你好 Primary 7

Zěn me yàng? (怎么样?) This month in China has been amazing. I have just turned 18, I visited the Great Wall of China (中国的长城) and I attended the St Andrew’s Ball in Beijing (北京). My 18^th birthday, as I think you all know, was a big birthday for me and it was the first birthday spent away from my family. You might all be thinking that I may not have received any presents considering I was away from home for this big occasion, however I received a parcel from home from my family and I also received presents and cards from the Scottish Scholars and other international friends that I have met here.

Besides my birthday I visited the Great Wall of China this month. The Great Wall of China never fails to amaze me with its architecture and beauty. I had only visited the Great Wall once before and that was the Beijing section of the wall which was awfully busy and warm back in Summer 2016.

This time it was the Tianjin section of the wall which, despite a few clouds was stunning. It has three parts to it: the wall itself that leads you into the mountains above followed by the Sky Ladder which is a flight of stairs consisting of 302 steps that leads you up through a gap in the mountain and then finally a forest trail that takes you to the top of the mountain and above all other mountains in sight. The view from the top was incredible and Noah and I were the only ones who managed the massive climb. The Great Wall was an amazing experience for me and it was worth the extra effort to make it to the top.

The Great Wall wasn’t just the only brilliant opportunity that I got this month. The Scottish Scholars got invited to the St Andrew’s Ball organised by the British embassy in Beijing towards the end of the month. Due to the event being held on a Saturday we decided to go to Beijing for the weekend. We looked around Beijing on the Saturday and went to Pearl Market which is a big building filled with stalls selling fake clothes, shoes and bags. I bought a new pair of white vans for only £10 which, despite being fake, looked pretty similar to the real thing. That evening we got ready for the ball and got there for 8:30pm. Not only was there Ceilidh dancing but there was also a 5 course meal which included salmon and haggis, neeps and tatties which was a taste of home for the first time in 3 months for all of us. Sadly I hadn’t brought my kilt out to China for the ball but I made up for it by wearing a Scottish blue suit with a white shirt and a black bow tie.

Questions

1. What did you all do for St Andrew's Day?

2. Did you dress up?

3. Did you have any Scottish food?

4. Have you ever been to the Great Wall of China? If so can you remember it? If not would you like to go and why?

5. What is the Great Wall of China in Chinese characters?

6. What's my Polar Bear called?