The Avatar Mountain, and the best hostel I’ve ever stayed in

High up on my list of things I wanted to visit while in China was Zhangjiajie National Park, home to the Avatar Mountain. While the price of the train was tempting (around £80 each way), the fact that it would have taken 27 hours immediately put us off, particularly as we only had a three day holiday. We plumped instead for the four-hour flight, and were very well looked after. We had to change at one point and a member of staff radioed ahead that there were some foreigners on board, meaning that when we were confused and attempting to exit a bus at the airport, we were promptly, and quite vigorously shoved back on.

We lucked out with our accommodation, as we found a hostel that was a five-minute walk to the entrance of the mountain. Feeling frivolous, we opted for the deluxe twin room that included a balcony with views of the mountains, coming to a grand total of £8 per night. It came with the views as advertised, and had a rustic feel that made us feel like we were in the Swiss Alps rather than the south of China. Staying at the hostel was one of the main highlights of the trip. We were treated to some delicious homemade food that catered to our dietary requirements and was only about £3 a pop. Aside from the price of the flight, I couldn’t quite believe that I’d paid so little to be enjoying the luxury of sitting on the balcony and sipping on a cappuccino while taking in the magnificent view.

The hostel room

Breakfast with a view

Putting my feet up (literally)

Outside the hostel

The only downside to the hostel was that the English-speaking member of staff thought we were more competent than we were. He described numerous routes that we could take with reference to the map, but on our second day we arrived to the base of the mountain none the wiser of how to get to the place he had directed us to. After an hour or so of going up a bit of the mountain and then back down again, we lumped for the trusty cable car in order to not end up completely stranded.

Snapping some pics in between getting lost

On our first day we went to the Avatar Mountain. This was the only moment when I felt slightly foolish for coming to China’s 9^th best destination (according to the Lonely Planet) during a national holiday. National holidays are often the time when the entirety of China, so just over a billion people, go and explore their country. While it is understandable that people want to make the most of their holiday, it leads to huge crowds and a constant shuffling motion as walking at a normal pace becomes impossible. That being said, it was a pleasant atmosphere with a surprising amount of babies being carried by their parents, and we also made some new friends (see the below picture).

On our second day we went to Huangshi Village, which is part of the mountainous landscape and not an actual village. This was my favourite day as it was much more calm, with a lot less tourists. Taking the cable car up (this is an acceptable, if not recommended, means of visiting a mountain in China) we got to simply wander around the mountain and admire the scenery from the viewing platforms. I did feel a tad like I’d cheated the system, especially in the sense that the only way you can appreciate Hellvellyn is from actually using your legs to climb it – but, hey, I wasn’t complaining!

Travelling in style

We also learned of an interesting cultural difference upon encountering the Echo Mountain, where people screamed, or even wailed, to test the echo rather than shouting “hellooooooo” which up until that point we had assumed was universal. We also enjoyed the company of some very opportunistic monkeys and witnessed them stealing numerous ice creams out of the hands of screaming children. Another highlight was walking down the Golden Whip Stream, where the combination of the humidity and greenery (everything is still so dry and brown in Beijing) made me feel very nostalgic for summer holidays in the Lake District.

A monkey feasting on a Magnum

All in all, it was a lovely trip and a perfect break away from city life and the constant blaring of car horns. Even the park’s surroundings were beautiful, and we enjoyed the bumpy hour-long drive across the less developed roads from Zhangjiajie city to the park’s more rural location. It felt a million miles away from Beijing, and the rural surroundings provided a much-needed release. This was definitely one of my favourite trips of the year, and it’s sad to think I may never return!

 

Shanghai on life (get it?)

Upon finding out I’d be living in Beijing, my friend HY exclaimed, “Yay Beijing! Shanghai is soooo cool… but yay Beijing!” Ever since then, I’ve been keen to go. Despite it being less than six hours on the bullet train, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I finally made the trip.

Excited to have finally made it to Shanghai

My first thoughts on Shanghai were related to the humidity. While it has rained in Beijing (once in October, and a handful of times in March and April), it was absolutely pouring it down in Shanghai upon our arrival. To escape the rain, we took the subway to our hostel. It was my first experience of public transport outside of Beijing, and it was very different. Not only did people barely register us, let alone stare, we also heard several “sorry’s” and “excuse me’s” as people tried to get past us. This was the first indication that Shanghai is indeed a global city.

The second most noticeable thing about Shanghai was how expensive certain things were; namely alcohol. Having gone from the cheap and cheerful nightlife of Beijing where a tower of beer would set you back £7, here just one cocktail would cost £15. We spent our first night searching online and on foot for a place where buying a drink wouldn’t result with us being majorly out of pocket. We weren’t successful, and in the end had to give up. The next day we were a little more prepared and found a Time Out article on the best “dive bars” in Shanghai. True to form, we found a wonderfully grimy bar with graffiti-laden walls that served pints for £3.

Certain Western comforts were in fact cheaper in Shanghai than in Beijing. A coffee, for example, was almost half the price. This is no doubt due the prevalence of coffee culture in Shanghai, with Beijing yet to fully catch up. We also went to a very sophisticated bar/restaurant called The Press by Inno Café. It was by far the best pizza I’ve had during my time in China, with an aubergine-to-mozzarella ratio to die for. It would be completely out of our price range if it was in the UK, but here we could treat ourselves to a pizza and a cocktail for less than £12.

There are cheap things to do in Shanghai and it’s a matter of knowing where to find them. One example is Shanghai’s thriving fake market scene. On our first afternoon we spent several hours perusing the stalls of AP Plaza, Xinyang Market. I was lucky enough to snap up two pairs of prescription glasses for less than the price of one back in the UK. This was another place where we felt like actual tourists rather than just lost foreigners with people shouting, “I will give you a good price. Tell me how much you want!” While I may well look like a tourist in Beijing, most tuk tuk drivers and market sellers can’t speak English leading to me simply saying “不要”(don’t want) over and over again with varying results.

Another time we fully embraced being tourists was when we went to see Shanghai’s famous acrobatic show. Hailed by the guidebook as a must see, we entered the slightly shabby and empty theatre armed with a couple of cans of Tsingtao with little idea of what to expect. The performance was incredible, although it was the first time I felt like I was in a bit of a tourist trap. Tourism is huge in China, but usually typically touristy places and events are populated by Chinese tourists, with us Westerners being in the minority. It was the first time that I’d done something in China that was put on for purely for foreigners rather than Chinese tourists too.

A big highlight of the trip was, of course, the Bund. We visited both at day and at night to catch it in all its glory. It was exciting to see, particularly as Beijing doesn’t really have an identifiable landscape of skyscrapers. Driving between all the skyscrapers in a taxi felt more like something out of a video game than reality. On our last day we took a boat across the river, allowing us to explore even more of the city. For comparison, we also tried to see the old town of Shanghai, but it was unbelievably busy due to the national holiday. It was as if we were in a heaving crowd at a football game, rather than just being in the street. It’s safe to say I’ve never been so up close and personal with strangers while simply trying to walk from one place to the next. We also went to Tianzifang, an enclave of shops, stalls, and cafes within the former French concession area. This felt like a greener version of the touristy hutongs in Beijing, with lots of boutique, and also kitsch, items for sale.

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Shanghai was so different from the other cities I’ve visited in China. While I’ve enjoyed everywhere I’ve visited in China, up until Shanghai they have all been very “Chinese”. That is to say, with few Western comforts and even fewer English speakers. In this respect, Shanghai had great novelty value and could easily be a potential place to live in the future. I’m yet to visit Hong Kong, but Shanghai definitely felt more of that ilk than of traditional Chinese cities.

 

Keeping busy

I started this blog more like a diary, documenting everything I was doing in Beijing in chronological order. Now that life here is a little more ordinary, I thought I’d take the time to do a roundup of the past few weeks.

School

Term was off to a stressful start, as I received half of my timetable at 22:25 the night before I was due to start teaching, and the other half the following morning. It was nice to see my colleagues again, though, with one teacher showing me pictures of her travels to Bath and Stonehenge, and another noticing my hair had grown and saying it looked “even more beautiful”. It was back to reality, however, when I started my first class and a group of boys made a girl ask me what ‘masturbate’ means.

I entered my first Senior 1 (grade 10) class very confused, as it was not class five, but a random selection of Senior 1 students. It turned out that following their exams their classes were restructured according to their results. Unfortunately for me this means that most of my higher ability students are now all in the same class. I can no longer rely on Boy that Likes Hip Hop to explain to his fellow classmates the instructions, nor can I rely on Boy that Wants to Be a Translator to tell his noisy friends to be quiet.

Last semester I gave up on trying to make my students do more strenuous work, as they repeatedly told me they were “too tired”. The onset of the new semester, however, meant a more serious approach as my superiors suggested I might want to set reading ahead of each class, as my students apparently “didn’t know what to talk about.” I agreed that this might be a good idea, but of course, on arrival to my classes’ only five out of thirty five students had actually done the reading. This has led to me becoming the most clichéd teacher of all, telling the students they’re not only wasting my time but their time too and that if they’ve not done the reading we can’t do the lesson and we’d have to sit in silence for 40 minutes. This is the ultimate punishment as a speaking lesson inevitably ends up with ample opportunity for them to chat to their friends in Chinese when my attention isn’t directly on them.

Volunteering

I have continued volunteering for the three charities, Magic Hospital, Migrant Children’s Foundation (MCF) and Educating Girls of Rural China. As I’ve mentioned before, this has been a good way for me to use my time, particularly as a lot of the work is remote-based so I don’t even need to leave my bed.

Another perk of volunteering is the events you get to go to. Early in March I was invited to go along to the British Club’s ball as it was raising money for MCF. Located in a 5 star hotel, I briefly forgot I was in China as I was surrounded by middle aged Brits dressed to the nines. As it was the British Club, the food was quintessentially British and I got to enjoy my first scone and sticky toffee pudding of 2018.

The British Club’s ball

I was also fortunate enough to visit an MCF session in action this week. Every Saturday several volunteers teach English lessons at various migrant schools across Beijing. Compared to traditional state schools, migrant schools are often under resourced and so it was lovely seeing the children getting to experience an interactive English lesson.

 

An MCF lesson

An MCF lesson

Some familiar faces

A week ago my aunty and cousin were in Beijing before heading off to Xi’an and Shanghai. It was slightly surreal being around people that had known me for longer than seven months. Their visit also gave me a lot of opportunity for reflection. My aunty asked if I’d enjoyed my time in China, and after a few moments, I said I’d enjoyed it but not so much the setup. Looking at the process as a whole, it’s been more than fine. But on a day-to-day basis it’s easy to feel isolated, especially when living further out. Living alone and living far away from friends is certainly not an ideal situation and if I’d had more say I would have done things differently.

Showing my aunty and cousin around made me realise how lucky I am to live in Beijing. Being an international tourist in China is rare, and it’s far from easy to get around with English rarely spoken by taxi drivers or restaurant staff. Among other things, I was able to ensure we got from A to B thanks to Didi (China’s Uber) and my basic and broken Chinese ensured we could order meals. We ate dumplings (both the traditional variety and the chocolate variety) and my aunty and cousin got to sample some authentic Peking duck. We also went to a restaurant called Dali Courtyard where there is no menu, and they simply present you with a number of dishes. This was an expensive experience for China, but it was a beautiful restaurant, and good for novelty value.

I also took my aunty and cousin around some of my favourite places including 798 art district and the hutongs. I also visited Forbidden City (the number one thing to do in China according to the Lonely Planet) for the very first time. The weather was glorious, and it was the most I’ve ever walked in Beijing. While it was great having them here, I was sad to see them go, as I was aware it would be another few months before I would be reunited with other family members and friends.

 

I also recently tried Chinese calligraphy for the first, and probably last, time. Two friends and I had booked to go to a class designed for foreigners that was less than £2 (a bargain). We got there and were shown how to hold the brush and then the teacher immediately and very swiftly drew a perfect Chinese character. As Chinese characters are wholly unfamiliar to me, this proved very challenging. We persisted nonetheless and here we are holding our attempts that are so off kilter they probably spell out ‘poo’.

 

…..

It’s been a fairly quiet month, but I’ve got a few exciting trips planned. This weekend I’ll be going to Shanghai for the first time, and at the end of the month I’ll be going to Zhangjiajie (rumoured to be the inspiration for the Avatar mountains) which I’m very excited about.

Are we travelling or are we on holiday?

My previous blog post covered my trips to Harbin, Hangzhou and Huangshan, otherwise known as my desperate attempts to get away from campus. Even though it was the holiday, living at school meant I couldn’t quite get into the holiday frame of mind. For this reason I was looking forward to my trip to South East Asia as I would not be returning to school for three whole weeks. I swapped my sleeping bag (padded green ankle-length coat) for a denim jacket, which I immediately regretted bringing as soon as we stepped into the 30-degree heat. The title of this post, ‘Are we travelling or are we on holiday?’ refers to our various moments of hypothesising whether we were travellers or merely tourists. As you will see, this changed dramatically from destination to destination.

The first destination of our trip was Cambodia and it was a flying visit of just three days. It felt less like traveling and more like a holiday, as we were greeted with English speaking Cambodians who saw us as just another bog standard tourist. The pace of life was slower, and it was easy to find areas teeming with restaurants, bars and cafés. Aside from the adverts for Wet n’ Wild (made infamous by the recent arrest of several westerners) the atmosphere was family friendly which was relaxing to be around.

Getting into the holiday spirit

Our first stop in Cambodia was Phnom Penh. We started by visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The museum is located on the former site of the notorious S21 prison. Education was largely prohibited during the Khmer Rouge regime, meaning it was no accident that before being turned into a prison it was a school. The museum was informative, and it was harrowing to see the tiny cells, and to hear the stories of the survivors. While in Phnom Penh we also visited Choeung Ek, the site of a mass grave of victims of the Khmer Rouge. The weather was beautiful, making it an uncomfortable experience, as one had to reconcile the pleasant surroundings with the site’s uncomfortable history. It was as informative as Tuol Sleng, with the audio guide bringing it to life. We also saw the Royal Palace, via a quick detour to Central Market to buy some more respectable clothes. The palace didn’t disappoint, and we enjoyed watching the sun sparkling on the golden architecture, and it was a world away from anything you’d find in Beijing.

Choeung Ek

Central Market

The Royal Palace

Our next stop was Siem Reap, home to Angkor Wat: a series of impressive temples, and the largest religious monument in the world. We did the sunrise tour thinking it would be less busy. How naïve we were. Thankfully due to our seasoned experience of tourism in China, we were no strangers to having mobile phones thrust within every inch of our vision. Taking a step back from the mass, we enjoyed wandering around the temple at a leisurely pace. If I had to choose, I’d say my favourite temple was the Bayon, with its multitude of faces. A close second would be Ta Prohm, where the Tomb Raider film was set. Again, due to our seasoned experience of Chinese tourism, we were quick to strike out the Lara Croft poses to the amusement of our fellow tourists.

Next up was Thailand. We took what was advertised as a direct bus to Bangkok, but which turned out to be a bus and then three hours of waiting on the side of the road at the border for another bus. We rested our legs and relaxed into the Asian squat, which we have perfected thanks to our time in China. We had six hours in Bangkok and we knew how we wanted to spend it: at the Unicorn Café. Sadly we were too late. We tried to just have a wander but unsurprisingly that isn’t a viable option in the bustling metropolis of Bangkok. We were saving the pad thai for another day, and after our long journey we needed some comfort food, so we headed to a 24 hour American style restaurant. Unfortunately we accidentally ended up in ‘the world’s largest adult playground’. As three women in their 20s, this was not what we had come to Thailand for. We quickly ate our food, and headed to the airport ahead of our trip to Krabi.

In Krabi we stayed in the resort style town of Ao Nang. Feeling a lot more like a Greek island than a Thai town, it was a bit disorientating. While we weren’t too enamoured with Ao Nang, we enjoyed visiting the islands. We saw Maya Bay (hello young Leonardo Dicaprio in The Beach), Bamboo Island, Viking Cave, Pileh Bay, Phi Phi Island and Railay Beach. We even went past a boat that was almost my namesake: Rosehanna. While the islands were very pretty, it definitely felt like the most touristic part of our trip.

Hot dogs or legs???

Our trip to Krabi ended on a low following a slow succession of us all coming down with food poisoning. When asking ourselves, ‘Are we travelling or are we on holiday?’ it certainly felt like the former as I lay on the floor of the hostel toilets taking refuge in between the contents of my stomach exiting my body from both ends. The hostel told us there was to be ‘no fucking’ in the hostel. Little did they know that we’d spend the majority of our final night shitting, not fucking. This was to become my first day of vegetarianism.

As a result of the food poisoning we were somewhat relieved to be saying goodbye to Krabi. Our next destination was Chiang Mai, a city in the mountainous northern region of Thailand. Filled with coffee shops, it reminded me of Beijing’s hutongs. We came to the conclusion that we just weren’t beach people, and that temples and independent coffee shops were more our cup of tea (or should I say coffee). Aside from wandering around the old town, we also visited an elephant sanctuary. We got to feed, bathe, and brush the elephants. This was definitely a highlight of our trip. It felt like we were just sitting in on an elephant’s normal day as we got to roam around with them in their natural habitat.

We then headed to our final destination: Vietnam. We planned to stay only two nights in Hanoi but as it coincided with New Year, transport was greatly reduced meaning we had to extend our stay by two more nights. While this did mean we had to postpone our trip to Halong Bay, there are much worse places to be stranded. We enjoyed the busy streets of Hanoi, the architecture and the many coffee shops that served Hanoi’s staple of egg coffee.

On our first day in Hanoi we went to the Temple of Literature. As New Year was approaching, we got to enjoy the view of Vietnamese families posing for photos in their best dress in front of the temple. We then had lunch in a very sophisticated European style café. While Beijing is not short of Western style cafes and restaurants, they tend to veer towards an American diner-like style so it was a treat being somewhere more European. Next, we went to Hoa Lo Prison. This is a museum located on the original grounds of a prison that was used by the French, and later the Americans. It was informative and bursting at the seams with national pride. A big highlight of our first day in Hanoi was seeing the New Year celebrations. We, and many others, crowded around the edge of the lake to watch the fireworks. It was a wonderful atmosphere, and as fireworks are banned in Beijing it was the perfect way to bring in the year of the dog.

A trip to Vietnam wouldn’t be complete without visiting Ha Long Bay. We had planned to visit from Cat Ba island while staying at a hostel on the beach, but as already mentioned getting to Cat Ba proved impossible during the New Year period. Instead we went on a day trip to Ha Long Bay. Unlike the island tour in Krabi, we had a huge boat complete with dining tables on which we were served a buffet dinner (learning from previous mistakes I asked for a vegetarian meal). It was also a very different climate from Krabi, as the skies were grey and the air was cool. In a way it reminded me of a British summer’s day. We enjoyed seeing the views, both from the cruise boat, and from a smaller bamboo boat.

Our second to last stop was Hoi An, an ancient town and now UNESCO world heritage site. While the population is only 120,000, it is safe to say Hoi An is not a quiet place due to its thriving tourist industry. We spent our first day exploring the old town and popping into ancient houses. The next day we hired a bike for the day which allowed us to travel to the nearby An Nang beach, and then to Tra Que vegetable village. It almost felt like we were back in the UK as we admired the plush green grass.

Last but not least is Ho Chi Minh City where we spent our final day. Ho Chi Minh felt the most like Beijing in terms of architecture. It had wide streets and very Western-style grand buildings. Some notable sights we visited included the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (a 19^th century European-style cathedral), the Municipal Theatre, and the Saigon Central Post Office. One particular highlight was seeing the War Remnants Museum. This lacked the overt national pride of Hao Lo Prison and enabled us to learn more about the devastating impact the Vietnam War had on civilians both at the time and many years later. Another highlight was going up the Bitexco Financial Tower which enabled us to see Ho Chi Minh City in all its glory – and for a fraction of the price of the Shard in London!

Central Post Office

Bitexco Financial Tower

It’s safe to say we saved the best till last, and if I weren’t so unsteady on a bike (let alone scooter), I would seriously consider living in Vietnam. The trip has also made me realise how little international tourism there is in China. National tourism is thriving, with most touristic sites catered towards Mandarin speakers, and any foreigners you do see around Beijing are residents, rather than tourists. It was a breeze navigating touristic life in South East Asia, yet in Huangshan despite knowing the basics of Mandarin we were heavily reliant on our host Steven to make the most of our trip. It’s also strange how quickly you get used to a certain way of doing things. In Guangzhou, China, as we were waiting for our flight back to Beijing we all struggled to work out why Instagram wasn’t working… It was very much a case of being back to reality.

The Three H’s: Harbin, Hangzhou and Huangshan

Ahead of Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), I had an extra couple of weeks off and I was keen to do more exploring within China before heading off to South East Asia. First stop was Harbin in the north, then to the south to see Hangzhou and Huangshan.

Harbin

The closer it got to our Harbin trip, the more we were dreading it. It was as if we were prepping for a military boot camp, rather than a fun weekend away as all we could think about were thermals and walking boots. We messaged each other in fits of anxiety to confirm how many socks we were packing as we saw temperatures would drop to as low as -28 degrees.

Thankfully the novelty of taking a sleeper train injected some fun into the start of the trip. We’d booked a ‘soft sleeper’, which meant a bunk bed each with a soft mattress, pillow and duvet. We were overcome with giddiness as we tested out how far we could spread our limbs across our four-person room. A room that felt the size of about two wardrobes pushed together. After a brief sleep (we were awakened at 5:50am by a member of staff switching on the lights), we proceeded to put on all five layers we’d packed, plus insole warmers, which on the stuffy train made it feel like our feet were on fire. Stepping off the stiflingly hot train we were greeted by the cold sting of the -26 degree air. We then experienced the odd but strangely satisfying sensation of the snot in our noses freezing. Below is an example of what -26 degrees looks like.

After a quick coffee we went to Saint Sophia Cathedral, a former Russian Orthodox Church. Now a museum come gallery, it contained many photos of Harbin’s history including the Russian influence. We then set off for the international Ice and Snow Festival, the reason we, and thousands of others, come to Harbin. We started with Sun Island, a winter wonderland filled with snow sculptures built by out-of-work farmers. After a quick ice skate we ventured to the Grand World of Ice and Snow, an enormous display of ice sculptures. We got to see various sights in ice form including Beijing’s Temple of Heaven.

A full day spent outdoors would be a bit much in a British winter, let alone in Harbin’s -26 degrees. For this reason, we were relieved to be leaving the next day, having seen the main sights. Ahead of our eight-hour train journey back to Beijing, we couldn’t resist sampling the famous Harbin snack of sausages served in a loose plastic bag.

Hangzhou

Despite not making it into Lonely Planet’s top 30 things to do in China, Hangzhou is often quoted by locals as one of the most beautiful places to visit. As the weather was going to be a balmy 8 degrees, it seemed like the perfect place to escape Beijing’s winter chill.

We spent our first day wandering around West Lake, which was unfortunately shrouded in a cloud of fog. While it allowed for some moody photos, we were a little disappointed that we couldn’t actually see anything. Nevertheless, we persisted and enjoyed the foggy, rainy climate, which felt foreign compared to the blue skies and unbearable dryness of Beijing. It also gave us the chance to wander down the old street, which was the most traditional looking Chinese street we’d seen to date. We got to see all the local delicacies, including meat candy floss.

Thankfully the sky was clear the next day, meaning we got to see the lake in all its glory. We hired a boat for an hour and a half and sat back and enjoyed the view. We clearly hadn’t had enough of boats, because we then got a passenger boat to a nearby island. We then headed to Leifeng Pagoda, a tower that was originally constructed in 975 AD. We found the escalator going up the pagoda incredibly amusing, particularly as it in no way aided disabled access, as you needed to take stairs at either end. We then walked to Jingci Temple, a Buddhist temple that looked glorious in the sun.

We later ventured up some steep and narrow streets on the hunt for a café that was listed in the guidebook. While the café was nice, the views from the café’s balcony were incredible. We could see Hangzhou in its entirety, both the new and the old city. We then had a wander and discovered some huge rocks where we saw a few keen climbers engaging in what looked like a crossover between parkour and rock climbing (essentially climbing with no safety equipment). Lou and Henry proceeded to climb the rock while I waited hesitantly at the side. After much encouragement, I too climbed the rock and was treated to even more impressive views. Being on that rock and admiring the view was one of our favourite China moments thus far.

We ended our final day with a trip to the guidebook’s recommended restaurant Grandma’s House. The restaurant was very sophisticated, and would have been completely out of our budget if we were in the UK. Due to a lack of photos, we ordered “a chicken dish”, “a vegetable dish”, and rice, as that’s as much as we can say in Chinese. At one point, the waiters began to chant and brought an object in a box and then signalled for one of us to hit the object with a hammer-like utensil. The box was then opened, and our “chicken dish” was served. After later discussing the experience with a Chinese colleague, it turned out we were blessing the chicken. In reality, we were the ones that were blessed, as the food was delicious.

Huangshan

Haungshan has not only made Lonely Planet’s top 30, but its famous mountain is listed as one of the top 10 (“if not top 5”) things to do in China. There seemed to be nothing to suggest that trips in the winter were unfeasible, so we booked a train and a hostel and awaited the striking views we’d been promised.

We’d booked to stay at a bed and breakfast that had raving reviews, many of which were singing the praises of host Steven. He did not disappoint. Despite us being almost 2 hours delayed, he picked us up at the train station for free and took us to his house. The heating was non-existent (this is common for south China) and as it was snowing outside we were very relieved to find electric blankets.

The next day we headed to the ancient villages of Xidi and Hongcun, which are UNESCO world heritage sites. Despite the chilly weather, it was very pleasant wandering aimlessly around the nooks and crannies of the winding alleys. We stumbled across a number of hipster coffee shops, which ironically were easier to come by here than in the city of Huangshan.

We later had dinner with Steven and he told us various stories, including how he learned English. He left school at 14 and continued to practice his English by becoming a guide, running a B&B in the city, and then hosting people in his own home. Staying at Steven’s was actually one of the highlights of the trip. We got to enjoy his wife’s home cooked food, sample local tea, and listen to his 19 year old daughter have no shame while loudly singing You’re Beautiful by James Blunt (bizarrely still a huge hit in China).

Steven told us we might not be able to make a trip up Mount Huangshan, and we struggled to hide our disappointment. He called his friend to see if he’d be willing to drive us but he refused due to the ice on the roads. He also told us the entrance to the mountain had been blocked, and that the cable car wasn’t running. It dawned on us that perhaps we’d been a tad naïve booking a trip to a mountain while the temperature was in the minuses. Regardless, Steven told us that we had “a great opportunity” and that we must try. The next day he took us to a bus station and we headed off with little idea as to whether the mountain would even be accessible. Thankfully it was, and so was the cable car meaning we were able to avoid an icy hike. The views were just as good as expected, if not better, as the heavy sprinkling of snow made it look magical. As Steven said later, we were “very lucky”.

It was good to explore China more, and I only wish I could have done it for longer, particularly as it was so calm ahead of Chinese New Year. It has definitely whetted my appetite for more travel in China.

The highs and lows of spending a year in China

It’s almost a year since I applied to the British Council Language Assistant programme on a whim. As the programme in China had the least requirements (you didn’t need to speak any Chinese), it seemed like the best option. While I could have gone for a French-speaking country, I felt like my sub-standard A level in French (done on the Welsh exam board because it’s the easiest) would not suffice. I’ve since realised my naïveté, and that just because you’re not required to know a language doesn’t mean that living in the country will be any easier. For one thing, I’ll probably never be able to read a menu. At present, the only words I recognise in Chinese characters are “hello” and “thank you” and that’s primarily due to a short-lived obsession with Duolingo. Pictures and pointing have become my best friends and are generally how I make my way through most interactions. That being said, five months in I can now add a sentence to my pointing action; “Wo yao zhe ge” (“I want this one”). It’s strange to think I’m almost halfway through my time in China, and as such, it seems like the perfect opportunity for some reflection. Apologies in advance for the duplication; a lot of my highs are simultaneously lows.

Highs

1. Learning that I can survive after being thrown into the deep end

I arrived in Beijing with just four days of training ahead of me. At the training I had a crash course in chopsticks and teaching, both of which I had zero experience in. On starting the job, the school gave me little guidance. I’ve completed e-courses just to do a Saturday job at a camera shop, yet here I was almost clueless in a country where I couldn’t speak the language and about to start a job that I had no experience in. In my first few weeks, my classes all blurred into one and I didn’t know who could speak English and who couldn’t. Five months in, I may not know their names, but I do know their faces and have built a good rapport with my students. There’s the one that loves Taylor Swift, the one that wants to be a hip-hop artist, the one whose role model is Justin Bieber, the one that loves ‘sneakers’, and many more besides.

2. Being ‘the fun teacher’ and my sheer lack of responsibility

It will surprise no one when I say that education in China is taken very seriously and that students are worked very hard. When I tell my students off for napping in my classes (a more frequent occurrence than one might assume) they tell me they get to school at 8am, leave at 9pm, and then do homework till midnight. When I try to do a “what did you do during the holiday?” activity, almost all of my students say ‘homework’ with a resounding sigh of resignation. As a result, English lessons act as a big stress release for the students. We can spend the full 40 minutes playing games or chatting about celebrities so long as my students engage in some form of speaking practice. As I can’t speak any Chinese, it’s generally not difficult to get at least some of the class speaking English.

I can also generally get away with doing whatever I want in my lessons. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago (so a good fifteen weeks into teaching) that I had my first senior class observed. This has also meant my disciplinary measures have been far from traditional, for example, threatening to withdraw my offer of a 10-minute clip of Mr. Bean.

3. My job includes just chatting

It took me a while to realise that it was fine that a group of girls were asking me questions about my hair rather than doing their worksheet, as they were still practicing their oral English. That being said, there are some things I wish my students wouldn’t ask me. Most notably being inappropriate remarks made by adolescent boys, such as “Have you heard of the secret of Victoria?” (Victoria’s Secret has recently come to China). I am, of course, aware that this is entirely part and parcel of teaching pubescent boys and has little to do with my being in China.

4. My short commute

I set off for my classes five minutes before they start. Usually the bell hasn’t even rung by the time I get to the classroom. When I finish at 4pm, by 4:05pm I’ll have already popped the kettle on. Also, if a class is cancelled, I can crawl back into bed and watch a whole episode of Parks and Recreation.

5. Being able to live off what is essentially a part-time job

I teach seventeen classes a week, and as each class is only 40 minutes I work less than 20 hours. On Thursdays and Fridays I only teach two classes a day. My earliest start is 10:05 and my latest finish is 4pm. The school provides accommodation, meaning my only outgoings are on food and leisure activities. And China is cheap. Beijing is expensive by Chinese standards, but you can still get dinner for less than £3. If I weren’t so fond of coffee and cake, I would be a much richer woman.

6. Reaping the financial rewards of being a native speaker

Tutoring opportunities are everywhere in China. Providing you’re a native speaker there is often no preparation required, and you can earn around 300 RMB (£33) per session. While I could have comfortably lived off my teaching salary, it was hard to resist the potential to make a bit of extra cash. A ‘bit of extra cash’ has turned into me almost doubling my salary, which will fund my travels to South East Asia next month, and South Korea and Japan at the end of June.

I’ve also learned that tutoring can be fun. I tutor seven-year-old Linda twice a week and we generally have a great time. We sing songs from Frozen, and she shows me the love notes exchanged between her and her ‘number one’ friend Emma. Each time I see her she gives me a new fake Disney nail that I am required to wear on my little fingernail. As the sessions are held in her bedroom, part of me does wonder whether I am just a glorified babysitter, particularly when I go to the toilet and she turns the light off and I have to say, “Linda! That’s not funny!” Still, it’s a nice break from the staleness of teaching 30+ students crammed into a small classroom.

7. Using my time wisely

Volunteering is a great way to use my time, and I’m lucky to be able to work with charities that do great things here in China. It’s also expanded my social network and allowed me to meet people beyond just foreign teachers. I volunteer for Magic Hospital, Migrant Children’s Foundation and Educating Girls of Rural China.

8. Being able to see the sights

As a teacher, you get most (see low number 3) weekends off. This means I’ve managed to see a number of China’s sights already. I’ve ticked off five of the Lonely Planet’s top recommendations for China, and almost half of the Huffington Post’s list.

Lows

1. Living far from the centre

When researching Fengtai, I discovered that it was featured in an April Fools’ article for being the only place left in Beijing with squat toilets. Arriving in Fengtai, the joke article made more sense as I discovered my nearest Starbucks is a 45-minute walk away (which is saying something, as Beijing has almost as many Starbucks as London). Culture shock hit me hard as I realised I wouldn’t be able to easily immerse myself into city life, as I was in a very residential, very Chinese, district. My nearest subway is a 20 minute walk away, and I remember going to the supermarket three times on my first day as I didn’t know what else to do. Five months in, I could probably do the 20-minute walk to the subway station in my sleep. While the subway is cheap, I do still find it frustrating that getting anywhere takes me at least an hour and a half. Yes, I have a lot of free time, but it does feel like I spend a good proportion of my time in transit.

2. Living on campus

Living on campus, it doesn’t really ever feel like I’ve gone home. I also have to get the attention of a guard to open the gate before I can get back into my room. This is more challenging when it gets past 10pm and the guard is often asleep. In the New Year, there were new guards meaning I experienced an unfortunate incident whereby they were reluctant to open the gate and I didn’t have the vocabulary to say, “Please open the gate”, meaning I just had to turn around and go back to my room. Talk about cabin fever.

3. The weekend is not sacred (and other things being cancelled or rearranged with little notice)

We didn’t find out when we were finishing for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year and the month long winter holiday) until a week before. It was in this same moment that I was told that the school was shut Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and that they’d rescheduled these days to go across two weekends. This coincided with my long awaited trip to Harbin’s ice and snow festival. Despite being 25, I found myself tearing up in the office out of frustration. Thankfully I held it together and in the end some colleagues were able to cover me. All of this is normal within Chinese culture, and we were warned in our training that such things could happen, but it is annoying nonetheless.

4. The repetitiveness, lack of responsibility (I said I’d repeat myself), and lack of guidance 

As I’m here primarily to improve my student’s speaking skills, the job can feel a little uninspiring. I’ve had only a handful of lessons observed, and teaching advice has been limited to not teaching anything controversial during the week of National Party Congress meetings back in October. For this reason, it does sometimes feel like my presence at the school is just ticking a box. The lack of guidance from my superiors, and the lack of any kind of target or goal in my work has meant I can feel a bit aimless. I’m like a student but with no deadlines which is fun for a while but can get a bit tedious. I also think if someone told me before I came that I would be teaching five classes of up to 40 ten-year olds with no teaching assistant, I might have thought twice about the opportunity.

5. It can get very lonely

The other day I caught myself explaining to my friend over FaceTime my TV schedule; 30 Rock in the morning, Parks and Rec in the afternoon and the Mindy Project at night. The fact that I have to order my days through the TV shows I watch is a sign that I have too much time to myself.

This leads me onto the point that I’ve found it really hard to make Chinese friends. Like moving to any new city, it’s difficult to make friends to start with. I have colleagues that I chat to but we’ve never met up outside work, and outside of work it’s difficult to know where to begin to meet Chinese people. This has led me to live in a bit of an expat bubble, socialising predominantly with my fellow British Council friends and international volunteering friends. This is also perhaps why my students don’t take me very seriously, as we end up just chatting.

6. Biting your tongue/being asked questions that you can’t really answer

It’s not really a low, but it’s certainly a challenge facing the unpredictable and often provocative questions my students throw at me. A language and cultural difference makes for some interesting remarks, as does the fact that they are teenagers. Most of what they say is harmless, and probably in the same vein as young Westerners, but I often find myself being hyper aware of potential controversies. One student, for example, asked me what my opinion was on ‘LGBT’. Another student asked if it was true that Chinese people emigrating had to convert to a religion. The same student also asked me if any of my friends have HIV. As Google is banned, and Chinese search engines are heavily monitored, I don’t exactly feel comfortable being potentially their sole foreign source of information regarding these issues.

It was always going to be hard coming to China, and considering I only applied to the programme a day before the deadline, I really did go in with little idea of what to expect. When I arrived I didn’t know where to get any home comforts. Now, I know where to get coffee, cake, pizza and much, much more. I also have a newfound obsession with dumplings.

“Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”, said no one in China

Being in China, and working during the festive period, has made me realise there is more to Christmas than just the one day. Checking social media during Christmas while in China is a no-go, and not just because of the Great Firewall. Seeing everyone spending time with family and catching up with old friends while you are in your bedroom alone for what feels like the millionth day in a row is not an ideal situation. Feeling sorry for myself as I had a cold, I spent the majority of the festive season cooped up in my room, and there was no novelty to lounging around, as my relaxed teaching timetable has meant this is a frequent occurrence.

That being said, I really enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I met friends for drinks and karaoke. It almost felt like I was back in my hometown as it was just a small group of us drinking a little too much while sat around one big table. My friend Teagan’s family were visiting and this added a nice familial touch to the proceedings. It wasn’t hard to feel merry with an abundance of good conversation and pineapple-flavoured soju (a Korean spirit). In order to stave off any feelings of loneliness, we had booked a hotel, meaning we got to wake up together on Christmas Day. While we did feel slightly worse for wear in the morning, in keeping with tradition we lounged around and watched Love Actually. We then popped out to satisfy our sweet tooths (teeth?) and had a hot chocolate and some churros in the hutong area. We wore our paper crowns from our crackers and made sure we looked like the stupid laowais (foreigners) we know we are.

On Boxing Day, it was back to work. I had a full day at the primary school, and struggled to compute the fact that none of them were excited that it was Christmas. Life went on as normal, and in my first class, a girl ran out the room to be sick. I also played 11 minutes of Mr. Bean in every lesson that day (am I a good teacher yet?). After my classes, I went to the printing room to get my worksheets ready for the next day. I had forgotten that Jim from the Printing Room (JFPR) had previously told me he was a Christian. This meant I was slightly confused when he asked me if I was going to tell my students “the Christmas story”. JFPR then brought the nativity scene to life, by reciting it to me in English in its entirety. He really is wasted in the printing room.

From the 27^th onwards, I had a week of Christmas-themed lessons with the seniors. Many students kept pointing out that they don’t celebrate Christmas in China, something they definitely didn’t need to remind me of. In my first class, I made the mistake of playing The Darkness’ Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End). Unbeknownst to me there is a bit in the video where he pulls out a pair of tiny red knickers from a stocking. As I result, I spent my lunch break hastily re-watching Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You to check it was more appropriate.

While it might not be Christmas everywhere, teenagers remain the same wherever they are. When I asked my students what the best present they’d ever received was, I heard responses such as, “His best present was getting a girlfriend!” Most of them hadn’t received presents from their parents in years, and when I asked one student what was the worst present he’d ever received, he said it was a photo of him sleeping from his mother which he hated because he is a “very ugly sleeper”. Another bright student, with a cheeky glint in his eye, said, “The best gift I have received is from my mother for giving me life.” Gift giving seems to be primarily a thing among loved up teenagers, with most of them saying they don’t receive gifts because they don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend. This was further highlighted, when one class descended into everyone singing “Single Dog” to the tune of “Jingle Bells”. I never thought I’d be defensive of the song Jingle Bells, but there I was, the day after Boxing Day, telling my students if they didn’t know the real words then they should be quiet.

One notable thing I’ve done this festive season is go to the ballet. We saw Swan Lake performed by The Kiev Ballet at the Great Hall of the People on the 30^th of December. The venue was incredible, as it is one of the main government buildings where the recent National People’s Congress meetings took place. The actual ballet experience was interesting. There were no refreshments on offer other than water, not even a glass of wine. While waiting in a phenomenally long queue for the toilets, it dawned on us that everyone would probably get their phones out during the performance (how else would they inform their friends on WeChat that they’d been to the ballet?). True to form, as the performance started, everyone got out their phones. There was no orchestra and the music was quiet, meaning you could hear people chatting throughout. At one point, one chat got a little too heated, and we heard some raised voices and the ushers went over to intervene. As soon as the lights went up for the interval, an actual fight broke out between the two women with one woman punching the other. This was the highlight of the evening for me.

New Year’s is kind of a thing in China, although the main focus is on Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). In the interest of saving money for Spring Festival I spent the day of New Year’s Eve in bed watching Black Mirror. This was depressing, and slightly harrowing considering I currently reside in an authoritarian country. Thankfully everyone got New Year’s Day off, meaning I was able to celebrate with friends. My friends and I started by going to a rip off Nando’s complete with the same flavourings and sauces (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?). We then had drinks at a friend’s flat and midway through had the sad realisation that we wouldn’t be able to put on Jools Holland for the countdown. We put BBC news on instead, and got to see the fireworks in Hong Kong. Later, a few of us went on to do not one, not two, but three hours of KTV (karaoke). We made it home just after 7am, after a quick trip to a corner shop to get corn on the cob and sushi (a strange combination, I know). I feel lucky to have found such great friends that I can enjoy my time in China with and I’m really looking forward to Spring Festival break. Happy New Year!

It’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas

I started writing this blog post shivering on my bed as workmen were replacing my kitchen and had left the front door open. In typical Chinese fashion, I was told that this would be happening but I wasn’t told when it would be happening. This led me to being midway through yoga practice when I received a torrent of knocks on my door. The workmen then proceeded to place everything in the kitchen on top of my yoga mat (interesting move) and I locked myself in the bathroom so that I could get dressed. Really, I’m lucky, as had they come fifteen minutes prior they’d have found me asleep (I’d also forgotten to lock my door) which would have been embarrassing for everyone involved.

The festive season

Christmas isn’t really a thing in China. This is the first time in my life that I’ve made it so far through December without hearing an abundance of Christmas songs. While my local supermarket does often play an instrumental version of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’, it’s been playing since August so I feel like this doesn’t count. A good example of the absence of Christmas is a card I received from a primary school student. She’d written “Merry Christmas” on the card and had drawn a present, but it was in fact a thank you card. Similarly, one confused Senior 1 student wished me a happy birthday at the start of a lesson this week.

The Christmas spirit has, however, been alive and kicking among expats. Pretty much every weekend since the end of November there’s been a market run by an embassy or an international school. Two Sundays ago we went to a market in a bar called The Hutong where it was so crowded we couldn’t move. After a tepid mulled wine, we made a quick exit. The markets I’ve enjoyed the most were the ones organised by the charity Migrant Children’s Foundation (MCF). As I write the blog for MCF, I got to go along and peruse the stalls and chat to vendors and volunteers alike. Even though I was attending the markets in a volunteer capacity, I couldn’t help treating myself to the mittens featured below. If you want to read more about MCF’s Christmas fairs you can do so here and here. I also got to experience what felt like the equivalent of an office Christmas party, as MCF had a Christmas volunteer social. Held at a posh café near the hutongs, we were treated to a Christmas buffet and mulled wine. We each received a goodie bag and just generally had a lovely time.

Speaking of expats, my friends and I have indulged in the Christmas classic Secret Santa. We wrapped our presents in Chinese newspaper (I couldn’t read it but I could ask for one at the newspaper stand – progress) so that our identities remained secret. I have been going on about the absence of hot chocolate in my life for a while now so was very pleased to receive some hot chocolate, marshmallows and a new mug.

I also gave myself a little Christmas present in the form of a new tattoo. A lot of expat life in China runs on hearsay, and it was thanks to someone in a group chat sharing a tattooist’s WeChat account that I found a credible tattoo artist that was good at speaking English.

While winter might not be festive, it is far from miserable. The weather has been glorious lately, and the sun has been shining almost consistently. I think it would be much easier to lament the lack of festivities if it was grey and cloudy. This is not to say it’s been warm, however. The weather is creeping towards the minuses and at night it’s fallen to as low as –9 degrees.

Caochangdi Art District

I had an impromptu Thursday and Friday off two weeks ago. In a bid to make the most of my time I ventured out to Caochangdi, Beijing’s alternative art district. Back in September I visited 798 Art District, the main art area in Beijing, and loved it. Caochangdi is a very different experience. While 798 is heaving with stylish youths, Caochangdi is deserted. 798 is a fashionable area to hang out, with not just galleries, but shops and cafes too. Caochangdi is a small residential area that just happens to be home to a number of esteemed galleries. This is pretty much the idea behind the district, with artists moving to Caochangdi to escape the commercialisation of 798. The lack of people is not a reflection of the quality of the art, with Ai Weiwei having notably moved to Caochangdi fifteen years ago.

Located in the north east of Beijing, it’s literally the other side of the city to me. Around 25 miles away, it took me an hour by subway and then I had to take a taxi. Unfortunately the taxi didn’t drop me off at the right destination meaning I spent a good half hour being lost. Thankfully I eventually found one of the main sights, the Three Shadows Photography Centre. Ai Weiwei designed the complex, and it’s the first gallery in China that is exclusively dedicated to contemporary photography. The collections exhibited were really interesting, especially one about the music scene in Beijing in the early 2000s. There were many photos that featured a popular music venue that was knocked down and replaced with Sanlitun SOHO (a huge shopping complex). This is the kind of history on urban redevelopment that’s hard to discover anywhere else in Beijing.

I then wandered across to an area that featured many galleries, all located within an industrial looking set of buildings. It was a bit of a maze and I popped my head into as many galleries as I could work out how to open the door to (no mean feat). I probably bumped into a maximum of about seven people in my three hours in the art village. I’m not sure if this is because it was a Friday or if it really was the norm for Caochangdi, but either way it was a very pleasant way to pass time.

The lack of commercialisation was evident in the lack of cafes. I had to stave off hunger, evidence that the purpose really is just to showcase art. The area surrounding the art village was very residential. Known as an urban village, it is mostly home to migrant workers and farmers. I ventured into a restaurant and the staff shouted “Wai guo ren! Wai guo ren!” (foreigner). I tried to point to a nondescript photo of a noodle dish but was met with a torrent of questions in Chinese that I was unable to understand, but thankfully a fellow female customer helped me out.

I thoroughly recommend a visit to Caochangdi art district. It was peaceful, and full of noteworthy art from both national and international artists. Walking around Caochangdi, it felt more like a mild spring day than an almost freezing winter’s day.

Prince Kung’s Mansion

I also recently visited Prince Kung’s Mansion, a huge complex where Prince Kung lived in the late nineteenth century. Fit for a king (literally), it was ginormous.

The complex is educational, with several small museum-like rooms. Sadly, all the information was in Chinese so I had to look up the history afterwards, but as it was a nice day, this wasn’t too much of a problem. If you were willing to get up close and personal with some fellow Chinese tourists, you could peak your head into some of the grand rooms. There were also some beautiful galleries filled with glittering artwork (see below).

The real highlight was the gardens. Probably due to the colder weather, it wasn’t overwhelmingly busy meaning you could take pleasure in your surroundings and enjoy the sound of the waterfall. I asked a woman to take a photo of me using the universal sign of pointing to my phone and then to myself. She obliged and then we bumped into each other again at which point she asked for a selfie (see below).

After visiting the mansion, I ventured out to a café. If I’m honest, the only reason I discovered Prince Kung’s Mansion was because I was trying to find something close to a café. From Prince Kung’s mansion, it was a 12 minute walk to Café de Sofa, just off the bustling touristy street and down a quiet residential hutong. The café was lovely and quiet, and allowed me the opportunity to sit on a sofa for the first time in four months. At one point a Chinese woman that was sat opposite me nipped downstairs and left her iPhone and other items unattended, something you’d certainly think twice about in London. This leads me onto the point that China is incredibly safe. I had the realisation the other day that I have never heard a siren here.

Teaching highlights

I teach the same class each week twelve times to seniors, and the same class five times a week to Grade 5. While this can be monotonous, the students remain as unpredictable as ever. Here are some of my favourite questions students have asked me recently:

A Grade 5 student: “My hamster has given birth. Would you like one of its babies?”

Two questions from the same Senior 2 student:

• “Do any of your friends have HIV?”
• “If I move away from China and to another country, like Europe, would I have to convert to a religion?”

Some students are also skilled at metaphors, for example one student told me: “Our maths homework could make a mountain.” Another highlight was one cheeky student who, when I handed out the worksheets, said “Burn them all!”.

I also found someone had scrawled the lyrics to What Do You Mean by Justin Bieber on their desk. Again, in demonstration of my incapacity to be a teacher, I demanded to know who did it and then asked him if he liked Justin Bieber and started humming the song.

I’m ending this blog post from my bed as I turned up to my first class of the day to find no students in the entire building. I eventually located an English teacher and she told me there was a performance and she was surprised (I was not) that no one had told me. It’s a strange kind of feeling resenting wasting energy dreading a 40-minute lesson that doesn’t take place. Merry Christmas!

Seeing Xi’an: 3 months in China

My trip to Xi’an

Two weeks ago some friends and I went to Xi’an. We took the bullet train and it reached a speed of 304 km/h, which is about 50 miles faster than a Virgin Pendolino. We set off after work and it took five and a half hours to get there, so it was straight to bed after we’d had a quick tower of beer at the hostel. We were up bright and early on the Saturday morning, and we were treated to the hostel’s full English breakfast (my first in China!). After wolfing down our food, we headed out on the hostel’s tour to the Terracotta Army. We had a Chinese tour guide that spoke and walked very fast – it was as if there was somewhere else she needed to be. While her manner in addressing us was a bit bizarre (“Sorry, please, excuse me everyone. Hello”) it actually was probably the most British way I’ve heard a Chinese person speak.

The Terracotta Army itself was impressive but it was more of a museum than a monument you just chance upon. It was divided into three pits and each pit was in its own building. There was an excellent moment where a lady dropped her handbag into the pit and this led to a communal gasp from both Chinese and foreign tourists alike. It was interesting to see, but the history of the Terracotta Army is a bit grim. Emperor Qin ordered people to build the soldiers, and once a person had built a soldier he killed them. We were obliged to pay 10¥ for the honour of a man taking a photo of us on our own photographic devices. I’m sorry to say that what is behind me is in fact just a few fake soldiers with a photo background. The actual soldiers (the photo on the right) were firmly cordoned off.

Later that day we went to the city walls. To our delight they had tandem bikes so my friend Teagan and I cycled together around the wall. Sadly, the rest of our friends refused to join us on the tandem bikes. It was quite liberating as we could appreciate that it was a genuinely amusing sight, two foreigners riding a tandem bike.

The city walls were also the location of a couple of wedding photo shoots where the brides were wearing the lucky colour red:

In the evening we went to the Muslim Quarter. This involved a lot of street food and a lot of noise. The vendors were chopping meat in the street, and dancing as they did it. While in Beijing you can buy meat on a stick that resembles a British-style kebab, here you could buy a stick that had not one, but two crabs on it.

As I had been a bit ill all week, I felt rather queasy walking through the market but I admired the sights nonetheless. In order to not feel left out while the others sampled the food, Teagan and I had a fish pedicure. This was quite the feat considering the doctor that performed my electrocardiogram prior to coming to China told me I was the tickliest person she had ever met. Again, I really was a sight for sore eyes as I squealed and squirmed while the Chinese people around me were completely unfazed.

The next day was our final day and we went to visit the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The Pagoda was surrounded by a park, which featured many adults at play. In China, it is very common to see adults letting their hair down in public spaces. We saw couples salsa dancing, men drawing on the ground, and women doing a very colourful dance with parasols (see picture below). We then set off back to Beijing ready for the next week of teaching.

Other fun things

I’ve tried to keep the touristy vibe going in Beijing, and last Saturday I visited Lama Temple. It was really impressive, and strange to think that I can just hop on the metro to see something like that.

The hutong near Lama Temple, Wu Dao Ying, is probably my favourite yet. It is full of cafes, and also has an interesting combination of both chic boutiques and hipster fashion stores. I fully embraced Beijing hipster fashion that day and bought myself a cap (who do I think I am?!). On the same evening we went to a Thai restaurant and then out for drinks for a friend’s birthday. I had a beer margarita and managed to make it home while the guard was still awake. It has felt like quite a frivolous week. The great thing about China, though, is that while I don’t have the highest salary, I earn enough to treat myself and I don’t have to worry about rent.

A beautiful brunch in a beautiful cafe in Wu Dao Ying:

Exploring ‘hipster’ Wu Dao Ying. Yes, that’s a green llama with the word ‘motherfucker’ blazoned across it (but it’s completely unrelated to lamas at the lama temple).

On Tuesday some friends and I ventured to our nearest ‘happening’ area in Wukesong. It’s a huge modern complex of restaurants and bars and it was very exciting to discover something that’s so conveniently located (also there’s a slide!). I felt like a normal functioning 20-something year old again, having too many G&Ts on a weeknight. In fact, it felt better than normal, as a G&T cost £1.50 and I set my alarm for 10am, as my first class wasn’t till 11:40am.

Back to school

It’s still a miracle that I’m making it through my days at the primary school. I’m not sure if I’m the only foreign teacher of children without a Chinese teaching assistant, but it sure does feel like that at times. I asked for a teaching assistant but was told that I should just observe other teacher’s lessons to see how they do it. I’ve seen how they do it; they speak Chinese. As I’m a beginner Chinese speaker, it really is the blind leading the blind. In most of my classes, however, we manage to breeze through. Either there’s a student that explains the tasks in Chinese to everyone (essentially my unpaid 10 year old Chinese teaching assistant), or the kids that aren’t interested speak amongst themselves quietly.

This is not the case for Class 1. In Class 1, everyone is screaming. While most are screaming in Chinese, there are also five students at the front that are incredibly enthusiastic and will scream the answers in English (“MY FAVOURITE SPORT IS FOOTBALL!!!!”). As I had only just recovered from my week of being ill and going away for the weekend, I found a Chinese English teacher and simply said, “They’re too noisy.” She took this incredibly seriously and told them that if they don’t want to learn, that’s the end of the class: “Those are the rules.” I did feel a bit bad watching their eyes brimming with tears as they were being told off. I felt especially bad, as at the start of the lesson one incredibly enthusiastic boy had been quietly chanting my name under his breath in order to get it right. This is the same boy that shouted with glee “IT’S ROSANNA!!!” when I showed photos of my trip to Xi’An. He’s adorable.

I’ve come to the conclusion that while teaching Grade 5 is challenging, it’s light relief from some of my more disinterested senior classes. I had one class this week where there was a row napping, a row talking amongst themselves, and then another row napping. The only two boys that actually speak English in the class also decided to take a nap halfway through the lesson. As I’d successfully taught this lesson ten times already, I was particularly frustrated. It’s fair to say I lost it, and told them that if they don’t want to speak they can write, and so next week they’ll be writing an essay on tourism which I will grade. I don’t know how to grade work in China, but I will, and they will be sorry they didn’t bother with what was originally a simple and straightforward spoken English lesson.

I had another bad class last week. One student kept throwing paper across the room and then refused to leave the room when I told him to go out. I also lost my patience with two girls that were giggling over a doodle rather than doing the work. I asked them to hand it to me and they refused. Then I told one of the girls to go out – she refused. I gave up, and then went back over again when the giggling recommenced and she ripped the paper in half and threw it at me. I told my Chinese teachers about the class after and they were shocked and said they’d tell their class teacher. Today I had the same class and as I walked in the room the class teacher was shouting at them and then the two aforementioned students walked towards me with bowed heads and gave me the notes below. I couldn’t help laughing as they handed them to me (reason number nineteen why I’ll never make a good teacher).

I may sound bitter, but the seniors aren’t all bad. In some of my best classes I often feel like we’re going off track and not doing the work because we’re chatting but then I remember that that is literally my job, to teach spoken English. My best senior classes often just descend into chitchat. The boundary between acceptable chitchat and unacceptable chitchat is, however, becoming blurred to some of my students. When teaching about punk fashion, a boy beckoned me over to ask me what I thought about a word that sounded like “Camden.” After several moments I realised he’d asked what I thought of condoms. I told him that was a bad question and walked away. Another male student asked me if it was true that there are lots of strip clubs in the UK. I feel like they don’t know what “inappropriate” means, meaning I have to say, “That is a bad question, he is a bad boy” which doesn’t really do it justice.

A plus of bad behaviour is that it provides a bonding opportunity for me and my Chinese colleagues. They help me out with discipline, and in return I help them out when they ask for a favour. Last week Jade asked to record me speaking, and this week Jessica asked me to transcribe the lyrics to a Christmas song. I also keep being offered food. I shared an apple with two other Chinese English teachers the other week, and Jim from the printing room (JFPR) gave me an orange and some sunflower seeds today. Sadly most of my other Chinese colleagues ignore me – in fact, yesterday I experienced five separate instances of Chinese teachers sitting at my table in the canteen and then moving as soon as another table became vacant. I know that this is mostly because they worry they won’t be able to speak good enough English so I try not to take it to heart.

My next post will be about Christmas (or lack thereof) in China!

One year older but no wiser

Last week ended terribly as I discovered I’d lost my passport. It was still in my bag from visiting Forbidden City the previous day and after ending up on a spontaneous night out, it must have fallen out of my bag. I called various bars in a bid to find my passport saying, “Nǐ hǎo, nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma?” (Hello, do you speak English?). I was all ready to call up the embassy in the morning and come to terms with the fact that I would not be going away this weekend (you need a passport to take the train). Thankfully one of the bars we went to found it and I collected it the following day. I am aware that I’m incredibly fortunate and I will keep my passport locked away firmly in my room from now on.

The benefit of temporarily losing my passport was that it reminded me that I do in fact want to stay in Beijing. Instead of thinking, “I’ve lost my passport – I can’t go home!” I thought “I’ve lost my passport – I can’t go to Xi’an next week!” This feeling was a relief as I had been deliberating what the point of being in Beijing was. This was due to some last minute days off as a result of midterm exams that I hadn’t planned for. I ended up spending the entirety of Thursday and Friday alone and speaking only broken Chinese to café workers. While I did try out some new cafés and visited some notable sights (Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square), I was feeling fed up of being alone. I live alone, work alone, and now had to entertain myself alone. I spend so much time killing time. I was thinking that my day-to-day life back home would be much less solitary – I would at least have flatmates or colleagues to socialise with. While there are a great bunch of foreign teachers I’ve met at other schools, it’s difficult to make last minute plans, as I don’t live near them. When we do make plans, however, we have a great time – and that’s the important thing. I also need to remember that I can make the most of where I am geographically in the world, and I have a whole month off in January so I can do some exploring then. So, while my lifestyle here isn’t exactly what I’d choose, I do have a roof over my head, a decent salary, and an excuse to go travelling.

I also feel like my recent birthday has prompted a lot of the negative thoughts regarding being alone. I was very aware that this would be the first birthday where I wouldn’t see my best friends or family. Luckily I did have my friends in Beijing to keep my spirits up. I was keen not to spend the day alone so made sure the day was jam-packed. Being fairly new to Beijing still, I didn’t have a favourite place to just relax and hang out. In a bid to do something interesting, I found an artisanal market but unfortunately we were the only customers so we didn’t stay long. Later we went to a comedy night. We saw one Chinese male comedian and five male Western comedians (!). The compare said there was a birthday girl in the room and he brought over a cake made by one of my friends and everyone sang happy birthday which was lovely. We then went on to do KTV (karaoke) and I made the mistake of picking Stan by Eminem as the first song which involved a lot more rapping than I had anticipated. We also had to skip Hey Ya by Outkast because the video in the background featured Auschwitz…

Chinese comedian

My birthday card (photo taken from when we were stranded on a boat 290 miles away from North Korea)

Teaching has continued to be a rollercoaster of emotions. The other week I lost my patience during a lesson and wrote, “English is boring if we don’t do the work” on the board and demanded that my students stand up and read it out. Of course none of them obliged, although they did try to protest that English lessons are in fact interesting. I reminded them that they’re a lot more interesting when they engage with the work rather than doing their homework from other lessons. As it was midterm exams last week, I took a more relaxed approach and let them do some quiet self-study. In one lesson I muttered under my breath that I should have brought a book and one student then produced a part Chinese/part English textbook on British culture. To my joy the subjects covered included the TV show Skins (I quote, “It centres on the meaningless life of a group of teenagers whose lives are stuffed with nothing but endless drug use, parties and adolescent sex”), Britain’s Got Talent (“There’s literally no limitations for participation”) and a page on David Robert Joseph Beckham coupled with a photo of a man that I’m 99% sure is not David (Robert Joseph) Beckham. I also enjoyed a moment last week when one student beckoned me over to explain what his and his friend’s English names were. His was “Dr. WH” (“he is crazy,” his friend said) and his friend’s name was “Skytar” (“Sky” and “star” put together). I like how ‘English name’ can often just mean a nonsensical name that is in English.

I’ve been trying to inject a bit more fun into my lessons recently, particularly as they’ve just done their exams. Last week I taught a lesson on selfies and this week I’ve been teaching music. At the end of each selfie class I tried to reproduce Ellen’s Oscars selfie. This had varying results and my favourite picture, as featured below, is where I stepped backwards so that I would only capture the engaged students and not the ones napping and/or doing their homework. I’ve also had fun planning my music lesson. In the interest of covering a broad range of music, I played five songs and asked them to rate them. Particular highlights included playing the screamo classic Sorry You’re Not a Winner by Enter Shikari and Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa. Following a discussion on hip hop, one student asked if I’d heard of Dr. Dre to which I could proudly proclaim I had. He then went onto demonstrate his beatboxing skills (teaching teenagers isn’t all bad). Michael Jackson often comes out top on “most famous Western celebrities in China” lists so I played Billie Jean. While everyone hated Enter Shikari, they loved Michael Jackson. Two classes demanded I play all of Billie Jean, and not just an excerpt, and they found the line “But the kid is not my son” hilarious. I also showed two videos of music festivals, Latitude Festival highlights, and the mud at Glastonbury, and asked them to write the pros and cons of festivals. Let’s just say my higher ability students seem to have cottoned on to the idea that my lessons are a ‘safe space’ for fun, and when I asked to see what a boy had written he said he could only show me if I promised not to tell the other teachers. It turned out he’d written “nasty cock penis”…

I continue to be wholly under qualified to teach five classes of 35 ten to eleven year olds. While the children are on the whole very sweet, their English ability is generally not high enough for me (a non-Chinese speaker) to deliver an effective lesson. I often feel like I’ve been brought in for the day just to facilitate riots (as that is what inevitably occurs). This week I successfully broke up two fights despite having no clue who was the initial perpetrator. I struggle to anticipate fights precisely because I don’t understand what they’re saying to each other. What they did make clear this week, however, is that they are not fans of the Japanese. As we were going through countries and nationalities they booed, mimed shooting, and even stuck up their middle fingers at the Japanese flag.

While the teaching can still be a struggle, I have definitely succeeded in visiting numerous cafés. So far this month I’ve visited Café Alba, Bunny Drop Café, Café Zarah, Soloist Coffee, a café near Lama Temple, and Maan Coffee. Café Alba wins the award for best value (my brunch was about 28¥) and at Soloist Coffee I had what was perhaps the most expensive coffee and cake I have ever eaten (90¥ – so about £10!). Bunny Drop and Maan Coffee have the best novelty value. Unsurprisingly Bunny Drop is bunny themed and they serve red velvet lattes that taste like marshmallows. At Maan Coffee once you’ve made your order, instead of giving you a stick or a number, they give you a teddy bear. I’m actually currently writing this blog post from Voyage Coffee. It is very dark which is actually having the opposite effect of making me sleepy and not awake. I’m about to meet up with some potential volunteers for a charity, which segues nicely onto me describing what I’m doing with all my spare time…

I’m volunteering for two charities in Beijing, Migrant Children’s Foundation and Magic Hospital. Migrant Children’s Foundation (MCF) is a charity that helps disadvantaged children from migrant workers’ families in Beijing, mostly by teaching life skills and language. I write the monthly blog post on what MCF have been doing which can be found here. Magic Hospital (MH) is a charity that aims to enrich the lives of disadvantaged children, usually those in orphanages or hospitals, through playtime sessions and ‘outdoorsy’ days. I’m the Volunteer Coordinator so I meet with prospective volunteers to try to get them on board. I’m glad to be part of these charities, especially as it feels like a worthwhile use of my time while in Beijing.

On a final, and unrelated note, while feeling homesick I compiled the following YouTube playlist to make me feel closer to home:

‘Adam & Joe with Louis Theroux dancing to Groove is in the Heart’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taUqt_E0aOs)

‘Yes Sir, I can boogie Louis Theroux’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmN-159SDdY)

‘how to write an Alt-J song’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlBskd3IaNw)

‘Artic Monkeys cover Tame Impala “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”’ (and in particular Alex Turner saying Nicholas O’Malley backwards) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RZDFQ3oYbg)

‘Take That – Popworld “Big Ones” Interview’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyz4zlWMzKg)

‘Super Hans – Peep Show – You can’t trust people’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93WRQ8HT_WA)

‘Men with ven’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70XkFKaq3W4)

‘Jez Forgets the Turkey – Peep Show’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ38jTQcO1k)