First of all, apologies for the silence. You last heard from me on the blog when were there was "a virus in the city of Wuhan". Here we are, 3 months later - in the midst of a pandemic and a changed world.
I have written about my own experiences during this crisis here: One month in lockdown - here is what I've learnt Coronavirus outbreak - what are you up to Beijingers? When will life go back to normal? The Beijing timeline Covering up - it's still mandatory to wear masks in Beijing - and I like it But how are things looking in Beijing right now? I thought it might be interesting for readers to hear about the current situation. So here it is - put into "can" and "can't" bullet points. Situation as of 26 April 2020: In Beijing we can
In Beijing we can't
Our freedom to move around within Beijing is highly appreciated! Friends around the world including our family in Italy are not that lucky. Some countries are allowing only essential grocery shopping - and in Manila where my bestie Christina lives, people are not even allowed to walk their dogs! Interestingly enough, Beijing has never obliged people to stay home and forced shops and restaurants to close. How has this been possible? Following the lockdown of Wuhan, there have been very few local infections in Beijing. Since mid-March, the problem became imported cases from abroad. 90% of new infections have been Chinese passport holders flying in to Beijing from overseas. Since 28 March, borders are closed for foreigners and all international flights are deviated to other cities in China. There, every passenger is screened and the majority tested. Once they test negative, they can proceed to Beijing where they're sent directly to 2 weeks of hotel quarantine (home quarantine for the lucky ones) and 1 extra week of self observation. Technically, this means that people who have symptoms of COVID-19, are currently in quarantine or have finished their two weeks of quarantine, making it safe to walk the streets of Beijing. One may argue that the city has handled the outbreak with extreme measures such as strict quarantine for infected people or returnees, monitoring people's every move and measuring their temperature several times a day - but it has worked. The city of roughly 25 million people has had a total of just over 500 cases of COVID-19 to date.
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These days, China is having grim flashbacks from the latest outbreak of SARS-Corona (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) - the virus that infected 8,098 people in 2002/2003 and resulted in 774 deaths - mainly in Mainland China and Hong Kong. A new corona virus (which, like SARS, spreads from animal to human - and from human to human) has now been identified and is causing great concern. As of yesterday, there were 544 confirmed cases of Corona virus in China - and 17 deaths. There has been speculation that authorities were trying to downplay the seriousness of this outbreak - but President Xi has said that it must be taken seriously and that “Party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels should put people’s lives and health first.” Everyday life precautions and consequences |
General impressions The first thing that struck me about Qinghai was its diversity! One day you're walking in the muslim part of the capital Xining - enjoying the smell of freshly baked flat bread and lamb skewers (yangrou chuan) - and the next day you're at 3800 metres passing through emerald green pastures full of yak and sheep - and visiting ancient (but still active) Tibetan monasteries. | Quick facts about Qinghai Mid-Western China Population: 5,626,722 (most scarcely populated province in China) Average elevation: 3000 metres Most famous for: Important Tibetan monasteries and China's biggest lake, Qinghai Lake. Ethnic composition: Han Chinese 54% Tibetan 21% Hui muslim 16% Tu (Monguor) 4% Mongol 1.8% Salar 1.8% Languages and dialects: Zhongyuan Mandarin-Chinese, Amdo Tibetan, Monguor, Oirat Mongolian, Salar, and Western Yugur. |
What (and where) is The Tibetan Plateau? The Tibetan Plateau is a vast elevated plateau in Central Asia and East Asia. It stretches approximately 1000 km north to south and 2500 km east to west and covers most of Tibet as well as almost all of Qinghai, and part of the Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces in China - and the Ladakh and Lahaul & Spiti regions of India. The average elevation of the Plateau is over 4500 metres and the world's two highest summits, Mount Everest and K2 are both situated on the Tibetan Plateau. |
One weekend in Qinghai
Qinghai offers so much to see and do and one could easily spend a month traveling from place to place - but if you only have a weekend at your disposal, here is what I recommend that you do
It's easy to fly from Beijing to the capital Xining. Have a wander around the lively muslim quarter and see the Dongguan Mosque (one of the biggest in China). Head to Nanchan temple or Tulou temple which both offer a nice view over the city and the mountains in the background. The Tibetan Culture and Medicine Museum is also worth a visit! It boasts, among other things. a 617 metre long thangka scroll (hand painted artwork) which tells the story of Tibet. It took 400 artists 4 years to complete it!
Take a one-day trip (we booked a driver through the hotel) to Kumbum Monastery - one of the two most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside Tibet itself. There are around 600 monks living there.
Drive further west to Qinghai lake. We fell right into a tourist trap and paid 90 RMB just to walk down to the lake shore from a big parking lot/hotel. We were not very lucky with the weather but it was easy to imagine how spectacular the lake must be on a clear day with the snow clad mountains in the background. Apparently, we missed the "must-see" on the lake - namely a vast area with sand dunes.
The city of Tongren is also supposed to be worth a visit! We were, however, discouraged by the 4 hr bus ride (each way) from Xining - even though the landscape during those 4 hours is said to be breathtaking!
Qinghai offers so much to see and do and one could easily spend a month traveling from place to place - but if you only have a weekend at your disposal, here is what I recommend that you do
It's easy to fly from Beijing to the capital Xining. Have a wander around the lively muslim quarter and see the Dongguan Mosque (one of the biggest in China). Head to Nanchan temple or Tulou temple which both offer a nice view over the city and the mountains in the background. The Tibetan Culture and Medicine Museum is also worth a visit! It boasts, among other things. a 617 metre long thangka scroll (hand painted artwork) which tells the story of Tibet. It took 400 artists 4 years to complete it!
Take a one-day trip (we booked a driver through the hotel) to Kumbum Monastery - one of the two most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside Tibet itself. There are around 600 monks living there.
Drive further west to Qinghai lake. We fell right into a tourist trap and paid 90 RMB just to walk down to the lake shore from a big parking lot/hotel. We were not very lucky with the weather but it was easy to imagine how spectacular the lake must be on a clear day with the snow clad mountains in the background. Apparently, we missed the "must-see" on the lake - namely a vast area with sand dunes.
The city of Tongren is also supposed to be worth a visit! We were, however, discouraged by the 4 hr bus ride (each way) from Xining - even though the landscape during those 4 hours is said to be breathtaking!
“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”
Chinese Proverb
Apologies in advance, dear reader. Here I go again. Another "ups and downs of learning Chinese" post. But this time, I have an important decision to announce.
But first, let's have a look at my Chinese studies "history".
I had my first lesson in February of 2016. 2 months after I arrived in China. At the time, learning Chinese was my most important project. I had the time, I'm passionate about languages, I like a challenge, I had classmates and last but not least, I was keen to be "integrated" into the Chinese community.
Despite changing schools, then teacher and classmates, l maintained the enthusiasm the first year. I was eager to learn and would actually find pleasure in doing my homework.
I ended up with the most wonderful teacher and my new classmates meant (and still mean) everything to me. We were all on a roll. We shared the passion and had fun inside as well as outside the classroom.
All good things must come to an end
Yes, it sound a bit dramatic but I suppose I somehow knew that it wouldn't last. I got busy with other things. Got a part-time job, started to do more and more freelance writing and every time I took on something new, Chinese became much less of a priority for me. As a result, I failed my last exam about a year ago (HSK 3 exam). Last summer, our beloved classmate Elisabete moved to Indonesia, Egle decided to stop and there has have been lots of changes in the group. This has caused some instability - but that instability is not to blame for my current demotivation. I have simply gotten lazy, sloppy and too busy with other things.
There are 6 HSK levels in total and I'm currently studying level 4. I hope to do the exam in August or September and last week, I told my dear teacher Xin that I will be stopping after level 4. That was not part of the plan. I naïvely thought that reaching (and finishing) level 6 was feasible within the 4 1/2 years we'll have in China altogether. Reaching level 6 WOULD have been possible IF I had chosen to study full-time at the university (or at least 4-5 hours per day). I started off with 4 hours per week, then 9 and now I'm back to 6. Xin told me "HSK 四级真的不错“ (HSK 4 is not bad at all) - and she fully supported my decision to stop after the summer.
What do you know after 3 years?
I think the easiest way of telling you where HSK 4 gets you is by telling you what I can do - and what I can't - in Chinese:
Talk to taxi drivers and give directions: yes
Introduce myself and tell people where I come from, how long I've been in China: yes
Talk to our house help: yes
Get the essence of a radio programme (understanding roughly every 9-10 words): yes
Watch a movie in Chinese: no
Participate in a conversation about something that goes beyond small-talk: no
Interview sources in Chinese: no
Depressing innit? I mean three years.
On the other hand, I believe in always looking on the bright side of things. Had I not given it a try, my level would have been zero. I would have saved myself a lot of frustrations but also missed out on a lot of fun - and lifelong friendships! I would have relied on always having an English speaking person around me when trying to communicate - or gotten my translation app out every single day. I could beat myself up for letting go of something that was so important to me - but as you know
冰冻三尺,非一日之寒 “Three feet of ice is not the result of one cold day.” (Rome wasn't built in a day) - and what I've learnt from the past 3 years, is that Mandarin is an incredibly difficult language and it requires so much dedication and patience to become a fluent speaker. But trying to grasp it has been rewarding enough for me. I intend to spend this last year in China practising as much as possible with the man in the street.
Chinese Proverb
Apologies in advance, dear reader. Here I go again. Another "ups and downs of learning Chinese" post. But this time, I have an important decision to announce.
But first, let's have a look at my Chinese studies "history".
I had my first lesson in February of 2016. 2 months after I arrived in China. At the time, learning Chinese was my most important project. I had the time, I'm passionate about languages, I like a challenge, I had classmates and last but not least, I was keen to be "integrated" into the Chinese community.
Despite changing schools, then teacher and classmates, l maintained the enthusiasm the first year. I was eager to learn and would actually find pleasure in doing my homework.
I ended up with the most wonderful teacher and my new classmates meant (and still mean) everything to me. We were all on a roll. We shared the passion and had fun inside as well as outside the classroom.
All good things must come to an end
Yes, it sound a bit dramatic but I suppose I somehow knew that it wouldn't last. I got busy with other things. Got a part-time job, started to do more and more freelance writing and every time I took on something new, Chinese became much less of a priority for me. As a result, I failed my last exam about a year ago (HSK 3 exam). Last summer, our beloved classmate Elisabete moved to Indonesia, Egle decided to stop and there has have been lots of changes in the group. This has caused some instability - but that instability is not to blame for my current demotivation. I have simply gotten lazy, sloppy and too busy with other things.
There are 6 HSK levels in total and I'm currently studying level 4. I hope to do the exam in August or September and last week, I told my dear teacher Xin that I will be stopping after level 4. That was not part of the plan. I naïvely thought that reaching (and finishing) level 6 was feasible within the 4 1/2 years we'll have in China altogether. Reaching level 6 WOULD have been possible IF I had chosen to study full-time at the university (or at least 4-5 hours per day). I started off with 4 hours per week, then 9 and now I'm back to 6. Xin told me "HSK 四级真的不错“ (HSK 4 is not bad at all) - and she fully supported my decision to stop after the summer.
What do you know after 3 years?
I think the easiest way of telling you where HSK 4 gets you is by telling you what I can do - and what I can't - in Chinese:
Talk to taxi drivers and give directions: yes
Introduce myself and tell people where I come from, how long I've been in China: yes
Talk to our house help: yes
Get the essence of a radio programme (understanding roughly every 9-10 words): yes
Watch a movie in Chinese: no
Participate in a conversation about something that goes beyond small-talk: no
Interview sources in Chinese: no
Depressing innit? I mean three years.
On the other hand, I believe in always looking on the bright side of things. Had I not given it a try, my level would have been zero. I would have saved myself a lot of frustrations but also missed out on a lot of fun - and lifelong friendships! I would have relied on always having an English speaking person around me when trying to communicate - or gotten my translation app out every single day. I could beat myself up for letting go of something that was so important to me - but as you know
冰冻三尺,非一日之寒 “Three feet of ice is not the result of one cold day.” (Rome wasn't built in a day) - and what I've learnt from the past 3 years, is that Mandarin is an incredibly difficult language and it requires so much dedication and patience to become a fluent speaker. But trying to grasp it has been rewarding enough for me. I intend to spend this last year in China practising as much as possible with the man in the street.
Time is ticking. I have set myself the goal to visit all of China’s provinces before we leave China in the summer of 2020. Any excuse is goof and in the case of Jiangsu province , it was a marathon that brought me there - as a spectator that is!
Jiangsu province is located in Eastern China, roughly 130 kilometers from Shanghai - and the city of Wuxi lies on the northern shore of Taihu lake while the northern part of the city lies right by the Yangze River.
My husband had signed up for his third Wuxi Marathon but I decided to leave for Wuxi one day before him in order to have more time to explore the city. When I told a friend about my plan, he laughed and said “explore Wuxi – well maybe there’s a culture street or something but I would’t get my expectations up”. He was somehow right – but still, I believe that a city, in many cases, is what you make of it.
Friday
I landed in Wuxi on a chilly March morning and immediately regretted not having checked the weather forecast and hence assuming that it would be nice and warm. I checked into my hotel (strategically chosen due to its vicinity to the finish line of the Marathon) and there was nothing to do there so I pretty much dropped off my bags in the room and decided to take a taxi to the city centre. In the meantime, however, the hotel reception told me that there was an “ancient town” only 500 meters away. I certainly couldn’t miss out on that so after a brisk 10-minute walk, I found myself in the middle of the “ancient town” of Xuntang. With all signs being in Chinese and no guidebook at hand, I gave up on trying to find out if there was anything authentic about this place – or whether it had just been built for tourists. But it was cute and quaint – and took about 15 minutes to visit.
Being in China, I made use of our fabulous Didi App (similar to Uber) and got a car to the city centre. A friend had recommended to get off at the luxurious Nikko hotel and get walk around the area of (mostly western) restaurant and to the culture street on the opposite side of the hotel. Here it was. The culture street. Something every respectable Chinese has. New and old mixed together, new that pretends to be old, old that is actually old but you’re not quite sure – and of course snacks and souvenirs galore.
I only arrived in the city centre at 3 pm so almost all the restaurants were closed – and of all the places I could choose to go, I decided to go to a small mall with a Carrefour supermarket inside. Simply because I was cold and wanted to buy a sweater. I got a bit of take-away food from Carrefour and went back to the hotel.
Jiangsu province is located in Eastern China, roughly 130 kilometers from Shanghai - and the city of Wuxi lies on the northern shore of Taihu lake while the northern part of the city lies right by the Yangze River.
My husband had signed up for his third Wuxi Marathon but I decided to leave for Wuxi one day before him in order to have more time to explore the city. When I told a friend about my plan, he laughed and said “explore Wuxi – well maybe there’s a culture street or something but I would’t get my expectations up”. He was somehow right – but still, I believe that a city, in many cases, is what you make of it.
Friday
I landed in Wuxi on a chilly March morning and immediately regretted not having checked the weather forecast and hence assuming that it would be nice and warm. I checked into my hotel (strategically chosen due to its vicinity to the finish line of the Marathon) and there was nothing to do there so I pretty much dropped off my bags in the room and decided to take a taxi to the city centre. In the meantime, however, the hotel reception told me that there was an “ancient town” only 500 meters away. I certainly couldn’t miss out on that so after a brisk 10-minute walk, I found myself in the middle of the “ancient town” of Xuntang. With all signs being in Chinese and no guidebook at hand, I gave up on trying to find out if there was anything authentic about this place – or whether it had just been built for tourists. But it was cute and quaint – and took about 15 minutes to visit.
Being in China, I made use of our fabulous Didi App (similar to Uber) and got a car to the city centre. A friend had recommended to get off at the luxurious Nikko hotel and get walk around the area of (mostly western) restaurant and to the culture street on the opposite side of the hotel. Here it was. The culture street. Something every respectable Chinese has. New and old mixed together, new that pretends to be old, old that is actually old but you’re not quite sure – and of course snacks and souvenirs galore.
I only arrived in the city centre at 3 pm so almost all the restaurants were closed – and of all the places I could choose to go, I decided to go to a small mall with a Carrefour supermarket inside. Simply because I was cold and wanted to buy a sweater. I got a bit of take-away food from Carrefour and went back to the hotel.
Saturday
I woke up bright and early to welcome my husband who landed with the first flight from Beijing. First stop today was the exhibition centre across the street from the hotel. The centre was transformed into a buzzing Marathon-fair and the atmosphere was incredible. Wuxi Marathon is, in fact one of the most important and most well-organized road marathons in China with roughly xx participants. After having picked up the bib number and browsed the vendor stalls at the exhibition centre, we walked up to the little “old village” again. We then took at taxi to a lakeside spot called Taihu Tou and after a stroll by the lake, we went back to the city centre for another stroll in the Culture Street – but this time we discovered the beautiful parallel street which was really quaint and actually old! And that was not the only positive discovery of the day. We realized that, behind hotel Nikko, there was a huge, live street food market which was packed with people. It made Beijing’s Wanfujing Snack Street look like a joke! Despite the wide array of delicious street food, we opted for a very non-chinese sit-down dinner at the Mamma Mia Pizzeria. Hands down the best pizza I’ve ever had in China (though I was probably biased since I hadn’t had bread or pizza in 3 months due to my Keto diet).
I woke up bright and early to welcome my husband who landed with the first flight from Beijing. First stop today was the exhibition centre across the street from the hotel. The centre was transformed into a buzzing Marathon-fair and the atmosphere was incredible. Wuxi Marathon is, in fact one of the most important and most well-organized road marathons in China with roughly xx participants. After having picked up the bib number and browsed the vendor stalls at the exhibition centre, we walked up to the little “old village” again. We then took at taxi to a lakeside spot called Taihu Tou and after a stroll by the lake, we went back to the city centre for another stroll in the Culture Street – but this time we discovered the beautiful parallel street which was really quaint and actually old! And that was not the only positive discovery of the day. We realized that, behind hotel Nikko, there was a huge, live street food market which was packed with people. It made Beijing’s Wanfujing Snack Street look like a joke! Despite the wide array of delicious street food, we opted for a very non-chinese sit-down dinner at the Mamma Mia Pizzeria. Hands down the best pizza I’ve ever had in China (though I was probably biased since I hadn’t had bread or pizza in 3 months due to my Keto diet).
Sunday
Race day for Francesco. I got up late and went to the finish line at around 11 am. As always, the atmosphere at the finish line was amazing and one could hear hundreds of people shouting Jia you, jia you (add oil) from miles away to encourage the runners.
We had planned to go and see the giant Buddha at Ling Shan that afternoon but after the race, neither of us was really in the mood for sightseeing so we checked out and chilled at the hotel lobby until it was time to go to the airport.
Wuxi was actually a nice place to visit though hardly on my must-see China list. My project is about visiting the Provinces of China and Wuxi is clearly only one city in Jiangsu province. But if go and visit the famous water town of Suzhou at some stage, can we make it count please?
Race day for Francesco. I got up late and went to the finish line at around 11 am. As always, the atmosphere at the finish line was amazing and one could hear hundreds of people shouting Jia you, jia you (add oil) from miles away to encourage the runners.
We had planned to go and see the giant Buddha at Ling Shan that afternoon but after the race, neither of us was really in the mood for sightseeing so we checked out and chilled at the hotel lobby until it was time to go to the airport.
Wuxi was actually a nice place to visit though hardly on my must-see China list. My project is about visiting the Provinces of China and Wuxi is clearly only one city in Jiangsu province. But if go and visit the famous water town of Suzhou at some stage, can we make it count please?
It's hard to believe but we have already been in China over 3 years. I remember that smoggy, freezing December day in 2015 when we arrived as if it were yesterday. And here we are - looking towards our "life after China" already.
The decision
The decision has been made. It was a tough one - but we have chosen not to apply for an extension of my husband's contract in China which ends in the summer of 2020.
There were many things to be taken into consideration - such as the timing of the kids' education, finances, me being on leave from my job - and of course how we feel about living in Beijing.
But despite some amazing opportunities here, a wonderful lifestyle and our lovely, lovely friends, it all came down to being ready for a new chapter. We're not ready yet - but we reckon we will be by the summer of 2020. By then, we'll have been in China 4 1/2 years.
The future
I've always said that I love the unknown. We still don't know what will happen next but we know this much: There will be opportunities for my husband (and for myself) to apply for other EU delegations around the world and we'll certainly apply. Should it not work out, then we go back to Brussels. But we won't know for sure until early 2020.
The bucket list
My project for the next 16 months is all about China. I would like to enjoy life as much as I can in China. I want my life to be full of China, over the top-China, trying-to-crack-the-code-to-learning-mandarin-China, cultural China, historical China and not least the traveler's China. In other words, I don't want to look back at this experience thinking "I wish I had..."
I have a crazy project of traveling to all 30 something provinces in China before we move - and so far I've only visited around 10 of them. To be frank, I don't know if it's realistic and I certainly don't want to stress about it - but boy would it be cool. I will post more about my project over the next few weeks.
Thank you for your support dear readers and followers! I just had a look at the site statistics and I'm ever so grateful! I promise to post more regularly!
Hugs
Lise
The decision
The decision has been made. It was a tough one - but we have chosen not to apply for an extension of my husband's contract in China which ends in the summer of 2020.
There were many things to be taken into consideration - such as the timing of the kids' education, finances, me being on leave from my job - and of course how we feel about living in Beijing.
But despite some amazing opportunities here, a wonderful lifestyle and our lovely, lovely friends, it all came down to being ready for a new chapter. We're not ready yet - but we reckon we will be by the summer of 2020. By then, we'll have been in China 4 1/2 years.
The future
I've always said that I love the unknown. We still don't know what will happen next but we know this much: There will be opportunities for my husband (and for myself) to apply for other EU delegations around the world and we'll certainly apply. Should it not work out, then we go back to Brussels. But we won't know for sure until early 2020.
The bucket list
My project for the next 16 months is all about China. I would like to enjoy life as much as I can in China. I want my life to be full of China, over the top-China, trying-to-crack-the-code-to-learning-mandarin-China, cultural China, historical China and not least the traveler's China. In other words, I don't want to look back at this experience thinking "I wish I had..."
I have a crazy project of traveling to all 30 something provinces in China before we move - and so far I've only visited around 10 of them. To be frank, I don't know if it's realistic and I certainly don't want to stress about it - but boy would it be cool. I will post more about my project over the next few weeks.
Thank you for your support dear readers and followers! I just had a look at the site statistics and I'm ever so grateful! I promise to post more regularly!
Hugs
Lise
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