Steve's sandbox

Tag: China

  • 华为的麻烦 Big problems for Huawei: Daniel Osborne, China – January 2019

    十二月, 由于美国的引渡请求，在温哥华机场，华为的主席财务官，华为奠基人任正非的女儿 —孟晚舟—被逮捕了。这是在同一天美国总统特兰普和习近平在阿根廷出席G20会议，然后达成协议，决定暂时停止中美贸易战。可是四天以后孟晚舟被逮捕的信息才传出去，可能会导致中美关系恶化。报导表现孟女士的逮捕可能与对伊朗违法贸易有关。接受记者采访的时候，美国国家安全顾问John Bolton拒绝评论反而他说他为中国企业惯例非常发愁。

    华为的成就：

    华为是世界上最大技术企业之一，最近超过苹果变成仅次于三星第二大智能手机制造商。华为的崛起发生同时中国很快地发展，提供华为很多消费者、巨大的市场基础。从两个方面来分析华为的销售方法就是：首先消费者很喜欢高档的手机，品质跟苹果差不多。其次，华为也制造实惠的手机，受到消费能力不强消费者的欢迎。

    华为为什么让西方担心？

    在过去，华为， 跟很多中国其他企业一样，被控诉抄袭西方的技术。可是现在，有些西方政府担心北京会通过华为主宰５Ｇ网络。这个情况可能让中国政府把间谍活动扩大。华为坚持没有政府的控制。美国的立法者反复地控诉华为威胁美国国家安全。地方性的媒体指出专家期待日本禁止政府使官员使用华为产品。继澳大利亚封杀华为之后，新西兰也以国家安全风险为由，禁止国内电信运营商使用华为的5G技术设备。

    这个时间有什么意义？

    很难夸大这一事件的象征意义。华为是中国技术企业的钻石，孟女士是它的公主。这件事不但关于一个女人的逮捕或一个公司：这个逮捕时间可能会使中美关系进一步恶化，这或许是在他们的悠久、坎坷和棘手的历史中上最敏感的时段阶段之一。

    中国政府怎么说？

    Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou

    一位外交部发言人告诉记者， “无缘无故的拘留侵犯了一个人的人权。我们要求加拿大和美国澄清逮捕的原因。为了保护个人的人权，我们希望马上释放孟晚舟。然后在北京， 两个加拿大人被逮捕了。1月10日，加拿大要求释放他们以后，中国驻加大使说孟晚舟事件突显“白人优越论”。

    华为怎么说？

    在一份声明中，华为说‘我们遵守所有的有关的法律和规则，包括联合国、美国和欧盟的出口和制裁法律。他们也说，“我们认为美国用这样的方法向本公司施加压力不是合适的。他们反对自由经济和公平竞争的精神。” 华为努力坚持跟中国政府没有关系。它说一直相信安全为主，认为美国之所以不喜欢华为是因为华为的效率非常高，比美国的公司高得多。

    我个人的看法

    这个问题真的特别棘手。我跟我的加拿大朋友谈论的时候， 虽然他们不怕自己的安全，可是我们都担心冲突越来越差：一个政府干涉别的国家的内政总是导致问题：为了解决这个问题，需要齐心协力。未来会发生什么？谁知道！

    In December, due to an American extradition request, Huawei’s CFO and founder Ren Zhengfei’s daughter, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested at Vancouver airport. This was on the same day as US President Trump and Xi Jinping attended the G20 summit in Argentina, where they reached an agreement to temporarily halt the Sino-American trade war. However, four days later, the news of the arrest of Ms Meng got out and led to a worsening of US-China relations.

    Reports show that Ms Meng’s arrest may be linked to illegal trade with Iran. When questioned by journalists, US National Security Advisor John Bolton declined to comment and instead stated however that he was concerned with Chinese companies’ business practices.

    Huawei’s success:

    Huawei is one of the world’s biggest technology companies, recently overtaking Apple to become the second largest smartphone manufacturer, only behind Samsung.  Huawei’s rise occurred at the same time when China was developing rapidly, and thus  there were lots of consumers and a huge market base. Huawei’s selling model can be analysed from two aspects. Firstly, consumers like their high-quality phones (their quality on par with Apple products). But Huawei also produces cheap phones which are incredibly popular with consumers with weak purchasing power.

    Why does Huawei make the West concerned?

    In the past, like many other Chinese companies, Huawei was accused of copying Western technology and selling it cheaply. But now, some Western governments are worried that they will control the 5G network through Huawei. This situation may allow the Chinese government to expand its espionage activities yet Huawei insists that there is no governmental control. US lawmakers have repeatedly accused Huawei of being a threat to national security and local media pointed out that experts expect Japan to ban the government from using Huawei products. After Australia banned Huawei, New Zealand also banned domestic telecom operators from using Huawei’s 5G technology equipment on the grounds of national security risks.

    Despite growing tensions with China, my Canadian friends (and I !) still managed to have a great Christmas out here

    What is the significance of this situation?

    It is difficult to exaggerate the symbolic meaning of this event. Huawei is the diamond of Chinese technology companies, and Ms. Meng is its princess. This incident is not only about the arrest of a woman or a company: this arrest time may further worsen Sino-US relations, which may be one of the most sensitive time periods in their long and tumultuous history.

    What does the Chinese government say?

    A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters that “the detention of a person for absolutely no reason violates their human rights. We asked Canada and the United States to clarify the reasons for the arrest, and, in order to protect the human rights of the individual, we hope Meng Wanzhou is released immediately. Then, in Beijing, two Canadians were arrested. On January 10, after Canada asked them to be released, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada said that the Meng Wanzhou incident highlighted the “white superiority theory.”

    What does Huawei say?

    In a statement, Huawei said ‘we comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including the United Nations, the United States and the European Union’s export and sanctions laws. They also said, “We believe that it is not appropriate for the United States to exert pressure on the company in this way. They are opposing the spirit of free economy and fair competition.” Huawei has worked hard to insist that it has no relationship with the Chinese government. Security is its priority and it believes that the reason why the US doesn’t like Huawei is because Huawei is very efficient, much more so than American companies.

    My personal opinion

    This problem is exceptionally thorny. When I was discussing this with my Canadian friends, although they aren’t afraid of their personal safety, we’re all worried that the conflict is getting worse: a government intervening in the internal affairs of other countries always leads to problems. In order to solve this problem, both countries need to work together. What will happen in the future? Who knows!

  • 漂亮的南京！Beautiful Nanjing! : Daniel Osborne – China, December 2018

    我决定去南京躲避北京冷的天气而且发现中国以前的首都的历史和名胜古迹。我只有两天，所以应该充满了活动。南京因很好吃的食品而著名。 夫子庙的附近充满着小摊子，都卖各种各样的小吃，比方说 鸡汤油炸云吞、牛肉锅贴（秦淮八绝之一，南京最好好吃的菜）。可是虽然特别有名，我不敢吃老鸭粉丝汤！

    The mouth-watering local delicacies

    虽然南京古代历史很丰富， 现代历史比较坎坷：在20世纪发生所有的事当中，我认为第二次世界大战的南京大屠杀是最辛酸的。侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆是优美环境与悲怆历史的辛酸结合。可惜，我到了，发现了纪念馆为维护而关门。可是在纪念馆的外面，有很多雕像, 表现辛苦的样子，让参加的人感动。刻着在雕像的下的诗歌表达对大屠杀的看法：无望、不公正和生存竞争。

    中山陵也是非常有名的。孙中山（1866年-1925年）是中华民国的奠基人。作为奠基人和中华民国的第一个领导人，在中国他被称为‘中国近代民主革命的伟大先行者’ 而且在台湾，被称为‘中华民国国父’。辛亥革命之内，孙发挥很重要的作用：辛亥革命颠覆了清朝。清朝颠覆以后，孙设法统一全国，因此在20世纪中国政治家当中，他是唯一在台湾海峡的两边尊敬的人。不过，中山陵的流行度却导致问题：我到售票处的时候， 问门票多少钱，回答是‘免费’ ！所以我很开心地走到入口 （离售票处45分钟的走路），发现了有自动转闸机：以前的售票员没告诉我应该扫一扫一个在售票处旁边的二维码来预定‘免费’的门票！因此，不能进入。

    然而，明孝陵景区离中山陵不太远，所以我决定参加：明孝陵特别隆重。可是最喜欢的是到明孝陵景区的步道：弯弯曲曲的登山步道都是非常漂亮的。除了听到虫鸣鸟叫，也看到红叶随着风飞舞。呼吸着新鲜的空气，让我觉得身心舒畅无比。环境真美好，让人流连忘返。而站在紫金山的山顶向远处眺望，一望无际的视野更使我心胸开阔。那是真的一次难忘的旅行。

    The rather impressive Ming tombs towering up in the background!

    I decided to go to Nanjing in order to escape the cold weather of Beijing and also to visit the famous historical sites of China’s former capital. I only had two days there so I packed it full of activities. Nanjing is famous for its food, and in the surrounding areas of the Confucius temple, there were lots of stalls selling local snacks. For example, there was deep fried chicken wonton, and beef pot-stickers (one of the eight ‘ Qinhuai treasures’, the best dishes in Nanjing). However, although duck blood soup is renowned throughout China, I decided against trying it!

    Although Nanjing is rich in ancient history, its modern history is rather more tumultuous. Out of all the events that occurred in the 20th century, the Nanjing Massacre of the Second World War is the most poignant. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial is the emotional combination of beautiful scenery and tragic history. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I discovered that it was closed for repairs. Nonetheless, the outside of the memorial had lots of statues, all with very pained expressions, making all the tourists feel greatly moved. Engraved underneath the statues were poems expressing the ‘statues’ view of the Nanjing Massacre: the hopelessness, the injustice and the struggle to survive.

    One of the heart-rending statues outside the Nanjing Massacre Memorial

    The Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum is also very famous. Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925) was the founder of the Republic of China. As the founder of the Republic of China and its first leader, in The Republic of China he is called the ‘Pioneer of Democratic Revolution’ and in Taiwan, ‘The Father of the Country’. During the Xinhai Revolution, he played a very important role (the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty). After the Qing were overthrown, Sun tried to unite the whole country, thus of all the 20th century politicians, he is the only one who is respected on both sides of the Taiwan strait. But the popularity of the mausoleum causes problems: when I went to the ticket office and asked how much the entry price was, I were told it was free entry. I happily walked to the entrance (45 minutes away from the ticket booth) only to discover that there were turnstiles: the worker in the ticket office didn’t tell us I needed to reserve an entry time by scanning the QR code next to the office. Consequently, I couldn’t get in.

    Nonetheless, the Ming tombs weren’t too far from the mausoleum, so I decided to visit them. The Ming tombs were very grand, but what I enjoyed the most was getting to the Ming Tombs. The winding paths were especially beautiful: apart from hearing the buzzing of insects, I also saw the red leaves dancing on the wind. Breathing in the fresh air made me feel so at ease that I wanted to stay for longer! Also, when I reached the top of Zijin Mountain and looked out into the distance, the endless view was just spectacular. It truly was an unforgettable trip!

  • Trekking the Tiger Leaping Gorge: Oliver Sale, China – December 2018

    ***虎跳峡***

     

    云南的虎跳峡是世界上最深的峡谷之一，再说可能是中国的最有名的峡谷。虎跳峡在丽江和香格里拉的中间，离昆明六七小时。不久前，我在云南旅行的时候，我和一个朋友一起去虎跳峡参观。

     

    晚上七点左右我们到了虎跳峡附近的农村。我们找了一家酒店，然后立刻吃晚饭。因为我们要早起床，所以吃饭以后我们去睡觉了。

    Tiger Leaping Gorge

    第二天，我们六点起床，然后开始在虎跳峡徒步。天气很好，阳光灿烂，就是有点儿冷。我们在河流边徒步，在左边有玉龙雪山，个子是五千六百米左右，在右边有哈巴雪山，个子是五千四百米左右，还有河流在两座山的中间。在峡谷里风景很精彩；蓝蓝的天，白白的云，绿绿的草，黄黄的树叶！两座山很雄伟，在山峰上有雪，非常漂亮。我们照了那么多相片！峡谷里有一些农村和很多的小旅社。在一家小饭馆我们吃午饭，一边吃饭一边跟老板聊天儿。我们品尝地方风味比如说牦牛肉和西藏的饺子，都好吃极了，然后我们继续徒步。

    到了最后的旅社以后，我们特别累。我们走了一共三十一公里，但是真是一天精彩！

    The view from Tiger Leaping Stone

    ***Tiger Leaping Gorge***

    The Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan is one of the deepest gorges in the world, and perhaps the most famous in China. It is situated between the towns of Lijiang and Shangri-La, about six or seven hours from Kunming. Not long ago, when I was travelling in Yunnan, a friend and I went to see it.

    At about 7 o’clock in the evening, we arrived at the village near the gorge. We found a hotel then ate straight away. After dinner we went to sleep as we had to get up early.

    The next day, we got up at 6 o’clock in the morning and started the hike along the gorge. The weather was good and the sun was bright, although it was a little cold. We walked alongside the river, with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on the right hand side, at 5600 metres tall, and the Haba Snow Mountain on the left hand side, at 5400 metres tall, with the river in between. The scenery in the gorge was splendid; the sky was blue, the clouds were white, the grass was green and the leaves were yellow! The two mountains were huge, their peaks covered in snow which was very pretty. We took so many photos! Inside the gorge there were a few villages and lots of small guesthouses. We had lunch in a small restaurant, and chatted to the boss as we ate. We tried local delicacies such as Yak meat and Tibetan dumplings, both of which were extremely delicious, before we continued walking.

    The view out of Tiger Leaping Gorge

    When we arrived at the final guesthouse, we were very tired. We had walked 31 kilometres in total, but it had been a splendid day!

     

  • Case Study: Megan Robertson – China, 2018

    After graduating with an undergraduate degree in Chinese from the University of Edinburgh in July, I was lucky enough to be accepted onto a Chinese taught Master’s programme in Public Policy at Tsinghua University commencing this September. With the support of the John Speak Trust, I was able to come to Beijing early and take part in an advanced language course at Beijing Language and Culture University for a month before my Master’s programme began. This experience has been invaluable to me – it has not only allowed me to improve my Chinese ability through the language course, getting me up to a standard where I now feel well-equipped to succeed in this Master’s programme, but it also forced me to live in a fully immersive Chinese-speaking environment which has allowed me to improve my spoken Chinese and to fully settle in to my new life here in Beijing.

    A condition of the John Speak Trust was for me to fully immerse myself in the local language – whilst taking the language course, I stayed with a young professional Chinese woman who has helped me greatly with improving my Chinese during my time here. Arriving one month before my Master’s programme began and speaking Chinese everyday allowed me to refresh and enhance my speaking ability. The language classes, taught fully in Chinese, allowed me to connect with other advanced learners from all around the world, many of whom already use their language skills in an occupational capacity, whilst also allowing me to develop my own language skills.


    During the last week before starting my Master’s programme, my flatmate invited me to visit her family home in the north-eastern part of China, a small city called Yichun. This was a great experience that allowed me to use my language skills in a new environment and further my understanding of Chinese culture, family life and values. I was forced to get out of my comfort zone to eat things that I wouldn’t have dreamed of eating in the UK, to introduce myself and use Chinese to tell stories to large groups of her family and to try to communicate using Chinese in response to a regional dialect that I was not familiar with. My flatmate’s family welcomed me into their home and I had a wonderful experience exploring an area of China that I had never been to before.

    I have now just completed the first week of classes here of my Master’s programme and reflecting back on this experience supported by the Trust, I am extremely grateful for the support that I have received, without which I would not have been able to improve my language ability in such a way nor would I have established such a great relationship with my Chinese flatmate. I would not be having such a great experience here so far were it not for the financial support and encouragement to stay with locals given to me by the John Speak Trust, and so I would like to take this opportunity here to thank them once again.

  • The Lakeside Great Wall: Megan Robertson, China – September 2018

    水长城

    为期四周的语言课在我的不舍中结束了。很快，我就要迎来新的硕士学习生活。在北京语言大学上课的这段时间，我感觉充实而富有挑战。我大部分的时间都用在学习上，但同时也遇到了很多优秀的语伴，还品尝了各种各样的中国美食。能和一群非常友好的同学一起上课让我感到非常幸运。他们大都具备较高的中文水平，有中文教师、教授、翻译者、商人和准备在中国读书的学生。这样的学习氛围极大的激励了我，让我努力去进一步提升我的中文水平。

    在过去的一个月，我和一个很热情的中国室友一起住在北京的昌平区。她对我特别好，带了我去很多地方玩，也把我介绍给她的许多朋友还有家人。她非常愿意帮助我提高我的中文水平。昌平区位于北京的北边，是北京最大的区之一，昌平区不仅以丰富的自然而闻名，而且靠近长城。上个月，北京经历了几年来最热的几天（作为一个英国人，这限制了我在这里的活动，只能呆在有空调的地方！）幸运的是，在语言课的最后一个周末，北京有暴雨和低温的天气预报，所以我和我的室友佳霖，还有另外两个同学，韩国的孔裕善（我们9月将一起在清华大学进修）和香港的Carine抓住了这个机会一起去水长城玩。水长城是北京长城唯一被水包围，它的某些部分被现代水坝淹没了，这些水坝建于长城周围的湖中。

    孔裕善和Carine上了私家车到我们的公寓来接我和佳霖，我们一去踏上了去怀柔的两个小时的旅程。因为下了很大的雨，所以当天水长城的游客很少。我们度过了一个非常愉快的一天， 在长城上玩了一个下午，尝到了怀柔著名的烤栗子。当天晚上，我和我班里还没有离开北京的人一起去了学校的穆斯林食堂举行了一个告别聚餐。其中有三个同学也打算留在北京继续读硕士课程所以我一定会和他们保持联系。那天是一个伟大的月的伟大的最后一天，我非常期待接下来的旅程。

    ENGLISH:

    The Lakeside Great Wall

    The past four weeks have flown by and I have now sadly reached the end of the Chinese language course here in Beijing, with only a few weeks to go before I begin my Master’s programme. During this time, I have been taking classes at Beijing Language and Culture University – these have been very challenging and so I have taken pleasure in spending most of my time here so far studying and meeting up with language partners – and of course trying all kinds of amazing Chinese food. I have also been lucky to be in a class with a very friendly group of advanced Chinese learners, many of whom use Chinese in their work – some Chinese teachers, professors, translators, business people and others also preparing for further study in China. Being in this environment has been really encouraging and has given me the motivation to further improve my Chinese.

    For the past month, I have been staying in the Changping district of Beijing – one of the largest districts, renowned for its abundance of nature – with a lovely Chinese flatmate who has been very kind and willing to help me with improving my Chinese, introducing me to her friends and family and showing me around the city. Changping district is in the northern part of Beijing and is close to several sections of the Great Wall. This past month, Beijing has seen some of the hottest days it has had in years (being British, this has limited most of my time here to places with air-conditioner!). Fortunately, there was heavy rain and low temperatures forecast for the last weekend of the language course and so myself, together with my flatmate, Jialin, and two of my classmates, Yusun (from Korea and also going to be studying at Tsinghua University in September) and Carine (from Hong Kong) took the opportunity to take a day-trip to the “Lakeside Great Wall” – the only section of the Great Wall in Beijing surrounded by water – with some sections sunk by the modern dam created in the lake surrounding the Wall.

    Yusun and Carine picked myself and Jialin up in a private car from our apartment and we set off on a two hour journey to the Great Wall in Huairou District. With others scared off by the rain, we were pretty much the only people there. We had a really enjoyable day out exploring the great wall and eating Huairou’s famous roasted chestnuts. That evening, those from my class still in Beijing had a farewell meal in the Muslim canteen at the university (three of these classmates are also staying on in Beijing to do Master’s or PhD programmes so I will definitely keep in touch with them) – a lovely way to end the language course. I am very much looking forward to the journey ahead!

  • Travelling in Southern China: Alexander Johnstone – China, February 2018

    在中国南方旅游

    为了趁着两个月的寒假，并且逃避北京寒冷的冬天，我决定了跟两个同学一起在中国的南方去路行。我们第一站是云南的省会，即昆明。我们一倒昆明的市中心转一转很快就看得出来云南与北京是截然不同的。比如说，云南的生活节奏比北京更慢。我们在云南之行的头两天都在昆明的公园享受着那里的轻松气氛。在北京，过冬时大家都要注意到怎么保暖，可是昆明以”春城”著称，这是因为在昆明任何季节都有很舒服的天气！在昆明呆了两天之后，我们坐了夜车去丽江，到了丽江立即转到去往虎跳峡的公车。我们安排了做两天一晚的步行，但是在虎跳峡步行的难度真的出乎了我们的意料！然而，那边的风景真了不起，天黑了之后欣赏了夜空繁星点点让我感到我们步行之路值得做。我们在云南的最后一站是大理，大理毫无疑问是我在中国去的地方当中最喜欢的地方。大理的魅力是难以言表的，可是我认为大理的特点是那边的自然美，并且我们在哪里认识的当地人都非常体贴。
    我们在中国南方去看的第二个省是四川。我们在成都的时候去了看中国的国宝，那就是熊猫。虽然几乎所有的游客都对熊猫很着迷，可是我个人认为这只动物有点没意思因为他们很懒惰! 我们在四川的最后一站是重庆。我去重庆以前在我的想象中这座城市没有特色，但是其实重庆是个非常繁华的城市。我在重庆的时候我心中想着，很多在中国的第一流城市普通的西方人可能不会认识，就会以为这座城市没有什么特别的。但是，在中国各个城市有各个特点，这样就反应中国是个非常多元化的国家。
    我在中国南方之行圆满结束，我坐火车回北京时感到很幸运有这个千载难逢的机会来体验中国不同的地方和实践我在大学得到的语言知识。

     

    ENGLISH:

    Travelling in Southern China

    To make the most of the two months of winter holiday I had, as well to escape the bitter winter cold of Beijing, I decided to go travelling with two of my classmates to Southern China. Our first stop was the provincial capital of Yunnan, Kunming. As soon as we arrived at the centre of Kunming and went for a walk around we quickly realised that Yunnan and Beijing are completely different. For example, the pace of life in Yunnan is much slower than that of Beijing. We spent our first two days in Yunnan enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the parks in Kunming. In Beijing, during winter time everyone must pass attention to how to keep warm, but Kunming is known as the ‘City of Spring’. This is because the weather is always comfortable in Kunming, regardless of the season! After spending two days in Kunming, we took a night train to Lijiang. From there, we immediately transferred to a bus going towards Tiger Leaping Gorge. We had arranged to do a two-day, one-night trek, but the difficulty of the trek really exceeded our expectations! However, the scenery there was stunning. Once the sky got dark and we could enjoy the night sky full of stars, I felt that the trek we had taken was worth it. Our last stop in Yunnan was Dali. Without any doubt, amongst all places I have visited in China, Dali is my favourite. Dali’s charm is hard to describe in words, but I think the distinctive features of Dali is its natural beauty. Moreover, all the locals we met there were extremely friendly.
    The second province we visited in Southern China was Sichuan. When we were in Chengdu we went to see China’s national treasure, the panda. Although almost all tourists were fascinated by the tourists, I personally thought they were a bit boring because they are super lazy! Our last stop in Sichuan was Chongqing. Before visiting Chongqing, in my imagination this was a city without any personality. But in fact, Chongqing is an extremely vibrant city. When I was in Chongqing I thought to myself, there are so many first-tier Chinese cities that the average Westerner wouldn’t even recognise and would think that have nothing special about them. However, in China each city has its own distinctive feature, showing how China is an extremely diverse country.

    My trip to Southern China finally came to an end and whilst on the train back to Beijing I felt extremely lucky to have this fantastic opportunity to experience different places in China and put into practise the knowledge I had acquired at university.

  • Alexander Johnstone: Case Study – Beijing, China 2017-18

    As part of my undergraduate degree in Chinese Studies, I set off to Beijing in August 2017 to spend a year living and learning in China’s capital, enrolled in an exchange programme at Peking University.

    This year has been a vital stage in the journey of my language learning and has offered me so many opportunities to improve my Mandarin that I would never have obtained back in a university classroom in the UK. The language programme I am taking at Peking University – conducted entirely in Mandarin – has been a fantastic way to systematically develop all four key language skills and I am very grateful to have had the chance to study with some excellent teachers at China’s top university. However, my language skills have come on the greatest through living in a Chinese-speaking environment and experiencing Chinese culture and society first-hand. Life in China has made me pay greater attention to Chinese film, politics and current affairs and I have enjoyed being able to discuss these topics with new Chinese friends.

    I have also relished the opportunity to use my university holidays to travel widely around China and learn more about the great geographical and cultural diversity of the country. This has not only allowed me to practise speaking with locals but also hear a wide range of regional accents and dialects, vastly different to the Standard Mandarin I have previously encountered in class and Beijing. In my spare time in Beijing, I have used my time to take part in extracurricular activities at the university, do an internship at an international PR company and explore the many different areas of this exciting city, all of which have contributed to the improvement of my language skills and cultural understanding.

    I would recommend studying abroad for anyone wishing to learn a language, or really anyone who wants to grow as a person and better understand our increasingly interconnected world.  It has been a wonderful way to get outside my comfort zone and learn to understand a different language, culture and society from the inside.

    I would like to extend my thanks to the John Speak Language Trust for the financial help to fund my time abroad and make my experience in China as enriching as it has been. I strongly believe the UK needs more people with a genuine understanding of a foreign language and culture and it is fantastic that this trust is helping to enable this.

    Alexander Johnstone – China

  • China’s Urban Planning: Alexander Johnstone, China – January 2018

    中国的城市规划

    搬到了中国之后，我第一次注意到中国的城市规划。我之所以对这个话题有浓厚的兴趣，是因为我认为一个城市的结构反映了一个国家的政治制度和社会,并且会影响到城市居民的生活方式和条件。尤其是在中国这个人口众多的国家，中国政府如何设计居民的生活环境一定非常重要。
    为了疏解北京现有的问题 – 比如堵车严重，地铁拥挤，供水紧缺 – 中国的政府打算在河北省设立新的大城市叫雄安。这个新区代表了中国城市发展的新模式。 习近平希望，在2030年之前，雄安能成为他的”中国梦”的象征之一。雄安的市政府会把可持续发展放在第一位：绿空间将占比70%以上，区森林覆盖率将达到40%以上。毫无疑问，中国总是与空气污染的问题和工业化联系起来，所以这样的绿色政策让我对中国的未来十分乐观。再者，中国政府希望雄安会成为中国的科技枢纽，比如雄安的市政府已经与百度商定了一个无人驾驶的项目，这证明了未来的中国城市会颇具特色。
    虽然北京是个很大的城市，但人们去不同的城区都挺方便，因为北京的公共交通系统很发达。而且，北京的共享单车随处可见，你在任何地方都可以方便地骑上自行车，让你有自由自在的感觉。然而，北京还面临不少的问题，对我而言最重要的问题是北京的人口密度过高。最近二十年来，很多从农村来的人为了谋生而搬到北京。如果你乘坐地铁，你就可以看得出来，距离北京成为一个真正美好的城市的那一天，北京市政府还有一段路要走。

     

    ENGLISH:

    After moving to China was the first time I started to pay attention to Chinese urban planning. The reason I have a deep interest in this topic is because I believe the structure of a city reflects a country’s political system and society, and it also influences the lifestyles and conditions of the city’s residents. In particular, in a country like China which has a massive population, the way the Chinese government designs the living environment for its residents is very important.
    To alleviate the current problems of Beijing – such as extreme congestion, overcrowded subways and water shortages – the Chinese government is planning on building a new big city in Hebei Province called Xiong’an. This new district represents the new style of Chinese urban development. Xi Jinping hopes that before 2030, Xiong’an will become one of the emblems of his so-called ‘Chinese dream’. The city government of Xiong’an is making sustainable development one of its priorities: green spaces will make 70% of the city, and forests will cover up to over 40%. With no doubt, China is always associated with air pollution and industrialisation, so this type of green policy makes me feel very optimistic about China’s future. Moreover, the Chinese government hopes that Xiong’an will become the technology hub of China. For example, the city government of Xiong’an has already agreed with Baidu to run a driverless vehicle project, which shows that the China of the future will be very distinctive.
    Although Beijing is an enormous city, going to different parts of the city is pretty convenient, as Beijing’s public transport system is very advanced. Also, you can find Beijing’s public bikes almost everywhere. Wherever you are, you can conveniently ride a bicycle to your next destination, which makes you feel very free. However, Beijing is still facing many different problems. In my opinion, the most significant problem is Beijing’s overpopulation. In the most recent 20 years, lots of people from the countryside have moved to Beijing to make a living.

    If you ride the subway, you can clearly see that Beijing’s city government still has a long way to go before Beijing can truly become a wonderful city.

  • Interning in Beijing: Alexander Johnstone – December 2017

    由于我在大学只要上早上的课，因此我来北京以后决定我要利用我的空闲时间来增长我对在中国公司经营方式的知识，而且发展未来的事业机会。因此，我上个月开始在一个跨国公关公司工作。我们组的客户是一个庞大的中国科技公司，这家公司希望在国外做更多生意，所以他们要提高他们的公共名声。我现在的责任包括做关于科技领域的研究，翻译和编辑任务。在办公室，百分之九十的员工是中国人，我是唯一的外国实习生！于是，每天很多人拜托我改善他们用英文写的文件，这样让我更好了解英语和汉语有什么区别。这份实习也给我难得机会学到我在大学一定不会学到的事。比方说，我开始做实习以后才发现中国企业的科技这么发达，他们的人工智能和无人驾驶的技术是世界上最厉害之一。这份实习给我许多机会练习我的中文。我做研究的时候需要看有些中文材料，比如报纸文章和报告，以便补充英文材料，这样就能完全理解我研究的题目。并且，虽然我在一个跨国公司做实习，但是一般来说我会用中文跟我的同事沟通。我们其他的实习生吃午餐的时候会讨论各种各样的话题，让更好了解到中国学生的生活是怎么样。
    上个星期是我参加了我们公司的圣诞晚会。我们吃了一顿美味的晚餐之后，每个组要给大家表演不同的节目。我参与了两个表演，第一个是我跟我的同事唱圣诞歌，第二个是一个喜剧，我的人物是三国演义的关羽。他是一个非常威猛的人物，不太适合我的个性！
    总而言之，做这份实习是一个很好的机会体验中国上班族的生活，并且帮我考虑我毕业以后要做什么工作，怎么找一个与中国有关系的工作。

    Work Christmas Party with my fellow interns

    ENGLISH:

    As I only have morning classes at university, after arriving in Beijing I decided I wanted to make the most of my free time to improve my knowledge of companies operating in China, as well to advance my future job opportunities. Therefore, last month I started to work at an international PR company. My team’s client is a very big Chinese technology company. As this company wants to do more business abroad, they also want to improve their public reputation. My current responsibilities include doing research into the field of technology, translation and editing tasks. In the office, 90% of the staff are Chinese and I am the only foreign intern! Consequently, everyday lots of people ask for my help to improve the language of their English documents. This has helped me to better understand the differences between Chinese and English. This internship has also been me a valuable opportunity to learn things I would never learn at university. For example, it was only after starting my internship that I realised how advanced the technology of Chinese companies has become. These companies are some of the world leading companies in the fields of artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. This internship has also given me lots of opportunities to practise my Chinese. When I am doing research, I need to use Chinese language materials, such as newspaper articles and reports, to supplement English language materials and allow me to fully understand the topic that I am researching. Furthermore, although I am interning at an international company, I usually use Chinese to communicate with my colleagues. When I go to eat lunch with my fellow interns, we will talk about a wide variety of topics, which helps me to better understand the lives of Chinese students.
    Last week, I attended my work’s Christmas party. After eating a delicious dinner, each team had to put on a different performance for everyone. I participated in two different performances: in the first I sang a Christmas song with one of my colleagues and the second was a play. My character was Guan Yu, from the Chinese classic novel ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. He is a very ferocious character, which didn’t really suit my personality!
    Overall, this internship is a great opportunity to experience the life of an office worker in China, and help me to consider what I want to do after I graduate, in particular how I can find a job related to China.

  • Travelling in China: Alexander Johnstone, November 2017

    在中国旅行
    为了庆祝中华人民共和国的成立，每年的10月1日是中国的国庆节。政府制定每个人能放七天的假，所以这个假日也叫 “金周”. 那个星期安排的活动很多，很多人也趁着假期在国内和国内的地方去旅行。我跟我的同学一起考虑我们要去什么地方的时候，很多中国人警告我们中国所有的名胜古迹一定会太拥挤，所有的旅馆和火车票很久已经订满了，对一个西方人而言真受不了！因此，为了避免中国游客的群众，我们决定去一个避暑的目的地，那就是青岛。青岛与北京在很多方面截然不同. 比如说，青岛的气氛比较轻松，哪里的空气质量也比较好! 青岛也是一个沿海的城市，它在中国以山和海为著名。我们一到青岛就特别享受在海边呼吸新鲜的空气，看着当地人在户外做运动。这是一个在北京千万不会发生的一件事儿！
    我们第一天在青岛的老城去逛逛，欣赏青岛的德式建筑。由于青岛从1891年到1949年，青岛被德国殖民，因此青岛大大受到了德国的影响。晚上的时候，我们去了一个饭馆吃青岛远近著名的海鲜、我们第二天决定去爬山，我们爬到山顶可以鸟瞰全城，那里的风景很棒！
    去青岛以后，我们也去了爬泰山。你一提到泰山就会让人们想起来中国古老的历史。这是因为很多皇帝爬过泰山祭祀。所以，现在很多中国人感觉爬泰山真有意义，我们去爬的那天真是人山人海！我回到北京之后跟我的中国朋友分享我在泰山的经历他们一点都不吃惊。
    总而言之，

    在中国去旅行是个很难得的机会跟当地人说话好好练习我的中文，也能接近中国的文化。

    ENGLISH:

    Travelling in China
    In order to celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China, every year on October 1st marks China’s National Day. The government lets every person have 7 days of holiday, so this holiday is also called ‘Golden Week’. There are lots of activities organised for this week and lots of people make the most of the holiday to go travelling to places in China and abroad. When I was thinking about where to go travelling with my classmates, lots of Chinese people warned us that all the main tourist attractions in China would be too busy. Also, all the hotels and train tickets would be booked out ages in advance – it would be truly unbearable for a Westerner! So, in order to avoid the crowds of Chinese tourists, we decided to visit somewhere that is usually a summer destination – Qingdao. In many aspects, Beijing and Qingdao are completely different. For example, the atmosphere in Qingdao is a lot more relaxed and the air quality is better! Qingdao is also a coastal city and is famous throughout China for its sea and mountains. When we first arrived in Qingdao, we particularly enjoyed breathing the fresh air by the sea and watching locals exercising outside. This is something that people would never do in Beijing!
    On our first day in Qingdao, we wandered around the old city and enjoyed the German style architecture of the city. Because Qingdao was a German colony between 1891 and 1949, the city has been greatly influenced by Germany. In the evening, we went to a restaurant to try out Qingdao’s famous seafood. On our second day we decided to go climb a mountain. When we climbed to the top we had a bird’s eye view of the city – the view was amazing!
    After visiting Qingdao, we also went to climb Mount Tai. When you mention Mount Tai, it immediately makes people think of China’s ancient history.

    This is because a lot of emperors climbed Mount Tai to make sacrifices to the gods. Therefore, nowadays lots of Chinese people feel that climbing Mount Tai is of great significance. The day we went to climb there were seas of people! When I returned to Beijing and shared my experience with my Chinese friends they weren’t surprised at all.

    Overall, going travelling in China was an invaluable opportunity to speak with locals and practise my Chinese and get closer to Chinese culture.