Day 1
There was a lot of practice speaking Mandarin, both in and out of the classroom as the students visited a local university, having conversations with the local students.
The Opening Ceremony for the Mandarin Excellence Programme visit also took place, with Cowley joining a number of other UK schools in being welcomed to China.
Student blog:
Today, I have had a very interesting day. Despite being fairly tired, I have made memories that I will never forget. At breakfast, I tried many new foods and drinks which I enjoyed thoroughly. When we started our Mandarin lessons in the university, I was hesitant to answer any questions, but over the next few hours, my confidence grew and I felt able to answer most questions.
The best part of my day was going to a local shop to buy some Chinese snacks and it amazed me that there could be such a variety of different foods. It also gave me the opportunity to converse with the shopkeeper in Mandarin, which was tough at first, but I soon got the hang of it.
At the opening ceremony, I enjoyed listening to many speeches, including pupils and the vice president of the MEP programme. I also found Tom’s speech particularly relatable and I feel that he summarised the experience of learning languages especially accurately.
The biggest surprise to me was the weather; which feels completely different to the weather anywhere in Europe. Overall, in my opinion, the first full day in Beijing has been both pleasantly surprising and thoroughly enjoyable.
Ethan
Day 2
The students have had another fantastic day in Beijing! It has been a busy one, with the students ever increasing their confidence in speaking Mandarin during lessons with locals and out and about in public. It’s been fantastic to see their confidence visibly rise.
They have been doing some Chinese square dancing, creating some amazing Chinese traditional crafts (paper cutting, character calligraphy and Peking opera masks) and eating lots of different Chinese food.
Student blog:
Our second day in Beijing has been a busy but productive and fun experience. We had very interesting lessons from 9am to 12am and then a range of new activities that included calligraphy, Peking opera mask painting, paper cutting, Chinese square dancing and a shopping trip at the end of the day when we got loads of cool things and souvenirs.
Something I discovered today was how different colours of masks have different meanings in Peking opera, for example, red signifies loyalty, courage, and righteousness. The calligraphy lesson was very informative as we learnt the correct way to write characters with ink and brush.
My unforgettable moment was when we were sitting in a circle during the Chinese square dancing with students from the university getting to know each other and one of them knew martial arts and backflipped in the middle.
Overall, today has been amazing and we, as a group, have had many fantastic experiences.
Kiera
Day 3
It wasn’t just the temperature that went to another level today (37 degrees) but also the confidence amongst the students.
The vice principal of the MEP was super impressed with the Cowley students when she dropped into our lesson. The students impressed her with their level of language skills and confidence.
One of the highlights of the day was seeing pandas eat, sleep and climb on a visit to Beijing Zoo.
Student blog:
Today was exciting as we had interesting lessons about school subjects and animals and we also got to visit the Beijing Zoo. It was full of interesting animals, like the panda, which is only in Asian countries and, my favourite animal, the hippo.
The zoo has been my favourite place so far but I have enjoyed everything. My unforgettable experience is getting a video of the panda pooing, which is surprising as it took Mr Foster 45 minutes to see a panda just move last time he came here.
The heat was very intense. Overall, the day was fun and we got to see and experience a lot of interesting things we never would have seen.
–Tye
Day 4
It was another scorcher of a day for our second tourist excursion. The students visited the Summer Palace and, again, have been displaying excellent language skills.
Student blog;
Our fourth day in Beijing has been very fun yet busy. We had lessons from 9am till 12noon, learning about sports, the places within China and directions (how to say them in Mandarin).
We then made our way to the Summer Palace, walking past boats, the lake, a bridge, and many more sights. We went into the souvenir shop which was quite interesting to see all the souvenirs that you could buy.
Mr Foster showed us a hack to keep cool in the sun, you pour water in your cap and put it on your head to cool down, it ruins your hair but keeps you cooler in the sun.
Then we walked through a very long corridor that we found out that the Emperor built for his wife because they liked going on long walks together but wanted to keep in the shade. We then made our way to a six-story shopping mall with an underground floor, it also had an arcade and a VR room.
Then we had food, two very large pizzas to share between us all, then went around into some shops for a while before making our 20-minute walk back to the hotel.
My unforgettable moment for today was when I was in the arcade and about to play on one of the claw machines, all the lights and machines in the arcade turned off. Eventually, they turned them back on and I got to go on the machine I originally paid for before the lights went out and I won!! Overall, Beijing has been a great experience and it is a lot of fun being here 🙂
Day 5
What a day! The students visited the Great Wall and what a sight to behold it was. Then, the students went to the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium at the Olympic park which was used to stage the 2008 games.
Student blog:
On day 5, we started our adventures at the Great Wall at Mutianyu. We ascended up to the wall via cable car and walked for about an hour before taking the toboggan down to the bottom which was my personal highlight of the day. We then took a coach to an acrobatics show and stopped at a shopping centre for dinner in a Chinese restaurant.
We ended our day with a walk around the Olympic Stadium to see the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. The temperature today was cooler than other days, so walking along the Great Wall was easier.
Tom
Day 6
The students have been learning more about Chinese customs and etiquette during their lessons and once again, demonstrating their impressive language skills which is still amazing the staff.
There was an opportunity to play some traditional Chinese musical instruments too, with the students learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the guzheng! Impressive!
Some of the boys challenged some Beijing University students to a game of basketball and gave them a run for their money.
And last, but by no means least, we found ourselves appearing on Chinese TV on a feature with the British Council and Mandarin Excellence Programme, check out the link below to have a watch:
Student blog:
Our sixth day in China has been relaxing, yet also rather informative. From 9am to 12pm, we had our usual interesting Chinese lessons where we expanded our knowledge on our language skills and Chinese culture.
Afterwards, we had the pleasure of taking the coach to a local Chinese School, which was unbelievable. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by kind students who were ecstatic to meet us, including our tour guide. Each person was extremely friendly. Additionally, we were stunned by the vast size of the school. The school consisted of 1500 students ranging from 18 months old to 18 years old. We had a short introduction in their large auditorium and were taken for a tour shortly after. We then were privileged to see some of the wonders of their school. It consisted of the following: A wave pool, a large swimming pool, a museum with real relics, an art gallery, recording studios, multiple sports halls, a reptile enclosure and a sculpture and pottery classroom.
We were then introduced to traditional Chinese instruments, where we all had the opportunity to play by ourselves, and perform to the class if we wished. Then, we participated in some activities, where we created our own fan using hydro dipping. We enjoyed a delicious meal in the large canteen and experienced a Chinese birthday party.
Overall, we have realised how much China has to offer in terms of education. Many of us are considering come back for future learning.
– Charlie and Elora
Day 7
Another fantastic day in China with a visit to The Temple of Heaven the highlight of the day.
In their morning lesson at the university, the students learned colours through dance, numbers and monetary values. Once again, they are excelling and doing Cowley proud.
In the afternoon, a visit to the Temple of Heaven was followed by another visit to the Olympic Park and taking part in some of the activities that were taking place in that area.
Student blog:
Today, we started our day with some breakfast at the hotel and then made our way over to the university for our lessons, during which we went over numbers from one to ten and different types of money.
After that, we read out different money amounts off the board, then we did some speaking tasks with partners and ended off the lessons with drawing and explaining what things we are going to buy for our families.
We then made our way to the BLCU canteen for lunch before going on a 45-minute coach ride to the Temple of Heaven where we had a walk around for 30 minutes, exploring the various different buildings with historical things inside, and we noticed that the roofs were blue which symbolised the sky because it is the closest thing to heaven in Chinese culture.
After this, we all made our way through the gates and back to the coach and headed back to the hotel which took about an hour. Afterwards, we had some McDonald’s delivered to the hotel and then went to the underground metro on our way to the Olympic Park which made one stop before we got off.
Then, we were allowed an hour to go round to some of the shops and buy souvenirs or snacks which we all enjoyed.
Some students had the challenge of buying the metro tickets using Mandarin to get us back to the hotel, which they did successfully. Overall, it was another very enjoyable day!
–Stephen
Day 8
It’s the final full day in China and another packed one! Time has flown by! The day started with another great morning of lessons before wandering the courtyards of the Forbidden City with our tour guide, imagining the lavish lifestyle of ancient Emperors.
Student blog:
Today’s experience in Beijing was both fascinating and exciting for the class as we all got to experience the rich history and culture of the forbidden city. For example, we learned that the emperor used to place large golden bowls around the city that would be filled with water, believing this would prevent fire and harm to the city. He also had mystical animals playing music across the roofs of the building, he thought this would deter bad spirits and protect him from evil.
Everything from the weather, the laughs and the lost Cowley caps has been memorable for the best of us, just proving the fabulous experience we’ve had. All in all, this day, more so this trip, has been a life changing experience for all of us, it’ll never be forgotten.
-Ava and Aiden
