Steve's sandbox

Tag: Shanghai

  • John Daniel: 月报二，八月：语言课程快结束了 Language school is almost over, August 2024

    再次你好！谢谢您看我第二个月的月报！我很激动跟你分享最近一个月所有的经历。

    在7月底，我必须与几个好朋友说再见。他们只是语言课程7月份的学生。我们收取成绩凭证后（见下图），我们直接开始安排一个小小的庆祝晚会来彼此告别。

    Hello again and thank you for reading my second monthly report! I am excited to share with you what has happened over the last month.

    At the end of July I had to say goodbye to a few friends who were only staying for the July section of the language course. After we received our certificates (pictured below), we got straight to organising a little celebratory evening to say farewell.

    收取我们第一个月的成绩凭证
    Collecting our first months’s certificates

    应为Aurelie是一半法国一半中国的人，而且在上海长大了，所以她有很多当地朋友，让我们在在一起度过了周五晚上。要是你在想为什么这些人并不看起来像经典中国那样，原因是他们几乎都是一半法国人！他们都在上海法租界区的一个学校读书了。

    Because Aurelie is half french, half chinese, and grew up in Shanghai, she has a lot of local friends and we spent Friday night with them. If you are wondering why most of these lovely people do not look typical Chinese, it is because nearly all of them are half french! They all went to french school in the french concession area of Shanghai.

    与当地朋友们出去玩儿
    Hanging out with local friends

    我们现在在语言课程八月份期中，因此我们最近进行完我们期中演讲。我选择的话题就是抽烟遭害健康的事实。真个话题挺难让感性却的，为的是大家当然已经知道抽烟对身体健康有害。 为了让他更有趣起见，我在我的社交型抽烟的习惯集中注意力，然后为什么有些人容易地上瘾，却其他人连跑步一会儿也非抽一支烟不可。 比如说，我参考了一位优秀的中国马拉松跑者。他50岁以上，一辈子都接连不断地抽烟，甚至马拉松中不断抽烟，却还是在3个小时30分钟以内跑完了 — 这比我最近3个小时39分钟跑完的马拉松快了！

    Now we are halfway through the August section of the language school and we have just finished giving our mid-term presentations. The topic I selected was smoking and how it harms your health. This is quite a difficult topic to make interesting because we obviously all know that it damages your health. So to make it fun, I focused on my bad habit of being a social smoker and the reasons why some people become easily addicted and yet some people cannot go for a run without having a cigarette mid-way through! For example, I referenced that amazing Chinese marathon runner. He was over 50 years old, chain-smoked his entire life, even chain smoked during the marathon, and still managed to complete it in under 3hours 30 minutes – this is faster than my most recent marathon time of 3 hours 39!

    八月分的期中报告
    August term’s mid-course presentation

    在另一个晚上，我跟我的韩国朋友一起去了酒吧。始终，我们想了为什么比平常跟吸引注目，然后我们才意识到那天是七夕节日，人们有可能以为我们在约会！好像很多在中国很多人不仅对外国人感到很好奇，而且尤其是对跨种族情侣。在网络上，这个是个很火讨论的话题。 不过，一段时间后，你习惯人们的盯着。

    On a different evening, I went with my Korean friend to a Korean bar. The whole time we were wondering why we were getting more stares than usual, and then we realised it was Chinese Valentine’s Day and people probably thought we were on a date! It seems many people in China not only are curious about foreigners, but especially interracial couples. On the Chinese internet, this is a hot topic. After a while, however, you do get used to all the people staring at you.

    七夕节日在韩国酒吧
    Celebrating Chinese Valentine’s Day at a Korean bar

    跟几个语言学院和硕士课程的朋友们，我们一起成立了一个跑步组。我们每个周二周四的晚上在江湾体育场见面。这个跑组就是友好的而不是竞争的。有好多不同国籍的成员，再加来自我的硕士的中国同学在逐渐增加! 我估计，当语言课程结束时，我只会在硕士学习，几乎整个跑组都会中国人的！

    With a few language school friends and a few friends from my masters degree, I have set up a running club that meets at Jiangwan Stadium on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Its a very friendly and not at all competitive. There is a mixture of nationalities, and the amount of Chinese classmates from my masters is growing! I expect when the language school finishes and I am only studying for my masters, almost all of the participants will be Chinese!

     

    我们跑步组在江湾体育场的门口
    Our running group at the gate of Jiangwan statdium

    周一周五我都去邯郸南校区的游泳池。是个真正50米游泳池。虽然是户外的，我们在上海，所以空气和池水都非常热。在中国人们都以救生员的责任为非常重要。在欧洲的50米游泳池你一般会看到一两个救生员，在中国总是有六到八个救生员！那个平均就是一个游泳者一个救生员！一开始我觉得这有点过头了，不过我然后发觉这些救生员本身并不看起来像常常游泳的人，所以可能是合适的。在一条泳道平常只有一个人, 不过我进去游泳道一条游泳道有时候会忙起来。不管我旁边的游泳道是不是空的，有些人还是选择在我的游泳道运动，甚至我在换泳道时也跟着我。。。。。。一些这个小区的人对外国人好奇得那样做。

    On Mondays and Fridays I go to Handan Southern Campus swimming pool. It is a proper 50m swimming pool. Although it is outside, we are in Shanghai, so the air and water are really warm. People in China take their lifeguarding responsibilities very seriously, whereas in Europe you might expect to see two lifeguards for a 50m pool, here in China there are between 6 and 8 lifeguards at all times! That is 1 lifeguard per 1 swimming on average. At the beginning I thought it was quite over the top, but then I realised the lifeguards themselves don’t really look like they swim very often, so perhaps it is necessary. Usually, there is about 1 person per swimming lane, although when I enter the pool it seems that one lane becomes very busy as even when lanes besides mine are empty, some people will still choose to swim in my lane follow me when I change names… that is how fascinated with foreigners some people in this neighbourhood are.

    邯郸南校区50公尺的游泳池
    Handan southern campus’s 50m swimming pool

    总体上说，这个月过得不错。我对下个月的月报很兴奋，那个时候我会给你分享我对金融硕士的第一些个印象。在那之前，我还有很多行至工作要做。祝你这个月过得顺利！

    All in all, it has been a good month. I am excited for next month’s report, when I will tell you about my first impressions of my Finance Masters. Until then, I have a lot of admin to do regarding residency. Have a great month!

  • Case Study: Anam Rahman, China – 2017

    During my second year of university I wrote a paper on the Chinese economy.  It was here where the magnitude of the inevitable global macroeconomic shifts, finally sunk in. Within the next 10 years China will be the biggest economy in the world. By 2050 its GDP per capita will be twice the size of USA’s.  The implications are enormous.  For the last 200 years the world has been governed by Europe and America. In this century, and in my life time we will witness the most extraordinary transition of wealth and power. As an entrepreneurial individual, I also know with great change comes great opportunity. I refused to let this enormous boat sail by. There was only one option. Go to China and learn Chinese.

    I am also one to enjoy a challenge and was determined to overcome the urban myth that Mandarin is impossible.

    After a traumatic experience with French at school, I hated the prospect of learning a language in a classroom. I was determined to prove that I could learn quicker by myself. Before I left, I read several books on memory, language learning and China. I had an exact plan on how to conquer Chinese. Everything from tools such as SRS systems to the exact vocab and grammar I wanted to learn. I built my own extensive curriculum.

    As a mentor once told me ‘Formal education will make you a living.  Self-education will make you a fortune’.

    Words cannot begin to express my gratitude to the John Speaks Foundation. Quite simply, without their help I could not have financially afforded to learn Chinese. I will forever be in debt to the trust placed in me by the committee members.

    Over 60 % of my scholarship was spent directly on my learning; private tuition, books, courses and software.  My experience was the last possible thing from fun and games. There were times I wanted to cry, becoming extremely frustrated with my brain for its inability to process the Chinese language quickly enough.  Perhaps the expectations I set myself were too high.  But looking back, the high expectations were the only reason I had learnt so much so quickly.

    It is an unbelievably satisfying feeling speaking to another person in a language which was alien only several months ago. Without the John Speak foundation, I could not have experienced this feeling.

    I do not use the word ‘alien’ lightly.  Chinese and English could not be more different if they tried.  Although initially stressful to arrange, looking back, the committees request that I live with a local was instrumental in my learning.  My flatmate Brandon was a priceless aid but now a life long friend.

    Because of this scholarship I was able to experience a fascinating ancient culture and language.  I was able to build relationships which will last a life time.  But most importantly, I was able to achieve a childhood dream. Every intellectually curious young person has at some point said ‘I would love to learn Chinese’, although I am not fluent yet, it feels remarkable to say that I have done it and I am doing it!

    I didn’t drive myself to the brink of insanity to only come this far.  My Chinese language learning journey continues until I am fluent.

    Shanghai you were amazing.  The city itself is a bubble and not representative of the rest of the country.  Large parts of China remain poor and rural. But Shanghai is representative of China’s new money and new wealth.  It offers a real glimpse into the future of Chinese development and gives us an idea what tier 2 cities will soon look like; wealthy, prosperous and cosmopolitan.

    For a long time I was jealous of multi lingual people.  Language learning is the most amazing stretch of intellectual ability, just in a completely different way to what we learn at school. Numerous studies show positive changes in neuroplasticity as a result of language learning.  My brain will never be the same as a result of this scholarship!

    Once again, thank you.  I can make a promise to the foundation that your decision to invest in me will not have been in vain.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Anam Rahman: A day at Shanghai Markets – China, July 2017

    上海市内市场

     

    上周，我去了一个著名的上海商场。我要买一些东西给我的家人和练习我的中文。我学了很多中文，我知道怎么讲价。我很喜欢用中文和商贩讲价。我觉得很骄傲，六个月以前，我不会中文，现在我会中文了。首先，我去了上海著名的室内市场。在这里，你能买到所有的上海的商品。我找到了一些围巾，我觉得我妹妹会喜欢。商贩是一个很厉害的女人。首先，她告诉我一条围巾200块。最后，我用150块买了3条围巾。我问她，是否开心，她说不开心，我很会讲价。我觉得我很开心，两分钟以后，我找到另一家围巾商店。然而，这个商贩告诉我，5条围巾150块。这些围巾和我之前买的看上去一样。这时，我发现我讲价没有我认为的那么好。我接受了这个价格，因为它很便宜。我又买了5条围巾。我学到了很重要的一课。如果你购物，不要在前一个小时买东西，多看看多讲价。当你看过一些商店之后，你再回去买你想要的。

    ENGLISH:

    A day at Shanghai Markets

    Last week I went to some famous Shanghai markets. I wanted to buy some things for my family and also practice my Chinese. I have learnt a lot of Chinese to negotiate prices. I absolutely loved arguing and negotiating with shop owners in Chinese. I felt very proud. 6 months ago, I could not speak Chinese, now I can.  Firstly, I went to Shanghai’s famous indoor market. Here you can buy almost anything that produced is in Shanghai. I found some silk scarves, which I thought my sister would like them. The owner was a very difficult woman. First, she told me 200 RMB for each scarf. Eventually I negotiated 2 scarves for 150 RMB. I asked her if she was happy, she said no I negotiated well. I thought I was very happy until I walked for 2 minutes and found another scarf shop. However, this shop owner told me I could have 5 silk scarfs for 150 RMB. These scarves were the same as the other shop owners. It was at this point I realised perhaps my negotiating is not as good as I thought… None the less without trying to negotiate I accepted her price because it was very cheap and bought another 5 more. I learnt a very important lesson. If you go shopping, never buy anything within the first hour.  Just keep looking and negotiating.  After you have been to several shops you can go back and buy the goods you want.

     

     

  • My Trip to Downtown – Anam Rahman, Shanghai, April 2017

    shì qū yóu ji

    wǒ lái shanghai zhī hòu, hái méi yǒu qu shì qū. shàng zhōu, wǒ qù le, gǐ gè shanghai zhùmíng de jǐng diǎn. wǒ xūyào liǎng gè xiǎo shí dào dá shi qù. shǒu xiān, wǒ cháng gōng jiāo chē dào xinzhuan, zhe dà gai xūyao sì shí fēn zhōng zhàn hòu wǒ cháng dì tiě. shànghái hěn dà. shànghái shì shìjiè shàng zuài dà de chéng shì. shànghái yǒu liǎn qiān wō bǎi wàn rén kǒu, yīn cǐ, Shanghai dí tiē hěn méng. Shàng ge xīngqíliù, wǒ qù le zhūmíng de Bund hé Yu Yuán. Tāmen dōu hěn bang. shǒu xiān, wǒ qù le Yu Yuan. Yu yuan shì fēicháng zhūmíng de lǎo de huā yuán, yǒu hēn duō měi lì jiàn zhù hé xiǎo hú. yīn wēi yu yuan hěn zhūmíng, zhè li yǒu hěn duō yǒu rēn. liù bǎi nián qián, yu yuan yīnwéi yí gè huǎng di de erzí. yóu lǎn le lǎo shanghai zhī hòu, wǒ qù le xīng shanghai zài Bund. The Bund, shì shanghai zuì zhūmíng de di fan. Shanghai shì yí gè hěn xiàn dài huà de chéng shì. xiàng bǐ hé qí tā chéng shì, Shanghai méiyǒu hěnduō lì shǐ.

    zài Bund, nǐ néng kàn dào gāo dà jiǎn zhù. cóng xià wǔ, wú diàn dào wǎn shàng qī diǎn, wǒ zài Bund. zhè shi tài měi le. yí tiáo jiāng gé kāi le Bund hé Mǎimái qū yù. xià yí cì, wǒ xiǎng cháng chuán. sì shí nián qián, Zhōng guó shì yí gě qiōng guó jiā. Shànghái xiàngzhēng Zhōng guó de xīng cái fù hé lì liang. wǒ lái zhōng guó zī qián, wǒ fei cháng xǐhuān zhōng guó de xīng cái fù. Duì wǒ lái Shuō, Shanghai shì zuìhǎo de cheng shì.

    ENGLISH:

    My Visit to Downtown Shanghai

    Since I have been in Shanghai I have not explored the city. Last week, I visited several famous places in Shanghai.  My journey to central shanghai is 2 hours long. Firstly I take a 40 minute bus to Xinzhuan and after I take a train.  Shanghai is very big.  Shanghai is the biggest city in the world. It has 25 million people, therefore the Metro is very busy. Last Saturday I went to the famous Bund and Yu Yuan Gardens.  They were both incredible. I started the day at the Yuan Gardens. It is a very old, famous Garden with lots of beautiful buildings and small lakes. It was a hot day which made it better. The Yuan Gardens is very famous so there were a lot of people. The Yuan gardens was built 600 years ago for a famous emperor’s son. After visiting old Shanghai, i went to New Shanghai at the Bund.  The Bund is the most famous part of Shanghai. Shanghai is a very new city. it does not have a lot of history compared to other parts of China.

    At the Bund, you can see the big buildings of the business district. I was at the bund from 5pm to 7m in the evening. It was beautiful. A river separates The Bund with the business area. Next time, I would like to try a boat ride. 40 years ago, china was a poor country. Shanghai symbolises China’s new wealth and power. Before I came to China, I was very interested in China’s new wealth. For me Shanghai is perfect city.

     

  • A weekend trip to Shanghai: Gavin Vine, China – April 2017

    周末去上海旅行

    我来中国之前列出一个我在中国想去地方的清单，清单上大多数地方是有美丽的风景，可是也有一个城市、我从小一直想去的城市- 上海。 因此，几个星期前的一个周末，我决定自己去亲眼看这个我想象中的城市。我在上海最清晰的记忆是我晚上刚刚到市中心、下地铁的时候。我从地铁站出口走出来，进去一个明显洋气的街道。周边建筑物装饰艺术的风格，很窄的公路都让我想到我在欧洲去过的一些地方。 但是，我走去酒店的时候，远处闪烁的灯光越来越清楚，我看见灯都在一个形式奇异的楼上。我转过街角，在很旧的建筑物之间看到了宏伟的东方明珠。 那时候我知道上海真是一个独一无二的城市。

    Shanghai skyline

    ENGLISH:

    Before I came to China, I made a list of all the places I wanted to visit in the country. Most of the places were beautiful scenic areas I had seen pictures of in magazines, but there was also a city on my list. This was a city I had wanted to go to ever since I was a child – the city of Shanghai. With this in mind, a few weeks ago I decided to travel alone to Shanghai and see for myself what I had imagined to be a futuristic mega city. My most vivid memory of Shanghai is when I first arrived in the city centre in the early evening. I walked out of the subway station and on to a street with a distinctly foreign atmosphere. The art deco style buildings around me, along with the narrow streets, reminded me of places I had been in Europe. As I walked towards my hotel, the distant glittering lights became clearer and clearer, I realized they were coming from an unusual, otherworldly building. I turned a corner and between the old buildings lining the street in front of me, I could make out the figure of the magnificent Oriental Pearl Tower. It was then that I realized Shanghai really was the unique city I had dreamed about visiting. It most certainly was unlike any other city I had visited in China, it’s reputation as China’s most international city was undoubtedly clear to see. It left a lasting impression on me and I know if I were ever to return to China to live and work, Shanghai would be the place I’d want to go.

  • 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!.

  • 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!

     

  • Nadia – Beijing, China – December 2014

     

    这个月北京的天气冷了（到目前为止，最低的温度是零下8摄氏度！）。这个就意味着我的户外活动很有限！虽然我最近忙于学习，但是我还有时间享受北京的生活。一些星期前我接受免费的芭蕾舞剧票。舞剧是北京跳舞学院的天鹅湖。以前，我肯定不是芭蕾粉丝（我十岁的时候，我妈妈带了我去看芭蕾，一开始我就睡着），但是这一次，我很享受这个芭蕾舞剧。

     

    最近我去了上海呆三天。我立刻爱上了这个城市。上海的布局跟欧洲城市有一样的气氛，我觉得上海是这样因为黄浦江。上海跟北京的布局不同；北京的布局有纵横交错的环城路网。我享受在上海法租界、外滩、浦东逛逛。外滩的夜景是我最喜欢的夜景。可是，我最喜欢的地方是上海宣传画艺术中心。到了博物馆的地址的时候，我意识到我在一个公寓小区，就很犯浑。原来，博物馆是在公寓的地下室。那里的宣传画包括从1949年以前到1990年代中期的宣传画 （但是，大部分的宣传画部分包括从1949年到1980年代早期的宣传画）。在未来，我肯定会考虑在上海工作。

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    Over the last month the weather in Beijing has become extremely cold (as low as -8 degrees)! This has meant that outdoor activities have certainly been limited. Although I’ve been quite busy with classwork I’ve still had time to be able to enjoy Beijing. A few weeks ago I received a free ticket to see Swan Lake at the Beijing Dance Academy. I have never been a fan of ballet (my mother took me once when I was 10 and I fell asleep) but this time I really enjoyed the performance.

    One weekend I took a trip down to Shanghai and I fell in love with the city. Shanghai’s layout felt like a European city probably because of the Huangpu River. Overall it was very different to Beijing’s sprawling network of ring roads. I loved visiting the different areas such as the French Concession, the Bund area, and Pudong. The night cityscape at the Bund is my favourite nightscape. A highlight for me was the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre. I arrived at the museum address to find myself in an apartment complex and I was extremely confused. As it turned out, the museum was hidden in the basement of one of the blocks. The poster collection spans pre-1949 right up till the mid 1990s, although the main ‘propaganda’ section includes posters from 1949 till the early 80s. Shanghai is definitely another city I would consider working in in the future.