Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony was a lovely way to end such a great experience. In our Chinese classes we prepared a performance for the show. My class sung a popular Chinese pop song 'Dui Mian de Nü Hai Kan Gui Lai' or 對面的女孩看過來! Our student volunteers also sang a song for us.

My flight departed at 00:05 so I had so say my goodbyes there and then.

I have made some wonderful friends through the Study China programme from both the UK and China. I feel so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to embrace a new culture and language and learned more than I thought possible in the three-week period. I would like to say a huge thank you to all those who made this possible; Study China staff at the University of Manchester, Minjie Xing for facilitating the trip in Shanghai, teachers and other staff involved at ECNU, my Chinese family and the dedicated student volunteers who supported us so brilliantly during our time in China.

My Chinese class at the Closing Ceremony 

Thank you for reading!

-Beatrix

Free Time

Despite the demanding nature of the programme, there was still opportunities to explore Shanghai in our free time. Some highlights included the picturesque Yu Yuan Gardens, the M50 Galleries - a diverse collection of galleries of modern art, various shopping markets - including the South Bund Fabric market. I was able to have some beautiful, bespoke silk trousers made for only £20, the French Concession, Old Town and the Jade Buddha Temple.

The Yu Yuan Gardens

Please ignore the 'wet floor' sign, it was so beautiful and tranquil here!

Some amazing street art on the road leading to M50, the art district, where there were dozens of interesting little galleries

 I love the Wreck it Ralph piece especially!

The French Concession

I loved this area, especially Tianzifang, which was filled with cute little boutiques and bars

 A toilet themed restaurant! 

Old Town

The Jade Buddha Temple

Shanghai History Museum

This Museum was in the basement of the Oriental Pearl Tower. Interactive displays featuring lifelike waxwork models take you through Chinese History. Though the museum is not yet complete (it currently ends in the 1920s) it was really thought provoking and I am keen to return in a few years when we will (hopefully) be taken up to modern day! 

 This was one of my favourite 'shops.' She is making beancurd

What a find! Imitation Beatrix Potter alarm clocks featuring 'Super Lovely Garden Rabbit' aka Peter! I bought a heart shaped one for £3.50!

Nightlife

The nightlife in Shanghai was so much fun. My two favourite places are at complete opposite ends of the fancy-grunge spectrum. The first, a bar at the top of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, offers free entry and champagne to ladies on Wednesdays! The other, The Shelter, is a bomb-shelter turned nightclub with an anything goes dress code and 90s Hip Hop music! 

Food

I admire my classmates who were adventurous with the food in Shanghai. As you know, Chinese cuisine is very diverse and every region has its own style of cooking. Some people tried dog, duck head, chick on a stick (literally a chick on a stick!) and various other delicacies. As a vegetarian, my choices were very limited. I found myself eating lots of boiled rice on its own and was very glad I packed multi-vitimans! Going into Chinese Tesco proved very interesting. You could help yourself to raw chicken wings from a large, open bin - Pick'n'Mix style, select a live fish or eel from a bucket for your dinner or purchase chicken with the head still on. I felt so lucky to have a fridge in my room, which allowed me to store cheese slices to make cheese sandwiches (along with plenty of cold drinks!) Surprisingly, crisp flavours included cucumber and lemon tea!

Tesco

Chicken feet

 Eels

Food from stalls in Xitang

Believe it or not this was my favourite meal

Food from the meal out with my Chinese family

I'm not too sure what this was made of, but it was a lumpy jelly texture with a mild sweet flavour and a Chinese date in it. I was told that it is good for stomach pains and is eaten for breakfast or before a meal. 

This was spicy fish which came in a bowl of hot oil and cucumber.

These were baby bull-frogs in a sweet sauce

Birthday Cake Oreos! In my Marketing class I was told that when Oreos were first introduced in China during the 1990s, Kraft adapted the recipe to be less sweet in order to appeal to Chinese tastes. 

We found this turtle shell on our way to class one morning! You could order turtle at the Korean restaurant on campus.

Authentic Chinese food is not for the faint-hearted!

Trips & Family Visit

As well as being busy with classes, I also got to go on a few trips organised by the Study China program. These included a night cruise along the Huangpu River, which offered spectacular views of Shanghai's famous skyline, a trip to Xitang (a nearby river town), Shanghai museum, with its wonderful collections, and an acrobatics show. Understandably, I was unable to take pictures of the acrobatics show but trust me, it was phenomenal!

Night Cruise

Beautiful Xitang, I believe some of Mission Impossible III was shot here

 This man is fishing using a traditional method. He tied the birds to the boat to catch fish in their mouths.

It was so hot some locals used oven-style mits for their bike handles! 

Shanghai Museum - my favourite area was a furniture display. As you can probably tell, this is a bed.

We also got to go on a trip with our 'English taught course.' I went to the Shanghai Volkswagen factory with my marketing class! 

For my family visit I was taken out for a meal (more on food later!) It seems like everyone's family visit was very different, from playing sports in a nearby park to making dumplings at home. I got to hang out with two people roughly my age, a boy, 'Dracula' and his friend 'Little D' (pictured.) It was great to interact with some locals my age. They were both training to become English teachers so their English was (luckily) a lot better than my Chinese!