Jinan Visit (CHINA)

On the agenda for today were two activities which I have not done since school – painting and table tennis.  I was never much of an artist at school but my spirits were lifted when our art teacher (who made the style of painting seem so easy)  told us that Chinese painting, like so many other activities, was  very different to the way we do things back home.  He explained that in Chinese painting, relatively few strokes are used and that a flowing motion with the brush should be adopted.  The first painting we were asked to do was a bamboo plant which is very common in China.  Any brief optimism I had that I may be able to take home a respectable, authentic Chinese drawing was quickly eradicated when my first attempt at the plant resembled a pile of dog bones.  Unfortunately for me the rest of the class continued in the same vein; – as I continued to produce paintings equally as bad as the ones before (although I must admit I did produce one particularly good cherry which drew admiring glances from the teacher).  There were some standout performances in the group – notably Paul (again), Maria and Jess (according to herself).  At the end of the class the teacher told us that he could read into a person’s personality just by looking at the paintings they produced.  I didn’t really want to know what my clumsy and heavy-handed painting said about me but a few others volunteered and received interesting responses.

In the afternoon we were taken to a hotel close by to play table tennis.  The night before, after a few beers at dinner, a few of the guys (including me) over zealously challenged Mr Shu to a game.  It was quickly apparent that that Mr Shu didn’t have to overly exert himself to teach us a lesson however it was great to watch him play against his trainer and be amazed at the speed they play at and the speed of their reactions.  Myself and a few others who played a bit more began to grow in confidence and get more competitive.  This was however short lived when we played the coach’s 12 year old daughter who put us back in our place, barely even giving us a point.

After about 6 hours of table tennis we walked back to the hotel agreeing on looking forward to an early night… however any hopes of this were dashed when upon arrival back at the hotel, we were greeted with some of the Chinese students holding a case of beer and a bottle of rice wine, another great night catching up with them and sharing stories of our experiences in China and Scotland. 

All in all a great day – and as Jess Murray says every day, ‘probably one of my best days in China’….so far.

James

After a brilliant night of KTV kareoke we started the day with another early rise for breakfast at 8am.  Afterwards, we all marched along to the university of Jinan in our smart clothes – every one of us looking very professional of course! 

As we got to the university campus we had a look at a model of the uni, only to discover that the campus is absolutely huge!!  GCU is certinaly tiny compared to the University of Jinan as there are over 40,000 students here, 32,000 of which live on campus!

We soon proceeded through to a large conference room where we met President Cheng and Vice President Tsai.  Mr. Cheng let it be known that he was honoured to have us GCU students here.  All 20 of us in this delegation team introduced ourselves to Mr Cheng and Zhen translated for us as we gave him our thoughts and impressions of Chinese culture.  Most of us were rather nervous about talking in front of the crowd and some were relieved to finish their speil but of course all of the feedback was positive so there was nothing to worry about.  Afterwards, we all received gifts from Mr Cheng, including UJN tshirts and pens.  After pictures we were then taken on a tour of the library and campus which was extremely impressive.

After lunch it was back to the uni to interact with Chinesse students who are studying English.  Their English is very good and we got to know a bit about them and what it is like to study at the University of Jinan.  A few mentioned how there can be as many as 8 students sharing a dorm, with 32,000 students staying on campus. Some only go home once a year to see their family.

At 4pm the basketball game began.  Although GCU never had victory in sight, the game proved to be very enjoyable with everyone taking part and having a chance to play. Despite losing, we were all in awe at the skill and athletic ability of the game’s nominated MVP (most valuable player) - Mr. Paul “Slam Dunk” Donnelly who helped us retain some of our dignity during the match!

All in all, a fun day and nothing short of what was expected!

Yvonne

Today was an official day off yet still managed a fun-filled Chinese cultural experience followed by a very non-traditional Karaoke night!

The day started with a bit of a lie in, which was welcomed by all but for varying reasons. We arrived in the centre of Jinan city for a ‘boat trip’, little did we know that we were to once again be treated to an historical and cultural trip. We made our way along the moat which surrounds the city, which leads to a breathtakingly beautiful lake at its centre, set withing landscaped gardens and footpaths. The city of Jinan is proud of its history as an ancient capital and takes as its symbol a combination of the weeping willow tree, which are in abundance and the lotus flower. The lake is covered with the lotus plants, its areas carefully protected and when in full bloom is a sight to be savoured. Within the park we are continuously reminded of Chinese architecture with small buildings carefuly placed for peace and tranquility at the centre of a city of more than 9 million people. Overlooking the park we are also reminded of China’s modernity with high rise buildings towering above the serenity.

To end our day off, our organisers have planned a Karaoke night, but like no other. We enter the building, are escorted to the 3rd floor and enter what can only be described as our private den! A huge screen sits at the centre of the wall and the latest technology has discarded the ’song book’ with a touch screen one filled with all of our favoutite songs. We are treated to our local guides, Claudia, Jen and Melody (by name and nature!) who sang for us, but the highlight of the evening would have to be the China GCU Delegation 2010 rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. No doubt this will become legendary and difficult to surpass in terms of entertainment on any future visit.

Everyday we awake with anticipation and under no illusion that this day can’t be as incredible as the one before and yet our expectations are exceeded each time. The diversity between the two cultures in ever present, but provides plenty of food for thought. The sheer beauty of some of the things we have been lucky enough to have seen will remain with us for a long time, as will the the feelings of gratitude that we all have for our hosts and friends. So, thats only half the trip completed and mny of us are wondering  how much better can this really get.

T.

Here comes the much awaited visit to the Chinese most famous mountain, Mount Tai. We set out, after breakfast to the mountaneous region of Jinan. After passing through a series of rolling mountains, we arrived at the destination, which is seated at 1524m above sea level. It was indeed a site to behold, with lushy green vegetation and spectacular waterfalls. We found it amazing, the construction of motorable pathways to allow shift coaches go mid way through the mountain. There were Taoist temples located at various places along the mountain. History has it that Mount Tai was used to perform religious worship some centuries ago. Many emperors, spanning a period of 3000 years used it to pay homage to the Heaven (on the top) and Earth (at the foot). It was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

After climbing for what seems like ages, that left most of us panting and sweating, we arrived at the tooooop!! (not a mean achievement, considering what we passed through!). The local residents and other visitors were excited having us around and never missed any opportunity of taking pictures with us. Most of us finished late (including my humble self) because we were stopped every here and there for a wee banter and some pictures. It was indeed great seeing men and women of all ages, including the children climbing the mountain with us. The lunch at the top of the mountain was awesome! The food at the ‘Halfway to Heaven’ Restaurant was superb and we were wondering how they got the food up there. After the lunch comes the moment we all have been expecting: The cable car drive to the base of the mountain!

The expectation and excitation turned to fright when we got to the cable car terminal. Yea, we were scared, but we had to join the car! The ride down the mountain turned out to be an unforgettable experience. We felt very relaxed inside the car and the fun lasted throughout the duration of the riding.

We had a very relaxing and well enriched dinner back in the hotel. We also had a guest, Quan Amy Ren, the GCU International Officer, in charge of China and South East Asia. We were all delighted to have her around.

Some members of the team who are studying in Podiatry were later taken to the Chinese Podiatry Centre in Jinan, courtesy of Mr Shui and Mr Lui . Lest I forget, they even got massage from the professionals in the centre.

Yea, we’ve made it to the top of Mount Tai! We look forward to the boat ride and the Karaoke Performance (KTV) tomorrow.

Sampson

After the lectures yesterday some (not everyone!) were up bright and breezy at 7am for breakfast relishing the opportunity to learn more from the ’sage’ Confucius himself by visiting his home town Qi Fu. The bus ride passed without incident thanks to some games, bant and sleep we arrived in no time. Immediately we saw the ancient stone walls and pagoda’s and realised we’d arrived somewhere truly culturally significant, we weren’t to be disappointed.  A new guide was quickly arranged who then rushed into her spiel so fast that she had to be reigned in by zhen expertly and told to speak a little slower for our untrained Glasgea ear. Soon we were entering the walls and stepping into to a 500 year old world of Confucius’ and his more than 3000 year old legacy, the monuments were spectacular, the gates ominous and tales of emperor’s humbled were impressive. However, when we saw the apricot temple (the first ever School… in the world ever!) where he held lectures on social policy and philosophy and with the great man’s teachings everywhere we felt a pang for the salty and anticipation for some more of the library next year!! 

After a spot of lunch and island hopping we were back on Confy’s trail and into the cemetery where Confucius’ tomb lay along with his 10,000 descendants. Some lovely electric-motors were commandeered as we made our way around the bewitching slightly overgrow garden where we learnt of the legacy of some of the men buried in the cemetery; the only woman allowed was an emperors daughter who managed to snare herself a Confucius disciple and descendent. When we made it to the centre of the vast garden, a quiet path led up to his crypt and those closest to him, unusually we managed to get enough time to take in the atmosphere of a philosopher who managed to shape the society of his time and many since without too much of a disturbance, before the Chinese Tourists swamped the place in their droves. 

One of the most interesting parts for me was the destruction and reconstruction of the tablet stones of Confucius and others. During the cultural revolution, Chairman Mao ordered the destruction of this heritage site to create a new image of China away from emperors and dynasties to shape a new way of thinking, it was fascinating to hear the accounts of the tour guide explaining how they were in part destroyed and then restored after by the same regime once they realised their mistake, a touchy subject it seemed that although the glorious leader chairman Mao who was inspirational in changing China to the superpower it is today, he was not entirely faultless.

Upon leaving the Cemetery a shopping feast was to be had, not unlike the other tourist attractions around the world the tack available was awesome! Not always appropriate to the situation we still quickly got stuck in. A few huge £2 paintings later and a red book of Confucius’s teachings we were off on the bus to indulge in another spectacular meal provided by the hotel!! Bring on more enlightenment tomorrow!

Tomos x

Part of what might be called the “academic” content of our trip was a lecture on Confucius and Confucianism. A professor from Jinan University attended to give us an extremely brief introduction on the ideas of Confucianism (His lecture series’ generally take 8 days!) and was happy to take almost 45 minutes of questions! Confucius was, and is, China’s pre-eminent social philosopher and political thinker. His teachings concentrate on Justice, Governmental theory, Virtue and the conduct of social relationships. Confucius produced 6 “classics” although he freely admits some of these are collations of ideas that predate his own. Confucianism is not a religion in that it has no deity or superstitious belief system, yet its adherents follow “The Sage’s” teaching as one would follow a conventional religion, and his thoughts still influence governments in the east today.

Confucius, while predating his western counterparts by some time, nonetheless shares many similarities with the western philosophers. Confucius most closely resembles the ancient Greek thinkers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in his work on theories of harmony, balance and his thoughts on statehood and good governance. Confucius wrote on the manner in which a good, successful state should organise itself and apportion its resources which closely mirrors the ideas in Plato’s “Republic”.  In “The Republic” Plato (speaking as Socrates) advocates justice as being the “mean between what we would like to do to others and what we what not suffer done to us”. In this, the Confucian idea of “The Golden Mean” (or theoretic happy middle ground) is apparent.

Some of his work on statehood and polity reflect the works of Niccolo Macchiavelli in that sometimes, to retain the integrity of one’s state, it is necessary to act in an underhanded manner. Similarly, he advocated the use of what might be termed “Utilitarianism” – the greatest good for the greatest number – the Idea championed by John Stuart Mill – when a state is faced with difficult decisions.

Confucius sought to teach that harmony with others is crucial to the living of a good life which has echoes in the work of Kant and his categorical imperative (Act only in concert with the general will of the people) and the Christian maxim “Do unto others”. He does contradict the Christian idea that humans have dominion over the beasts and resources of the planets by insisting that it is imperative to our survival that we take our rightful place in the universe and live in balance with other species. In this way, Confucius may have a rightful claim to be regarded as the first active environmentalist.

Further simiarities to the ancient Greeks are that Aristotle placed “Eudaimonia” or learning and self-betterment at the heart of his philosophy. Confucius’ most prominent themes are introspection, virtue and learning. Also Aristotle used the term “Pleonexia” to describe an imbalance or disorder in society (primarily in terms of allocation or acquisition of resources), a theme upon which Confucius wrote extensively.

More modern theorists that share similarities with Confucius are the British Jurist A.V. Dicey, most noted for his work on the Rule of Law, and Karl Marx. Dicey narrated a tripartite test for whether or not the rule of law was present in a state, namely that: All must be equal before the law, no one can be punished without law and no law is above the courts. Confucius saw that power in one man must be limited and there must be universality of law. Karl Marx theories are foreshadowed in Confucius work on “common purpose” and unity of the people and the iniquity of striving for one’s own selfish ends.

It is easy to see that much of Chinas recent expansion has fundamentally contradicted Confucius teachings. The rampant extension of building works, consumption of resources, pollution, maltreatment of workers and prisoners are obvious examples of how modern China has forgotten its foremost thinker’s ideas. That said, it seems apparent to us that China is making more of an at least prima facie attempt to embrace sustainability and our professor informed us that Confucianism is on the increase in China.

The interest the group had in the lecture was reflected in the breadth of the questions proffered. Most of us made some input on topics as varied as communism, single-parent families and Darwinism. Personally, this was probably the high point of the trip (so far) for me

Dave

Today’s wake-up call at half past 6 didnt go down too well after a pretty ridiculous amount of banter last night with plenty of beer and wine flowing (GAMBI!!!!!!).

The first leg of the journey was very quiet with alot of pale faces and tired eyes. However after a few hours kip Zhen and Melody were finally able to get us up singing, whistling and ‘rapping’ into the microphone at the front of the bus. Everybody was forced to have a go, with some dark horses emerging- Emily and Tanino suprising us all with amazing voices. ‘Razor’ from The Slippery Panthers made a star apperance giving a very intense blast of Robbie Williams’ Let me entertain you’ much to our amusement!

On a more serious note the long bus journey finally gave us a chance to speak to Zhen about her personal experiences growing up in China and then moving away to study in the UK and other parts of Europe. She was able to tell us how she personally felt about how Chinese people are often brought up to conform and lead a life where decisions are frequently made for them: she explained that it took moving away from China to allow her to ‘find herself’.

Todays food was quite different from what we have already experienced; lunch consisted of us sitting at a table each with a small pot on a hot plate in which we cooked our own food (Chinese fondue). This wasn’t to everyone’s taste but others found it fresh, different and quite exciting. Of course the ‘lads’ had to get into the chilli eating competition which Will won easily although Isra gave them all a good run for their money!

Sadly after lunch we had to say goodbye to Melody who has been our interpreter for the last few days. She also fulfilled the role of chief entertainer on the bus and pulled out a few cracking renditions of some Celine Dion classics! It wont be the last we speak to her as we’ve exchanged emails and hope to keep in touch.

Got a first glimpse of Jinan university grounds tonight as we stumbled upon its campus with a football in hand and were pretty chuffed to finally find somewhere where ball games are allowed!!

Looking forward to tomorrow and a full day of Tai Chi and Chinese Philosophy – casual.

Jess and Nat (2010/08/25 4.14pm)

Day 4 and we are still alive and kicking!
Its strange yet amazing how all 20 of us have become good friends within such a short space of time, with the feeling like we’ve all known each other for years and have bonded during our 28 hour long journey to China by playing ‘bulshlaka’ in every chance we get.
In just a few days I’ve noticed so many cultural differences between the U.K and China.  As well as trying to master the use of chopsticks as opposed to a knife and fork it is also refreshing to see how Chinese people propose toasts during meals and in many ways show more respect for those in their company.  I also like the fact that you are expected to cater for the person to your right at he dinner table and must say that we have been treated like kings and queens by our hosts during each banquet.

Nighlife in Jinan is a major clash to Glasgow’s which did initially shock me. People are out at 10pm doing Tai Chi, ballroom dancing, the shop workers play cards on the pavement after closing up to relax and kareoke (KTV) is a huge way of unwinding after a hard days work.  The atmosphere around the town certainly has a great buzz and it’s great to be able to walk around and enjoy the attention of the locals.  On that note, I must say that we have been a bit phazed by the amount of locals that would take photos of us in the street as this can sometimes feel a bit intrusive.

Yesterday we visited the Olympic sailing centre and enjoyed a nice stroll along the promenade.  Some of the group rented go-kart buggies whilst the girls enjoyed bartering prices of bracelets and necklaces at the stalls.  After lunch we enjoyed an afternoon at the beach where again we were centre of attention as the locals stared at us with looks of bemusement for most of the day!

We’ve just returned from Qing Dao today after a missionary journey but it was really nice and different from Jinan. It’s more modern and it was nice to see a blue sky for the first time.
One last thing that I’d like to add is a special thanks to Zhen, Mr Lu, Mr Gang and Melody as they have helped us a great deal – we don’t know what we’d do without them!

Isra Sh (2010/08/25 3.39pm)

Clearly I wrote that last blog in a Chinese beer filled daze…… forgot to mention the fact we went to the Tsingtao brewery!! Was awesome, got a video blog from T and Em!! Got to see how it’s all made and how its different from European breweries!!
Got some samples at the end and also a few jugs to round the day off! Was delicious
KP xxx  (2010/08/24 4.15pm)

Day 2 (Full day) and we had a lovely breakfast before catching our bus at 0830 to Qingdao. The first 2 hours… awesome! Good banter and carry on…. last 2 hours… everyone was fading fast! Good old Jin and Melody kept us going though by suggesting karaoke. Melody sang us a lovely song, then Mr Lee read us a poem then Rory, Brian, Nat, Will, Tanino and Kay all sang a wee song for the group! (all filmed and will be available to view)
As we came into Qingdao, we caught sight of the beach and some jetski’s… oh yes!! Arrived at our hotel, quick check in and change before dinner, then noticing some of us were flagging, we came back to hotel pretty soon after.
Us party animals met and headed out to check out the sights, seeing some Tai Chi and dancing in a square to beautiful Chinese music. Then we headed into some market stalls to dig out some bargains and get some more local culture. “Razor” is totally worse than a girl!!!! Tho he got his OK sweatbands so he’s made up!
Got to see a bit more of China tonight because we were out on our own and saw places we wouldn’t normally have! Pretty excited about tomorrow getting to the beach and seeing the Sailing Centre!

Kay Pet xx  (2010/08/23 4.08pm)