Joanna Bell's blog

Gansu

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:37:32 +0800

During July I was invited to stay with Amy, one of my students, in her home in Gansu province which is the north west of China. It's one of the poorest provinces, but it's dryer and cooler than Beijing in summer which is a good reason to go in itself.

To get there we took a 30 hour train journey from Beijing Railway Station. Spending so long on a train actually wasn't so bad. We took the hard sleeper option which is 6 beds to a cabin, and it was a comfortable way to pass the time as we passed through several other provinces.There was a bathroom and hot water so you could wash and make instant noodles. So new experience number one was travelling by train, and overnight.

We arrived the next day in Zhangye which is a small city in Gansu. I met her family and we went out for a drink near the town centre. In fact, over the whole time there was a lot of eating out and a lot of drinking of baijiu, which translates as white wine but it's more like Chinese vodka. I also got to go to KTV (kareoke) for the first time and ended up going back a couple more times. In the evenings, especially in summer, everyone likes to be outside either eating or drinking, or dancing to music in the square, or playing with their kids in the park. In this way, I think Zhangye could be like any other Chinese city - just people enjoying their lives with their families.

While in Zhangye we visited the largest indoor sleeping Buddha, at the aptly-named Big Buddha temple. We also went to the local park which in China always seems to be a big affair, with a lake and rides for the kids. It makes UK parks look pretty small-scale. Gansu must also be China's noodle capital because we must have tried every sort going: Lanzhou beef noodles, clay pot noodles, noodles made of rice, noodles made of beans...

Over the next month, we went with her friends and family on several trips. First we drove a couple of hours to the mountains and met some ethnic minority people. They live in the mountains and make a living by welcoming visitors at their camp and offering traditional snacks such as yak butter tea and yoghurt, which is very nice! They also entertained us by singing folk songs and dancing. As part of the welcome they gave me a white scarf and invited everyone to have some baijiu. This experience was definitely worth the perilous and bumpy drive up the mountain.

On another trip we went to Sunan, or the Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, which has a majority of Yugur minority people. It was fascinating to see one of China's 56 national minorities in one of their hometowns - different clothes and people riding horses through the streets.Towards the end of my stay we went to her cousin's wedding in another city. As well as attending the wedding meal (a huge room full of family and friends, traditional speeches, much toasting/drinking of baijiu) we made a stop at Jiayuguan, which is the most western part of the Great Wall. So after five months in Beijing, I did go to the Great Wall, just at the other end.

In all I spent about a month with Amy and her family, and as well as all the natural scenery and minority people, what I remember most is how welcoming her family were, lots of dinners, noodles, baijiu and KTV! Photos here.

Kai Yang Qiao

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:52:14 +0800

I live in an apartment complex near Kai Yang Qiao (qiao means bridge) in the south of Beijing. Here is a handy map. My room is well equipped by Chinese standards - it has a shower, fridge, washing machine and western style toilet and it's all pretty modern. I've never seen any other foreigners around this area so I think I'm the only one, hence all the stares when I go to the local shop!

With such a large population many people live in apartments like this - young families, professionals, old people - and a lot of them are really nicely decorated inside, unlike the outside which can often look a bit run down. For the benefit of the community, lots of outdoor spaces are provided, such as parks, fountains, pagodas, and adult exercise equipment which is great fun. In the evenings people gather outside and you can often see people exercising in the garden or playing with their small dogs or children. (I think there's a rule where only small dogs are allowed in central Beijing, so they are always small and cute - the children are also small and cute).

To get to the subway station I take the bus, which costs 1 kwai (about 10p), or if I'm late/being lazy I get a taxi or small motorised cart (10-15 kwai which is £1 - £1.50). So I can get to the centre of Beijing in half an hour. In all, it's a pretty nice area for 1800 yuan a month (about £180), though with my new job it will soon be time to move up north...Anyway, you can see some pictures of my apartment here.

The College

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:03:02 +0800

The college where I work is a private professional education institute situated about 30 minutes drive from the centre of Beijing, really in the countryside. It prepares students for jobs in the service industry. For example, students may want to work as air attendants or manage hotels. Speaking English is an important part of the course and many students are highly motivated to learn. However, many are not!

It's a little weird to go from living in Beijing to a village, but living here part of the week allows me to experience a different side of China, and be a part of school life. Although living in a dormitory is a bit like going back to school. Good point: cheap food, fruit and vegetables. Bad point: mosquitoes!

A Typical Day

07:00 - wake up in my dormitory. Have a breakfast of hot water, yoghurt and bread while catching the news on CCTV9, the English-language TV channel
08:15 - meet a couple of teacher friends and walk over to the teaching building
08:30 - first class of the day! Teaching 40-50 students, from 18-21 years old. Each lesson lasts 1.5 hours, so this one finishes at 10:00, with a 10 minute break
10:10 - second class of the day
11:40 - lunchtime. Head over to the school canteen to get a meal of rice and 2 vegetable/meat selections. Cost: around 6 kwai (60p). Afterwards go back to the dorm for a rest, maybe a quick nap. 2 hour lunchbreaks are great!
14:00 - the last class
15:30 - work is finished, so go back to the dorm for a rest. I particularly like this time of day
17:30 - meet some friends and go for dinner in one of the restaurants outside the school, either noodles or rice. The food is always good and always cheap

In the evening I often chat with other teachers and students and we make plans for the weekend. As a foreign teacher, I find I'm never lonely or stuck for company. On Tuesdays I have English Corner, or I may go to watch a school basketball match. I have also started a yoga class in the next town, which is an experience (it's all in Chinese). Come Thursday afternoon, it's time to go back to Beijing! Have a look at some photos of school life here.

First blog entry

Sat, 09 May 2009 17:29:10 +0800

I've been in China for 2 months and here is my first blog entry! Thanks to Tom for the technical support ;-)

Firstly, I arrived here on February 25th, and have since been working at a private university just outside central Beijing. I live at the school 4 nights per week, and in an apartment in south Beijing from Friday to Sunday. I think it's a good arrangement; it allows me experience the most of the school environment, while also having some independence. So far I've been to a few places which I will cover in detail shortly. These include:

Tiananmen Square
The Forbidden City
The Summer Palace
Temple of Heaven
National Stadium (the Bird's Nest)

In future entries I will also try to write about daily life in China and share my photos, so keep an eye on that feed. Bye for now!