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Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By Amicu
October 3rd 2007

A Free Lunch

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Our Chariot
Bigger than a minibus, smaller than a coach. This took us up to the halfway point and back.

Laura: "Well, look at it this way: If anyone back home asks, they won't believe what you did for National Day." Amy: "It's certainly priceless." Chris: "Definitely 'without price'..." October the 1st is China's National Day. This year the Powers that Be are making a thing of it being the last National Day before the Olympics starts. All us Foreigners were invited by the University to go on an all-expenses-paid trip up to the top of Mount Tai by bus and cable-car, see some official show thing, and have a free lunch at the Ramada afterwards. Now, as we're now officially [View Full Entry]

By StreamofConsciousness
September 28th 2007

A Little Bit of Everything

Asia » China » Shandong

Thru Street on Campus
An empty street must mean one thing, its lunch time. During the hours of 12:00 to 2:00 pm, the campus turns into a ghost town. The students are either eating, sleeping, or studying.

So, I've come to the conclusion that mosquitoes have a natural affinity for my blood; these buggers have been relentless in their pursuit (in my opinion, the only good mosquito is a dead mosquito). There has been no other recourse but to resort to my mosquito bed net to avoid being assaulted by the buggers while I sleep. Moving onward...the past couple weeks have been quite busy for me, thus being the main reason for my blog neglection and my overwhelming sense of lethargy. Nevertheless, I have weathered the storm and finally, I have my own free time to indulge myself [View Full Entry]

By Amicu
September 24th 2007

Students and Teachers

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai'an

East Yingsheng Road
A little busier now. Everything's so dusty. It's partly the pollution, partly just the climate here, but it's impossible to keep anything clean. You sweep the floor, next day it's scuzzy again. Wh... [more]

An update! Finally. Mummy and Daddy: your card has today reached us through the post! It's lovely, thank you. Have you got our postcard yet? To everyone else: these were posted about 10 days ago. This is apparently the standard time-lag. Chris now knows what he is teaching! An English teacher at Tai'shan College down the road was involved in a car accident just before term, so Chris is taking over his lessons. He'll be teaching oral English to first and second year students, and isn't confined by a coursebook, though they've given him one for ideas. I envy him a [View Full Entry]

By Jake427
September 23rd 2007

A bit funny, a bit serious

Asia » China » Shandong

Army boys and gals
Freshman are required to take part in military training exercises. A pretty common sight around campus.

Wow, many things to talk about. My computer got a pretty solid virus so I've been delayed a bit getting up this post. Ok so a few news items would be appropriate to start with I guess. Last couple weeks have been pretty much insanely busy. My classes are more or less in full swing and I had a few obligations of sorts on top of the normal load to make me run around even more. I think I might have a sign that says "sucker" on my back because I agreed to help out the English department with a special [View Full Entry]

By mrpaul
September 22nd 2007

Visit to Qu Fu

Asia » China » Shandong

The Tourist Honeypot at Qu Fu
Along this lane leading to the Confucius Mansion are many stalls trying to sell trinkets to the tourists - of whom we saw abouit six.

Our Trip to Qu Fu On Saturday we got up early, rode bikes to the bus station, and caught a bus for Qu Fu (pronounced Choo Foo) which is Confucius's birthplace. We were told the trip would take three hours, but it took three hours and 40 minutes, and the first forty minutes were spent getting out of Lin Yi, and crawling along touting for passengers. Eventually we arrived in Qu Fu, a nice clean town, whose economy seems to revolve around the Confucius family mansion, the Confucius Temple, and the Confucius Forest in which the sage is buried. By [View Full Entry]

By ZLD
September 21st 2007

Tai' shan 6660 steps into the clouds.

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

At the top of Tai'shan

Enroute from Nanjing to Beijing, it was well worth 3 nights stopping at Tai'an, at the foot of Mount Tai'Shan. Mount Tai' a popular pilgrimage for Chinese Buddists and tourists alike. Many visitors opt for a bus, cable car trip to the summit, like us, rather than facing the challenge of climbing a vigorous 6660 steps! (We did descend to the mid way gate, covering 2500 steps!) Temples, shrines, few shops and hotels can be found high in the sky. Simply amazing views, achitecture and atmosphere above the clouds. To think that the construction of such buildings were possible hundreds of [View Full Entry]

By StreamofConsciousness
September 19th 2007

A Moment to Self-Reflect

Asia » China » Shandong

Statue at the Center of Campus
As the title states above, this is a picture of the center of campus statue

After three weeks or so of officially being a foreign teacher, I couldn't help but notice several gradual changes in my own personal demeanor. It was only after taking the time to self-reflect and contemplate about my current situation that I realized these apparent changes that are currently manifesting itself in my day-to-day behavior. The most noticeable change I have come to realize is my development of confidence in public speaking. I'm not saying that I haven't been confident in my speech before becoming a teacher, but merely stating the fact that I have noticed a significant improvem [View Full Entry]

By mrpaul
September 17th 2007

Arrival in China

Asia » China » Shandong

First view of China
This is what we saw from the window of our plane as we arrived at Pu Dong International airport in the middle of the Chinese afternoon.

Leaving EnglandFrancineand I (she's French) left Heathrow in the evening of August 28th and arrived the next morning at 8:30 am at Shanghai's Pu Dong International Airport in the pouring rain. It was 3:30 in the afternoon, local time. Our first view of China was not inspiring. My lovely friend Sun Wen Li, whom I had met in Cambridge, and with whom I had exchanged English for Chinese conversation over a period of about two years, came with her friend William to pick us up at the airport and take us on the one and a half hour drive across Shanghai [View Full Entry]

By Amicu
September 14th 2007

Scenery

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai'an

Admin building, old campus
Note the proud red flag on the big spiky pole. This is the first building to hit you as you come in the main gate, and you have to walk around it to one side or the other.

Oh my God, have we been here two weeks already? I have reached the end of my first teaching week. It has gone really pretty well, but I still feel like my brain has melted. Luckily the department has (randomly) decided to be very kind to me: I am teaching only oral English (i.e., speaking practice); the times at which I am supposed to be doing this are very sensible (only one 8am-10am lesson in the week), and two of the double-hour lessons are even on the old campus, 2 minutes' walk from my door. I will write more about the [View Full Entry]

By Jake427
September 10th 2007

First Week of Teaching and My First Adventure

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan

Train from Hell 1
The image is really poor, but you get the idea. I didn't want to attract more attention to myself than I had already done just by being there in the first place so I refrained from using the flash.

Wow, where do I begin? Slowly but surely I am getting settled in, acquainting myself with the immediate and non-immediate surroundings and gaining more confidence in my ability to do anything and everything. I have begun teaching two of my classes thus far-- an adult Oral English class and a freshman/sophomore American & British Culture. The adult class turns out to be 17 professionals from an oil company located in Henan province. They all seem to be very intelligent, motivated and disciplined, yet their English is definitely lacking. A few of the students speak fairly well, but most [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » China » Shandong