33. Drink with a parent

The Shanghai *Cough* Climate

Crazy scenes down in the lobby last night. The windows were all steamed up and not because the air was so warm inside compared to the outside January temperature, but vice versa.

It was almost felt tropical how warm it was out last night. This sparks the conversation about the weather in China which has hit global news this past week.

Shanghai which suffers from near hazardous levels of polluted skies has a conundrum on it's hands. 

To keep up their record growth, the environment may have to suffer. Urbanization from China's vast countryside must continue to keep the factories working. Cars are a result of Chinese people's new spending power, restricting this consumerism would limit the growth.

Shanghai as the Expo city in 2010, had the motto "Better City, Better Life'. I think if these problems continue, people might start to question coming to the big cities if it means living unhealthily.

Easterly winds expected this week are supposed to blow some of the clouds away from the city. But I think the government officials have some tough decisions to make.

Mensa's Dad

I finish my teenager class in my week-end school at 12:30, I then have an hour to my lunch. I went Western this time, Spaghetti Carbonara. 

There is always a kid from my 1:30 class who always comes early. And right on cue as I was tucking into my Spag Carb, Mensa arrives.

 'Yes, yes Mensa Hello. How are you?'

He is in kindergarten so soon runs off. But his Dad calls me over and once I identify Winchester, my hometown, on a map to him, he soon invites me to drink with him tonight.

He had proposed the 'Baijo' a 52% rice liquid (drank at our house party remember), but I said proudly in Mandurin

 'Wo xihuan he ping de pijuo'          I like to drink bottle of beer.

We meet up at VINO bar for 8pm. Lots of neon lights outside suggest a dive, but it is in fact one of the nicest bars I'd stepped into.

Great array of bottles of beers and I went for a German one, Schofferhofer, which btw is a great tasting beverage. 

Mr GuiXing (Mensa's Dad) paid for it, and for the rest of the ones had that night. He was with a friend already, Mr Fan.

I got my first taste of Chinese people introducing themselves with their family name. The Chinese people I'd met before had usually just given their English name. 

The night involved drinking, with Mr GuiXing rather amusingly chinking glasses with me every time he drank, and mainly listening from my part.

It ended with Mr Fan dropping me off home having given me a job to teach his daughter English over the week-ends. Woo hoo another tuition job!

I have time on my hands atm so a tuition job is just what I wanted so very happy!

32. My favourite bar so far..

Necessary buys

There are some things where I feel you can budget on when living aboard. 

Food and drink. Both you have a lot of the time but they can fluctuate unjustifiably in price for sometimes a similar product.

The cost between a takeaway and eating in, a pint in two different bars, street food and restaurant food. We're talking a couple of £-which really adds up after a while.

The price for this convenience is hiked up in Shanghai because the average Westerner may be working on a decent wage so does not mind paying £4 for a pint.

So I've been on the look-out for cheaper but just as decent alternatives.

A B and C bar

There is certainly a business opportunity where I live in Shanghai for a bar to be built. Zhongtan Lu and the surrounding complex is probably the home to 100,000 people. But the only watering hole is the Suzhou creek which passes through the vast apartment blocks that overlook it.

That's why I was surprised to hear from a one-time colleague at my school that Zhongtan where he lived as well did have a local, a place called  B and C or the Granyard Cafe. I wrote down the address and only this past week-end took my bike to find the place. 

I'm not sure how this guy could classify it as a local as the place was 2 stops and a change from Zhongtan Lu. It took 20 minutes to find, but my what a find. 

Unbeknown to me I'd already been to the Granyard Cafe, to watch Jose Fonte score two to draw with Fulham back in October. That was a more Western orientated bar and was again convenience all over. A good place to watch the premier league no doubt but not where you want to bide away your time.

B and C on the other hand is fantastic. Upon arrival you are greeted warmly by the bar staff. Of course this is merely an act of good business-like behaviour. The first time I went I was greeted with a handshake from Candy the manager, the second time with a friend I got the full on hug from Angel the other bartender who had helped me with my Chinese on the first time.

Besides the friendly bar staff, the bar has everything in my mind. Cheap beer, we're talking 15 yuan between 4 and 9, an array of interesting foreigners sit by the bar eating peanuts, tomatoes and sesame snacks from it. Last night I was having chats with 2 Icelandic and an Aussie who were explaining their Old English view on our language and then explained why it wasn't all so great to create video games as a job after all. Then there was a guy who made bikes for a living.

The sofas are worn down but still comfy. There is a nice light.

It is games galore. Tons of board games including a 3D Connect 4. Darts. In fact a whole darts room. 

Most crucially an epic table football table which under the lights I made a bit of a name for myself. Currently undefeated having played against the bar staff and other travelers, I've found my calling.

There is a tournament on Thursday. Yesterday I recruited a partner for it and admittedly we went into a night of training on different tables.

Walking home

 I lived with Jack Luckett in my first year in York. I remember him telling me how the walk home was sometimes the best bit of a night as you get to know someone and it was last night that I totally agreed with this statement.

The magic about a night walk home is that you are the only one on the streets. You seem to have a very clear mind and thinking is very easy. You get to see a different side of the city. The walk de-stresses you somewhat. The city is more peaceful and you grow to love it a bit more because of it. A lot of emotions seems to run through you as you tend to notice actually where you are for those moments.

The Zhongtan Lu complex upon arrival into it, is quite a spectacular sight. The odd light on in each apartment block keeps the buildings alive through lots of different amber glows.

Taxi's are cheap here but the convenience like I said before is becoming weirdly less appealing the longer I live here.

Shanghai from what I've heard and seen does not give the impression of a dangerous city. I think it must be one of the few cities in the world where you can walk home at 2 am and feel relatively safe.

So why rush home to bed? Elongate your night by a few more minutes and enjoy this wondrous free gift of watching a city sleep.

31. School Life: Examinations

Examination

The last three weeks have in all honesty been a total breeze but also quite eye opening to me in the calibre of student I’ve been teaching these last few months.

Like most school timetables, the students in my schools are assessed at the end of the semester. The winter holiday for them is between the 21st January and the 17th February.

My way of assessing each of my students was by an oral test. I would ask each student a set of questions and judge them on their responses. Quite simple.

What made it slightly difficult was I would often end up going on a tangent with one student leaving less time for the next one.

In one of my schools I was provided with an awesome study area to do the test with leather seats and it was well heated as well. Whilst in others I had to make do with sitting in the corner of the classroom or in others schools there was so little room in the corner that I did the test outside in the freezing corridors.

Whilst I interviewed a student the others in the class would watch the fantastic BBC Sherlock series, it was a huge hit. I got to watch their reactions to Sherlock's 'death' if I was in the room and some of their reactions when he was still alive at the end of Series 2 was priceless. Please to God let them make a third series and soon.

Some things I learnt from the 700 odd students I ended up assessing

1. Girls just as much as boys like to ‘play computer games’. This was the most used phrase by a mile.

2. The students are made to work very hard. At least 20% of the students’ week-ends are spent in extra lesson while most had ‘doing homework’ as one of their activities in their 2 month summer holiday.

3. Basketball is by far the most popular sport played in schools. But many also play football. If it weren’t for the huge school workload and the one-child policy making parents care about their only child more. China might be a little better off than their FIFAWorld Ranking of 68 would have them.

4. Each class member had a number.  The girls would appear first in the list of numbers, then the boys and finally the foreign students like Koreans, the Japanese and one kid from Togo. I think this had something to do with the class averages, I found it a little odd. I also discovered that Korean students were some of my best.

5. The word 'interesting' is used to describe anything.

30. Three month review

3 months living in Shanghai

The three-month barrier is a funny one. For me it is the difference from doing something short-term and moving on to doing something long-term. Girlfriends, jobs, and consequentially stays in foreign cities for me all come under this bracket.

For others of course, people whom I’ve met will laugh in the face of three months, whilst others I know will find three months quite a monumental feat. In any sense it takes a day to pass, but for this post I will try and evaluate my time in Shanghai so far.

Living has gone well. The apartment although not boasting the best views in the complex has a superb movie viewing sofa and TV, heats up nicely and recently we’ve found how to pump hot water from the shower by increasing the pressure.

Working well standing in front of a class of 40 kids and giving a lesson seven times a day has been quite an exhilarating experience and one you get used quite quickly. Working at my language school on a Sunday has been slightly more frustrating because of the syllabus and the odd kid who holds back the whole classes potential.

The Chinese staff though have been altogether excellent.

My most enjoyable age to teach is 13 to 17 because they have a greater outlook on life and involve themselves in class in the ways a teacher wants students to interact by challenging each others ideas.

Shanghai as a city

I read the BBC world news occasionally and Shanghai crops up quite a lot when I do. The worlds eyes it seems are on this city more than ever. Shanghai has an intrigue because in a period of economic downturn, this city still keeps up the monumental growth.

Having lived in  and around Winchester and York over the last 13 years of my life. I've been used to cities where their main points in history were a thousand years before. It is refreshing and invigorating to be in a city spearheading perhaps the world’s development.

Although Shanghai with a population of 25 million, has got the feel of a city overworked and overused. People come here specifically to make money. That means there is an altogether great mass of people rushing about and not a huge amount of gentle interaction. Shanghai must also be the most commercialized city in China. International brands are everywhere. What makes me happy are that there are some great British imports like Mr Bean and Sherlock Holmes that are ‘very famous’ here.

 I would like to know the extent that Shanghai can now be considered Westernized by finding out how reliant they are on Western goods. Asking whether there are Chinese equivalents to the huge number of Western brands here from watches, to movies, to fast food that can appeal on mass to the public most significantly to the younger generations.

One wonders what the future holds here.

China

It is quite interesting to be living in China at the moment. There is a lot happening.

The Communist Party of China stands at a defining moment in its history. The new leader of the country, Xi Jinping who took over for the next decade in November 2012 will instil his congresses long term plans in the next few years. The world sits and waits to see if China becomes a threat from these plans.

However in its own borders, China currently consumes at 2.5 per person to which the country can provide. It needs to become less reliant on exports and boost domestic consumption. China has had a huge property and infrastructure industry in these years of prosperity but surely this must soon be running out. The one-child policy will come into effect with the amount of people looking for property and this industry is sure to subside.

Furthermore, the youth growing up today are exposed to more foreign ideas, they are of course happy to live here now when the good times are here to be had, but there could be some serious social unrest if things turn ugly.

The new leader seems to have got early support by keeping his visits low-key affairs unlike his predecessors lavish spending on royal visits. Instead in Jinping's recent visit no roads were cordoned off which had quite favourable reviews on weibo. Yes indeed.

Of course I am interested in what happens, I don't think my job will be on the line or anything, anyway as long as there is a solid stream of hot water, internet and Western films in cinema I will be happy.

29. Heaven on earth.

NYE in Shanghai

The school calendar took three days off for the New Year. Well you say that, the poor kids had to do catch up for the days missed by coming in on the weekend. To make matters worse, someone must have left the windows open over the mini break as you could honestly see your breath in the classroom it was that cold.

Needless to say NYE was celebrated quite hard, a fellow teacher, Alicia seen in the dragon costume below came up with the idea of a onesie night out. Pandas, a giraffe, a cheetah, a monkey,a lion and a few Disney characters all painted the city red on a memorable night.

A few days earlier I'd with friend put together some kind of holiday plan for the break starting early 1 January. During the NYE night out, I got a text asking if I'd be fresh for the morrow, ‘Fresh as a daisy’ was the reply. 

Sunglasses on after perhaps an hour of sleep, we convened at the main station and bought our tickets to the nearby Suzhou which is regarded as the Venice of the East. 

Suzhou

Hounded upon arrival, then gasping at the overly long queue for the taxi rank and then get properly squeezed onto the jam-packed bus into town. Holidaying is tough. It was quite cold outside, however the bus that we got into was sticky hot with the amount of people on it. Our scarcely planned plan hadn’t given the Chinese holiday much consideration as we arrived in peak time. Mistake.

My instincts told me to get off the bus. So we did, to then be engulfed in the tidal wave of people on the main street in Suzhou.

Finally made it to some back streets and regained that precious commodity: personal space.

Suzhou famed for its gardens, silk trade, but also rather strikingly for its beautiful women. Hence as we got going from the back streets we headed for the things lads like us crave for some gorgeous looking gardens.

Decided upon going to a garden before hitting up the hostel I had a flyer for, which I envisaged rocking up at later. The site I had my mind on was the Garden of the Nets. Upon arrival, it was beautifully quiet as a hidden back street marked the entrance to this quite heralded Suzhou site.

The Garden was serene, intimate. There was no grass so it was hard to describe it as a garden in England terms. This was rather a mans (or rather fisherman's) vision to make pure serenity.


Despite saying all this it would have been a great garden to play 40:40.


Darren ended up doing a sketch.

An hour later, and are relaxed selves were hit with the anguish that we might not have a place to sleep tonight as the hostel on the flyer was fully booked. Oh dear Wessely oh dear, not phoning ahead was another error and I was really racking them up.

No need to fear though. With a scribbled address of the next hostel in hand (obtained from next doors also full hotel's free internet) and a confirmation that they had a place for us to sleep tonight that wasn’t the dog basket we touted a helpful biker who said he’d take us there. 

Mistake number three. I was on fire.

No it wasn't the continuous honking the man gave at every passing beautiful women, remember Suzhou is teeming with them, more we were miles from anywhere. Rogue men on bikes will sometimes drop you and leave you. Therefore the English tourist card came out. With my shaky Mandurin that may have insulted someone’s mother in another province I asked for directions. A group of students came to our aid.

Students. With that title in England you could very easily get away with being a raving alcoholic. However here this bunch of fine examples to their country, asked every passer by, called people, in their quest to take us to this hostel. My best memory was when they would gather around someone’s phone's map, with the no idea of public space they were like penguins.

I’ve got to say we hit the jack pot. They took us to a street which was the most spectacular that I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life. Red lanterns lit up, a long medieval road with street sellers on either side, it was what I envisaged China to be like.

In our pleasant surroundings, we settled in and had an enjoyable night, experimenting with the local cuisine, people surrounded our table in anticipation at what we would order and then we ended up being the last  out after a spot of  karaoke with the bar staff (karaoke is a big deal here- Elton John went down well-ish).

We spent the next morning feeling utterly awed as we walked round ‘one of China’s top 4 gardens’. It was much bigger than yesterdays and I think my Mum would have loved them. I half took an extra photo for her sake.

We then got a train for Hangzhou in the afternoon.

Hangzhou

If Suzhou is a river city with lots of canals, then Hangzhou is a lake city with lots of err bikes. The city worships the wondrous West Lake, the main hub of the city seemed to sit to the east of the great water feature.

We spent the evening settling into the great hostel dorm, then amazed at the length of the queue for a seat at Grandmas restaurant I’d be recommended and then went to a arcade to race cars and kill aliens.

Cycled the lake in the morning, we got these bicycles with a basket, a bit feminine but the seat was comfy. We’d spent the rest of our money on the deposit for the bikes so had no money to go into any temples, padogas or teahouses but we did stop to see some of the gardens –something which was becoming more and more of a pastime of mine- and took lots of pictures. 

Upon being handed our money back (fortunate as my bikes number plate snapped), we got some bakery goods and enjoyed our last few moments on holiday before walking to the station.

The Chinese have a saying 'Heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below'. 

Likening a place to heaven is pretty much the best thing you could say about a place. I feel a better judgement would be had when I've seen more of China. 

Both cities were quite built up in parts, which is natural given Shanghai's nearby influence and both are easy week-end destinations. What was funny was a Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi and Mercedes Benz car showroom all on the same road in Hangzhou.  No room for the Fiat Punto though. It kind of exemplified China's wealth and Hangzhou as a holiday home venue.

Still both places were incredibly easy to travel to and around, we ended up not taking one taxi which was nice, and the beautiful cities provided me with some pictures of the China that you first envisage before coming here.