Spice

There are some questions that crop up again and again in China. Most tend to be related to being a foreigner and follow the line of ‘What country are you from?’ ‘Are you used to Chinese food?’ as well as the slightly more probing ‘How much do you earn a month?’. Of course these questions tend to be asked in Chinese so for newcomers a confused look and shake of the head should be quite enough to dispel any interest. There are other questions though that you will very quickly learn the answers to as they tend to be more related to day-to-day observances such as buying food or getting a taxi. At the top of this list must be the three times daily ‘Yao bu yao lajiao?!’ – ‘do you want spice?!’ (this tends to be shouted at you hence the exclamation mark).

Wuhan food is mostly Sichuan cuisine which is characterised by rich spicy flavours and the liberal use of chili, ginger, garlic and the Sichuan pepper. As a result most meals will be at least mildly spicy unless requested otherwise. This extends beyond restaurant dishes though; breakfast noodles can be loaded up with spice, dumplings can be accompanied with a spicy sauce and soup can often be found with large chunks of chili in their depths. Of course for those who are less than keen on corroding their stomach lining this can all be ordered spiceless, and you will always be asked whether or not you want spice – ‘yao bu yao lajiao?!’. Whilst I personally do actually like spicy food, it does not partner up terribly well with a hot summer day. Yet for some reason I always get the impression that it is a test of sorts, and in a (misguided) effort to prove something I plough on with the spice. Whatever this is supposed to achieve is quickly lost by my haggard appearance as I sweatily make my way through my food – most small places do not have air conditioning.

In many ways this is typical of how you learn Chinese, despite teaching for years I still didn’t know the Chinese for most classroom items such as ruler, pencil case or sharpener. Yet ‘Do you want spice?’ ‘Take away or eat in?’ ‘Do you want that as a meal?’ (thanks McDonalds) are phrases that I was a pro at after about 3 weeks. Learning a language when you live in the country is great for that; you learn the things you actually need to get by - spice levels definitely being one of them.

Learning Chinese continued...

Like many people who come to China, I had no previous experience with the language. When people asked if I was going to try and pick some up before leaving I tended to give the same answer - ‘I’ll do it when I get there’. On reflection two things can be said of this: 1. Learning something about the language prior to coming wouldn’t have been a terrible idea and 2. Learning it when you get there is something you have very little choice about. The reason for this is that in terms of people who do and don’t speak English the groups are pretty heavily weighted towards the non-English speaking side. In general terms the two groups look like this:

People who might speak basic English or better – university students, bar staff, staff at high-end hotels/shops, staff at western outlets (KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks). People who won’t speak English – everyone else.

Obviously you will come across other people who speak English, but in day-to-day life the above categorisations largely carry true - people who you will be buying meals from or staff at the supermarket where you buy groceries will almost certainly have no English skills. When prices are being read out to you in Chinese this can be slightly difficult, however it always works itself out (I did once or twice have people tap the price onto a calculator so I could read it). In terms of buying food I tended to point at things I thought looked edible - nodding along with whatever the proprietor said and hoping for the best.

What I would say though is that it does not take long to learn the Chinese for things that you will need. Within the first couple of weeks I knew the names of a couple of dishes as well as how much they tended to cost. Once I knew the names of some of the food, learned the numbers as well as the name of the street where I lived (get this one nailed down as soon as possible) I found that I got by quite easily. Most people reach this point after a month or so, and once reached, life becomes that much easier.  Luckily this is also enough Chinese to impress any friends or family you might have visiting. Walking into a noodle joint and ordering the type of noodles you want, declining the offer of extra spice and asking how much it costs can seem like an absolute master class in Chinese to someone who isn’t familiar with the language. The other thing that you become quickly adept at is reading body language - learning when you are expected to make a reply and when nodding in sage agreement is enough. This is how I managed to get through a whole taxi journey laughing and nodding along with the driver, whilst my visiting sisters sat in the back clearly impressed with my apparent fluency – that I understood very little of what he said was a fact that I kept to myself.

Learning Chinese

One of the most difficult things to overcome when living in China is the language. Although many Chinese people can speak English these tend to not be the people you’ll find yourself dealing with on a daily basis i.e. waiters, shop assistants and taxi drivers. Because of this the majority of foreign teachers living in China will pick up some Mandarin skills during their time in here. Whilst some will learn enough to cover their daily needs others go a little further enabling them to converse with the locals. I really do recommend learning as much as possible as life in China can be very different if you’re not reliant on other people as many new arrivals at the beginning, it can also be easier to make friends. From my experience I don’t think I would have met the people and been to the places I have if it wasn’t for making an effort to learn the language. Mandarin is a tonal language so it can be very easy to make mistakes, especially when constructing long sentences but I’ve always found Chinese people to be patient and willing to offering assistance throughout my time here so my advice is to be confident and just go for it because the worst thing that can happen is maybe a few people have a little chuckle at you.

Local dialects provide quite a stumbling block when travelling to different provinces in China and even Chinese people have difficulty understanding each towns own unique dialect. It’s not just differences in accents that make understanding problematic but many words are completely different. However standard Mandarin is all you need to concern yourself with as its taught in all schools/universities and is the only variation of Chinese you’ll find spoken on television or on the radio. It’s really only the older generations who speak local dialects regularly, even though most young people will be able to they’ll always speak standard Mandarin and only speaking their dialect amongst friends so its still relatively pointless learning the local dialect wherever you’re living in China as it doesn’t come up much.

It can be a little daunting when you first arrive in China as it’s not uncommon for people to want to speak with you because for many seeing a foreigner is still a rare occurrence. I can’t tell you how many times I found myself just looking blankly back at a local trying to start a conversation with me. Having said that it has never been uncomfortable as Chinese people are very friendly and welcoming and often try to speak English…even if all they know is “Hello” and “1…2…3”. Chinese is quite a harsh language to listen to and many people speak very loudly…especially on the phone but don’t feel you have to replicate them as you can still be easily understood if you speak a little more softly, you should hear Lloyd Shepherd…he’s a crooner. 

Watching Wuhan Zall

Saturday rolled round and along with it, Wuhan Zall’s first home game after being promoted to the Chinese Super League. I’d heard from all and sundry that the Wuhan fans are passionate about their football and this was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to see the game. A 3:35pm kick-off (not sure what the logic is there) afforded me the chance of a lazy morning, and at midday I was calling my friend to double-check that we were still on for the game. His initial hesitation on the phone was soon explained by a trip outside – it was absolutely pouring. The plans being set though, I was soon on the Metro and headed over to his for a couple of pre-match beers. Another friend joined us and we got on our way in high spirits - spirits that were quickly dampened standing in the downpour waiting for a taxi…brilliant. Enough time having elapsed for us to become fully saturated and correspondingly miserable a free taxi finally rolled round and we were once again on our way.

 Coming from Hankou it was a 40-minute journey to the stadium in Zhuankou, which with the ever-worsening weather was not the attractive proposition it had been the day before. Upon getting out of the taxi we could hear the roars emanating from the stadium - we had got the time and the day right at least. Buying tickets on the door was pretty easy and at 60RMB relatively cheap. Somewhat frustratingly we were not allowed to bring bottled drinks into the stadium, though with drinks on sale inside, this was not a big problem. With a 60,000 all-seated capacity the stadium is fairly large, and is actually quite modern. The stadium also doubles as an athletics stadium and thus the fans are not that close to the pitch however this did not dull the atmosphere at all. The stadium was probably less than half full, though this was still enough to fill it with sound. Every attack was greeted with raucous cries, whilst every opposition free-kick was booed and heckled. The atmosphere was not hostile though, and I never felt uncomfortable. It has to be said the standard of football wasn’t the best (Wuhan’s premier striker is a poor man’s Emile Heskey at best) though the fans certainly make an occasion out of it. At half-time the match was still deadlocked at 0-0 so we took the opportunity to grab a beer. Only after fruitlessly walking around the grounds for a while did it become apparent that only soft drinks were on sale within the stadium. Straight red.

Recently the Chinese Super League has been caught up in a refereeing scandal with allegations of bribery and match-fixing, and watching the second-half it was not difficult to see how this would come up. After clearly being fouled in the area, instead of being given a penalty the opposition player was booked for diving, then booked a second time and sent off for dissent – needless to say the home fans absolutely loved it. Sadly though, Wuhan soon went 1-0 down, and the security guards’ attempts to prevent bottles being brought into the stadium were soon explained as a hail of bottles rained down from the stands. Ultimately one goal was enough, and Wuhan lost their first game of the season. There was reason for hope though, after all this Beijing Guoan side finished second in the league last season, and for large periods of the game Wuhan had been the better team. The next few months told a different story however with Wuhan’s current record standing at 8 games played, 2 draws and 6 losses – better enjoy this season in the top tier while it lasts…

Trip to Beijing

After two and half years of being in China I finally made to it Beijing much to the amusement of my Chinese co-workers who couldn’t believe I still hadn’t been. People say that if you haven’t been to the Great Wall of China “you’re not a man” as ridiculous as this saying is I’m relieved that I can finally say I’ve been to stop the sniggering. Meandering through the hill tops into the distance on the outskirts of Beijing The Great Wall of China is a breath-taking site and lived up to my expectations.  My only slight complaint would be the Subway fast food restaurant at the base of the wall, the faint scent of a meatball sub taking away that authenticity that makes the Wall so fantastic.  I visited the Mu Tian Yu part of the wall which has both a cable cart and toboggan for getting up and down however I opted to walk up which wasn’t as strenuous as our tour guide suggested. He was adamant the cable cart was the only feasible route up…pretty sure he was working on commission (Beware of things like this, it happens a lot). Beijing is known for its poor air quality and smog, if you mention Beijing to people in other parts of China its one of the first thing they’ll comment on. However I was very fortunate during my visit to have clear blue skies meaning my view of the scenery from the watchtower on the wall of the surrounding landscape was stunning.

Wuhan being one of the larger cities in China has well connected transport links, you can reach Beijing in less than 5 hours by high-speed rail. It’s a fast very comfortable journey which matches trains in Europe in terms of reliability and comfort. You can also fly to Beijing in about 2 hours from Wuhan but with all the waiting around at either end the train takes a similar amount of time for a cheaper price. Even though Beijing has more foreigners compared to Wuhan English is still not really spoken so the city can be difficult to navigate if you don’t have any language skills. Fortunately many of the hotels and hostels understand the necessity to cater for foreign visitors and offer assistance for tourists who want to organize day trips or find authentic restaurants to eat in.

One thing I was excited to try during my visit was the worldwide famous Beijing roast duck of which I’d heard mixed reviews before trying it for myself. Having searched on the internet and talked with the staff at the hostel we finally decided on a place to go from the many restaurants that offer this dish. The chef brought a whole cooked duck to our table and skilfully sliced it on front of us, although the meat is quite fatty the sauce and pancakes were delicious and completely different to anything I’ve tasted before in Chinese restaurants in England. The sauce was very rich but I thoroughly enjoyed it and the next time I go back to Beijing I will definitely go back to the same restaurant!! I’ve put a link below if anyone visits Beijing and wants to see for themselves.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294212-d1203777-Reviews-Bianyifang_New_World_Shopping_Mall-Beijing.html

Beijing has a lot to offer and is well worth a trip for the weekend or during the many holidays foreign teachers get throughout a school year.