Blogs from Ji'Nan, Shandong, China, Asia - page 2

Paraphrasing and borrowing this famous saying attributed to the Jesuits, I would have to say that the children of Zhangqui Experimental Kindergarten in Jinan will be wonderful future citizens. This kindergarten has won many awards for not only Jinan but for the whole of Shandong province and it’s easy to see why. The centre is well staffed with 3 adults per room, 1 teacher, 1 assistant teacher and 1 assistant for 40-50 children. There are additional staff to clean and cook and administrative and directing staff on hand constantly. Children are signed in with a swipe card system and in each room there is a visual and light display showing each child represented as a number with the light on for being there, this was used as a numeracy tool in one of the rooms today. ... read more

After my 2 periods of teaching we got the 10-30am bus back to the city campus and had the bus driver stop at the Shandong museum which is near the Olympic Park complex. From the city you can take a 115 bus from the corner of LiShan Lu and JingShi Lu, east along Jing Shi for quite a long way, until you come to a very imposing domed building on the left hand side just before the Olympic Park complex. There are 3 floors of exhibits, all beautifully presented, innovative lighting and display techniques, easy to understand floor layout, lifts, escalators and staff galore. A café, clean toilets and free entry make this a must see when you visit Jinan. There are halls which each have a speciality such as Ming Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Calligraphy, Prehistoric, ... read more

Tonight we were lucky enough to be invited to a classical music concert. This university has a music faculty in this old campus where I live and I can often hear students practising singing and playing piano in the practise rooms nearby. We had no idea of what we were coming to or what we would be hearing or what standard of dress so I arrived wearing what I had on today and Martin dragged himself off his sick bed and shoved on his tracky daky shirt and jeans We were solemnly ushered in with rows of students clapping us to our waiting seats, happily sitting near the front. We then were asked to take front row, centre seats. I felt so humbled. The concert tonight was one of the lecturers, a baritone and a visiting ... read more

Remarked to Martin on Saturday evening that it felt like it could snow, it just had THAT feel to it. This remarked was scoffed at! The next morning we awoke to SNOW. A very early cold snap and freezing winds had come in from Siberia blanketing the north with snow including Beijing. Martin had never seen snow before and this made the trip even more exciting for him. We stayed holed up in the youth hostel in the morning, rain and 2-3 degrees with already wet clothes, were not the greatest enticement to want to make you go out and about. We played an English game of trivial pursuit which provided a few laughs at our ignorance of things which were obviously important in the UK. And had an excellent breakfast and coffee from Leo’s Youth ... read more

Just go to the little ticket office around the corner from the uni I was told and buy your tickets, no problems. There are websites in English to look at for scheduling, I looked and checked and chose my trains. You can only book 10-11 days ahead, I was within this time, had passport numbers and all details correct. Armed with a note in simple English, written Chinese, my phrasebook, frantic practise of the names of cities with what I hoped were the right tones, and the ability to count, what could go wrong! The little ticket office appears very empty and I have tried to visit there a couple of time with no activity during any of my visits. Today there is a pink sign, I wonder if the sign says “gone to lunch”? Time ... read more