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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 StreamofConsciousness
September 6th 2007

First Week of Work

Asia » China » Shandong

My First Section of Oral English
My students

So the first week of classes went off without a hitch. The courses I will be teaching this semester are several sections Oral English classes as well as one section of American and British Culture. The classes I have thus far have turned out to be more than manageable. Furthermore, I am really excited to work with the students because of their general interest in the English language, and their interest in Western culture. Since I am a novice teacher, I couldn't help but be nervous entering my first class. Standing behind the podium with 35-40 pairs of eyes watching your [View Full Entry]

By Amicu
September 3rd 2007

Please throw out the punnel

Asia » China » Shandong » Tai'an

Our stately carriage
Sorry it's a bit blurred- rather difficult on a moving train. You should just be able to see Matron No 2 at the back, wondering what I'm up to and if it's going to cause a mess.

Beijing train station is massive and confusing and we arrived in very good time so as to figure out where we were supposed to be. For a no doubt self-evident reason, one is only allowed onto the platform a couple of minutes before one's train is due to depart. Obviously this causes an almighty scrum, and what with our luggage and residual queuing instinct we found ourselves at the back of the herd. We managed to get onto the train (excellent) with all our bags (valuable bonus) but lodged in the vestibule of a carriage four carriages down from the one [View Full Entry]

By StreamofConsciousness
September 3rd 2007

First Impressions

Asia » China » Shandong

View from the International Exchange Center
CUP and all its glory!

Dongying, situated in the mid-northern part of the Shandong Province, is home to roughly two or so million citizens. The Shandong Province itself is one of China's larger provinces clocking in at about 90 million people. Dongying is one of the essential vertebrae that comprise the backbone of China's economy; it is home to China's second largest oil field, The Shengli Oil Field. Under the banner of fending for itself and national interests, China focused their attention towards the northeast to refine their own crude oil to supply the oil demand of China's booming economy. As China continue [View Full Entry]

By StreamofConsciousness
September 1st 2007

Arriving on the Scene

Asia » China » Shandong

Teachers of English
This is JJ, Jake and me on The Great Wall

Greetings from China! So let me go ahead and dive right in and tell you my motivations behind this website. First and foremost I created this website with my friends and family in mind; I wanted to use this travel blog as a medium to communicate my experiences, ideas, inspirations, and the like, to all of you who care to know what I am doing here in China. Secondly, I hope this blog will act as a forum for intelligent discourse between myself and the reader. Initially I wanted to utilize this blog to document my daily life: my experiences, beliefs [View Full Entry]

By mattylee
August 28th 2007

Hello Confucius

Asia » China » Shandong » Qufu

Hall of Shrines

Confucius Says. . . Not Much at All These Days Kong Fu Zi, the venerable Master Kong (Confucius is the Anglicised version of his name) , was born in the year 551 BC in the town of Qufu. He was an educated man who worked up from his lowly status (he wasn’t from a rich family by any measure) to very high official positions within the government of the time. He was renowned for being honest, hardworking, a model member of society and an excellent teacher. When he died he was very respected by his students but he was by no [View Full Entry]

By peaceablepie
August 27th 2007

Hard Seated Train

Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao

>>>Written and posted later<<< Last night, one of my roommates was really sick. Evidently it was pretty serious because she and her boyfriend went to the hospital. It was 3:00 AM. I took the bus to the train station and got there right before they opened the gate for people to get on the train. I was at a table with two chairs on one side and three on the other. The two chairs were occupied by two female college students who were a bit older than me. The other two seats on my side were filled by three guys a [View Full Entry]

By peaceablepie
August 26th 2007

Wanna Wonton?

Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao

>>>This entry was posted later because the wireless was down last night<<< There’s an elderly woman who has a morning routine of walking around in the park around the hostel and warming up her vocal cords. She does this by screeching/yelling repeatedly at the top of her lungs. I wonder how/why she decided she ought to do that. Maybe it’s an old family secret. Maybe it’s what she considers to be the reason for her good health. Maybe it just feels good. Maybe all of the above, or something entirely different. The highlight of today was swimming. The [View Full Entry]

By peaceablepie
August 26th 2007

Beer and Souvenirs

Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao

This afternoon I went to the Beer Fest. Or the Qingdao International Beer Festival, if you want to be specific. It was quite a spectacle. Some highlights were the Chinese woman singing the “lonely goatherd” song and two men juggling hats and catching them on their heads, etc. There was a certain brand of chuanr being sold where all the guys selling it were dancing to music blaring from speakers at their stalls. Some were more into it than others. There was one guy in particular, who also had a whistle in his mouth who was enthusiastically dancing every time I [View Full Entry]

By peaceablepie
August 24th 2007

Picturesque

Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao

Today I checked out some shops geared toward souvenir-hunting tourists and was largely disappointed. The highlight of today was visiting Number Six Bathing Beach as the sun was setting. I took some pictures there, focusing on the Huilan Pavilion, which appears on Tsingtao Beer’s label. My two-night streak of having the dorm to myself is broken. Three guys moved in this afternoon. I never mentioned this, but my hostel is pretty much located in the middle of a park. It’s very picturesque. Today I sat out at a little table in a wooded area long enough to find out that there&r [View Full Entry]

By peaceablepie
August 23rd 2007

Golden

Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao

Today I went to see the beer factory. I also went in search of tea. In the evening, I visited various street markets. My favorite street market seems to be open all day. There’s lots of food for sale there, and it smells really good. The night markets seem to have an overabundance of underwear. But there’s also plastic trinkets galore, and other miscellaneous stuff. There’s always bowls of sea creatures in water. I don’t know which is livelier—the spitting clams or the prawns crawling all over each other. I also wondered on a very rocky beach where a lot [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » China » Shandong