Jinan

Hi guys! I hope you are all doing well and are studying hard back in Scotland! I also hope that you enjoyed my last blog and even managed to find some of the answers to the questions I asked you. I’ve recently just had my mid-term exams which I had to study extremely hard for. I’ve had my results back and I managed to pass all of them well. Hard work always pays off!

At the start of October we had one week off to celebrate China National Day or Golden Week. Can anyone tell me why this holiday is celebrated in China or what Chinese people do to celebrate it? To celebrate Golden Week this year, a few of the scholars and I went to Jinan for a few days. Jinan is located in Shandong province, a five hour train journey away from Tianjin. I found the whole trip great but one of the highlights for me was visiting the Thousand Buddha Mountain. The name explains a lot about the mountain as there are hundreds of buddhas all up the mountain. It was an incredible experience to see all of the different buddhas, especially the massive golden Buddha! Does anyone know what size the big golden Buddha in the picture is?

The train on the way back was a very interesting experience. We decided to book standing tickets because it was a lot cheaper than seated tickets. We thought that we would be in a standing carriage and that we could all just sit on the floor together. Unfortunately this was not the experience that we got, we ended up standing in the aisles that people walk up and down during the journey! So we were all sleeping on the floor while people were climbing over us trying to get on and off the train! Although it wasn’t the most comfortable journey I’ve had we managed to turn a bad situation into a good laugh and make the best out of what we had. The trip was amazing and I would definitely go back before I leave China.

At the end of October we also went on a trip with the university to the Great Wall outside of Tianjin. At first we weren’t sure if we could go because the pollution was so bad that the drivers had to stop at a service station for 3 hours before the pollution and fog cleared up a bit. I had already been to a part of the Great Wall during the summer immersion course in 2016 so I knew the climb to the top was difficult. However, I hadn’t realised how unfit I had become over summer and I found the climb so much harder this time! Fortunately I still made it to the top and got some good pictures.

That’s all from me for October, if you guys have any questions for me or suggestions for my blogs please ask Ms Fortune and I can add in different things that you guys want! Until next time!

Kirsty Mac