Trips to Beijing

It's getting quite a bit colder as I go into my third month living here in Tianjin. Despite that and given that I don't start class until 2 o'clock on Wednesdays I decided to brave the weather and head to the Tianjin Art Museum that exhibits contemporary art with a focus on aesthetic education and cultural exchanges. This interests me greatly as our scholarship here in China is in itself a fantastic cultural exchange between east and west, Scotland and China. I got the public bus to the Yinhe plaza where many museums in Tianjin are located around a lake. Speaking to a security guard who was keen to talk to me mentioned that positioning these historical and important buildings facing out over the water illustrates the importance of water to this historical port city. The area was very quiet which was quite a welcome contrast to how busy everywhere else is. I noticed an elderly woman standing looking out over the lake performing tai chi. This isn't an unusual sight in China but in such tranquil surroundings it certainly highlighted the contrast of the peaceful plaza to the hustle and bustle going on in the busy streets surrounding it.

Later on myself and Joseph found ourselves bored one evening and decided to go out and explore. We cycled for quite a while around the city towards a tall building just to see what it was. When we arrived there we realised it was the Tianjin Radio and Television tower. We decided to go in and climb up it. The views around the city were spectacular and definitely worth the long cycle there and back.

As midterm exams approached things started to quiet down as we all began studying for exams that would make up 30% of our final mark. The exams were very difficult and we got our results only days later. Only in China will your teacher tell you that 87% was indeed a bad mark to get. After exams we had a class night out at the local bar Helen's to celebrate.

As a further celebration Caitlin, Rocco and I decided to go to Beijing to a see the Glaswegian DJ Denis Sulta play at the underground techno club Dada. It was absolutely freezing in Beijing and it didn't help that I had lost my jacket the previous weekend. We went for an explore around the Gulou district which is filled with small Hutongs (small traditional accommodation), popping into every second small trendy shop to escape the cold. We took a turn around a corner to find ourselves in a familiar place. We soon realised that we had been here last year on a trip to Beijing and Xi'an with our school. It's mental to think that we just stumbled upon this place by chance. We walked around for a while looking over the lake in darkness illuminated only by the lights coming from a strip lined with KTV clubs with promoters standing outside them trying to get you to come in for coffee. Rocco, Caitlin and I decided we weren't interested in karaoke and coffee so decided to return back to a small unmarked bar that we had walked past earlier. We walked in to a smokey small room filled with Chinese people chatting loudly and playing games. The walls were lined with people's messages written in permanent marker. This was a truly Chinese bar filled with people with so many different stories. It was a great experience to use our Mandarin, even if somewhat limited, with native Beijingers.

After this we made our way to Dada which was in complete contrast with so many western faces and so many different stories of how they happen to be in China. That’s something that always strikes me here is that even amongst the scholars we each have a unique story about how we came to studying Chinese and live in China. If I hadn’t chosen to study Chinese in S3 because I didn’t want to do PE I wouldn’t be living here and enjoying the fantastic times I have here. Denis Sulta himself was a great experience. It was interesting to listen to music coming directly from someone coming from the same place as you when you are so far away from home. After the event we got the first train home meaning that there was no need to get accommodation which is good when you're a poor student. Owing to a slight complication I had to get the train back to Tianjin myself but it’s so easy to use public transport here it was absolutely no bother at all.

In November we had the pleasure of attending the St Andrews Ball in Beijing to celebrate St Andrew's day. The ball is organised by the Beijing Scottish Society and is held in the China World Hotel. Cara, Caitlin, Rocco and I made our way to Beijing very early in the day to go to the Pearl Market. The Pearl Market was a great experience to return back to after going last year. You soon realise now that if you hit out with a bit of Mandarin the price of things dramatically goes down. After the market it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for the Ball. As we're frantically getting ready in a small hotel room, Rocco’s in the shower, Caitlin’s stressing and doing her makeup and I’ve been tasked with the job of ironing Rocco's and my shirt. I pick up a water bottle containing what I think is water to put in the iron and start ironing. Caitlin starts shouting at me as I notice brown water coming from the iron and I soon realise I’ve put sprite in the iron. Picture me running about trying to fix the iron we brought with us so we can go to the ball with ironed shirts. Needless to say getting ready was a stressful experience. However, the Ball was fantastic and the five course meal was definitely the best I’ve had so far here.

Coming back from Beijing we made the slight mistake of going to Beijing train station instead of Beijing North train station meaning that the only trains we could get back were slow trains that take 1 and a half hours and are far far less comfortable than high speed strains. Despite the man in front of me not having a top on the whole journey I called it an experience and managed to deal with it even if in the beginning I wasn’t to happy about getting a slow train.

November has been a great month in China I’ve met so many different people, advanced my Chinese skills greatly and had a great time with the scholars who are increasingly becoming like a family. Next month I’m looking forward to Christmas in China and of course the utter joy of final exams.

Until then

再见。