Chronicles of an Indian boy in China

Culture Note 9

2009-01-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

Foot Shuttlecock (毽球 "jiàn qiú")

These ubiquitous shuttlecocks have become a necessity amongst little kids and have been for a very long time. In fact, in some of the schools i teach at, the kids take every opportunity to play with it. Artfully and skillfully juggling the jian qiu with their feet for prolonged periods. On a recent visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, i joined a few men and women on the streets in a game of pass-around jian qiu and it was really interesting to see that it can actually be developed into a sport. Some of the men and women had special techniques of striking the jian qiu; some with the back of their heels, so do it with their legs crossed, some do it while being airborne even! It is almost like juggling a "sepak takraw" rattan ball(with the same actions), instead you're just juggling this usually very colourful shuttlecock.

They cost 1-2 RMB and can be found in supermarkets or roadside peddlars.

Cuisine 1

2008-12-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

Mutton Skewers (羊肉串 "Yang rou chuan")

These are probably the most famous of the various street food all across china.
Big chunks of mutton meat and mutton fat pierced onto wood/bamboo skewers, grilled on a coal-fired barbecue, carefully marinated with cumin and chili flakes. In Shijiazhuang, Kyrgyzstani people tend to be the ones who dominate this particular type of street food and they also happen to be muslims, hence these skewers are Halal. In my opinion, I personally prefer the ones sold by the Kyrgyzstanis, as they seem to contain larger chunks of meat and lesser fat(more value for money) and also taste a lot better. In the wake of rumours going around saying that, some of these peddlars use rat meat instead of real mutton, I would tend to think the "Halalness"would eliminate the risk of it being made of rat meat. Anyways, you will be able to tell of it isnt made of real mutton meat. I've had a few types that seemed to have processed mutton meat, which taste more like meatballs and aren't very tasty.

Culture Note 8

2008-12-24T23:47:00.000-08:00

Pool (撞球, "Zhuang qiu")

Walking around on streets of Shijiazhuang, you'll find pool tables out in the open, carefully balanced with pieces of concrete and wood supporting its pillars.
This one was round the corner from my school.
Its quite unique to see chinese men and youth, crowding around these tables watching the amateurs and the pros take to the game. Sometimes, these tables are even open while it is snowing! There was even once, I saw them having a pool competition in the bitter cold and the competitors didnt seem bothered at all by the weather or the fact that the equipment was in such poor shape(the cue's had ripped tips, the balls had cracks and were dusty) and only worried about having good game.

City Guide 3

2008-12-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Postal Services (ChinaPost, 中国邮政, "Zhōngguó Yóuzhèng")

The postal services in this country have been very reliable when it comes to sending and receiving mail within its borders but is a little shady when it comes to receiving mail(not so much sending) from overseas. These maybe due to the fact that addresses need to be written preferably in Chinese characters instead of the English version(or the pin yin alternative).

Apart from that, letters sent from China must be sent via a envelope which has a special government stamp seal at the back(these mainly come in the usual brown or white). These can be purchased(for about 0.1-0.15 RMB) in the post office branches or in schools and some stationary shops. Also, letters cannot be sent without the senders name and address being written down on the back(for identity reasons).

In my personal opinion, I think the reason they are particular about these details are due to what the regime has ingrained into their way of life; to have absolute control over the going ons. They are very tight about their borders and are extremely careful about what goes into and out of the country for reasons that are implicit in their socialist regime. I think its a way of keeping tabs on the peace and daily life of the people. It's a way for the government to filter what the media in the west swirl about and swiftboat from seeping into the patriotic and peaceful way of life.

So far I have bought items on Amazon.cn and also on Taobao.com(China's EBay equivalent, owned by Alibaba Group) and received them safely via normal delivery(not registered).

Here's a rough cost estimate for travellers or the like intending to send mail/postcards from China:

-Postcards to any part of the world cost 4.5 RMB
-Cards(like birthday cards and greeting cards) to Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore cost about 5.5 RMB and to England, Australia and America cost about 6-6.5 RMB. *via airmail
-A simple letter(2-3 A4 pages) with a simple brown envelope to England will cost about 6 RMB.
-A parcel to England costs 18 RMB for the first 100g and 15 RMB for every subsequent 100g.
(please note that China has many restrictions on receiving and sending parcels ie it is difficult to receive books because the chinese government controls what books can be read and it is also difficult to receive/send portable media like USB drives and CD/DVD's)

Culture Note 7

2008-12-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

The elderly Chinese tend to fill their time mostly doing something productive. For instance, running a small business of their bicycles, or maintaining a corner shop or even taking care of their grandchildren(whom are a great source of pride for Chinese parents and grandparents, in part due to the existence of the one child policy).

Some of them also take to exercising from time to time throughout the day in public parks and by the roadside. Something interesting to note is that, they seem to have some unique traditional hobbies. One of those is the "tuo luo" , which involves whipping a very heavy top with a whip to keep it spinning. Sometimes they go on for hours, slapping and whipping the top in the middle of a public square. One of these squares happens to be near my school, along ZhongShan Xilu, and its intriguing to watch them intensely concentrate on whipping the device to ensure the continuity of its spinning.

Tips and Tricks 2

2008-11-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Electronic dictionary/translator ("diàn zī cí diǎn") 电子词典

An electronic dictionary is pretty much an ubiquitous device amongst Chinese students. Most of them use them to aid their learning of English. I didn't see the need for one initially, but realised it would greatly help with immediate translations and having better conversations in Chinese. The problem with the devices being sold in china(which come in a variety of brands and sizes) is that they are primarily designed for Chinese speakers trying to learn English and NOT the other way round. Having done some research, I found only one particular brand that satisfies this need and is sold around China.

The Mandarin King F109
It retails for anywhere between 1550RMB(226USD) to 2000RMB(292USD)(depending on your city)
It was specifically designed with a foreigners needs in mind. Its got pin yin articulation, speak buttons, a touch screen with a stylus to practice the strokes, grammar and oral lessons.
Only problem is that it is slightly dear(considering that most of these electronic dictionaries retail for about 300-800RMB in China).

A cheaper alternative is BBK USA's AM99 or the AM101.
The AM99 retails for 99.99USD(exc delivery) and the AM101 for 149.99USD(exc delivery) on the website.
Both these products have pin yin articulation and also have speak buttons(when pressed will read out Chinese characters/sentences in the correct tones). The AM101 has a full sentence conversion function(which comes in handy for travellers).
Having done some intensive price hunting, I found that BBK USA had an EBay shop where they sold refurbished units(trust me they're as good as new!) at a marked down prices.
I picked up the refurbished AM101 at 99USD plus 31USD for insurance and USPS Recorded Delivery.
Ironically, BBK is also known as "bu bu gao" in China and is a well established brand.

Politics/History 1

2008-11-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

The People's Republic of China

China, otherwise known as the People's Republic of China, is a socialist state. Chairman Mao ("Mao Zedong") on Oct 1st 1949, proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Beijing. The new government assumed control of a people exhausted by two generations of war and social conflict, and an economy devastated by high inflation and the disruption of the transportation and communications systems. Chinese communist leaders installed a new political and economic order modelled on the Soviet(another socialist state) system.

In the early 1950s, China achieved impressive economic and social rehabilitation. The government gained popular support by curbing inflation, restoring the economy, and rebuilding many war-damaged industrial plants. The China Communist Party's authority reached into almost every phase of Chinese life. Party control was assured by strong, politically loyal security and military forces (working for the army/military is very prestigious here)

(Taken from the U.S. Department of State's Background Notes: China and tweaked with knowledge ive gained in China)

City Guide 2

2008-11-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Roads, Buses and Transportation

The buses in Shijiazhuang are very easy and straightforward to use. Only problem is, most signages are written in Chinese. Some of them have the signages also written in pin yin. The main road in this city is Zhongshan Xilu which passes through the main shopping area as well as the business district where the landmark ICBC Bank building is located.

The buses are very much like the London buses (in terms of the design and systems; ie satellite controlled, audio stop prompting, digital boards to display bus number and destination, most also have on board satellite TV showing news from abroad and music videos)

Also, this city's roads takes a gridlocked layout. Hence a very NY/San Fran layout(street/avenue intersections). I am in the midst of trying to translate and redraw the map of Shijiazhuang in English and hopefully will complete that by the end of the year. It makes navigation around the city easier and directions can be easily described by basing it on the distance from a certain intersection(sometimes the intersections are very famous due to nearby sites of interest or government buildings).

A single trip on the bus costs 1 yuan. But if you are staying in the city for a while, i'd recommend getting a bus card (monthly/touchandgo) which has to be purchased at the main train station close to the centre of the city.
The monthly bus card (gong gong qi che A ka) which costs 40 yuan(excluding a 20 yuan refundable deposit) for 120 rides (0.3 yuan per ride).
The touchandgo bus card (gong gong qi che B ka) can be loaded with any amount you want and each trip will cost 0.8 yuan per ride.

Relevant vocabulary:
bus = gong gong qi che
card = ka pian
road = lu
street = jie dao
north, south, east, west = bei, nan, dong, xi

Culture Note 6

2008-11-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Thick-skinnedness

I've been wanting to write about this in a while but havent quite found the time with my schedule tightening up and also being preoccupied with the news in relation to Barack Obama's recent historic clinching of the presidency of the United States.

People in China generally take a callous attitude towards others. They can very cold, harsh and sometimes just couldnt care less! I'll quote a few examples, first, they have no regard for queues whatsoever. It doesnt strike them, that it is courteous and polite to queue and wait your turn patiently. They really dont seem to believe in queuing and they cut lines everywhere, from paying for food at roadside stalls(where queues can extend for quite a distance) to waiting for the bus or even whilst driving, they always look to cut the queue(a lil bit like how Malaysians do it too).

They have plenty of regard for the law but not when it comes to the road. They rarely stop at red lights, they honk almost every 20 seconds for some reason i dont think i'll ever understand. For instance, when they drive in the bus lane(where the priority is for the buses and taxis and hence is the right most lane) and and get caught behind a bus while the bus picks up/drops off passengers, they honk and honk even though they know their efforts are in vain.

Another example(relevant to those whose colour is not so yellow ;)), is when you are a coloured person and if you're walking about almost anywhere, you will get constant intense stares. In fact sometimes they are so preoccupied with analysing your facial features and your complexion they lose focus on whatever they're doing; people have crashed their bicycles whilst trying to get a good look at me, people walk all the way in front of me and walk backwards facing me to get a good look, sometimes they even call their colleagues and friends to come along and "check me out". It can get very awkward but they dont seem to feel it, so much so, i've gotten used to it here. Usually I just smile back and go 'Ni Hao'.

I acknowledge that this entry is written with a tinge of cynicism, but i think that reflects my feelings and also a certain bias that is contained within me for and against China.

Point of Information

2008-10-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

Censorship
Of late, I have realised that there are certain websites and blogs ive never been able to access from China and I just assumed that maybe the connection was too slow to load the pages. Certain websites like CNN's PoliticalTicker (the inside scoop on the presidential election), xanga blogs, youtube(from time to time), foreign press websites like BBC etc are inaccessible.

Having googled the issue, I found out that China has a very strict take on censorship and regularly sifts through websites to ensure no anti-China sentiments are being propagated. Truth be told, the government filters anything and everything that reaches the Chinese public ie websites, cd/dvd's(which is why you cant post or receive cd/dvd's), books!(the government has to actually read through every book before its made available to the public, which is why you cant buy a book on Amazon.co.uk/.com and have it delivered to China but instead you can try find the book, which most of the time happens to be the Chinese translated version of an English book on Amazon.cn. Hence, the selection of English books in this country is extremely limited and im glad i happened to bring enough to read for 6 months), newspapers, journals, and almost everything the media has to offer.
The International Olympic Committee had to make special requests for unrestricted Internet access to be available to the foreign media in the press rooms and coverage areas and although the Chinese government agreed, it apparently didn't fully keep its promise.
As the Internet takes centre stage in terms of dissemination of information worldwide, the government is beefing up its efforts to neutralise critical online opinion on matters like its human rights record(in view of its recent treatment of Tibet) and also issues pertaining to the preservation of the environment.

What i find ridiculously stupid and irrational, is that the banning of websites occurs mostly uncoordinated and ad-hoc; some sites are blocked from time to time(sometimes for no apparent reason) and certain links through another page to the same site are not blocked, which means there are loopholes to getting the information you want. For instance, I constantly track the going-ons in the US elections via CNN's PoliticalTicker blog, and that is one of the websites blocked here in China. But I've managed to get my sister to copy and paste the contents into a Word file and email that to me.

Culture Note 5

2008-10-25T00:49:00.000-07:00

Numerals and Chinese Culture

For the Chinese, numbers seem to have a subtle yet significant role in their lives. Some are deemed to be auspicious and others inauspicious. Numbers have meanings based on the Chinese word they sound most similar to.

For instance:

The number 1 ("yi") represents unity.

The number 2 ("err") is a good number in the Chinese numerology. The is a famous Chinese saying that "all good things come in pairs" ("hao tong si, bu neng bi jiao"). Lots of Chinese brandnames tend to use double symbols, believing that will bring good luck (eg DoubleHappiness DoubleElephant etc).

The number 3 ("san") means life, hence considered a lucky number.

The number 4 ("si") is considered an unlucky number by most Chinese, because it sounds very similar to the word for death. In fact, the impact of this superstition is so profound that it has altered the business decisions and also the way people live. Nokia cellphones have no series beginning with the number 4. House and property numbers in China generally do not carry the number 4. In Malaysia, some property developers have renamed anything to do with the number 4 with alphabets (4th floor = level 3A). People never give anything in fours in China.

The number 5 ("wu") is related to the 5 elements (metal,wood,water,fire,earth)

The number 6 ("liu") sounds like the word for "smooth", "flowing" and "slippery" which can mean "everything goes smoothly"
*contrary to western beliefs where the number 6 is inauspicious and 666 is considered to be demonic as it is the Number of the Devil.

The number 7 is often linked with fate, destiny and supernatural occurrences. The night of sevens is the 7th day of the 7th month ("qi xi") which is related to the mythology of the Cowherd("niu lang") and the Weaver Girl ("zhi nu") *a story for another day ;)
The 7th month of the year is also known as the Ghost Month.

The number 8 ("ba") sounds similar to "fa" which means "wealth" or "prosper". The number 8 has taken on a very commercial value in the world. For instance, people would pay a premium just to have more of the digit in their mobile phone numbers or their car license plate numbers. Apparently, the Chinese love numbers rich in the numbers 6 and 8.
The recent Beijing olympics kicked of on 08/08/2008 at precisely 8:08:08pm.

The number 9 ("jiu") being the largest of the single-digit numbers has historically been associated to the Emperor of China. For instance, his robes always had 9 dragons.

*http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/20/content_4576062.htm

Culture Note 4

2008-10-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

One-Child Policy ("du sheng zi")

was having a conversation with Ally, who's the person in charge of my welfare, at the Hebei New Times agency and she mentioned that she was pregnant with her first child. Naturally, i asked "is it a boy or a girl?". "its forbidden to know the gender of the unborn child!" was her reply. That brought us the the conversation about the one-child policy in China. We spoke at length and there was quite a bit i learnt.

Firstly, the policy was introduced by the Chinese government back in 1979 to alleviate social and environmental problems. The policy has remained controversial since its inception because it raises issues in relation to the manner of implementation and its negative economic and social consequences. The National Population and Family Planning Commission recently announced that the policy is likely to stay in place for another decade.

I also learnt that, despite the fines/discouragement (which include monetary fines, denial of free health care to the whole family and free schooling for both children, parents losing income bonuses from their employers for the rest of their lives), parents still have more than one child, for the reason that they feel the need for their children to have siblings and have a family livelihood throughout their growing years. Usually, these are above average families who can afford it.

"It's forbidden to know gender of the unborn child"
Apparently, gynaecologists in China are banned from informing the parents about the gender of the unborn child. In fact, its the law here and is clearly posted on the walls of clinics, that the patient is not allowed to ask about the gender and neither is the doctor permitted to tell.
The reason for this is that, most parents in China prefer a son to a daughter simply because a son would be able to fend for the family from an early age. Ally also mentioned that sons are preferred because, they would be able to provide for the family even when they get married because the tradition here is that the women move to wherever their husbands live and become a member of the husband's household. So if they had a daughter, she would most likely leave home when she gets married, hence, not be able to take care of the family later on.
Because of this sexism, prior to this rule where people can't know the gender of the unborn child, rates of abortion were high amongst women expecting girls. Doctors can be jailed if they somehow hint at the gender of the child.

Culture Note 3

2008-10-21T01:31:00.000-07:00

"Tiao Pi Jin"

A traditional game/dance, mainly played by girls from a young age. Its a lot like skipping on a rubber rope while entangling(whilst paying attention to the order in which you're entangling in, so you can un-entangle yourself elegantly, which is the aim of the game) the rubber rope, spread in a rectangle by 2 other people. So you'd be frantically jumping around the rope while using various parts of your shoe/leg/ankle to entangle the rope and then un-entangle it in the same series of motion. A fancy version of skipping if you like. There are many series of beats you can follow and when done smoothly, it looks very skillful.

2008-10-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Spent the week, volunteering to teach at 2 women's colleges. the Hebei Women's Vocational College and the Shijiazhuang Women's College.

Filled in for the foreign(an australian girl) teacher who had gone home for 2 weeks. The experience is definitely one to savour. Spent about 2 days preparing the material to teach, and I taught them about Malaysian culture. Made the class as interactive as possible to ensure the students get talking(since I was teaching Oral English). It was really good exposure, not just because the students were much older compared my previous school, but also because they spoke a decent amount of English and that enabled greater communication between themselves and i, as the teacher. Funny this was, they're about 19-21 years of age, so when they found out i was 22, i think they were genuinely surprised I was that young (since i've had a recent spate of illnesses, i looked rather haggard and spotted an overgrown beard).

Anyhows, the class went on well and some students even gave me a lil rose at the end of the lesson!

It was a women's college, but for some reason, they were boys attending the school too.

The only thing that i didnt enjoy, is the long ride to school. It takes about an hour to get to school(on bus 48 or 68) and then another hour to get back! the journey can be draining.

On a separate note, this first hand experience of being a teacher in a classroom filled with about 50 students on average was a humbling experience; having to repeat the same material in every single class and still maintain the same enthusiasm and fervour about my teaching. I now know what teachers go through on a daily basis. But if you love what you do, it's not so much a chore. At the present, i love what i do and getting to meet so many different people, teaching english, exploring the city etc its been an eye opener.

Culture Note 2

2008-10-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

Chinese Chess ("Xiangqi")

In small alleys and sometimes even on the sidewalk of major roads you'll find people playing a game of Chinese Chess. Its mostly men who play this game. You'll find them squatting by the culvert, with the paper chessboard layout spread across a ledge and chunky wooden blocks representing the pieces; rooks, knights, a king etc.

Whats slightly unique about the layout is that it has a 3x3 box region in the centre with 2 diagonal lines connecting the 2 corners, where the king rests. This is known as the palace/fortress ("gong").

The pieces are marked with a chinese character to denote the position they represent and are mostly made of plastic. But there are better more expensive sets made of wood and sometimes jade.

Culture Note 1

2008-10-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

From my observations and experiences so far, it is apparent that most of the chinese culture is reflected on the dinner table.

First and foremost, chinese people have the habit of spitting everywhere they go. It doesnt matter if your indoors or outdoors (but some of them have the conscience of knowing how to handle themselves when we're in a fancy place). So while you're having a meal anywhere, dont be surprised if someone just spat on the floor near your feet! In fact it was such a distinct feature of the chinese that offended the people of the West when they come on tours, that the Beijing Olympics Commission put out massive adverts and campaigns to educate chinese people on NOT spitting in public, spitting was even banned in Beijing during the olympics.
*http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8922971

Also, one stark difference over here, is that people tend the raise a toast everytime they take a sip of their drink, be it tea ("cha") or beer ("pi jiu") or chinese rice wine ("bai jiu"), unlike western culture where we raise a toast maybe at most twice during the meal (at the beginning and the end). So I literally had to toast everyone to my drink everytime i wanted to have a sip(which could have been about 20 times! and sometimes you may just toast 1 or 2 people, doesnt always have to be everyone at the table). Also, if you're seated far away from someone and you want to raise a toast to them, you call them by their name and you knock the table with your glass and they acknowledge this by knocking their glass on the table before taking a sip (apparently, since most tables have a thick sheet of glass on top, "knocking" it allows the continuity of the toast ie glass knocking on glass connecting to another persons glass wherever on the table he/she may be)

*to be updated at a later date

City Guide 1

2008-10-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

Gyms
One of the things, most foreigners staying in China long-term look for is a proper gym with good facilities(and sometimes the optional classes as well ie spinning,yoga,aerobics etc).

It isnt so much a feasible option to go running out in the open, in part due to the impact of heavy pollution on your health and also because, the average temperature for most of the year is quite low in China(it only gets warm during the summer months, June-August, 30-35C)
*different parts of China have different climates, for instance North-Central China(Beijing, Xian) have relatively low snow/rainfall in winter and they go into Winter late and also experience an early Spring

The city of Shijiazhuang has plenty of gyms in just about every area of the city. So you shouldn't have a problem gaining access to one within walking distance or 10 minute bus ride(max). They are also very well equipped, much like the Fitness First's around the world, some of them have swimming pools(very rare), but most of them have a ton of threadmills and the one ive joined(Surmount Fitness) has a spinning room, a heated yoga room, a dance studio, aerobics area, ping-pong tables, pool tables and a good/clean shower facility.

In Shijiazhuang, a half-year membership will set you back about 300-400 yuan. I've been told that in Beijing, they can cost up to 500 yuan a month!

2008-10-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Wu Yue Zhai National Park

Made a trip with colleagues to a nearby national park(originally with the intention of scaling some of the mountains) to take in a lil bit of the sights and scenes. We drove to the foot of the mountain and spent 4 hours walking along the designated walk routes up the mountain and there were plenty of viewpoints along the way.

Also detoured via a route that took us to a Buddist Temple ("Guan Yin" to be exact). Where we prayed for a while and received blessings from the priest. Then, something interesting, my friend Huang Wei wanted to pay a visit to the fortune teller who resided in the temple and the fortune teller spent about 10 minutes examining Huang Wei's palm and asked him generic questions about his age,job,home etc and then went into a fit frenzy and told him a whole list of things in a very loud manner (i learnt later that it was that the fortune teller was "connecting with the gods" to ask about his future). Apparently, my friend has a very bright future and things are going to be good.

2008-10-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

Recently had my first lesson with the children, who came to the school to attend an "English Corner" event. Which is more of an introductory thing, whereby the children and their parents sit in a class where i teach them some English in ways that will foster their interest in the learning the language.

First off, i taught them how to introduce themselves and the problem i had was that i had a classroom with about 15 kids and their parents and the levels of their proficiency in the language varied greatly and had no relation to their age whatsoever. Some kids as young as 7 spoke almost as fluently as i did, even with an accent sometimes and sometimes the older children (whom you'd naturally have expected to have had greater exposure to English) could barely utter a word. In addition, I had to give most of them English names (not just because its convenient, but more because the children actually just wanted English names for themselves in a way to fit in with the other group of students who already had English names and have been using them for a while)

I started the lesson by writing on the whiteboard a few sentences to guide them on how to introduce themselves. Then i introduced myself and my assistant(i have an assistant who comes in to help translate to the children when i get into difficulties). Then i split them into groups based on their level of proficiency and made them discuss topics like their favourite fruit, their backgrounds, the mode of transport to school etc; just to get them talking and interacting in English. I was there jumping in and out of the groups, paying attention to their pronunciations and intonations and correcting them as and when necessary. I also taught the kids a song, and i think that hit it off, they started laughing and having fun and just simply started enjoying learning. In addition, also played hangman with them, giving them words/categories that enabled them to ask questions and talk to one another. The point was to get them talking, and to ensure they're having fun at the same time.

The class was meant to last about an hour, somehow i lost track of time and ended up going on for about 2 hours! but at least the kids had fun and the parents had plenty of praise for the methods i employed in teaching the language.

Later on, a few of the kids brought badminton racquets and wanted me to play with them on the streets. I did, and we ended up attracted a massive crowd of people who came to watch an odd-looking individual dressed in formal clothes playing badminton with wooden racquets on the streets in the midst of traffic!

All in all, it was really good.

Chinese tips and tricks

2008-10-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of useful websites for those getting adjusted to life in China

Dictionary.com English-Mandarin translator
http://translate.reference.com/

Chinese pin yin dictionary
http://dict.cn/

All you need to know about the language and culture (pin yin editors,pronounciation prompter, name translator, character dictionary etc)
http://www.chinese-tools.com/

Learning the language
http://www.pimsleurapproach.com/learn-chinese-mandarin.asp (of course i downloaded it free on torrent and loaded it onto my ipod. ;))
http://www.randomhouse.com/livinglanguage/ (this is an alternative but requires you to look at a workbook which you can print out and clearly denotes the pin yin)

Chinese fonts
Sometimes your windows pc might have the chinese font pack with XP SP2 onwards, but mine didnt and i couldnt see any mandarin characters. Hence i downloaded the font pack free(http://www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/edv/sinopc/chinese_fonts.htm) and copied the file into the fonts folder (start -> control panel -> fonts)

China Independence Day

2008-10-05T03:34:00.001-07:00

National Day Golden Week ("guo qing jie" as it is known here) is a huge affair in China. You literally get 1 week off. Massive queue's start forming in train stations and authorised train/bus ticket sellers in the build-up to the week. So i'd recommend booking early if you happen to be in china during the week (Oct 1-7) and want to travel.

As it turns out, I didnt know i had a week off until i came to school on the first day of the leave and realised that there was no one! Fortunately, my friends here in Shijiazhuang made plans and drove me to Robert's(the administrator in my school) village in dongjiazhuang,shijiazhuang (i know.it sounds like a toungue twister!) to visit his parents and see their corn plantation.

The drive took about 2 hours from Shijiazhuang city centre through the muddy roads of the village. The terrain was fairly rugged and we were travelling in a sedan vehicle, so you can imagine how bumpy the ride would have been. Eventually, we arrived and Robert's entire family were assembled at their porch to greet me. It was good to meet them but obviously I hadn't picked up much mandarin by then and hence a communication breakdown. Robert played the role of a constant intrepreter. I had look around their estate and it was big but run-down and consisted of the very basics; a small TV set, metal stools, a roundtable, 1 inch thick beds built on a cement platform, small kitchen, a well for water, hole-in-the-ground toilet (your waste falls into a chamber where pigs lived) etcetcetc. What was common amongst all the houses was that they had a huge barrel of harvested/unpeeled corn stacked on their roofs (their roofs served as a processing area; to peel corn,trim the stem) to dry during the summer months. We had a typical home cooked meal at their place and chatted whilst having beer("pee jou") and chinese rice wine ("bai jou").

What really served as an eye-opener is that even in such simplicity and basics, their family was fundamentally happy and went about their daily lives with no complaints and a better day for them was about a better harvest(the weather/global warming is affecting their harvest and also the fluctuating local price of corn they receive) and maybe even a newborn in the family, not so much about hedonistic needs of the lives of the people in today's modern society; fancy cars, huge mansions and the like.

2008-09-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

The first few days in Shijiazhuang have been a tad bit difficult. Having to get used to their nasty toilets (most of them are squat toilets btw) and being stared at from head to toe simply because my complexion and hairy torso!
Nevertheless, I met two Australian girls who have been in Shijiazhuang for the past 8 months and an African-American man who has the last four summers in China.

I've learnt quite a bit from the man (Eddie Bruce), about life in China and how because i look far from chinese, its going to get me plenty of attention, good and bad. As I walk along narrow passages in the town, chinese people going about their daily all of sudden pull a halt and you'll hear them whisper(sometimes out loud!) "fei chou ren...fei chou ren"(black/african american person) or "yin du ren...yin du ren"(indian person). Funny thing is, I wouldnt have cared, but Eddie stops to talk to them in fluent mandarin and asks them about life and their take on the way things are going on in the city and in China and he gains a new perspective about China. He goes "man i aint done nothin wrong, so there's nothing wrong with a black man just talking to the people, i even talk to the policemen wherever i see them, i aint done nothin wrong, i aint got nothin to fear".

We went for lunch along with the two Australian girls in a roadside shop and had some local beer too. It was good to see how foreigners were surviving in this city.
So i took the opportunity to quickly learn as much as i could about the city;laundromats,shopping,buying goods,groceries etc.

The next day, the agency was making calls vigorously to nearby schools and institutions to find me a job and within a couple of hours they arranged for an interview with a local private school. So I had the interview with Robert and Eddie was there to guide me as well (negotiating the in and outs of my contract ie work hours, days of leave, salary, food allowance, travel allowance, accomodation, range of students). Voila, in 30 minutes i had a job! And i left with them that very instant to stay at the school and had my first day at work the next day.

Thing is, the children were on holiday for about 2 weeks, so no kids came to school. I spent the time studying the syllabus and also learning chinese.

2008-09-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Beijing International Airport at 3.30pm local time (Beijing is on GMT +7)and met up with Lilly, a representative from the Hebei New Times Agency who was tasked with taking me safely from Beijing to the city of Shijiazhuang. So we took a bus from the airport to the Train terminal which was about 40 minutes away. Lil did I realise that, China was a massive place and Beijing in itself was huge. So to get through the city (which is densely populated btw; 17.4m), was a tedious task, made worse by the downpour at the time. It took almost 2 hours to get to the train station and we were completely drenched including my luggages.
After all the hanky panky we arrived and it a very long time to purchase the train tickets. For some reason, the queue's in China can sometimes stretch for miles and miles.
We then took the slow train (which makes multiple stops compared to the fast one but is more economical) which arrived in Shijiazhuang almost 4 hours later. Lilly, took me for a quick meal (we had Xiao Long Bao by the roadside) and drove me to the office in which I will be staying for the next couple of days till I find an open teaching position.

Background Story

2008-09-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

This is the story of a Malaysian Indian boy, a recent graduate from the UK, who's embarking on a teach/travel journey across China.

Teaching English in China is part of a gap year plan before going back to London, possibly early summer of 2009. Am on a 6 month stint with a local private school in Shijiazhuang (2.5 hours south of Beijing).

This blog will chronicle my undertakings and experiences as I traverse through this city and China as a whole.

For those of you seeking a similar experience, I'd recommend a few sites:

English First (well established brand name in the field of teaching English)
Aston English (for a more hardcore teaching experience and they pay a fairly high salary but mainly based in Dalian)
Hebei New Times (a very authentic experience and allows plenty of freedom to tailor your experience around what you want)