Although I have not been to every province in China, I honestly think Yunnan is one of the best provinces to visit in China. I started my journeyby flying into Kunming from Xiamen and then took a 7 hour sleeper bus to Yuanyang to see sunrise over the rice terraces. The sunrise was very beautiful (photo below). I wish I would’ve been able to see sunset, but due to bus timings this wasn’t possible
过去的一个月，我在北京大学习惯我新的生活和定期班。我享受我在北京的生活但是一个我还没习惯的地方是污染。污染最近如此厉害，很多参加北京马拉松的运动员需要放弃，以免他们损伤呼吸系统。幸亏，我有口罩所以它能保护我免受大部分空气污染。尽管污染，北京天气最近非常好。冬天天气还没来到所以我不应该抱怨！
最近有兴趣的新闻是中国对应对印度成功火星卫星的反应。有些我阅读中国报纸头条的报道称赞印度卫星的成功，祝贺印度人。我最初没想到中国国家媒体如此愿意恭维印度科学家因为印度（周边一个与中国有相似数量人口的发展国家）是中国的竞争对手。不过，我最初对中印关系和中国人对印度火星意见的视角是错的。
这些报纸表达这个态度：不仅是印度的胜利，还有是亚洲的。印度火星卫星的工程是每个发展的胜利，特别是亚洲的。印度现在树立了一个榜样，所以其他有航天项目的发展中国家想仿效印度。因为中国正在发达它自己的载人航天工程，另亚洲国家成功第一发送卫星到别地球的尝试肯定鼓励中国推行更多太空工程。我新中国反应的解释是一个“友好的太空竞赛”。中国和印度都为了实现新成功竞争但是互相祝贺，支持对方的努力，也许来跟有太空项目历史的国家竞争，包括美国和俄罗斯。
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
In the past month, I have been settling into my new life in Beijing and regular classes at Peking University. I have been enjoying life in Beijing but the one thing I have not yet adjusted to is the pollution. The pollution was so serious recently that many athletes participating in the Beijing Marathon had to quit for fear of damaging their respiratory system. Luckily I have a face mask with me that can protect me from most of the air pollution. Despite the pollution, the weather in Beijing has been good recently. Winter weather still hasn’t arrived so I should not complain!
A recently interesting aspect of China is the responses to the success of the Indian Mars satellite. A couple headline articles in newspapers that I read have been praising the success of India and congratulating the Indian people. My initial thought was that Chinese state media would not have been so quick to praise the success of Indian scientists as India, a neighbouring developing country with a similar population, is a competitor to China. However, my initial perspectives on Chinese-Indian relations and the Chinese reaction to the Mars satellite were wrong.
The papers expressed the attitude that it was not just an Indian victory but an Asian one too. The success of the Indian Mars mission was a victory for developing countries around the world, particularly those in Asia. India has now set an example for other developing countries with space programs. As China pursues its own space program, the successful first attempt of another Asian country to send a satellite to another planet will surely encourage China towards further space missions. My new interpretation of the Chinese response would be a ‘friendly space race’。 Both nations compete to achieve new successes in space but congratulate and support each other’s endeavours, perhaps in order to compete with nations with a history of space travel, including the United States and Russia.