KTV

I haven't posted in a while because I've been really busy! Classes have properly started now which means 4 comprehensive, 2 oral and 2 listening classes a week for my level, 二年上，plus HSK Level 4 prep class - HSK is an internationally recognised Chinese language exam which means that I will be able to say I am at a certain standard if I pass it - and, my favourite, 唱歌学汉语 (Learning Chinese through song).

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd moved myself up a class as my previous one wasn't challenging enough and it's definitely safe to say that my new one is a challenge! The ability of students in the class varies considerably meaning that I am towards the bottom of the class whereas others have no problems with speaking and will happily stand up in front of class to talk about their home country/know all of the characters when we read through dialogues from the textbook. Being in the higher class means that I need to put more effort in with preparation as we are expected to know all characters in the texts as well as the assigned homework. We had a test last Monday for which I didn't do as much work as I should have done and got a C (terrible mark in China!) so I know now that I'll need to prepare more for the next one and how to prepare as I now know the style of questions. 

I find the HSK class to be useful as we go over grammar that we should already know as well as practising questions from previous papers meaning that I should be well prepared when it comes to the exam. HSK 4 has 1200 words that I need to know so every week we are having to revise/learn 150 of them for 听写 (dictation test when the teacher reads out the word and we have to write it in characters). The first one of these is tomorrow!

The singing class is definitely my favourite. It takes place 4:15pm - 5:45pm on Wednesdays which would normally be a horrible time for class but even if it was at 8am I don't think I'd mind! The teacher tends to give us lyrics in characters and pinyin (pronunciation) each lesson and we work through it as a class, translating the song and looking at characters we didn't know. We then sing through it together several times before splitting into groups to make the song our own and perform in front of the class at the end. The first song we learnt was 茉莉花 (Jasmine) - a Chinese folk song and the second was a pop song called 通话 (Fairytale). Anyone who knows me will know that I love learning languages and singing so this is the perfect class for me!

On Friday evening I thought I would put what I'd learnt in this class to the test by going to KTV with some friends and singing 通话. KTV is extremely popular in China. People go along to a KTV with a group of friends to get a booth and sing karaoke all night! My first experience of this was in Nanjing last summer when we went with our Chinese language partners. It was our friend Elliott's birthday that night so he joked saying that we could do karaoke all night. The Chinese girl organising it didn't get the joke and actually book it until the early hours of the morning, we had to explain to her that that wasn't what he meant and that 3 hours was plenty! 

KTV in Nanjing last summer

8 of us went on Friday and had a really fun time. It took us an age to get there as my friend had been recommended one in particular even though there are so many, but we got there in the end. When we walked in the people working there bowed to us and offered us a VIP booth for 100元/hour (about £10) rather than a normal one for 170元 (about £17). It was quite snazzy and even had its own toilet which wasn't a squat one! We sang a variety of songs and genres including Britney Spears, Queen, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, "My Heart Will Go On" from the Titanic, Gangnam Style and 童话 just to name a few. Although the booth itself was cheap, drinks were expensive at 40元 (£4) for a bottle of 青岛啤酒 (Tsingtao beer) so we decided against drinking so had a sober karaoke evening instead. We stayed for 2 hours which was plenty and everyone had a go at singing which was good! I'm sure there will be similar evenings before this year ends.

The KTV we went to on Friday

Lake outside the KTV

Lexi, Izzy and Tom chillin' in our VIP booth

Izzy and I with out GANG NAM STYLE hats (I've hurt my knee in case you were wondering)

Izzy and Lex singing their hearts out

Gangnam Style!

Favourite photo of Robin ever

Me singing 童话. It has such a sad video!

Tom joining in

"Look at those hips" - Perfect timing for a photo of Izzy!

The group (minus me)

永定土楼 Yongding Hakka Earth Buildings

Wanting to do something in the week-long holiday for Chinese National Day rather than stay at Xiang'an campus the whole time, Izzy consulted her Lonely Planet China book and we settled on the idea of going to see the 土楼 tǔlóu, meaning earth buildings in English.They're situated in the mountains of 永定 Yǒngdìng county in the south of Fujian province meaning that they aren't too far away from Xiamen and are therefore fairly easy and cheap to get to. Two of our friends, Robin - a Chinese student who volunteered to show us round when we were here in March, and Sam - one of the others who came from Southampton in March and is now studying a Master's in International Relations on the main Xiamen University campus, agreed to come with us. We met up with them on Tuesday to discuss the trip a bit more and buy bus tickets. Conveniently there's a train and bus ticket office on the main university campus so we didn't have far to go after meeting up with the other two. Robin organised buying the tickets for 1pm the next day, it is useful/easier having a native speaker with us at times! The tickets cost 58元 (about £5.90) from Xiamen long distance bus station to the Tulou.

The 土楼 were built by the Hakka people who migrated to Fujian from the north of China hundreds of years ago and constructed these impressive multi-storey buildings out of earth, rice and bamboo as well as other materials they could find. The most famous are the round ones but they were also built in squares as well. They are sometimes described as early apartment buildings due to them housing hundreds of people on usually up to four floors. Some of the 土楼 are still inhabited by clans and families today although there are often spare rooms for visitors. We decided that to get the most authentic experience we should try to stay in one of them which meant that we couldn't organise accommodation or return ticket until we got there!

As soon as we got off the bus at about 4pm, a small Chinese lady pounced on us asking if we needed a place to stay and if we wanted to look at the rooms she had available in her 土楼 by the bus stop, a convenient location. The lady led us to a small shop/restaurant/reception area for her business and we booked our bus tickets back for 2:50pm the next day through her costing 60元 (about £6 meaning that she was getting a 2元 profit compared to what we paid for the way there). She then took us across to the 土楼 to look at rooms. We loved it straight away as the place had lots of character with the many chickens wandering around and clear evidence that the building was still lived in. We decided to get two rooms, a three-bed and a single room, for the 4 of us costing 45元 (about £4.60) each. Not bad for a unique experience! The 土楼 didn't have a bathroom or toilets though...

Inside the 土楼where we stayed the night

Our luxury hotel 

After paying for the rooms and being given the keys we went off on a tour around to see various 土楼 scattered around the mountains. It was too far to walk so the only options were go by car, 80元 （about £8 a person. A rip-off as it had cost us less than that for the three-hour bus journey to get there), or motorbike at 40元 each (about £4. The price had started at 60元 but we managed to get it down a little bit). Being students we of course went for the cheaper, and probably more fun, option of going by motorbike, three on each bike. The drivers took us up through the mountains and along dirt tracks to visit the more remote buildings, some of the views were stunning. We went inside one round one where we had to pay 10元 (about a £1) to have a look around. After that we went into a couple of square ones as they were free and we didn't really think that the round ones would vary that much!

Entrance to a 土楼

Very impressive buildings!

Over here! Me inside a 土楼

Izzy and I with the motorbike driver

It started to get dark and we couldn't really see much so we decided to head back to get some food and an early night. The lady who'd sold us the bus tickets and the rooms for the night had told us that we could go into the main 土楼 area for free if we went at 4am so the plan was to get up very early! However, once we got to our rooms I think we all wondered if we would actually sleep. We could hear fireworks, pigs squealing and the sound of KTV (karaoke - a big thing in China) as we were trying to fall asleep. We did manage to get some sleep in the end and woke up to the 3:30am alarm.

Mine, Izzy and Robin's room. The bed closest to the camera was mine, the other in the shot was Izzy's

Mine, Izzy and Robin's room. Robin's bed

Fireworks preventing us from sleeping!

The lady was right that we didn't need to pay as we entered the 土楼 area at 4am but it was cold, dark and we couldn't really see anything! After wandering around for a little while, we came across a small restaurant where the owners were busy getting things ready for breakfast, the lady still in her pyjamas. Although they weren't yet open, they took pity on us and allowed us to use the toilet and sit around while we waited for breakfast to be ready - boiled eggs and beef balls about an hour later after our arrival. We left the restaurant at abou 5:30am as it was getting light. Unfortunately just before 6am we got caught by security who told us that we needed to buy tickets even though we'd gone there so early. Seems like we got up early for nothing! We got student discount as well meaning that the tickets we originally thought were going to cost 90元 (about £9), were actually 45元 （about £4.60).

土楼 at about 5:30am

My ticket with the time 5:57.36 - proof of how early it was!

Now that it was light and we had our tickets we were free to wander around, have a look at the buildings and take a few tourist snaps. It was interesting to see the local people still living a fairly traditional life with a market selling vegetables and meat as well as women washing clothes in the river.

Tourist photo

Vegetable market stall

Mobile butcher

Another 土楼

Some square 土楼

Laundry day. We wondered if they were just doing it for the tourists but, as it was so early and there were so few people around, this must actually be how they still wash clothes

Growing crops

Not entirely sure what he was doing but there were loads of these mats around

Sam, Izzy, me, Robin

Apparently this tree was over 600 years old

By about 7:30am we felt like we'd seen all there was to see but had the slight issue of our bus back to Xiamen not being for another 7 hours. We went along to the bus station to try and get onto the 7:30 bus but it was full. The lady working there said that she would let us know if we could leave on the next bus at 12:30 but that it was unlikely. With plenty of time to kill, we went off to have our second breakfast of the day before wandering around the village and up the road where the bikes had taken us the evening before. We found a path leading off the road and decided to go for a little explore. It took as along over a couple of streams and up to a dam that seemed to still be under construction. From there we continued up a track, covered in earth from landslides, up the mountain. We saw quite a few tombs along the way but Robin told me it was disrespectful to take photos. 

World Heritage Site stone

Izzy on the dam

Impromptu hike

On our way back down the mountain we got a call from the lady at the bus station telling us that we could leave at 12:30 after all. This was good news except for the fact that we only had 45 minutes to get back there and it had taken us about 2 hours to get to where we were! We realised that our only way was to hitchhike so we went back down to the road and walked along with our arms out until a nice Chinese family from Guangdong - father, grandmother, grandfather and two children - stopped and allowed us to sit in the boot. I got to practise my Chinese as Robin seemed to think they'd be more likely to pick up foreigners! Unfortunately the car couldn't take us to the bus station as it was locals only in that area so we ended up running for about a kilometre to get there in time but needn't have worried as when we got there the bus was late as the driver was having his lunch. 

All a bit of an adventure!

Sam and Robin in the back of the Chinese family's car

Chinese National Day holiday

In my last post I mentioned the holiday but didn't say what we actually did on the day itself! As we've been given a week off for this holiday (from Tuesday until Tuesday), my friend Izzy and I thought that it would be a bit of a shame if we didn't go away for at least part of it. Izzy's brought a China Lonely Planet book with her, reminding me of a family who have a sizeable collection of these guidebooks although I had so much to think about before I came that I didn't think to bring the China one with me, so looked up what it recommended to do within Fujian province as we didn't want to go far seeing as scholarship money hasn't yet come through and I've applied for my residence permit meaning I'm temporarily without a passport! I needn't have worried as other people I know managed to buy train tickets using their student card instead so maybe it looks and acts as a passport within China! The best idea seemed to be to go to Yongding county, about 3 hours further inland from Xiamen. We met up with our two friends who had agreed to travel with us at the main university campus where they're based and booked our bus tickets (more about this on the next post detailing our trip!).

Afterwards we decided to head down to the beach as it was a nice sunny day (not unusual for Xiamen) but were greeted by loads of Chinese tourists! Xiamen is very much a tourist city with its beaches, pre-mentioned sunny weather, one of the most beautiful university campuses in China/the World, the stunning Nanputuo temple and Gulangyu island, so many Chinese tourists have flocked here to spend the holiday. The buses are packed, there's loads of traffic and there are huge queues of tourists at the university gates and it's difficult to find a seat in the most popular canteen. 

View of Baicheng beach from the bridge over the road, packed with tourists!

There were lots of hoopla games like this where you could win roses, soft toys etc. as well as people selling buckets and spades, flip flops, more roses, drinks, snacks... I'd never seen the beach like that!

 As we were walking along a Chinese girl came up to us and asked if she could have a photo with us, not an uncommon thing to happen in China. I wonder what they do with the photos? She then presented Sam with a rose and told him he was very handsome.

Here's Sam with his gift and two Chinese admirers

We spotted a hole and Robin, being the drama queen he is, wanted to pretend he'd fallen in and got stuck

 

Going for a little paddle in the sea

Even Mickey Mouse was enjoying the day with his Crocs!

These guys found a good way to keep the sun off them (in China it's beautiful to be pale rather than tanned. Chinese women often walk around with umbrellas/parasols to keep the sun off them and use skin whitening treatments)

The wooden walkway had been damaged, presumably by the typhoon, but people were climbing up there anyway

Baicheng beach

 We ended up finding some rocks to sit on and relax until it got dark and was time to get some food. I actually quite liked seeing all the tourists on the beach, there was a lot more going on than usual. Might wait until after the holiday to go back there again though.

More Chinese tourists

Typhoon damage

Mid-autumn Festival and Typhoon Sky Rabbit

Due to the lack of internet when I first got here, I'm massively behind on posting about what's been going on here.

Towards the end of my first week, 19th - 21st of September, was a holiday for Mid-autumn Festival. We're already on another holiday now after only a week of classes! This time we get a week off for National Day so Izzy, Robin, Sam and I are planning to go to see some round houses in the southwest of Fujian province tomorrow. It'll take almost 4 hours to get there and we don't yet know where we're going to sleep but I'm really looking forward to it and you'll hear about it soon. We really need to enjoy this holiday as the next one doesn't come until New Year, three days off 1st - 3rd January 2014. We don't even have a holiday for Christmas!

When it was holiday for Mid-autumn festival it didn't feel like much of a holiday as our lessons still hadn't started, just a break in all the admin really. There were lots of opportunities to play dice gambling games which were to do with the festival though (how I won my snail fan from China Mobile). The way it works is that you roll several dice hoping to get 4s or 4 of the same number (I think?). When I won my snail fan I rolled 4 1s which is supposed to be good which is why I got such a cool prize. Another big thing with the festival is moon cakes but, although we searched quite a few places, we never found any. We did however, go out on the Thursday night and got to witness a dice dance in honour of the festival! I've tried to upload a video of it but I'm struggling to get any of my videos uploaded to this blog for some reason. For those who haven't been to Chinese clubs before, they're completely different to anywhere I've been in the UK and Spain. Full of bright lights, an odd selection of music, no dancefloor (just a catwalk-like platform) and quite often singers or dancers entertaining the customers gathered around the tables drinking beer or, in the case of Xiamen, whiskey and green tea. In Nanjing they drank cognac and ice tea so maybe it varies by region.

Hilary (my room mate) and I at the club (from our friend Sandara's phone)

Dice dance!

That weekend was when Typhoon 天兔, which could be literally translated as Sky Rabbit in English but my Chinese friend Robin thinks that Holy Rabbit would be a better translation, hit Xiamen. After all the warnings that we would need to have enough drinking water and snacks in our rooms for the storm and to avoid going outside, it actually wasn't that bad. We were lucky as it seemed to get worse once it headed south to Guangdong and Hong Kong. Here's a link to the BBC News article article although it's very centred around HK. It may not be British anymore but the article makes is sound like it still is!

Back at Xiang'an campus it was just very very windy. The basketball courts got ripped up and the nets fell over, the backboards smashing everywhere as they were made of glass, the builders' temporary building collapsed, plant pots were knocked over and smashed and anyone silly enough to leave anything hanging to dry on balconies found that most, if not all, of it blew away. There's still a towel on the roof of the building next to us having been blown away by the wind and got stuck there during the typhoon! There wasn't as much rain as I was expecting, just got a bit wet on my way to the canteen on my bike but bought an umbrella and cycled along with it up Chinese-style (the wind had stopped by then). Again, I took videos of the typhoon but nothing seemed to want to upload and I didn't take any photos of the wreckage although I planned to. If I get hold of any I'll put them on here!