Changes in Wuhan

With its key position in central China Wuhan is a key hub for both commercial as well as industrial transport. Marking the midpoint on the high-speed train between Beijing and Guangzhou with new lines now open to Guilin this makes Wuhan a convenient base for those wishing to travel around China. In terms of industry Wuhan has been termed the gateway to Western China, something particularly important to the planned development of Western China by the Chinese government. What all this means in real terms is that Wuhan is changing rapidly and well on its way to becoming a truly international city. These changes are taking place not only in the infrastructure of the city but also in culture, sport and education. Here I have mentioned three such changes that show how Wuhan is changing right now.

With the plans long ago submitted and finalised, the base has now been completed and in the last few weeks the first steel beams have been installed in what will be the Wuhan Greenland Center Tower. Construction is estimated to be completed in 2017 at which time it will stand as the fourth highest building in the world. At 636m that makes it more than double the height of The Shard (currently the tallest building in Europe).

As many city residents will tell you, Wuhan is a city of ‘firsts’ in China. It had the first bridge to cross the Yangtze river, the first tunnel going under the river and as of last year the first Metro line to go under the river. That line will soon be joined by the recently opened Line 4 which began operation at the end of December. Line 4 will eventually run all the way from Wuhan train station down to Zhuankou in Hanyang, though currently is only open as far as Yuemachang in Wuchang. However passengers can take the Metro between Wuhan train station, Wuchang train station and Hankou train station – greatly convenient for travellers getting in and out of the city. Now in Wuhan there are three Metro lines open with five more planned to open in the next 5 years with further suburban lines to follow. When fully completed the Wuhan Metro system will be one of the most extensive in the world.

In September of this year Wuhan will play host to a Women’s Tennis Association tournament with 7 of the top 10 female players expected to attend. The stadium is located in Guanggu (Optics Valley) and construction will be completed in the coming months. One player you can safely expect to be competing in the tournament will be the current world number four Li Na who is a local of the city.

 

 

 

Learning Chinese Characters

For people who learn Chinese outside of a formal course or degree, the choice of whether they learn characters with their initial studies is up to them. Many people have asked me whether they need to learn characters straight away, and the answer to this I think is dependent on your reasons for learning Chinese.

When I first came to China I took lessons throughout the year in Chinese as understanding what people were saying to me was somewhat of a priority. By the end of the year I was reasonably happy with my progress and could understand most day to day things I needed as well as being able to carry out simple conversation. Despite this I didn’t know a single Chinese character. For me at that time I wanted to focus on my oral and my listening, which to be quite honest is hard enough. For those people who may only be in China for one year and who are looking to learn functional Chinese during their stay then I would advise not bothering too much with characters and focusing on spoken Chinese.

For people who are serious about learning Chinese though, and who may wish to continue their studies beyond one year in China, learning characters is a must. Only when you have a proper understanding of Chinese characters and their myriad meanings can you really understand the language. It is generally accepted that a knowledge of 2500-3000 characters is entirely sufficient to read any written work you are likely to encounter. To those new to the language this is slightly misleading though, as whilst this might not seem like a massive mountain to climb, in reality if you do learn these commonly-used characters you still need to learn the tens of thousands of words that can be made with these characters.

As well as their importance in fully coming to grips with the Chinese language another aspect of learning characters that has made an impact on me is how fascinating they can be to study. One aspect of this is in the genesis of the characters themselves. Originating from pictograms thousands of years ago the forms of many characters today still bear a close relation to the meaning they carry. A common example of this is 木(mu) meaning tree or wood.  From there if we have two together we have the character林 (lin) meaning forest.  Finally three together gives us the character 森 (sen) also meaning forest, though generally in a more densely wooded sense.

Whilst not all characters still bear this same visual relation to their meaning, nonetheless when you learn more of their meanings it becomes easier to guess new words from their component characters. For example if you know that the character 电 (dian) means electricity and that 脑 (nao) means brain then it is not the greatest leap of imagination to guess that together电脑 means computer (literally ‘electric brain’). Another basic example would be the character 飞 (fei) meaning ‘to fly’ and 机 (ji) which amongst other things means machine. Thus together we have the word 飞机 aeroplane (‘flying machine’).

For the student who has begun to study Chinese, characters can seem hopelessly complex and nonsensical, and for those who only wish to be able to get by during their stay in China perhaps it is easier not to learn them. Yet for those people who are interested in seriously studying Chinese, the study of characters is not only a necessity but also an immensely rewarding endeavour.

 

 

Chinese qualifications

Prior to coming to China I had very little idea about Chinese language qualifications outside of those which you would obtain at university. Only after coming here did I hear people talk about the HSK, though I was never really sure what it was, what purpose it served or how you could get it. I have given a rough outline her of some of the basic information regarding the HSK for those who may be interested in taking it.

What

The HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) is a standardised test of Chinese language ability for non-native speakers, of which it is the only one recognised by the Chinese authorities. In recent years the format of the test has changed, and there are now 6 levels. These levels are usually put into three bands; basic (levels 1 and 2), intermediate (levels 3 and 4) and advanced (levels 5 and 6). Level 1 is described (by Wikipedia) as ‘Designed for learners who can understand and use some simple Chinese characters and sentences to communicate, and prepares them for continuing their Chinese studies.’ Whilst level 6 is ‘Designed for learners who can easily understand any information communicated in Chinese and are capable of smoothly expressing themselves in written or oral form.’ Above level 2 learners are required to have learned a number of Chinese characters, so for those who wish to reach the higher levels then a sound basis in Chinese characters is imperative. As can be seen in the two descriptions the levels represent a very broad spectrum, so even for absolute beginners there is something to aim for.

Why

In a most basic sense the HSK provides a good yardstick for Chinese learners to gauge their progress. For many people, having a goal is also an excellent motivation to work hard at their reading, writing and speaking. For students who achieve excellent marks in the HSK (usually levels 3 or 4) they may also be able to gain a scholarship for long or short term study at a Chinese university. For those who may wish to gain employment in a company in China, good marks in the HSK may be a prerequisite for the job. In this case most employers would expect the applicant to have achieved a level 4 in the HSK if not higher.

How

There are now test centres for the HSK around the globe, which has made it very convenient for people who wish to sit the exam. There are typically a few different times in the year when you can sit an exam for any given level, however this varies between different test centres so be sure to check with your local test centre in advance. In terms of signing up to take the HSK, registration typically needs to be completed no later than one month in advance and a fee of £60 (approx.) must also be paid in order to take the test. With regards to preparing for the HSK there are numerous online sources providing the official vocabulary list for each level as well as a number of practice tests for learners to take.

 

The HSK is administered by the Hanban institute, so for those wishing to find more information about the HSK, their website is http://english.hanban.org/