Peking Opera...an interesting experience.

Hey y'all.

I can't really remember where I left this off - it's been a few days.

Today we had Chinese class all morning and learned how to buy train/bus tickets etc, which will be useful because Liz and I are trying to buy our tickets to Shanghai!! In the afternoon, I had my 2nd optional class which was Tai Ji. The teacher told us a lot of info about Tai Ji (in Chinese - it had to be translated!) and then gave us a demonstration of some weapons. Then we did Tai Ji with him for the following hour, which was really great. At the end he showed us a few self defense moves which I couldn't really master and managed to get caught in a headlock by Caroline.

After a late lunch, we had a group expedition to the Peking Opera. I have to admit - I was pretty apprehensive about it after the taster we had at the Laoshe teahouse. I would love to say that my mind was changed but unfortunately I can't deny the fact that it really just wasn't my thing. Some people seemed to enjoy it and of course it was nice experience yet another part of China's culture. The acrobatics in the show were without doubt impressive but the singing made me want to put on my ipod to have an alternative soundtrack for the visual.

Last night was probably the best night I've had in Beijing so far. One of the guys had looked into the local football (soccer) team and found out they were playing so about 25 of us bundled into taxis to head off to the match. We had a bit of trouble finding the stadium - their normal stadium (the Workers Stadium) is under construction so we had to head out of town to the Fengtai Stadium - it cost about 60Y to get there which is the most expensive taxi we've had so far, I think. The drivers had a bit of trouble finding the place so we arrived a tiny bit late - after grabbing some team ribbons from the street vendors, we raced up to our seats to get our first taste of Chinese football. While the level of football is maybe not comparable to that of English matches, it was one of the best times I've had at a football match - alcohol isn't sold at the stadium and the Chinese fans are enthusiastic but not aggressive or rude. The locals loved having so many Westerners turn up to support their team and we started a wave which went around the stadium loads of times - it was so great. We got some people to explain the football chants and the name of the club in Chinese so we could sing along. At half-time, the crowd from the home supporters section came up to our seats and told us to come sit with them! I barely watched the 2nd half because we were having such a great time singing with the Chinese fans. Beijing had a great result - a 4-1 win! Everyone was elated and the celebations continued out in the street when the match ended - we paraded and danced and sang with the locals for what felt like ages! Eventually someone shouted 'To the pub!' - the Chinese dispersed - it's incredible to see the difference in drinking culture between our countries! We found a local restaurant to have a couple of drinks and then the group split up. About 10 of us carried on to a club in Beijing called Mix. It was pretty expensive in there - about 45Y for a drink - so we took it easy and just danced the night away. We got home around 3:30 - 4 am - it wasn't fun getting up for class only a few hours later!!

Yesterday afternoon, after Chinese class, we went on our placements - we had the option of either going to a beer factory and a car factory, or to the British Council. I chose to go to the British Council - I figured they could be good contacts to have in Beijing in the future. They gave us gift bags full of information about what they do as well as a free t-shirt and baseball hat, and even provided a lunch of fish and chips and some other British types of food! A welcome change from the constant flow of noodles and rice - although it did feel slightly wrong eating it! We had talks from various people at the council, as well as some Chinese alumni of British universities. It was interesting to hear about the Council's activities in China but I didn't realise that most of their efforts were geared towards getting Chinese students into Britain for post-sec education. Unfortunately they don't seem to offer much support towards Brits looking to move out to China so it wasn't very useful in that aspect. However, they do have a Language Assistant programme which runs from Sept - July where you can come out to China to be a teaching assistant in a school. It seems like there are a lot of programmes available like that here and while I'm sure it would be an amazing experience, it's not really something that appeals to me - I'd much rather get on some sort of placement with something media-related. I asked some questions about Chinese students going away to study in England because I was intrigued that the country was encouraging its youth to move abroad - everyone in NL will know all about the 'brain drain'. However, the BC rep said that a remarkable percentage of Chinese people who go away to study return to China to work - well over 90%. I thought that was pretty incredible, but I guess it's understandable when they have the fastest growing economy in the world. It was also nice to hear the Chinese alumni's experiences in England and we had the chance to ask them lots of questions, which made way for the most interesting point of the day. One of the girls was explaining to us about traditional values in China getting in the way of the modernisation of industry and the economy - not in a negative way at all - she was just trying to explain the socio-economical situation. Another alumnus had entered the room and upon hearing her explanation, started an antagonistic attack and accused her of not being Chinese - "Are you Chinese or are you foreigner!?!?!?!?!" - we were all completely shocked. The situation was handled well - one of the BC reps commented on the differing viewpoints of Chinese people - it was very interesting to see the contrast with someone who is very strongly nationalistic.

On Tuesday, we went to Beihei park...again. We realised that we'd never actually been - what we had thought was Beihei was in fact Houhei - it's a bit confusing. So we mosied on down there and had a relaxing day - we even rented a boat and sailed about on the lake for an hour - once again serenading the locals with showtunes and Disney songs. In the evening, a few of us headed over to the cheap bar across the road and had a quiet evening there with some cheap food and good company as usual.

On Monday, my plans got changed at the last minute and I ended up hopping in a taxi with 3 of the boys and heading off to the Olympic stadium. It was very impressive, although we were unable to get any closer than the outside of the construction site. We tried every gate and even offered a bribe or two (which is apparently very insulting to Chinese people but then again, I've also heard that the guards on the Great Wall used to let people through if they were bribed - I guess everyone has their price!!) but it was to no avail. It was still amazing and it made me want to come back to Beijing next summer for the Olympics - I'm still finding it hard to imagine how the city is going to cope with the event. We've been lucky since we've had intense Chinese classes every day, but I can't imagine how a city full of non-English speakers will deal with the massive flux of foreigners flooding in next summer. Even getting taxis is a nightmare if your Chinese pronounciation isn't perfect - it's always best to have the destination written in Chinese characters before you attempt any journey!!

We decided to go watch the sundown at Tian'anmen Square - there's a bit of a ceremony where they take the flag down - it always draws a big crowd. Since that wasn't until 7:30 PM and it was still early, we headed off to the Temple of Heaven to have a look around. We managed to get drawn in by the locals again and ended up being taught how to twirl these long ribbons on sticks - they made it look easy but it was far harder than I imagined. I think the coolest part of the Temple was the Echo Wall - allegedly you could be at two different points anywhere along the inside of the circular wall, which surrounded a couple of pagodas, and be able to hear the other person talking. We tested the theory and it did in fact work.

The sundown at Tian'anmen was slightly disappointing - it had been a particularly misty/smoggy day so the sunset wasn't anything exciting and we ended up waiting around for about an hour for the ceremony - which ended up just being a bunch of soldiers marching out from underneath the picture of Mao, taking the flag down, and then marching back in again. I had bought one of the games (the shuttlecock footsy thing) in the Temple of Heaven so we had a game in front of the Olympic countdown across the street from Tian'anmen and got a lot of smiles from the locals, as well as a lot of pictures taken. It still makes me laugh that people want to have their picture taken with us - I'm starting to feel like a bit of a celebrity, it's going to be strange to go back to England and not be followed by the Paparazzi. :P

After a bit of an epic journey, we arrived back at the hotel around 9 - 9:30 PM. I was pretty tired but instead of doing the sensible thing and going to bed, I decided to head out to a club with the guys to meet up with a bunch of other people who had gone out earlier. It turned into a bit of a drunken night of dancing and good times were had by all!

Right... I think that's just about it for now. Tomorrow I have class again and then we have a free afternoon/evening - I'm hoping to head out to the night market to try something interesting like seahorse on a stick! On Saturday morning we're heading out into the country again for a night on a farm and to do some hiking! Should be another interesting adventure - we've heard we have to share massive 6 person beds!!

I'm really sad that the programme is almost over. I've had such an amazing time.. it's hard to believe that this time next week we'll have all gone our separate ways.