Hi everyone! It’s after the fact, of course, but since I just came back from China (again) and can’t access Blogger there, I have to post the blog entries upon return. No problem, though. Just sit back and enjoy the trip to Xi’an.
For background information, this trip was arranged by the Chinese Language Centre (CLC) at CUHK, which conducts all of my Chinese classes for both the summer and the school year. Approximately 18 students, 12 of whom belong to IBCE, signed up to go on an 11 day trip to China’s oldest city with Liu Laoshi and Chen Laoshi from the CLC. While here, we’re doing intensive language study and practice as well as learning about the history, culture, food, and economy of Xi’an (in Chinese of course).
Everyone felt tired on the plane. I thought that my 5 hours of sleep weren’t enough until I found out the average amount of sleep the night before amongst the students was 2 hours. On top of that, there was really no reason for it. At any rate, we felt dead-tired by the time we arrived in Xi’an around 6:00pm. Thankfully, our host school, Shaanxi Normal University, prepared a nice welcome dinner for us, and we also had a chance to meet our teachers for the small classes. My favorite teacher is Guo Laoshi, on the far right:
We got our room assignments, and everybody hit the sack just a couple hours after dinner. Lucky for me, my would-be roommate never showed up, so I got a single room without paying anything extra. Even better, we’re staying in a fairly nice hotel instead of a dorm. I could get used to this, especially with my remote-controlled free air-conditioning.
The next day, we spent the morning in class, learning new vocabulary and grammar. Since our topic for the day was Education in Xi’an, we went to Xi’an Fanyi Daxue in the afternoon, which translates roughly to “Xi’an Translators’ College.” Basically, it’s a university that specializes in foreign language training, and most graduates go on to become translators or teachers. This place, though, is so far out of the way that our bus driver had to drive for 2 hours to get there. Clearly, they were expecting us (the sign says “We warmly welcome the students from the Chinese Language Centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to our school.”
Inside the library, we saw the topographical map of the university:
The various areas for studying:
And the gorgeous view:
More interestingly, we got to see the dorms, which are very typical for Mainland China (6 people to one room, one bathroom to one hall). This has improved in recent years, since the rooms used to have 8 people each. Some dorms in China house as many as 12 people in one room.
Next, we visited the campus television station:
Our visit to the other university wasn’t just for fun, though. We learned a lot about the differences between public and private universities in China. Also, it turns out that Xi’an Translators’ College is the strictest college in Xi’an. Why? The students aren’t allowed to leave campus from Monday through Friday. Every day (including weekends) they must spend at least 2 hours in the language laboratory completing online speech recognition assignments, and they spend the rest of their time studying. Each person takes around 21 credit hours per semester, and is completely at the mercy of the teachers. On top of that, the teachers are encouraged to treat the students harshly and criticize them unceasingly (as we were told by the administration) in order to motivate them to try harder. Ouch.
At least the view around their campus is breathtaking:
The next day, we again went to class in the morning. That day’s topic was the Economy in Xi’an, so we visited a local Vanguard store (similar to Walmart). There were lots of tasty things in the grocery section that I wish we could buy in the USA.
Cold snacks:
Chinese sausage:
More importantly, why don’t we have these in the Walmart stores back home?
Tiny frying pans (with my hand for reference):
Super-cheap digital cameras (prices shown in RMB, and the exchange rate is RMB6.50 to US$1):
Also, we found some fun little toys. I didn’t buy one like most everyone else, but you just treat this thing like a hacky-sack, only it’s more difficult to play:
Once we finished up at Vanguard, we took cabs to one of the most famous places in Xi’an: the Bell and Drum Towers. You can read about the more famous of the two here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Tower_of_Xi'an. Like all ancient Chinese cities, the original area of Xi’an is surrounded on all sides by a large city wall, which is protected by tall watchtowers and gates. Since it has been the capital city during some dynasties, the defenses were especially strong. Nowadays, the city has spread beyond the original walls, and the city square is a tourist trap. Even so, we wanted to see the Bell Tower where they ring the morning bells, and the Drum Tower where they beat the evening drums.
The Bell Tower:
And the view from the first floor:
The view of the Drum Tower from the Bell Tower:
Walking around the Bell Tower:
Next up was the (slightly less famous) Drum Tower:
The view:
We had a great time visiting such old and famous places, although we still hadn’t seen my top priority location: the Terracotta Army. Even so, the Bell and Drum Towers were an interesting experience.
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