CCHS in China

Yesterday we arrived in Beijing, mostly homesick and tired, and dreading staying in the Beijing school with hard bunk beds and squat toilets. The cherry on top was the heavy rain beating down on the bus as we drove from the airport – where was the promised sunshine??

However, our spirits were instantly lifted when we drove into our 5 star hotel (!!) with 26 floors, a large buffet dining area, huge rooms for 2, complete with ensuite bathrooms and soft, bouncy beds, and a lift which has a glass wall so you can see the outside. We were warmly welcomed by a huge banner proclaiming “Welcome Chinese Bridge Summer Camp students from the UK and US” across the lobby. Magically, some people’s homesickness disappeared almost instantly as we looked around the huge, gorgeous hotel.

The buffet had a huge selection of “normal” food such as pasta and chips, which thrilled most people who didn’t enjoy the food in Nanjing so much. After dinner, we went to relax in our rooms (or rather, watch TV, run around in the bathrobes we were given, calling each other on the in-hotel phone system, or going swimming in the tiny, cute, and extremely cold swimming pool). There is also a gym that some of us looked at. In short, we had a fantastic evening.

Today, we woke up to brilliant sunshine and no clouds in the sky, a perfect last day. After an early 7am breakfast, we headed off to the Temple of Heaven, which is more like a huge park with beautiful trees, a sacrifice/Heaven worship temple, and some other notable things. Most strikingly for me, there were people doing Tai Chi, dancing, diabolo, kung fu, and so many more different activities around the parks or in the long corridor (very beautifully decorated) that stretched out for some of the park. It was very hot, and we were all trying to get a last minute tan.

After the Temple, we went to a market, where we had the chance to spend the last of our money, and enjoy some last minute haggling, which, if anyone’s interested, is much more fun in Beijing than Nanjing, because the vendors here get really enthusiastic, accosting and dragging you in to look at their bracelets, paintings, etc. After an hour of shopping, we went to a very nice restaraunt where we had the usual selection of different dishes on a revolving plate in the middle of the table.

Next, we headed to some hutongs, which are traditional, narrow Chinese streets. We had a tour on some bike rickshaws, which was fast, bumpy, and extremely entertaining, and then visited one of the hutongs, and were given a small tour, explaining the layout of the houses etc. It was very interesting to listen to. A short rickshaw ride back to our bus, and we decided to head back to the hotel instead of going to the Silk Market as planned by Hanban, because most people were tired and had no money. Now everyone is trying to shut their overflowing suitcases (a difficult task), or just relaxing before dinner and the plane journey (which is sure to be exciting, what with the in-plane telephones which you can use to call others’ seats, and the huge amount of films on the TV). 

So this is the last message from China. We’ve had a fantastic time, but we’re all missing you, and look forward to coming back on Monday! Which is tomorrow

Lots of love from everyone

Our lesson today involved telling the time (something perhaps we could have used at the start of the trip) and our daily routine.

The afternoon activities for the day were Chinese Kung Fu and learning to paint Beijing Opera Masks. We were taught a  Kung Fu sequence with fans which we managed to pick up, although most of us did lack the necessary elegance.

Designing and painting our own Opera Masks was relaxing and we learnt that the Beijing Opera is one of six National Tresasures of China, along with Calligraphy, Martial Arts, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Painting and…the last one, which I have failed to remember.

We decided to have some down-time in the evening, so while some of us watched the West Ham footbal match, the rest of us watched Jemma’s copy of Spirited Away which baffled Mrs Adams and Mrs Chapman royally. Brilliant.

Hope you’re all well and not worrying yourselves to death too much. We have just had a very interesting morning of making Chinese pottery (very much like English pottery, but much harder to wash off) and appreciating the lotuses.

We went to visit the primary school of our host school, as it is actually located in the country and has lotus fields and special pottery classrooms; first we did the pottery and ended up with some very interesting results, as I’m sure many of you will later see. The highlight of pottery though, was when Isha was interviewed by a television station and gave an outstanding performance.

After this, we then quickly observed the table setting of a tea ceremony (but no tea or ceremony) whilst people frantically tried to wash the mud from their hands before we finally got to appreciate the lotuses.

There were over one hundred different types of lotuses, and we all had fun trudging through the mud, as it had just rained, and trying not to fall into the lotus ponds. However, all of us got to eat lotus seeds at the end, which actually tastes a lot better than it sounds.

In the afternoon, we then had lessons and spent a little time in the school’s planetarium, which was extremely comfortable, looking at pretty stars as well as spending some time talking to Chinese middle school children from the partner school of our hosts, which was an interesting experience to say the least.

Anyway, we’re all having a lot of fun and have all body limbs intact and in working order. Still can’t wait to see you all again next week though,

Amy and Liz xx

Going back to lessons this morning after a weekend of great fun with our chinese penfriends seemed a little less exciting, though we quickly got back into learning all sorts of new and useful things, so the morning flew by (by monday morning standards)

After lunch, we made chinese knots, and attempted calligraphy, with varying degrees of success.  We were also informed that all our artwork would be judged as part of the closing ceremony : s

After dinner, as it was Gemma’s 15th Birthday (!!!), we had a little party, complete with party food, and a rather spectacular cake, covered in cream, and topped with kiwi slices (quite possibly everyones favourite bit, as we are all missing fresh fruit). We also learnt to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in chinses during our lesson, much to Gemma’s embarrassment.

Hopefully Gemma really enjoyed her birthday, which was another great day out here in Nanjing.

Sorry everyone for the late blogging but we’ve all been so busy that we haven’t had a chance to update you. This weekend we were given the opportunity to go around Nanjing with some of the local students. Katie and I were partnered with lovely Chinese girl called Xinky. Xinky took us around Nanjing showing us some the historical landmarks including a museum about the history of Nanjing. We, along with some other trios went to an underground shopping centre that was absolutely amazing. There were underground avenues alive with people and neon lights streaming along the floor and ceiling. It was pure shopping heaven as it was shops galore at cheap cheap prices we quickly grabbed some good old maccie d’s before hitting the shops. Unfortunately I didn’t make any purcased but Katie had her nails done. Amazing false nails with a wicked design for only 5 pounds talk about good. We then parted from the other trios and Katie Xinky and I visited a music store and compared music tastes to find that they are all rather similar which started a massive conversation that lasted all the way back to her house. We travelled by underground, very clean, cool and fast underground, towards Xinky’s house. However, first we made a stop at an amazing huge lake where we sat and talked while admiring the boats and the people fishing. We then went to her house which although was small was so modern and fresh. We had a quick tour before helping her parents prepare dinner. Xinky’s mum was able to teach us how to make dumplings which we then cooked and ate. Her parents were so lovely. They were polite and although couldn’t speak English, still spoke to us and included us in their conversations. Xinky Katie and I then continued to listen and talk about music before her dad dropped us off at school. The following day we met up with Xinky again and we all visited the Massacre Museum which told us about the massacre of Nanjing people by the Japanese. It was quite shocking and sad but also quite admiring to know that they all learn about it and remember those who were killed. We then went onto having lunch and then we all went iceskating. Now that was a fun afternoon. I enjoyed skating round and NOT FALLING OVER Most of us already knew how to skate and so skated around at a fast pace while listening to the tunes however our Chinese pals had never been before and so we decided to take them around and teach them how to skate. We all had a lot a fun and Xinky especially picked up the skating pretty well

We all had a good time with our pals and we’ll be seeing them again soon for the closing ceremony so it will be good for us to see them all one last time to say goodbye. They were all lovely and helpful and gave us all a good time

Hope everyone back home is well

Abi xx

After watching the new Harry Potter film that many of us were dying to watch yesterday, it is unlikely that today will be able to match last night’s excitement!

We all really enjoyed watching the film (which was in english  so we all understood what was going on), and all of us (apart from Amy and myself) were very happy to get their harry potter fix. To make the evening even more exciting, we took a trip to the supermarket (chao shi – new word that we learnt today) afterwards, to buy all the food that we were craving…or just felt like buying. Nika decided to buy durian which was a fruit that did not taste nice at all and made the whole place smell terribly!

Anyway, back to today’s action. Waking up early once again was hard work for some of us…but once we were in the morning chinese session, we had to stay awake with full concentration, because lily (our teacher) could pick on us at any second to play one of her games. Today, each of us had to choose two random boxes, and use the words under those boxes to make a sentence. Katherine had to form one with the words ‘milk’ and ‘reading’, so she said that she liked to read books about milk. It was quite difficult, since we only had a limited amount of vocabulary.

We look forward to papercutting and chinese painting, which we have already had a lesson of, so hopefully we’ll now be experts at them both. Also, we will be visiting the Confucius examination room today, which will be interesting to find out more about.

We are all having a great time! We miss you loads! xxx

Dominique

Hi everybody! Today we woke up to another drizzly day in Nanjing, but don’t think that’s stopping us from having as much fun as we possibly can Nika and Rachael braved their regular morning jog around the running track as usual before we all made our way down to the breakfast buffet for our two favourite activites – chatting and munching

After breakfast we had a lesson, and although most of us are in the primary class the pace is moving quite quickly so remembering everything is proving to be a bit difficult! Luckily we have many helpful English-speaking Chinese students with us in class if we get stuck. Our teacher Lily continues to entertain us with original and quite frankly bizarre games which keep us laughing and on our toes (including the teachers ). Today we learnt phrases about hobbies and useful things like taking and giving directions.

This afternoon we are scheduled to take part in a Chinese knot class (which many of us attempted in Beijing with varying degrees of success ) as well as a kung fu class (brothers and sisters, you have been warned :P)

With so many Harry Potter fans in our group, we all jumped at the chance to see it here in Nanjing, which we will be doing tonight. Everybody is really excited, and thankfully it is beening screened in English rather than being dubbed

We are all reaping the benefits of yesterday’s supermarket visit, which gave us a chance to buy the foods we missed from home. I’m making the most of the kettle in our room after buying large amounts of teabags, sugar and milk, and Katherine is loving Chupa Chups lollipops at an amazing 5p each

Today we are exactly half way through the trip, which is surprising as we have already done an amazing amount of visits and activites. Personally I’m really looking forward to the second half and everybody else is giving the impression that they are too

All the group send their love and hope that you are enjoying the British summer We miss you all so much! xx

It was an early start yesterday (Wednesday) morning as we made our way by bus to Dr Sun-Yatsen’s Mausoleum. Special glasses were optimistically handed out en route so that we could see the solar eclipse first-hand, but unfortunately as soon as we reached our destination, the heavens opened and it began to pour. And pour. Therefore the extent to which we experienced the eclipse was a few moments of darkness which quickly passed. Oh well, at least it’s a good story that we can save until the next one.

Inspite of the appalling weather however, our CCHS girls soldiered on up some 392 steps (not that I was counting ) to be rewarded by some fantastic views and an insight into the local history of Nanjing. We then returned to school and once we had changed into blissfully warm and dry clothes we had our Chinese lesson.

In the evening, we visited a multi-storey shopping complex which is a 10 minute walk from the school. We stocked up to our heart’s delight on clothes, gifts, confectionary, coffee and even fruit before returning to a relatively early night.

As those of you who have been diligently crossing off the days until our return (don’t try and deny it mum!) will already know, today (Thursday) marks the halfway point of our stay in China; though I’m sure most here will agree it doesn’t feel like it.

I am sending home love and hugs on behalf of everyone with the reassurance therefore that we will be home soon!

Isha

Hi everyone (this is Emily btw）

Yesterday we found out that we are all in the beginners group – What a surprise. However the lesson was really fun. At first it was a litle slow with us singing the alphabet again and again, however it got more difficult as we started trying to introduce ourselves in Chinese and learn some complicated words. 

Afterwards we all had dinner which was yuumy as usual and there were actually cold drinks on offer woo – a fridge has been found!!!!!!! lol. I gulped down lots of cold orange juice mmm.

We attempted to play some volleyball and realised we weren’t that skilled at it so ended up just playing some basketball and shooting. It was fun though you get tired out quickly in the heat even though it was getting dark. We weren’t allowed to go to the shops but hopefully we can go tonight or tomorrow night

In the evening we decided to watfch a DVD however we then found that none of our DVD’s work because they are the wrong region One of the chinese teachers had cats and dogs on his laptop so some watched that but I went up to bed and did some reading and relaxing.

This morning we had a little lie-in as we didn’t have to get up until half past 7 . Breakfast was at eight and then lessons began at 8:30. WE reviewed the things we learnt ion yesterdays lessons and played lots of games … our teacher, Lilly is really nice but is fond at playing some strange games like trying to fit as many people on some paper as possible so that we could practice the words for maore and less. Today we did some more work on introductions, counting, family and pets. It was good fun though sometimes its hard to keep up . After the gruelling 3-hour lesson we were allowed out to lunch and this afternoon we are doing some chinese painting and physical activities!

Bye for now

(from Nika)

Hi everyone!

We have arrived in Nanjing! The flight was very good, only 1.5 hours, and we even got fed (fish rice or chicken noodles, if anyone’s interested). The bus journey from the airport was only half an hour, although this bus is decidedly more bouncy that the one in Beijing (by that I mean, it has no suspension). We’re divided between thinking that that’s cool (me) and that it’s annoying (Gemma).

The school that we’re staying in is verrrrrrrry nice. They say it’s the standard of a 3 star hotel, but it feels much nicer. The rooms are fairly big, with 3 beds, and we have ensuite bathrooms (with westernised toilets, to the great joy of many students). Outside our rooms, there is a running track and basketball courts, a long jump pit and volleyball courts, too. Yesterday, Gemma and I went jogging on the track, and Rachael and I went running this morning at 7am. It was fantastic. (OK, we are the only ones to think so).

Our rooms are all close together (except Gemma, Emily and Abi, who are on the third floor – we’re all on the second), so that’s good. We have meals in the canteen which is just below the rooms. There’s a good selection of Chinese food, such as dumplings, steamed buns, rice, noodles and soup (yay for me) and English/American food like chicken popcorn, chicken nuggets, chips etc(yay for most other people), although not as much (of both) as in Beijing.

We also have a washing machine and a kitchen on each floor, and TVs in our rooms! There are loads of Chinese channels and 1 English.

This morning, we had breakfast, and then we listened to the school’s orchestra, which was absolutely amazing. They played 3 pieces, and 2 girls had a solo (double bass and violin). Personally, I loved the end piece which was a medley of Phantom of the Opera, but I think we all enjoyed the whole performance. The standard really was extremely high. We were also surrounded by TV cameras during the whole hour-long performance, which was somewhat disturbing (By the way – we really do feel famous here, as in Beijing every other person stopped us to take a photo, and TV cameras were at the Beijing concert/ceremony, and at this orchestra performance today).

After the orchestra, we visited the school museum (they have a museum!!) There are 3 floors, which cover the school’s history (it opened in 1907, like our school), and some general Chinese education history (like for example, in the Emperor’s time, they took tests that lasted for 9 whole days, during which they couldn’t leave the exam hall!). There is a display for all the presents which the school has received. I guess our centenary paperweight (and other centenary souvenirs)  and our group photo may yet get a place in the museum!

We had lunch after the museum, and then 1.5 hours of computer time. After this, we will go to our first Chinese lesson. There are 3 groups, Beginner, Medium and High. We haevn’t yet found out our groups, but it won’t be a huge shock to find out we’re Beginner. The test we had in Beijing (actually, only me, Gemma, Emily and Dominique had to do it, as we were the first) showed that we couldn’t understand anything beyond “Nihao” (Hello).  However, I’m sure that we’ll learn a lot during our stay in Nanjing.

Beijing was quite hot and dry, whereas Nanjing is very hot (36C, or it might fall to a freezing 28C) and very humid. Some people (me) are enjoying the weather, and we’re all (mostly) trying to get a tan. The mosquitoes in Nanjing seem to be more vicious/indiscriminating in their victim choice because most of us have been bitten already. However, we are all having a lot of fun regardless.

Tonight we’re playing volleyball, and perhaps tomorrow evening we can go to the shops (because the school is in the centre of Nanjing – main shops are only 10 mins away!).

everyone sends their love

x