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China Diary: Marc Cowan

Day 1

So here we go, we’re finally going to China! Today was a nice early start 8am! Packing and preparing all my stuff before finally making our way to the airport. We were actually quite early for once… :)

When I arrived at the airport I checked in all my stuff and met up with David. As we were shopping around in departures a few people came up to us, saying they were from the China trip to, definitely a good idea we bought our Hoodies! So first off we had a flight straight to France for an hour before making a connection flight to Beijing for 9 hours.

The flights actually went really fast with a few of the fun onboard movies, and before we knew it, we were here! We landed at the Peking airport in Beijing.

The minute you step out of the airport you see just how crazy China is with its fast moving city. We were met by some of the organizers of the trip ready to take us to our hotel.. We were staying at the Lanhui apartment at Beijing Normal University Accommodation and to be fair, the rooms were actually alright! Bed slightly hard but we probably won’t be thinking about that after the long days with the early starts! After unpacking and registration where we got t-shirts and student cards, a few of us decided to go for a little tour of our surroundings!

Wow.

First we decided to travel down one of the small streets where there was a small market. This was not just any market, this was crazy! There were people selling vegetables with them all laid out on the floor, small kebab stalls…or so we thought. We still have no idea what we ate when we decided it’d be a good idea to eat one of them. However they were quite tasty to be fair. People were starring at our group as though they had never seen so many western people walking around before, even to the point where one Chinese man released the comment *WOAH* on his way past us.

Cars, motorbikes and bicycles didn’t stop for anyone, as if they were on a mission straight through the already small space packed with people selling their items.

Not to mention when we got to the end and had to try cross the road. You had to literally push your way bit by bit into the road just to decide to get across to the other side.

We also found out the value of the items and how cheap most things were when we purchased our small kebabs from this stall. 2 RMB… Now that’s the value of 20p! As we further walked down the market street we saw another part of the Chinese culture as staff of a restaurant we’re all lined up and had their names shouted out by the owner, as they went through the register before a day’s business. While also turning and brushing each others back’s of any dirt in an army type fashion.

After the market we decided we to get a bit more reality in the main city of Beijing and around Tiananmen Square. First we experienced a bank, which as soon as we walked in we were locked in, until we had finished our transaction and then let out by the security guard. Quite scary when you have just walked into a room and had the security guard lock the door as soon as you were inside.

We also decided to take the tram/subway to another area of the city where we were going to have dinner. The first experience of the subway was pretty similar to the London tube; however the cost is completely different, it cost around 2 RMB which is about 20p just for a one way ticket into another part of the city. Cheap…Yes I think so!

When we went to get dinner we saw a few of the small shops as we walked down one of the roads on the way there, It was covered in banners all across the top with Chinese symbols all the way down across the top as though it were a canopy. Some of the shops were quite interesting, especially one which was just selling teapots and flasks with all different styles and designs. Chinese people love their tea!

We then saw the mobile phone shops, which had some very different brand names inside with some funky phones, as well as the usual well known ones such as Sony Erickson’s and Nokia’s.

Finally we arrived at the restaurant and wow, what a lovely first night meal much improved from our earlier first kebab tryout on the markets!

I decided to get a sizzling beef platter after deciding the cheese burger was probably not the best option for the first night in china! The food came really fast and tasted really good, including our pancakes at the end and a cheeky hot chocolate with baileys.

After such a long day and nearly being up for a full 24 hours we were all exhausted and decided it was time to head back to the hotel. We decided we didn’t want to pay more than 40 RMB around £4, £1 each between us for a taxi.

It was quite an experience actually trying to find a taxi to take us, not only did you have all of the cars on a mission, trying to get somewhere without stopping. We had to some how get two cabs to stop for our group by flagging them down. In the end we managed to and then went upon a quite scary ride back to the campus. I couldn’t even tell you or count the amount of times we went on the wrong side of the road, or dangerous moves that he did where we nearly hit some of the bikes riding around us… and I thought my driving was bad!

The taxi driver then decided it would be good idea to drop us quite far away from where we were staying. I guess this is what happens when we only pay 40 RMB. Either that or Zoey’s directions were awful! In the end after asking the locals we managed to make it back to the hotel.

Just before we went to bed, I went over my opening ceremony speech for the next day J ready for an early start the next day!

Day 11

Starting of this morning we had some Chinese lessons and today we were learning times and dates! Good times! It’s getting slightly harder now during each of the classes as the teacher speaks less and less English and more mandarin however it’s still good fun!

We were so tired from the night before that the lessons kind of dragged slightly.. especially when they’re on for three hours… however it wasn’t too long later and we were done for the day!

There were a few visits organized by the trip for this afternoon after our classes, these were firstly the 798 Arts District, The British Council and the Secondary School.

I decided to go to the Chinese secondary school as I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to see one in the future if I came back to China, where as I could always go see the tourist attraction of the 798 Arts District. Unfortunately the British council trip got cancelled.

We had a bit of time between our trip and when the lessons finished so we all decided to get some food in the downstairs café for a bit before meeting at the lobby downstairs.

The secondary school wasn’t too far away from the university campus so we walked there, and we were first greeted in one of the main rooms by the head master of the school. He explained to us about the different levels of the schools until the students finally are at the level of going to university and the history about the secondary school itself. This was really interesting and was good to find out about it all.

We then got a guided tour around the whole school and where all of the various lessons took place. Just as we went on the tour we got our first view of the school uniform. Which I have to say…is definitely quite different from a UK school! They have jackets they wear on top of their own clothes and some trousers the same colour, its similar to a gym outfit that you may wear on the way to the gym before your workout.

They were also bright blue so you definitely couldn’t miss them! Quite different if you ask me!

We saw all of the various rooms that the school had from the ping pong tables, to chemistry labs, music room, swimming pool, volley ball/basketball, other classrooms and finally the library. These were really interesting to see and also showed the real size of the school and how big it was. It had so much in and was such a nice place! Very different to the UK state schools! We also saw a few of the classes taking place and found out that every Chinese student has a laptop and they are also given one  by the school if they do not have one. I definitely wouldn’t complain with that! And therefore every room looked as though it was a computer lab! Not bad!

When we got to the library we were speaking to a few of the Chinese students who attended the school, they were really nice people and explained all about what they wanted to do as well as their subjects they were studying. They spoke really good English and one of the students had been to most of the large cities in the UK. There were also American ambassador’s children in this school; this really shows the level that this school is at in terms of the quality of its teaching and facilities it offers its students.

The visit lasted for a few hours and it was really good to see all around and really saw all about a secondary school in China and the way the entire system works too with the various years.

We then went back to our hotel and it was time to go to bed for me! I was so tired from the night before and hadn’t got too much sleep either that seeing how we were going out at night it was best to get some good sleep in.

We woke up around 8.30pm and we were all going to leave around 10pm for the club, however we needed some food… so what we did…Yep! Fast food McDonalds Western food! I also got the chance to try one of the purple pies this time and the sweet corn pot which actually was really nice!

The first club we went to was Propaganda, It was around £5 to get in but we got free drinks all night. This was a really nice club, it was a little small however downstairs the music was really good and everyone was there as well. I was having a really good night! However half of our friends weren’t at Propaganda, they were at the second club which we were going to go to, after we had finished in propaganda so we decided to grab some drinks and get to the next club.

We managed to get to Vic’s and luckily we got in free! All good! And wow… it was just like the clubs from the previous week! It was Huge! It was such a good club and to our surprise once again the cloak room was free! There were 3 rooms apparently however we only found 2 but while the first room had RnB going down and DJ’s/Rappa’s, the second room had a bar flarer, flaring all of the drinks as he served each person their drink. He was really good and had some amazing moves with the drink bottles. I’m surprised he didn’t drop them!

We got some really good pictures from the club as it had so many cool areas which definitely deserved a photo!

Finally it got quite late and we decided it was time to get a cab back so 4 of us found a cab and were not to impress that he did not know where about he was meant to be going to get to our hotel but still agreed to take us and in the end we found it.

I had a really good night and really enjoyed it. But it was time to go to bed as soon as we got back as we were so tired from having not much sleep.

Day 18

Today was one of the last Chinese lessons that we were going to have. So it was time to revise and go over all of the things we had learnt over the past two weeks, ready for the exam the next morning!

After the first lesson I decided it would be a good idea than rather waiting till tomorrow to do the exam. So I asked the teacher if it was possible if I could do the exam during the break between the lessons and luckily I was allowed. The exam was not too bad I had to go over the dialog with the teacher and then she asked me questions In Chinese which I had to reply back to in Chinese. It went really fast and I passed the exam! J Always good!

I had quite a lot of things I needed to get done today including going to get my suit refitted and getting a few presents for friends.

So straight away after my exam I went straight to the Yashuw market. I went to get my suit refitted first, however as soon as I got there they didn’t have my suit.. as it had not arrived from the factory yet… Slightly annoying so I decided I would go and explore the Salitan Village next door. The Salitan village is one of the most up market areas in Beijing with all of the top shops underground and on top, there also is a large cinema.

The shopping village was absolutely huge! There were so many shops and parts that I got lost a few times. However the shops there were amazing. One of the first ones I went into was the electrical shop. This was like a large Comet or Curry’s however the items they sold were completely different! First of the mobile phones.. they had a massive collection and every mobile you could have a play with.  You saw some familiar handsets and brands but then there really were some interesting ones. These included ones which were flip phones with touch screens underneath and loads more. There also were devices I have never seen before, these looked like small net books however they were even smaller with full keyboards on. All of these products were genuine rather than the rubbish from the markets. You were also allowed to test the headphones which you would not be able to do at home. Some other products sold were water humidifiers, air purifiers, money counters, safes. Until I then reached the Health section, you could try and test out all of the massage chairs which...being me… I did! :D Every single one J while also on the other side of the shop there were air conditioners, fans and a toilet seat which would clean your bum and then heat it up afterwards… interesting indeed! I saw one of the largest fridges I have ever seen as well! It was absolutely massive the size of two big fridges put together, I don’t know who would eat that much food but it was good seeing J  The electrical shop was amazing and had some really good stuff in!

Next I decided to check out all of the other shops. These were really interesting; they had loads of big brand names and also a full shop of crocs. But between all of these shops they also had various types of other shops which you would never get in the UK. They had one shop which was an art shop with loads of interesting products inside not the normal stuff you would see though back in the UK. As well as the other shops had really weird items inside including a chair made out of the shape of breasts.. and lots of other little gadgets and ornaments.

After spending a while looking at the shops, I also saw the cinema area of the village, I decided it was time to go back to the suit place to check if it was ready to be refitted. When I got there, once again they told me it was not there.. I was quite annoyed, so I went mad as I was going to have to be back at the university in time for the tea house visit and did not want to miss it. They told me it would be back in half an hour or they could come to the hotel if it was not back then. This was really interesting and some great service they were prepared to offer as they would actually come to the hotel to fit it, you wouldn’t really find that in the UK. However it was better to get it done and finished while I was there, so I decided to go check out a few more shops in salitan.

I went to the fossil shop where I got my watch from the other day and went to have a look at the wallets I’d seen. They had some really interesting products which you could not get in the UK, but I thought I’d double check online at the hotel before I purchase one, rather than purchase it straight away so that I could check prices.

Back at the suit shop it had arrived and they let me try it on. It looked really good and they put a few pins in for the correct shape in the other areas. It was amazing to see the materials I had chosen, they had made into a full suit. It didn’t take long for them to put the pins in and sort it all out and then it was time to go so that I would get back in time for the teahouse visit coach. Just before I went though I ordered a second lighter coloured suit as it had been tailored so well and fit me also really well. I also got another shirt.

I was in a rush so I got a cab rather than the train as I did not want to miss the coach to the teahouse. As soon as I got back we went to the teahouse.

It was amazing, I had seen some tea houses while I had been in Beijing but this was something else! It was huge, it had a massive shop and the Chinese culture was embedded in everything from the pictures to the statues and ornaments all laid out around the building inside and out.

We sat down and had some of the tea. This time it was one of the most popular teas, Jasmine tea. It was really nice and we waited for the performance to come on. We also got some little bits of food which were really tasty including spring rolls and some other bits and bobs.

The beginning of the performance was good, they had some men who were making weird whistling noises which sounded like birds and you really couldn’t work out how they made so many various types of noises. After this the show really started to get good! There were kung fu shows and lots of material arts and acrobatics. These were really amazing; unfortunately my camera had lost its battery so I couldn’t get to many pictures. However seeing the people jump so high and landing flat on the floor was amazing. They’re also was one guy who smashed a metal rod on his head and broke it into tiny little pieces which went everywhere. Another act included a Chinese girl balancing and juggling things on her feet. This was amazing she was twirling a large vase and then a table until finally she had two people on a pole. It was amazing how she could even lift so much just with her feet while turning it and with the vase and the table spinning it in the air.

Finally the last part of the teahouse was a special room which was at the side. This was unbelievable. It was as if it was outside with someone playing a special type of harp. There were real crickets on the side making noises as well as small rooms where you could have tea. This was as though it was the VIP section for if you came for tea. It was as if it were a zen place which was so chilled out.

After the teahouse we didn’t get he coach back but instead a few of us decided to go get dinner. On the menu was the pizza hut which was near by.. however by the time we managed to get there it was closed which was quite annoying. So instead we decided to give the KFC a try. It was quite nice however the chicken here is nothing like the chicken from back at home. The chicken is stringy and not full pieces like at home, it also does not taste as nice. There were also small parts on the menu which we didn’t get back at home including mash potato which tasted ok.

When we got back to the hotel everyone was revising hard for the exam the next day. However as I’d been able to complete it in the morning I was able to chill out a bit and decided to play a bit of Ma jong with my friends, before finally going to bed, as it had been quite a long busy day!

Day 23

Today we have loads planned and a full packed day, so we woke up quite early ready for a full day!

As soon as we got outside you really felt the heat. It was so hot around 28 C and felt so nice as soon as we walked out of the house. This was the type of weather I liked, nice and hot and sunny! I definitely could get used to this!

First we were going to go to the electrical market. This electrical market was a seven story building full of hundreds of electrical shops selling many types of electrical from headphones, speakers, phones to laptops cameras and more!

We first walked down the big hill from the house into town where we first went to the post office and the bank to sort my money out. I saw some of the little shops in the small village which were really different and sold loads of different type of things. There was bakery’s, little food stores and loads more.

We then got the bus to the tube station where we got the train there. However this was not just any train. This train was completely powered by a computer. There was no driver what so ever..  We got the train to the station however…we first saw one of the problems with this train. It suddenly stopped at one of the stations and had broken down. So we had to go through the station and get a cab. Inside the station all the escalators were stopped, so they must have had a small power cut. We then got a cab straight to the place.

When we got there the minute you looked at the road, straight in front of you were hundreds of people driving the mopeds(scooters) around, It was as if they did not even have cars here. Literally everyone who stopped at the traffic lights had a moped (scooter)

Inside the electrical market, the second you walked through the door, you really got a feeling for just how many electronics were in this place. All you cold see were laptops, cameras and more. This was just the first floor too..

We decided to start from the top and work our way down. We passed many different various types of shops as we came down. From ones selling speakers, phones, laptops, there was even one shop that would put screen protectors on for you. There were also shops selling many various types of LED’s as well which were really interesting.

I would have wanted to buy so much stuff, but a lot of it I couldn’t use in the UK due to the voltage in the power sockets and also I didn’t have very much space to get anything back either in my luggage.

The prices weren’t that cheap however, they were around the same price as back at home. This place was amazing if you lived here but not the best unless you really needed something e.g. a laptop etc or a camera.

After finally making it to the bottom and looking round all of the shops inside. We also saw one shop which was more of an office repair centre for i-river mp3 music player devices. Which I nearly walked into the plain glass in the door as you couldn’t see it and it looked as though there was no door. We then decided we would go and have a look at the Taipei 101 Building.

This 101 building was one of the tallest buildings in the world at one point and has been built to withstand earth quakes and high speed moving winds.

Inside the 101 building there was a mall, with all of the top brands in. It was really expensive and every shop was a top designer name. It was really nice and posh inside with so many shops all laid around. I saw one shop which was really interesting and had many different types of products in and small gadgets. I purchased a small one which I cold use to extend USB sockets, while also I could use it to put my phone in and it would rest perfectly with no magnets, sideways. It was quite cool and not too expensive.

We then came back home afterwards and took the electric train and the community bus which took you straight near to the house. The weather was still really nice. We stayed at home for a bit before then going for dinner.

On our way to dinner, we decided to get the bus, we met some girls who had something moving around in their handbag. Until they turned around and we saw it was a little dog. It was such a cute little dog and it was a Maltese. They had put him in their bag and were taking him out with them, it was so cute.

We then weren’t paying too much attention as we were too busy looking at the dog and somehow ended up on the wrong bus. We didn’t realize this however until we were moving and we saw the correct bus number driver straight past us. So we jumped of and hoped onto another bus which finally got us to the restaurant. The food in the restaurant was amazing, the restaurant was called kitchen and they gave us some spare ribs which tasted unbelievable and some chicken. This chicken however was so nice it was not like any of the other chicken we had, had in Beijing where it was all stringy and not that nice. It was a nice big chunk of chicken with loads of flavour. We also had some vegetables and soup.

For desert there was watermelon and then this weird looking one. It was the rice mashed up into chunks and had a sauce sprinkled all over the top. It was actually really nice, it was really chewy as if it was chewing gum but had a really nice flavour to it.

After dinner I saw my first burger king in Taiwan and we then went to the supermarket to get some bits and bobs before coming home. The convenience store just at the top before you entered the supermarket was around 5% more expensive, so we went straight down one load of stairs into the supermarket, where we got the exact same items for cheaper. We even got some yellow water melon which we had later and tasted so nice!

We then finally came home after seeing some awful driving by the mopeds who were weaving in and out of the traffic. When we got home we watched some CSI and it was then time for bed after a long day!