetflag and other potent herbs, and also race dragon boats. These all still relate to the original origins of driving out bad spirits and bringing about good energy.

    The boat race on Shichahai lake

    On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, we went to Shichahai lake in Beijing to watch the 2,000 year old tradition of dragon boat racing. On the bank of the lake were roughly ten boats. Each one has a drummer, a helmsman and about 15 rowers. In unison they chanted “Hey ho – hey ho- hey ho”. When the drums began to sound, the crowd sent out an earth shaking roar. The boats set off like an arrow being released from a taught bow string. In the still water they glided as if flying. The rowers movements were on and the same, flexing their muscles in complete unison.

    As the race reached its climax, the atmosphere bristled with excitement. Two boats were neck and neck, striving to be the first and terrified of coming second. The shouts from the shore came in waves. When it came to the deciding moment, the cheers of the winning team were interspersed with a few despondent sighs from their opponents. This first time watching the dragon boat race was a real sight to be seen. It also made me think of the rowing races back in Cambridge. It seems that people the world over enjoy similar traditions! I also really enjoyed the sweet dumplings (they are sweet in the north of China, and savory in the south).

    I would now like to describe the dragon boat factory in Guluo town, Hunnan county. In the photo beneath you can see the factory workers carrying some finished boats outside, where they are soon to be transported all over the country.

    The factory head is a 56 year old man names Xu Gui, who was born into the well known “Dragon Boat Family”, in the birthplace of dragon boats themselves, GuLuo. He loved dragon boats from a young age, and committed himself to being his father ‘s/dragon boat master’s (Xu Yueyun) apprentice. “Every year we become rushed off our feet when it approaches the dragon boat festival. We bring in a lot of outside hands to help, working day and night. We can make one boat in approximately 2 days”, he said.

    It is evident that a boat is only ready to take part in the race after many days of careful engineering. I am interested to understand more about their origins and culture, one because of their unusual appearance, and also because of their historical significance. I hope others can learn something new about the dragon boat festival from my report, too.

  • Emily Martin – Hong Kong and Macau, May 2015

    虽然在‘一国两制’政策下香港和中国是名义上“一国”的，这两个领土之间的差别很大。我一走下了飞机就发现北京和香港的许多明显区别—从湿乎乎的气候到盖住山丘的郁郁葱葱的植物，再到人们都说广东话。

    可是毫无疑问最值得注意的区别是许多白色摊子设在市中心。站着在这些摊子的人当众主张民主以及鼓励过路人来签署一份主张民主的请愿书。我在北京住了一年，这个时期中一个当众主张民主的人我也没遇到，我佩服这些敢于主张民主的人。我很快地发现香港人为香港人独立的身份感到很自豪。我用普通话跟出租司机说话的时候，他愤怒地告诉我他认为香港和 ‘蒙昧’的大陆截然不同。

    我坐船去澳门 —中国的拉斯维加斯。在那儿盘桓一天游览了各处名胜。澳门的葡萄牙历史的痕迹还残留着—尤其在漂亮的古老市中心—但是历史遗产是在某种程度上被巨大的娱乐场黯然失色的。花里胡哨的庞大娱乐场的营业额比拉斯维加斯的多五倍。最大的娱乐场叫 ‘The Venetian’。因为里面有3000多个老虎机，这家娱乐场本身变得 旅游景点。娱乐场的内部看起来和威尼斯一样。你要坐贡多拉船横渡运河河网来进去娱乐场。毫无疑问这是我一辈子最奇怪，最荒唐的经历之一， 娱乐场的豪华和铺张让我啧啧称奇。大部分玩着在娱乐场的人是中国大陆人。这个经历一定展示 巨富中国人的消费文化。

    澳门和香港有很多共同之处 — 两个都名义上 属于中国，可是两个领土的独立足够得选择和中国不同的发展道路。值得注意的是是否将来中国政府会维持现状或者会决定加强对香港和澳门独立的控制来让这两个领土和中国大陆的关系更密切。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Hong Kong and Macau

    While supposedly in the same state under the Chinese government’s “One country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong and China could not be more different. As soon as I stepped off the plane the contrasts between Hong Kong and Beijing became very apparent – from the sticky humid heat, the lush green of the surrounding hills and of course, the multitude of voices speaking unintelligible Cantonese.

    The most poignant difference, however, is the white stalls scattered in the central area collecting signatures for pro-democracy petitions. Having lived in Beijing for almost a year without encountering any trace of resistance or support for democracy, I can only admire the bravery of those daring to champion democratic change.

    I soon discovered that Hong Kongers are fiercely proud of this separate identity. When I tried speaking to a taxi driver in Mandarin, he angrily informed me in English that Hong Kong is separate to the ‘uncivilised’ Chinese mainland.

    I took a short boat ride to go on a day trip to Macau – the Las Vegas of China. While signs of Macau’s colonial Portugese heritage still remain in the old town, with pretty villas and beautiful mosaic pavements, the vast casinos have somewhat eclipsed the historical heritage. These gargantuan structures with gaudy gold exteriors have roughly 5 times the annual turnover than those in Las Vegas. The largest of the casinos – The Venetian – is an attraction in itself with over 3000 slot machines. Designed to resemble Venice, you enter the casino by gondola on a network of canals. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it, the luxury and extravagance is other worldly and the sheer number of mainland Chinese in the casino offers an interesting glimpse into the culture of new Chinese wealth.

    Macau and Hong Kong have much in common – both are nominally a part of China, but have maintained a degree of independence to take different, and hugely prosperous paths. It will be interesting to see if the government pushes for further integration with the mainland in the next few years, or allows them to maintain the status quo.

     

  • Imogen Page-Jarrett: Interning in Beijing 北京的实习生 – May 2015

    Interning in Beijing 北京实习生

    那是5月初的一个晴天，我开始在德国戴姆勒（奔驰）公司实习了。

    戴姆勒已经在中国100多年了，早在1913年，戴姆勒集团在青岛开设了第一家经销店，之后在1937年组装了800台梅赛德斯-奔驰载重车。时间来到1983年，中国汽车行业第一家中外合资企业北京吉普汽车有限公司成立，后来成为北京奔驰的前身。

    现代的戴姆勒大中华区则成立于2001年，总部也位于北京北部。到目前为止，戴姆勒集团在华已涉足包括了乘用车、轻型商务车、卡车、纯电动车、零部件以及金融服务等不同领域。数年来，秉承着“在中国制造，为中国而生”的发展理念，梅赛德斯-奔驰国产C级轿车，E级轿车以及国GLK级豪华中型越野车也在陆续在北京奔驰下线。

    我被分到金融部门，主管是戴姆勒大中华CFO的行政助理。我主要是担任内部活动策划、写文件，邮件，电子表格，的草稿、海报设计、找其他部门签字、写实时通讯的新闻等不同的责任。公司官方适用英文，所有邮件和文件都适用英文，可是工作人员90%是中国人，所以平时公司的环境是中文的。我最近发现我这两门语言都有进步。我汉语口语说得更流利，并且更理解怎么去写正式英文，怎么维护戴姆勒的标准。

    我还和几个其他实习生交上了朋友，大多也是大学生，有的已经考上了研究生了。我已经安排了跟另外一个金融实习生这个周末去世界上最“孤独的图书馆”，位于 河北省秦皇岛北戴河新区国际滑沙中心北边的海边。 透过落地窗可以看到远处的大海。 这所图书馆提供了一个回归读书本真的场所，让自己安静下来， 而这是嘈杂而又喧嚣的北京没有的。

    我特为珍惜这次实习经验，不仅仅是因为能提高我对国际机构的工作流程的理解，而还给我机会接触到新的一群人，那就是白领，而且体验中国的工作环境。我觉得在这份实习工作也会交许多好点的关系，对前途有好处。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    It was a fine clear day in May that I began interning at the German company Daimler (who own Mercedes-Benz).

    Daimler has already been in China for over 100 years now. As early as 1913, Daimler Group opened a dealership in Qingdao, and by 1937 they had already assembled over 800 vehicles. In 1983, China’s first China-oversees joint vehicle venture Jeep Ltd. was established, the forbearer to Mercedes.

    Modern day Daimler Greater China was established in January 2001 and headquartered in the North of Beijing, Daimler Greater China Ltd. The Daimler Group has already grown to include passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, trucks, hybrid vehicles, spare parts and financial services. In recent years, the company has been promoting the philosophy of “Made in China, for China”. Mercedes-Benz C-Class, E-Class, GLK and the luxury SUV were all manufactured in Beijing.

    I was allocated to the finance department, and my supervisor is executive assistant to the Daimler Greater China CFO. I am mainly responsible for internal event planning, drafting emails, Excel documents and other items, designing posters, getting signatures from other departments, and writing articles for the newsletter among other things. The company’s official language is English, and all emails and documents are written in English, although the office is 90% Chinese staff, so normally the working environment is in Chinese. Recently I have discovered I have made progress in both languages. My spoken Chinese is more fluent, and I have a better understanding of how to write formal English, and how to uphold Daimler’s standards.

    I have also made friends with some other interns here. Most of them are also university students, some being graduate students. I have already arranged to go to the world’s “loneliest library” this weekend with one other finance intern. The library is situated on the seafront of Beidaihe, a resort district in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province. Through the windows you can see the expansive ocean. The library offers a space to return to the basics of reading, to be calm. It is something that cannot be found in noisy clamorous Beijing.

    I feel that this internship experience is really precious, not only because it is giving me a better understanding of the workings of an international cooperation, but is also giving me the chance to meet a whole new group of people – white collar workers. I am also experiencing a Chinese working environment.

    I believe that this internship position will also allow me to make good connections that may be beneficial in the future.

     

  • Struan Rutherford – Summertime in Beijing – May 2015

    2015年五月

    由于我的回国日期迅速接近，我现在需要每天有安排来保证我体验尽量。我有限的时间鼓励 我参加新的活动，比如跟朋友住在长城旁边的农场。我们从北京开车几个小时，来到非常安静，漂亮长城的破旧部分。主人特别友好，给我们很好吃的家常晚饭。那晚上，我跟朋友一起爬上陡峭的山坡，穿过浓密的枝叶来在长城上看日落。爬过痛苦的灌木丛一个小时后，我们达到长城，看到最美的日落。不过，我们的喜悦很快成为烦恼因为我们发现从长城径直到农场的道路。道路非常有用，让我们很快回家但是我们意愿我们更早已经知道！第二天，我们在长城上走路六个小时，非常好的运动，回家后我感觉象是参加了马拉松，因为我的腿太疼了。但是，好的风景使得这一切很值得。

    唱歌最近成为我新的活动。我跟一些中国朋友去卡拉OK酒吧。KTV很好玩，由于文化原因也很有意思 。人民在英国常常太羞怯了来跟朋友或者家人唱歌，但是在中国大家参加。我希望我们可以到英国进口这个习俗因为卡拉OK气氛比较轻松。我唱歌的练习最终是用得上的因为我与同学们一起得参加中文系唱歌比赛。我们决定唱‘茉莉花’，我们与口技混合这首传统歌曲来创造现代版，和美国动画片‘冰雪奇缘’的歌曲‘随它吧’。我们受到“最佳演唱”奖品，出人意料！

    我们在英国大使家看英国大选结果。很多中国朋友对英国大选浓厚兴趣。他们特别吃惊因为20岁苏格兰学生被当选，现在有议会席位。讨论改革我们大选系统，采取比例代表机构的好处和缺点一定测试了我的汉语！

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Summertime in Beijing

    We watched the recent UK general election results at the British Ambassador’s Residence. Many of my Chinese friends were very interested in the British elections. They were particularly surprised that a 20 year old Scottish student was elected to Parliament. It has certainly been a test of my Chinese having to discuss the benefits and downsides of reforming our electoral system and introducing proportional representation.

    Singing has also been a new activity for me recently. I went with some Chinese friends to a karaoke bar. It was very fun but also interesting for cultural reasons. In Britain, people are often too shy to sing in front of their friends or family but in China everyone gets involved. I hope this is something we can import to Britain as the atmosphere is much more relaxed. My singing practice came in useful as our class had to take part in a Chinese faculty singing competition. We decided to sing ‘Molihua’, a traditional Chinese song which we mixed with some beatboxing, and ‘Let It Go’ from the American animated film ‘Frozen’. We won the award for most entertaining song which was better than we expected!

    As my return date quickly approaches, I now have to plan every day to make sure I experience as much as possible. My limited time has encouraged me to take part in new activities, for example staying on a farm with friends by the Great Wall. We drove for a couple hours outside of Beijing and arrived at a very quiet, beautiful and dilapidated section of the wall. Our hosts were extremely friendly and kind, giving us a delicious home cooked meal. That evening, a friend and myself climbed up a steep hill through thick foliage in order to reach the wall to watch the sunset. After an hour of climbing through very painful bushes, we arrived at the wall and saw an amazing sunset. Our joy however quickly became annoyance when we found a path that went straight from the wall to

    the farm. It was very useful for returning home but we wish we had known before! The next day we spent 6 hours hiking on the wall which was great exercise, I felt like I had run a marathon afterwards as my legs were so sore. However, the scenery was of course worth the pain.

     

  • Nadia – Beijing, China – May 2015

    这个⽉我在北京的⽣活平安⽆事。像往常⼀样，我每天上课，参加拳击课。最近天⽓很美，空⽓污 染也没有以前的严重。 这个⽉我想写⼀些关于我去天津的路上看到⼀个很特别的建筑。⼏个星期前我去天津⼀天游。天津 市在海边，但是从北京坐动⻋只要三⼗分钟。其实，天津很⽆聊，但是在旅途中我看到了⼀个很特 别的建筑。⽕⻋驶过旷野，⼀些⼩⼩的农舍。有某⼀时刻，不知道是到了哪⾥，我们驶过⼀个很⼩ 的村⼦。这个村⼦有⼀些⼀层房屋，周围都是⽥野。村⼦中间有⼀所很⼤的⼤教堂。我在天津⼀有 Wi-Fi的时候，就开始研究这个教堂的历史。根据⼀个⺴站，这个教堂是亚洲第⼆⾼的！ 不幸动⻋开得很快，所以我没有机会拍照。在上⾯有些在⺴站找到了的⼀些照⽚。教堂的造价是 1500万⼈民币，⼩村⼈都是基督教⼈所以他们都捐款，别的钱是从北京和海外捐款的。 这个教堂原来是在1800年代后期建筑的，但是在1900年代早期战争中毁了，在⽂化⼤⾰命时再毁 了。在过去的⼗年中这个教堂终于重建。我想去看这个⼩村和教堂，但是⼩村只能坐汽⻋到达。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:-

    My last month in Beijing has been fairly uneventful – classes have continued as usual, and I’m still boxing.  The weather is beautiful and the pollution hasn’t been a problem at all for a long time now.

    This month I want to write about something I saw on the way to Tianjin. A few weeks ago I took a day trip to Tianjin. Tianjin is by the coast but is only a 30-minute train ride from Beijing by bullet train. Tianjin itself was rather boring, but, on the train on the way to Tianjin I saw something amazing. The train passed a lot of empty land, farmland, and small villages. At one point, in the middle of no where, we passed by a small village with small one-storey houses surrounded by farmland. In the middle of this village was what appeared to be a huge cathedral. As soon as I got wifi in Tianjin I started researching the building. Traces of Christianity in the village go back 400 years. According to one source, it is the second tallest church in Asia! Unfortunately the train whizzed by so quickly that I wasn’t able to take a picture. Apparently it cost £1.5m to build, and donations came from the village members (who are all Christian), from Beijing and from overseas. The church was originally built in the late 1800s but was destroyed during the early 1900s and again during the Cultural Revolution. It was finally rebuilt during the last 10 years. I really want to visit the village but unfortunately it’s only accessible by car.

  • Struan Rutherford, 2015, China – April 2015

    最近几个星期，我有跟我姐姐在中国旅游的机会。这是我姐姐第一次来中国所以我得保证我姐姐享受旅游因为我是她的导游。我们在桂林见面然后我们一起去上海，西安和北京。姐姐带来有些英国礼物送给我，比如巧克力复活节彩蛋。不幸，我姐姐还带来英国天气：桂林，上海和北京大部分时间有大雨。尽管如此，我们旅游很成功，我们开心。虽然从上海环球金融中心顶的风景被多云隐藏，但是长城天气，风景特别好（图片下面的图片比较风光）。我姐姐最喜欢的城市，她最终挑选北京。除了天气以外，北京有别好处，包括北京是我住的地方。我能用我当地知识来把姐姐表示北京最好的饭馆，酒吧。我渐渐成为当地人。

    在上海的时候，我们过复活节。我再次觉得在中国过基督教的节日是有点奇怪的经验。不过，复活节在现代中国不太流行，跟圣诞节不同。复活节可能没有流行因为是不太商业化的节日：没有买很多礼物的复活节传统。还是，我和姐姐去上海大教堂的庆典。教堂非常漂亮 ：外面和里面都非常华丽。两个地方让我吃惊：首先，众多中国人去听英文教堂服务。中文教堂服务当天早些时候被举行可是我认为太多中国人想去听中文的所以他们代替需要去英文的。我已经听到中国现在有全球最大基督徒人口之一的统计但是直到你看到中国教堂会众的时候，这个统计牵强附会。第二个可怪事件是外国教士。似乎中文和英文的教堂服务都被外国教士举办。由于中国很大基督徒人口，我吃惊因为我认为中国教堂大概有中国教士。

    夏天来到北京。我晒伤的皮肤是证据。虽然天气最近非常好，每天涂防晒霜有点麻烦。太阳会鼓励我住在里面，更努力学习！

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    In the past couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to travel around China with my sister. This was my sister’s first time in China so, as I was the tour guide, I was under pressure to give her a good impression of the country. We met in Guilin and travelled to Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing. My sister brought a few British gifts for me, for    example a chocolate Easter egg. Unfortunately, my sister also took British weather with her: in Guilin, Shanghai and Beijing it rained for the majority of the time. Nonetheless, we still had a great time. Although the views from the top of the Shanghai World Financial Tower were a little obscured by clouds, the weather and scenery from the Great Wall was fantastic (look at the pictures below for the comparison). Ultimately my sister chose Beijing as her favourite city. Besides the weather, Beijing had the advantage of it being where I live. I was able to use my local knowledge to show my sister the city’s great restaurants and bars. I am gradually feeling more like a local.

     

    In Shanghai, we celebrated Easter Sunday. It was again unusual to celebrate a Christian festival in China. However, unlike Christmas, Easter is not as popular in China today. This is possibly due to its less commercial nature as there is not a large tradition of buying numerous gifts at Easter time. Nonetheless, my sister and I went to a church service at a cathedral in Shanghai. The church was stunning, both the exterior and interior were very ornate and attractive. Two elements surprised me: firstly, the huge number of locals who attended the English language service. The Chinese service was earlier in the day but evidently too many locals wanted to attend so they joined the English service instead. I have heard the statistics saying that China now has one of the largest Christian populations in the world but it is hard to believe until you see the Chinese congregation yourself. The second surprising sight was the foreign clergy. It seemed that both services had been conducted by foreign clergy. I found this surprising as I thought that with a large domestic Christian population, Chinese churches would have Chinese clergy.

    Summer has arrived in Beijing. The evidence is my sunburnt skin.

    Although the weather is nice, using sun-cream can be a bit troublesome. It will encourage me to stay inside and do more work!

     

  • Samuel Franklin, China – April 2015

    在我最近参加的国际象棋比赛中，我最大的错误甚至在第一轮比赛开始之前发生了。怎么了？我也不太清楚，但因为一般说更好笑对自己而不要隐藏尴尬的事件，我会向读者透露我的愚蠢。简单地说，我去了错误的省份。我以为这次比赛在河北省举行，所以提前在网上订票，然后当天我很早就到达北京西火车站。我一出去河北高铁站，我就找到了一位司机开车带我去比赛的地点。不过，没想到司机没有认识到我很清楚地告诉他的酒店。因此，我给比赛的委员会打电话，让他给司机导航。我等着一分钟，司机挂上了电话转向我，不改色地说，“你在错误的省份。”

    A very international team, with Koreans, Afghans, Spaniards, Americans…

    那天晚些时候，我最终到了位于北京燕郊（六环之外）的酒店。幸运的是，那一天只是报名比赛的一天，而且从河北到北京坐高铁不到一个半小时。除了交通的方面以外，我这次的表现不错。虽然没有得到冠军，因为我没有中国的国际象棋等级分的关系，我还有很多机会与最强的棋手比赛。

    我最近从山东省的青岛回来了。我在青岛的老城区呆了四夜，过了比较悠闲轻松的时间。对一位想念在欧洲的海滩假期的人来说，去青岛旅游很有吸引力。我花了很多时间懒懒地躺在沙滩上一边读书一边打盹。其实我还做了些更积极的活动。例如，我在海洋大学留学的同学让我第一次经历定向。不言而喻，我还参观了那里的一所名胜古迹。那就是青岛啤酒博物馆。在啤酒节，吃着海鲜，喝一杯原浆青岛肯定是这一年的一个亮点。

    参加足球训练或者比赛时，我从来没遇到任何交通问题，只有自己的足球水平和健康的问题。自从二月来，我与对外汉语学院的足球队参加北大杯。所有专业的学院有个队，你可以想象今年数学系（1-2输了）和国管学院都是夺冠热门。现在是小组赛的阶段。与别的学院比起来，因为大部分的学生是交换生，我们队只有很短时间在一起练习，熟悉队友的优势和弱势。无论如何，这周日与化学系的比赛是肯定要赢得。希望会有有力的天气。

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    The start of a gruelling 80 minutes against the mighty maths faculty.

    In my most recent chess tournament my first blunder occurred even before the start of the first round. How so? I’m still not so clear myself, but because it’s often said that it’s better to laugh at one’s errors than to conceal them, I have decided to divulge my stupidity to the reader. Basically, I went to the wrong province. I was sure that the tournament was to take place in Hebei , so I booked my train tickets in advance online, and on the day I arrived in good time at Beijing West station. As soon as I left Hebei high speed rail station, I found myself a taxi to drive me to the venue. However, the driver rather unexpectedly did not recognise the address I so clearly told him. And so I called one of the organisers to navigate this clueless driver. I waited less than a minute before the driver hung up the phone, turned to me and said very matter of factly, ‘You’re in the wrong province.’

    Later that day, I finally arrived at the hotel in Beijing’s Yanjiao district (outside the sixth ring road). Fortunately, it was only the event registration day, whilst the high speed from Hebei back to Beijing took less than an hour and a half. Aside from transport, my performance in this tournament wasn’t bad. Although I did not win the event, partly due to my lack of a Chinese chess rating, I had the chance to be paired against a number of the tournament’s strongest players.

    Having tried both now, I can honestly say I prefer my beer in a mug than in a plastic bag – but to each his own.

    Recently, I arrived back from Qingdao in Shandong province. I stayed in Qingdao’s old town for four nights, having an appropriately leisurely and relaxed time there. From the perspective of someone who misses family holidays by the sea, Qingdao held a clear attraction. I spent a great deal of time lazing on the beach, reading and dozing off (not because of the book). I did in fact also partake in some more active activities. For example, my classmate studying at Qingdao Ocean University took me orienteering for the first time. Of course, I also visited the Qingdao beer museum. Enjoying the local seafood with a glass of draft Qingdao on Beer Street has certainly been one of the highlights of this year.

    When going to football training or matches, I have never encountered any problems with transport, only problems with my footballing ability and fitness. Since February, I have been playing in the Peking University Cup with the faculty of Chinese as a second language. Each faculty puts forward a team, and as you can imagine the maths and international relations faculty are once again favourites this year to take the cup. We are presently in the group stages. Compared to the other teams, because most of the students in my faculty are short term exchange students, we have had only a short period of time to practice together and get to know each other’s weaknesses (and some strengths).

    In any case, this Sunday’s match against the chemistry faculty is a must win, a real six-pointer. Hopefully the weather will be favourable.

     

  • Nadia, Beijing, China – April 2015

    我在⽢甘肃的经历

    本⽉月初是清明节。我决定了趁机会去⽢甘肃和⻘青海旅⾏行。最初，我不知道应该去四川旅⾏行或者⽢甘肃，最后，我选择了⽢甘肃因为⽢甘肃的游客不多。虽然在云南旅⾏行很好玩，但是游客挺多。这⼀一次，我想 去没有很多游客的地⽅方。

    因为嘉峪关的机场是张掖最近的机场，我从北京坐⻜飞机到嘉峪关。到嘉峪关以前我知道我在那⼉儿有 两个⼩小时，但是我已经决定从机场坐出租⻋车到嘉峪关的⽕火⻋车站。在⻜飞机坐在我旁边的男⼈人觉得去嘉 峪关但不看名胜古迹就不好，所以他跟他家⼈人带我去嘉峪关的很多名胜古迹，帮我拍照。然后他们 给我吃烤⾁肉。最后，他们送我去⽕火⻋车站。我从来没有经过了这个⽔水平的好意！

    从张掖我去看⻢马蹄寺和张掖丹霞。这两个地⽅方很美。我在那边交了很多中国朋友，我们都⼀一起去吃 晚饭。

    张掖以后我去⻘青海的同仁，然后去⽢甘肃的夏河。夏河有⼀一个很有名的寺院叫拉⼘卜楞。⼏几百藏族⼈人从 拉萨去拉⼘卜楞朝圣。拉⼘卜楞的科拉有三公⾥里，我看到了⼀一些⼈人为每向前迈⼀一步就跪拜！这就意味着 为了绕⾏行，他们很可能要花费⼤大量的时间。你从没⻅见过这样的情景！

    同仁和夏河的多数民族是藏族⼈人，但是还有穆斯林回族⼈人。我对多元社会有兴趣，所以看到回族⼈人 帮助藏族⼈人建设⻄西藏区拉⼘卜楞的⼀一些建筑。中国的族群多样性⾮非常惊异。

    我在郎⽊木寺跟别的游客决定了搭便⻋车到兰州。在中国搭便⻋车⼜又好玩，⼜又容易！我们每⼀一次不等在路 上五分钟多。⽢甘肃⼈人对我很好奇。他们很愿意帮助我们去别的地⽅方.总的来说，这是⼀一次⾮非常成功 的旅⾏行。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Adventures in Gansu

    At the start of the month we had Tomb Sweeping Holiday so I decided to go traveling solo to

    Gansu and Qinghai province. Initially I was deciding between visiting Sichuan or Gansu, but I chose Gansu because it is the path less travelled. While Yunnan was incredible, it was also quite touristy, and this time I wanted to go somewhere that few go. I flew in to Jiayuguan, an old fort town, since it was the nearest airport to Zhangye, my first destination. I knew I had two hours until I had to get my train so I planned to get a taxi straight from the airport to the train station just to be safe. The man next to me on the plane thought it sad I wasn’t staying to see Jiayuguan, so when we landed, he and his family drove me to all the famous sights

    around Jiayuguan so I could take photos, then fed me a huge barbecue feast, and finally sent me off to the train station. Never in my life had I experienced this level of kindness from

    anyone before!  From Zhangye I visited Horse Hoof Temple and the Rainbow / Candy Mountains. Both were beautiful as you can tell from the photos. I made a lot of Chinese friends and at the end of the day we had a huge meal together.

    After Zhangye I went to Tongren in Qinghai province, and then onwards to Xiahe, back in Gansu. Labrang Monastery is in Xiahe and is very famous and hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims from Lhasa were there to pray. The kora (the path of prayer wheels) extended for 3km and I saw some groups of people prostrating at every step they took forwards, meaning they must have spent hours just going around the kora once. It was really quite a sight.

     

    Both Tongren and Xiahe have Tibetan majorities and Hui Muslim minorities. I am fascinated by multicultural societies and it was great to see Hui people helping to build parts of the Monastery in the Tibetan side of town. China’s ethnic diversity is truly incredible. On my way back from Langmusi to Lanzhou I decided to hitchhike with another traveler I met and it went really well! We didn’t ever have to wait longer than 5 minutes for a ride; people were curious and helpful. All in all, it was a very successful trip.

  • Imogen Page-Jarrett, Beijing, China – April 2015

    2015年北京大学国际模拟联合国大会 

    四月9号日至12日我参加北京大学国际模拟联合国大会，担任国际劳动组织“妇女劳动权益与性别平等”辩论的美国资方代表，也是这次会议唯一的外国代表！自2007年创立伊始，AIMUN已成为一个吸引着全球青年的舞台。在这里，青年心怀世界，探讨政治、经济、环境等多领域问题。同时，AIMUN作为中国最有知名度的模拟联合国会议之一，在这个平时避免碰到政治讨论的国家，模拟联合国这个舞台则让青年对该问题形成看法的机会，现在在中国模拟联合国会议已经流行了。

    我以前从来没有听过中国年轻人讨论政治的事，因此AIMUN给我带来了新鲜的感受。虽然辩论中没碰到中国国内的政治事务，听见大学生从其他国家视角出发很有趣。写决议书时，我发现其他代表的看法跟我自己的不太一样。例如，美国政府代表表现得好像有一种独裁权力，跟现实政府不同，他对国民与非政府机构表态是用有“强制”意思的词语。他的表现可能归于中国政府的权力，如果政府实施措施，国民就顺从。我跟他解释，美国更强调自由意志，而且，因为选举这个事情政府也需要考虑到让国民满意。在这次辩论妇女权益的会议上，我徒然试图提高对目前在英国与美国爆发的女权运动的认识，毫不吃惊的没有人听说过，所有我关注的媒体平台在中国翻墙后才能看到。

    不言而喻，我没注意到辩论中微妙之处，就我理解，这次辩论太“友善”了，缺乏亮点和创造力，代表们宁愿导致紧张状态，还不如合作。因此，我们花了很长时间定义等等。总之，我感觉大家太注意到优秀演讲的国家，而没关注演讲缺乏的国家。我特别赞同韩国代表的表演，她注意到韩国保守社会的性别角色，讲到妇女愿意让男性去领导这一点。

    AIMUN的代表来自中国各地参加大会，大部分也是他们大学唯一的代表。AIMUN还举办了开幕式、闭幕式、市内观光、欢迎舞会及告别舞会。演讲嘉宾也在两次仪式上致辞，包括中国联合国协会副总干事沈茵茵女士。听到这些国际任务致辞使会议的目标感更强，就像我们跟世界上所有其他模拟联合国会议握手一样。这次会议是很难得的机会，让我认识到中国各地的大学生，与他们举动学术辩论。

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Asian International United Nations 2015

    On the 12th of April I took part in the Asian International United Nations, and was given the role of “US Employers” in the International Labour Organisation’s debate on “Women’s Labour Rights and Gender Equality”. I was the only foreign delegate in the room! Since it began in 2007, AIMUN has been a platform for youths around the world who share a common interest in understanding global issues and working together to come up with lasting solutions. AIMUN is amongst the best known and most recognized MUN conference in China. In this nation which often avoids talking about politics, the platform that is the Model United Nations provides a way for young people to develop opinions on global issues, and due to this fact, MUNs have become popular all over China.

    I have never had the chance to witness young people discussing politics before, and in this sense AIMUM was a completely new experience. Although nothing about China’s internal politics was discussed, it was interesting to hear these university students take on the view of other nations and debate in their place. I did notice some unusual points when drafting resolution papers. For example, the US Government representative acted as if he had a much more authoritarian role than in reality- using words implying “force” towards the population and organisations. This could stem from living in a country where, if the government wants something, people will bend to it. I explained that in America, there was more of a sense of free-will, and the government also had to think about pleasing the people, from an election perspective. In this debate on women’s rights in the workplace, I also tried in vain to raise awareness of the current young feminist movement in the UK and US, but no one had heard of it, unsurprisingly as the media channels I follow are blocked.

    There were of course many subtleties that I was unable to pick up on, but in general I felt the debate was too “nice” and there lacked the spark of an argumentative debate; delegates seemed hesitate to cause tension, more willing to cooperate together. As a result a lot of time was spent defining terms and deciding the direction of the debate. I felt that largely, countries with good speakers were overly represented and dominated countries who didn’t present as well. However I thought South Korea was particularly impressive when talking about gender roles in conservative Korean society and how many women are willing for men to take the lead.

    The delegates of AIMUN came from all over China to participate in the conference, mostly representing their whole universities. AIMUN also organised welcoming and closing ceremonies and extra events like a city tour, a cocktail party and farewell party.  The ceremonies also had guest speakers including the Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Association of China, hearing such international figures speak gave the conference a sense of greater purpose, like we were linked to other MUNs around the world. The conference was a fantastic opportunity to meet Chinese students from all over the country and engage with them on an academic level.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Struan Rutherford, Hong Kong – March 2015

    香港，澳门和北京

    二月后面，我去了香港来在英国领事馆贸易和投资部门工作。虽然实习很短，但是这样工作是非常好了解英国领事馆工作的机会因为我参加贸易和投资部门的研究。还有，我改善我英国公司在亚太区工作的认识。我的研究围绕东亚娱乐场发展的英国企业机会。

     

    而且，我去了澳门一天。虽然我只在澳门一天，但是我早上探险城市历史性的市中心，下午去路氹城，新兴赌博中心。市中心的风景非常漂亮。殖民时期的建筑，葡萄牙传统食品和太阳都混合来创造欧洲性的气氛。市中心跟路氹城对比因为路氹城的天际线被赌场的摩天大楼充满。我进去‘澳門威尼斯人度假村酒店’，在里面重新威尼斯运河的巨大赌场。天花板被照明来创造永久白天的错觉所以赌客不要回家。香港和澳门都非常激动城市，他们都有很独特东西文化的混合，我希望我未来能回去！

    夏天快快来到中国。两个星期前，北京的气温还零度左右，不过天气变化很快。很多人说北京实际上只有两个季节：夏天和冬天。由于现在天气不断至少十七度，我肯定同意。我认为两个星期后北京夏天来到。我大概愿望天气再冷所以我需要现在享受北京很短的‘春节’！

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    At the end of February, I went to Hong Kong to do some work in the Trade and Investment department of the British Consulate. Although my internship was short, it was a great opportunity to learn about the work of the British Consulate as I was able to assist with research being undertaken in my department. I also improved my understanding of the work of British firms in the Asia-Pacific region. My research revolved around opportunities for British companies in the development of resorts in East Asia.

    I also got the chance to visit Macau for a day. I was only in Macau for one day but I managed to spend the morning exploring the historic town centre and the afternoon in Cotai, the newly developed gambling strip. The town centre was beautiful. The colonial architecture, Portuguese traditional food and sunshine combined to create a European atmosphere. This contrasted strongly with Cotai, where towering casinos dominated the skyline. I explored the Venetian, a huge casino which has recreated the canals of Venice inside. The ceiling was illuminated to give the illusion of perpetual daytime so gamblers never want to return home. Both Hong Kong and Macau were hugely exciting cities with unique combinations of Eastern and Western cultures, I hope I am able to return in the future!

    Summer is quickly coming to China. Only two weeks ago, temperatures in Beijing were still hovering around zero but the weather is quickly changing. Many people have said that Beijing in reality only has two seasons: Summer and Winter. Due to the weather now consistently being at least 17 degrees, I definitely agree with this. I’m sure in two weeks it will be Summer and I’ll be wishing it was cold again so I’ll have to enjoy Beijing’s short ‘Spring’ now!