Good afternoon to the mighty, mighty Chelmsford! Hope you are having a swell time as you tuck into your supper. We are having a blast here although whilst some fellow travellers are passed out dead, Katie and I are powering off a slight adrenaline rush after running through 30 gates at the other end of the airport after a wrong turn at Duty Free!
Today has been, well, as you have probably seen on the schedule, extremely demanding. First thing this morning was an internal flight from Shanghai back to Beijing where we were entertained by a Chinese version of ‘You’ve Been Framed’ as we flew rushed through Check In, possibly leaving behind Wendy at the gate (!).
Upon landing, we were once again greeted by the familiar face of our tour guide, Tina, who enthusiastically listened to us rant about our underground haggling, fast flowing mandarin lessons and the incredible spectacle that was the Closing Ceremony. In true Chinese style, not a minute was spared as we were whisked straight to lunch for our final buffet in Beijing.
The newly reunited Coach 2A then set off for the Temple of Heaven, another must see as we once again absorbed the Chinese culture. However, due to the current heat wave passing through the capital, Katie used this opportunity as optimum tanning time alongside the temple, mobbed by tourists as she bared her legs after gathering her maxi dress. After a serene introduction back to tourism, our hardcore jet setter lifestyle was put to the test as we arrived at the Pearl Market, home of haggling. Some batted their eye lids, others persisted with the price, remaining resilient and then there were some (Lottie) who just left the shop mid barter and waited for the stranger to chase after them, waving their products for a fraction of the ‘original’ price. Nevertheless, we were all ruthless with each girl leaving exceedingly satisfied with jewellery, Jade and a rather large supply of silk.
And now we address you from the airport, the last part of this whirl wind adventure. Sure, we arrived with 4 hours to spare, but after a slight snafu at checking involving Mr Steel and a lost ticket from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow, we were left with just enough time for a quick excursion to Duty Free. However, as already mentioned, Katie and I went on our own little adventure, realising we had to run from one end of the terminal to the other within the next 5 minutes, bags of Toblerones swinging from both elbows. Of course, the irony being that we failed to acknowledge the lightening storm and are now sitting at the gate alongside a 2 hour delay.
So here we finish our update, hope all is well in Blighty, we can’t wait to get home to our own bed, see you soon hopefully, goodnight.
Dear all,
we had our Chinese exchange/home visit today so Lottie and I thought that instead of writing just about our days we would let everyone write a sentence about what they did since everyone had such different and amazing days…
Lydia, Rae, Jo & Ellie: We went to the home and made dumplings then we went to an art exhibition and spent the afternoon doing fun karaoke (both Chinese and English songs!)
Sophie & Clara: We went to the cinema to see transformers in the afternoon and spent the morning at home playing games and making dumplings.
Asha & Polly: We went to both our partners houses for lots and lots and lots of food and then visited some shopping malls. Also watched some world champion diving (enjoyed Tom Daley very much!)
Sarah & Katie: Made dumplings in the morning which was a cultural experience, then spent the rest of the day watching Chinese programmes with their families.
Lottie & Alice: We went to their house and met their family, and we made dumplings and took some back to the dorms to show the rest of the girls and then did some shopping nearby the dorms.
Katherine & Regan: We visited both houses made some tasty dumplings and bonded over traditional Chinese board games. (Katherine lost badly at chess!)
Kevwe & Jemima: We had a lovely day with the Chinese girls, having an amazing cultural experience. We will tell you more when we get back!
Lots of love Clara and Lottie and the rest of the girls xxxxx
LAST SPORTS DAY: Sunday
Dear all,
Its Sunday today and we have just had our morning mandarin lessons and martial arts. We are all having a good time and enjoying every minute of it! This afternoon we have sport with our Chinese friends (we went to their houses yesterday) and we are playing tug of war along with other team games. This is our last sports activity in China so everyone is looking forward to it. Today in our mandarin lessons we have been exploring food and drink more deeply, learning sentence patterns and vocab. In the last few days we have also learnt about family, pets, numbers, body parts, restaurant and shopping phrases that have become useful when shopping in the markets. Its lunch now so everyone has gone to the ICT rooms at the main school campus. Everyone says hello and cannot wait to see you!
Love from Lottie , Clara and the rest of the girls xxxxx
Having received a concerned text from my family I’m just posting a quick note to say we are still safe and sound in Shanghai. We will not return to Beijing till Tuesday as scheduled. Everyone is currently having a rest in the accommodation prior to dinner.
Dear all, Only a couple of days left so our Chinese adventure is nearly over! We left our dorms at 7.30 today as per usual and had breakfast at the Shanghai Jincai International Division Centre, and then it was time for lessons. Today we touched on a topic we are all familiar with… Shopping (however, this was more food and drink). We also learnt how to be the perfect hostesses, and how to say what we want/would like as a guest and a customer. More importantly, we learnt a little bit of bargaining in Mandarin so we can all confidently say “That’s too expensive!” and “Can you lower the price?” In the afternoon we had a little adventure with our Chinese buddies (in case you don’t know we’ve been paired with Chinese students from Shanghai Jincai High School since Monday). We went to the Shanghai Museum without Chinese friends but after that we met them outside. With them, we went to the city planning centre which was tres (or hen) cool. I’ve noticed that the Chinese are really big on lights! Lastly we went down Nanjing road which the only way I know how to describe it is a bigger (slightly strange looking) Oxford street. Many of us got the chance to indulge in a mini water-fight in a fountain which I must admit, was a highlight of the day. And now we are back at the dorms preparing to go to sleep, so zai jian. Love you all, Alice and the girls xxx
Panda
After 35 minutes battling with the internet here is a picture of a Panda.
Mr Steel
A picture taken from on the wall.
Whilst the students finnish writing their blog entries ready for uploading I thought I’d share a picture taken from on the wall.
Mr Steel
Hi everyone, its our 2nd day in china, and we’re all having an amazing time! This morning we visited Hanban, the Chinese government, who organised the whole trip. It was nothing like any of us expected, and was very fun with lots of activities to enjoy. Some of us even got to dress up in traditional Chinese outfits, which was really exciting! We had a group photo and moved on to our next amazing activity. We travelled to HuTong where we visited a massive drum tower which we had to climb up. It was quite scary, for the stairs were very steep and high. We filmed this process. Next, we visited a house belonging to a Chinese man. This was very interesting. After this, we went on a rickshaw which is just a three wheeled bicycle that we sat on the back of in twos. This was brilliant! We got to see a beautiful river and the cyclists pedalling us were all very funny and entertaining. We then had lunch in a beautiful restaurant which was very nice. Unfortunately there was a massive chicken on the table with its head still intact. Some of the girls thought it funny to place it on my plate while I was not there, and give me quite a fright. Their plan worked and I was slightly shocked to see it there! We moved swiftly on and drove to the Forbidden City. We walked what seemed like miles (and probably was) in the intense heat for three hours. Having said this, we have formed a good bond in the group and we all stick together no matter how smelly and sweaty we are. The buildings were all beautiful, although many Chinese people found us girls the main attraction. It was very funny and we all feel like celebrities now. Soon it was time for dinner where we went to a duck restaurant. It was lovely! After the amazing dinner we then proceeded with the journey back to campus. We have all had a great day and look forward to tomorrow! Also a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother who is 13 today!
Sarah Beasley xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello,
We’ve just got back from a very long day of high-speed sight seeing. First we went to see the Hanban centre and there they had a little exhibition and lots of interactive activities, we went around and tried on a Chinese robes, got certificates for answering questions on China and learnt about Chinese paper making and characters. After that we drove to Hutong and climbed up a drum tower with very steep stairs, it was pretty and gave us a good view of Beijing, inside there were lots of drums and copies of time keeping machines. After we had a tour around the traditional part of Hutong and saw a traditional house with a courtyard which housed 3 generations, it had been in the family since the 1950’s and was bought at 3000 yuan, and is now worth 30 000 000 yuan (3 million pounds), it was very sweet. After that we went on a rickshaw ride along the lake, it was very refreshing because we got a nice breeze and we could see lots without exerting ourselves, the driver was really nice and took photos of us. Then we went for our Chinese lunch where we were served a duck/chicken/unidentified bird’s head, Mr steel stuck it on a chop stick and made it into a puppet and then Jemima attempted to taste its brain, apparently it was too salty to consider eating, but it was very funny especially when the waitresses stared at us like we were mad!! After we went to Tiananmen square and then walked to the Forbidden City and saw the main palace rooms and an exhibition on the emperor and empresses’ possessions, we saw one of each of their gowns beautifully embroidered, some head pieces and flowers, after, we quickly visited the gardens and found out that this was the only place in the Forbidden City with trees, because assassins used to hide in the trees and then jump down and attempt to murder the Emperors, it was very pretty, though didn’t have any flowers , but lots of trees, rocks and had a pond which was attached to the lake. Shattered from all our walking, we went to the restaurant and enjoyed duck pancakes and various other foods, which were probably duck too, before finally returning to the coach..it’s been a long, but interesting day, tomorrow we’re going to the great wall .
Love Eleanor xxx
Hey everyone,
We’ve arrived safely and we are currently in Beijing. Already, we’ve had a few interesting experiences – firstly, lunch. It’s different from what we are used to, to say the least, but people are generally trying to be quite adventurous and open-minded (although a lot of us just added a healthy portion of chips on the side!). Secondly, the showers – they are very rustic; cubicles with little curtains but we got used to them quickly and are all clean. The hardest adjustment of all was adjusting to the different toilet facilities.
Our trip of the day was to the Beijing Zoo. We saw the famous black and white pandas (and of course, took lots of pictures) and we also saw some tigers, lions and a whole host of nocturnal animals among others. After that, we went to a very nice local restaurant, and the food was thankfully very tasty. Many of us tried our hand at using chopsticks, under the supreme guidance of Mr. Steel. We were able to see some authentic calligraphy on the wall which was interesting.
Missing you all,
Alice and the girls.