How we felt about our Asian sojourn:
SHS Creative Writing in China
Keeping you up to date with our 2013 visit to China ... and maybe even some previews of our jottings.
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Shanghai - again!
Shanghai and Sheffield High became much better acquainted today as we whizzed
back and forth around this impressive city.
The sunny morning began with a stroll along the Bund to view the former
colonial past and the heritage which gave forth Shanghai's origins as a centre
of world trade and commerce.
From the Bund we crossed the river to Pudong (East
Bank) and the modern commercial district to ascend the Jin Mao tower and a enjoy
majestic 360 degree view from the observation deck on the 88th floor. The view
back down through the hollow centre to the atrium below was rather more
unnerving!
Back across the river, we went back to the past in the Yu gardens to enjoy a
little peace and tranquility in this classical Chinese garden ... well it would
have been had it not been thronged by so many tourists. (There was a cruise ship
in town to swell the number of visitors). From one extreme to the other as we
then joined the heaving hordes to test our bartering skills in the Bazaar.
Lunch replenished our energy reserves before we took a relaxing river cruise
to enjoy both banks from an entirely different perspective. Our cultural
appetites were then briefly sated as we took in some traditional Chinese art at
Shanghai Museum. Having practised our bartering in the morning, it was off to
the hustle and bustle of an indoor market on the Nanjing Road to finish our need
to boost the Chinese economy.
After a final Chinese banquet, we were treated to an ever-changing light
show as we returned to our hotel amidst the Shanghai neon.
A physicist out of his depth!
Having travelled from Beijing to Shanghai, I was particularly struck by the
contrasts between these two vast cities, so in the spirit of the trip I was
inspired to attempt a piece of poetry, however -
I'm sure you know it,
But I'm no poet.
Contrasts
Blurred to bright
Grey to green
Shabby to chic
Shoddy to shiny
Urban to urbane
Stifling to stimulating
Squatting to sitting
Monochrome to multicoloured
Enervating to energising
Austere to ostentatious
Rectilinear to curvilinear
Dry and dusty to vibrant and
vivacious
Beige Beijing to Shimmering
Shanghai
(I. Guest)
Friday, 29 March 2013
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Thursday
Yesterday, after we had
got off the night train and had breakfast at our hotel in Xian in which we would be
spending the night, we took our coach to a local art museum full of wonderful
paintings and shadow puppets etc. There we were shown round and told about a few
of the paintings.
Then came, for me, challenging part. We were taught how to draw some Chinese ideogram characters, including the ones for the UK and China. It was tricky at first, but most of us got the hang of it towards the end of the session. Afterwards a few of us bought paintings done by art students.
Then came, for me, challenging part. We were taught how to draw some Chinese ideogram characters, including the ones for the UK and China. It was tricky at first, but most of us got the hang of it towards the end of the session. Afterwards a few of us bought paintings done by art students.
We then took the coach to
the Terracotta Warrior site. We parked our coach and took a buggy ride to the
main site. First, we went into a 360 degree cinema to watch a 15 minute film about
the creation and the discovery of the warriors.
We were then led to the
biggest of the pits filled with lined up warriors. When they were first
excavated they were in many pieces and still reconstruction is continuing today,
many years later.
We then proceeded to have
lunch.
Next, we went to a buddist
temple. Inside the complex there was a large rectanglar tower with 8 floor which
was used as a library for many scriptures although now, the building is empty so
we didn't climb it. We also had around half an hour's free time to wander and
explore the temple for ourselves. Some of my friends, Jess, Vicky, Yfke, and
myself went and walked around the beautiful gardens.
We then went back to the
hotel for about an hour to freshen up before tea. After tea, we then went out to
the hussle and haggle of the night market. We were, again, given some time to
wander about as we pleased.
We had a wonderful day and
we were all exhausted.
Eleanor
S.
Shanghai
We were welcomed to Shanghai by the monks at the Temple of the Jade Buddha,
where we were refreshed and cleansed by a tea ceremony.
I am however resisting the temptation to paraphrase one of the notices in the Temple and claim the tea had been passed by the Buddha ...
I am however resisting the temptation to paraphrase one of the notices in the Temple and claim the tea had been passed by the Buddha ...
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Late Thursday
All back safely from the night street market. Ten at night & we're out in
t-shirts!
Thursday
A long but interesting day started as usual with the widely varied breakfast
options we've enjoyed all week. In addition to the typically western options of
cereals, fruit, juices (the Hawthorn was particularly pleasant), breads, eggs,
meats, as one might expect, there were of course oriental options, so rice quite
naturally, dumplings, salads, veg., soup and sundry other interesting offerings.
Definitely something for everyone.
Our day's activities began at the Temple of Heaven, a vast parkland and temple complex formerly the dominant place of worship for the Emperors. Spectacular and impressive though in different ways from a European cathedral, but no longer still in use as a place of prayer. However it wasn't the structures which left a lasting impression, but the use as a social space to which the surrounding park had been put. The elderly and retired, but far from infirm came to meet, play cards or chess (or keepy-uppy!), do Tai Chi or stretching, dance or exercise on the thoughtfully provided apparatus. A palpable sense of community surrounded the whole area.
![]() |
Temple of Heaven - Angels? |
Our day's activities began at the Temple of Heaven, a vast parkland and temple complex formerly the dominant place of worship for the Emperors. Spectacular and impressive though in different ways from a European cathedral, but no longer still in use as a place of prayer. However it wasn't the structures which left a lasting impression, but the use as a social space to which the surrounding park had been put. The elderly and retired, but far from infirm came to meet, play cards or chess (or keepy-uppy!), do Tai Chi or stretching, dance or exercise on the thoughtfully provided apparatus. A palpable sense of community surrounded the whole area.
Then a quick visit to see how freshwater pearls are cultivates before a
splendid buffet lunch - the sweet dishes proving particularly popular. After
lunch we visited the Houtong district to sample a little flavour of how 'old'
Beijing was prior to the redevelopments ... and to get there, a short rickshaw
ride (or rather the 21st century equivalent; a trikeshaw)
By the time we reached the Summer Palace, the temperature had risen, a
breeze had stirred and the smog had lifted to allow us to enjoy the Emperor's
summer retreat at its best. The lake and location were stunning, though it was
somewhat tricky separating the modern from the original. Given that it had been
sacked many times by various interlopers, what we saw would have been unlikely
to have been there from the outset.
With luggage already aboard the coach it was off to the station to catch
our sleeper train to Xian. To conjure a mental image, think Euston station at
5pm; it was heaving, but with Jun Li our guide for a short while longer, all
went smoothly, we boarded the train , sorted our cabins and departed on
time.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Wednesday
Well, we've awoken to a grey day today; our first with no sun.
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Walking the Wall
Walking
up the Great Wall of China was such an experience and one which I will remember
for ever.
The beginning
of the Wall had a gift shop where Lucy, Olivia and I purchased a lock with our
names engraved on the back. We locked it on to the handrail of the Wall and
hopefully, it will remain there for a long time showing people from all around
the world that we have been and experienced one of the seven wonders of the
world.
India
Yardley 10X
After Dinner
After dinner, the more adventurous of the party ventured to watch some
traditional Beijing opera scenes. The outfits were elaborate and intricate, the
face-painted masks, bright and bold.
Overall, the experience was enlightening, especially the opera-styled music and oriental instruments, strange to hear for those from the western world.
Overall, the experience was enlightening, especially the opera-styled music and oriental instruments, strange to hear for those from the western world.
Tuesday 26 March
Today we
rose early.
Of course,
despite our lovely tour guide - Johnny's - enthusiasm, most of us we not
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a late night at the Martial Arts Theatre. This led to a slightly late departure to our
intended destination of the Great Wall of China.
We stopped
at a jade factory en route, where we saw the processes involved in carving
jade. A majority of us were taken in by the exquisite sculptures and beautiful
jewellery available in the shop, but one or two of us had to remind ourselves
that there are other places and other things that we may wish to purchase, to stop
ourselves from spending all our Yuan.
Once we
peeled ourselves away from the factory, we continued to the Great Wall. The
minute we set foot off the coach, we were a hit with the Chinese tourists, who
started conversations with many of us. We then embarked on our hike up the
wall.
Many of us
wanted to reach the top, but once we started climbing it, we changed our minds,
and walked as far as we could manage.
All the hard
work was worth it in the end, as the views were spectacular, giving us ample
photo opportunities.
After the Wall,
we had lunch in a restaurant above a Cloisonné factory (cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects - Ed) which presented another shopping opportunity for
the shoppers in the group to buy the products available, avoiding the 7ft tall
vases.
The Ming
Tombs were next on the agenda, which was relaxing and educational, despite the
fact that it required yet more walking. The
visit was also amusing due to an incident with a cleaner talking Johnny's water
bottle without asking, pouring out the contents and throwing it away. As you
can imagine, Johnny was not impressed.
We rounded off
the eventful day with a long drive back to Beijing city centre, and dinner in a
restaurant where we contemplated the thoughts of a goldfish and cleared two
plates of egg fried rice per table.
On arrival
back at the hotel, we said goodnight to Johnny and Dong the bus driver using
our new linguistic talents in Chinese, and made a start with 'packing' our
suitcases in preparation for the overnight train to Xian.
Siobhan
Francis.
A Poem!
Inspired by the falling snowflakes which ushered our
departure -
The dancer
I dance on
and on,
Swerving and
cartwheeling blindly,
I dance on
and on,
Only gravity
binds me,
I dance on
and on,
Leaping and
jumping wildly,
I dance on
and on,
Yet all the
while I am falling, ever so slightly.
I dance on
and on,
Though
faster I fall,
I dance on
and on,
To the
ground I am called,
I dance on
and on,
Though fate
is approaching,
To the white
arms of death I am bound.
I dance on
and on,
And ecstasy
fills me,
I dance on
and on,
And sadness
near kills me,
I dance on
and on;
Fear it
chills me,
I dance on
and on;
To the end I
am come.
I dance on
and on,
Though I
know what this dance brings me,
The first
dance and the last dance,
Though I
live for all eternity,
Reborn and
reborn again until memory fails me.
For this is
the dance of the snowflake,
Both
beautiful and terrible,
Rich in both
joy and grief,
For the
ground I am destined,
And my hopes
melt with the heat of the sun.
Yvke vdH
Yvke vdH
The Wall was indeed 'Great', but didn't defeat all
Conquering our fear of heights on the Great Wall of China... hundreds of steps
up, hundreds more to go!
Victoria
No Facebook in China
Just to mention to those of us at this end that Facebook is banned in China, so Facebook users cannot message one another between here and there.
The school email system is working happily between the two places, so that is another way to keep in touch.
Message from Freya -
Thanks Mum! It's really great to hear from you. This is going to appear on the blog so I won't say much, other than I love you and miss you and I speak for all of us when I say its a great trip!!!
I'll talk to you soon.
Freya xxx
The school email system is working happily between the two places, so that is another way to keep in touch.
Message from Freya -
Thanks Mum! It's really great to hear from you. This is going to appear on the blog so I won't say much, other than I love you and miss you and I speak for all of us when I say its a great trip!!!
I'll talk to you soon.
Freya xxx
Monday, 25 March 2013
A Full Day!
And what a full day it was! We eased in gently with a sleep in till our 7.00am wake up call and a leisurely breakfast, but after that it was non-stop.
A short coach journey deposited us in Tiananmen Square, the scale of which
is hard to appreciate without experiencing it. Chairman Mau's mausoleum is just
one of many stately buildings co-located with the square, but they were all much
more modern than our next target, the Forbidden City. Perhaps a contradiction in
terms, since we were actually welcomed in, through the gate formerly reserved for
the royal family in fact ... or perhaps they just recognised our class?
The scale of the city (formerly the Imperial Palace) is once more hard to
believe until you begin to travel through it. At almost a kilometre long and
half a kilometre wide, it boasted a retinue of 40 000 and reputedly contained
over 9000 rooms. It was in the City that we spotted a sign to the 'Hall of the
Supreme Principle' and briefly wondered whether it would make a good present for
Mrs Dunsford (spelling notwithstanding).
After a banquet lunch, it was on to the Llama Temple to see a rather grand
location given over to Buddhism. Previously a minor (?!) royal palace, it was
hard not to see parallels with the Forbidden City and though it's more recent
use may be more spiritual, it was another location rich in symbolism. Sticking
with that theme, we then experienced a tea ceremony, though tasted only a few of
the many thousand varieties of Chinese tea, including one with no tea in at
all!
Our appetites whetted, we then enjoyed a Peking Duck dinner - "similar, but
not the same as crispy aromatic duck like at home" was the opinion.
Finally our evening concluded with a Kung Fu show; a dramatic retelling of
a classic story ... which fused together storytelling, dance, martial arts and
gymnastics. Quite a show to end quite a day.
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Call that snow?! Pah!
Arranging to set off earlier proved to be a smart move and despite the severe blizzards, 18 + 2 hardy souls assembled and departed Pond Hill pretty much on time. Our drivers then did a masterful job of negotiating the M1 and associated routes to get us to Heathrow in plenty of time for our flight.
Off we were whisked into the leaden skies bound for China, where a mostly sleepless 10 hours later we landed. The enormous airport at Beijing seemed almost as a ghost town and once our luggage was successfully recovered, we met our guide and driver for our stay.
Following a banquet lunch at (what for us was five in the morning) we made the short trip to the Olympic complex. Such amazing architecture bathed in the sharp spring sun made for quite a sight, with the "Bird's Nest" meriting special attention. Sad to see so little of it in use and apparently, now only on rare occasions.
Back to the hotel for a much needed freshen up and maybe a quick nap for some, prior to our evening meal. Which is where this quick initial update heralds from ....
Friday, 22 March 2013
These things are sent to try us ...
Well the weather is bent on making our life rather difficult! However where there's a will, there's a way so we've adjusted our departure time and location to hopefully ease the situation.
We're now leaving at 08.00
from near to The Old Queen's Head pub on Pond Hill (behind the bus station and S1 2BG for sat navs) or
View Larger Map
Have a safe journey in the morning and we'll see you shortly before eight ... fingers crossed!
We're now leaving at 08.00
from near to The Old Queen's Head pub on Pond Hill (behind the bus station and S1 2BG for sat navs) or
View Larger Map
Have a safe journey in the morning and we'll see you shortly before eight ... fingers crossed!
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Two days left! Excited? Me? Nah.
Anyone familiar with flash fiction? In China it's known as a 'smoke long' and is a style of writing characterised by its brevity (perhaps you can now work out why the Chinese might call it that?).
The '6 Word Story' takes it to its extreme and is ... well you get the idea. Supposedly, Ernest Hemingway wrote the first 6 Word Story to answer a challenge and win a bet. His attempt was "For sale: baby shoes, never used."
So just six words must be a doddle surely? Well as always things aren't always necessarily as easy as they seem, especially when you're trying to be as economical as possible, yet make sure you don't lose any meaning. A bit like trying to report the Chancellor's budget in a single tweet!
So my challenge to you is to write a six word story about your preparations for China, or how you feel with two days left, or anything related to our adventure. Post your story in the comments of this post; you can do so anonymously but it would be good if you added your first name at the end of your story.
Now does the title of this post make a little more sense?
The '6 Word Story' takes it to its extreme and is ... well you get the idea. Supposedly, Ernest Hemingway wrote the first 6 Word Story to answer a challenge and win a bet. His attempt was "For sale: baby shoes, never used."
So just six words must be a doddle surely? Well as always things aren't always necessarily as easy as they seem, especially when you're trying to be as economical as possible, yet make sure you don't lose any meaning. A bit like trying to report the Chancellor's budget in a single tweet!
So my challenge to you is to write a six word story about your preparations for China, or how you feel with two days left, or anything related to our adventure. Post your story in the comments of this post; you can do so anonymously but it would be good if you added your first name at the end of your story.
Now does the title of this post make a little more sense?
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Wonder if our creativity will extend this far ...
I suspect we'll mainly be writing in English, but perhaps we ought to be at least aware of the great tradition of creative writing in China?
In the same way that historical periods in Britain are often named from monarchs or bloodlines (Victorian, Tudor), the same can be said of China in the form of its dynasties. You have probably heard of the Ming Dynasty (perhaps from hearing about Ming vases?), but were you aware that the Tang Dynasty was a time famous for another art entirely - poetry.
Here's a short video introducing some of the background to Tang poetry. See if you can see any similarities or differences with poetry from the West:
In the same way that historical periods in Britain are often named from monarchs or bloodlines (Victorian, Tudor), the same can be said of China in the form of its dynasties. You have probably heard of the Ming Dynasty (perhaps from hearing about Ming vases?), but were you aware that the Tang Dynasty was a time famous for another art entirely - poetry.
Here's a short video introducing some of the background to Tang poetry. See if you can see any similarities or differences with poetry from the West:
Monday, 18 March 2013
Don't forget your inhaler!
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by egorgrebnev: http://flickr.com/photos/17664666@N00/6558076321/
Unfortunately Beijing has once more been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Although we're going to enjoy some amazing sites and experiences whilst we're there, we might also have to endure Beijing's notorious pollution. As temporary visitors we shouldn't come to much harm, but if you have any respiratory problems such as asthma, it would be wise to make sure you have your inhaler and an adequate supply of medicine.
Fingers crossed that the weather will be kind to us and keep the pollution levels low.
Sunday, 17 March 2013
This time next week ...
Well actually it won't be 'this time' next week because we'll be on on China time! Woohoo!
Just five more school days to get your last minute preparations done.
You can of course take an item of hand luggage to carry on to the plane and that's where you'll need to make sure you have all you need to make your journey a comfortable one.
Just five more school days to get your last minute preparations done.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by jimd2007: http://flickr.com/photos/7738503@N05/493603341/
Packing
A little advice? The place to start isn't with everything you want to take, it's with your suitcase. Assuming you don't have access to 'The Luggage' from the Discworld novels, you might not have much choice, but if you do, then choose one you can easily carry around. Yes it might have wheels on which will help walking longer distances around airports, but checking into hotels and on our overnight train journey, you're going to have to manhandle1 it, so do please choose wisely. After that, your choice of things to take will be determined by what you can get in and from here on the choice will be personal and I leave it up to you.You can of course take an item of hand luggage to carry on to the plane and that's where you'll need to make sure you have all you need to make your journey a comfortable one.
Charger
If you're taking any equipment which needs charging (mobile phone, camera etc), don't forget you'll need a suitable adapter. There's more information here, but do think carefully about any devices requiring heat (hair care?); though the voltage in China is close enough to that in the UK for them to work, not all sockets in hotel rooms are suitable.
1An interesting term. Outdated? Alternatives? Discussed further here.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Casterbridge wish us well ...
"Considering your exciting overseas educational programme is now on the immediate horizon, we wanted to take this opportunity, to wish you all an excellent touring experience, which we sincerely hope goes extremely well, for all your students and accompanying teachers concerned.On behalf of the company, we would like to wish you and your group an enjoyable visit to China."
(Patrick Sheridan)
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