A trip to Beijing, a Ball and Beihai Park

Hello everybody! Quite unbelievably, it is once again time for me to write my blog for yet another crazy month.

My month started off with a trip to the capital of China, Beijing (北京). Thitrains was my first time using the high-speed (高铁) train network, which I can confirm was a lot more comfortable than the train to Xi’an. The high-speed train lets us go from Tianjin to Beijing in only around thirty minutes, and it only costs around £5 for a ticket. The trains are very modern and comfortable, and can reach an incredible 350km/h, which can really be felt when turning corners!

Once we arrived in Beijing, we had a wander around the city and took in some of the sights. Our first destination was Tiananmen Square (天安门广场) which is a very historically important place for Chinese people. It features the iconic massive portrait of Chairman Mao, which is recognised internationally. This area was very busy, as people from all over China and the world (世界) come to visit it.

We then managed to navigate our way to Omni Space, a concert venue in a very cool area of Beijing, for a gig by a British band called Blossoms. As soon as we entered the venue, the first person we met instantly recognised our accents and saltire flag, and we found out that he studied at Edinburgh University (爱丁堡大学). The gig was great, and a very different experience to the two times which I had seen them before as it was a far more intimate gig than one would expect back in Glasgow. To top it off, we got to meet the band afterwards, which was also rather surreal. It was also very strange to hear some strong British accents again.

As the trains back to Tianjin stop running at about 11pm, and we didn’t want to have to shell out money on a hotel room, we decided to wander the streets of Beijing until the first train back the next morning. We managed to see a lot of Beijing due to the fact we walked round what felt like the whole city, and managed to get our bearings in Beijing, which was very useful for the end of the month. We eventually made it back to Beijing South, more than ready to be back in Tianjin.

Once we had recovered from our trip to Beijing, it was time to start preparing for our mid-term examinations (考试) which would take place later that week. We had a test for each of the classes we take; meaning that we had a listening, speaking, reading and HSK exam. The results of these tests were rather important, as the results of them would determine how our class would be split up. Fortunately, I did well in the exams, so I am now in the A class. My timetable is now slightly different, having two classes everyday apart from Fridays (星期五), when I only have one. The level of class work is now harder, so we must do some extra studying after class to keep up.

On the 11th of November, we were able to take part in what has become a Chinese tradition. This day is called singles day, and is similar to Black Friday, where Chinese companies offer great discounts on their products. All of the deals come online at midnight, so we stayed up and did some bargain hunting on Taobao ( Chinese equivalent of Amazon ). I managed to really get into the spirit of the holiday, and bought a fair bit more than I had anticipated. 

Near the end of the month, the time had finally arrived for perhaps the most highly-anticipated event of the year – The St. Andrews Ball. The event was organised by the Beijing Scottish Society, which was attended by many high-profile and important people... and us. It was our opportunity to live the high life for a night, as we were treated to a very fancy five course meal with free flowing drinks.

When we arrived in Beijing, we went to find the apartment which we had reserved for the night. This apartment hunt then lead us to a very typical Chinese residential area, where some conversations with very confused locals then lead to the discovery that the apartments we booked did not actually exist. Thankfully, some of the other scholars came to our rescue and managed to book us a room at their hostel. So far, hotel related problems have been a far more common theme than we would have anticipated, which has required a lot of thinking on our feet!

From our hostel, we then made our way to the China World Hotel (中国大饭店), where the ball took place. The hotel was quite incredible, and we were taken aback by how fancy the event was. However, arguably the best part of the night was the food, which was outstanding. The prospect of having a meal not consisting of rice (米饭) or noodles (面条) was exciting enough, however the fact that it was proper Scottish food made it even better. My personal favourite was the main meal.

In addition to the great food and drink, we also had the opportunity to meet a lot of very interesting people, including embassy and consulate workers, former politicians, and sports stars. It felt quite strange hearing so many Scottish accents in one place – it was almost as if a hotel in Scotland had just been moved a few thousand miles to the east. We also got to put our social dancing skills to use, which was great fun.

Our train back to Tianjin wasn’t until late the next day, so we had a free day to explore Beijing. I and some others decided to visit Beihai park (北海公园), and spent the day there. One of the appeals of the park is that hidden in the bustling city that is Beijing, it is incredibly serene and peaceful, which is quite the contrast to the lively streets just outside the park walls. The park has a massive lake, with an island in the middle of it which has a white pagoda. We spent hours sitting in the park – partially because it boasted some great views, but mostly because we were shattered from the night before.

Next month will be yet another exciting month, as we look forward to celebrating Christmas in China! I am also looking forward to next month as my family are coming out to visit me. I plan on showing them around Tianjin, and also another trip to Beijing.