The Xi'anese and the Western Mind

I was planning to write a note here not just about Xi’an but more importantly, about the Xi’anese, as it is really the life of the people here that makes it a great place to live. I will however begin with a less than glorious portrayal of a Xi’anese person I came across during the first few months of being here. At the time, it was a little frustrating, verging on amazing though subsequently quite amusing; consequently the story has stuck with me.

I was with my girlfriend, lost in one of these vast furniture warehouses they have here in Xi’an. For those that do not know, here in China if you wish to buy a light or an oven or some paint or a valve or a sink or a sofa, you do not just go down to your local shop or even local multi-store. Here, you end up either on a street full of 50 lights shops or within a huge mall full of 50 light shops. This often means that, even if you were excited about buying the light in the first place, you certainly aren’t in the end, though it may still look good back in the home. (As an aside- B&Q, an English Home Improvement Multi-Store that has had a presence in China for over a decade, has just announced it is closing a third of its stores)

To continue, my girlfriend and I found ourselves lost, somehow, traversing the staff stairwell, up and down, a little in confusion, until we stumbled into the bright light of what was a supermarket, full of your everyday necessities; quite normal. That was, until a hand roughly rested on my shoulder and I turned to find a young security guard looking angrily at the two of us and shouting something, something that at that point for me was utterly incomprehensible. Even with the hindsight of understanding, I would still look upon his words as incomprehensible. He was telling us that we could not enter the supermarket from that particular entrance, as it was for the staff only. We explained that we were lost and had stumbled unwittingly upon it. He repeated that we could not enter the supermarket that way.

We then pointed out that we understood, but that we were now in the supermarket, with all the other people, and we wouldn’t do it again. He repeated his words. I, now a little annoyed, explained to him, as clearly as an annoyed lao3 wai4 (foreigner) can with very little Chinese, that we are now in the supermarket, it is no longer important how we got there, and that we would endeavour to leave through the appropriate exit. He responded with the words: “You cannot come into the supermarket this way”. This was now becoming an issue and we were quickly becoming the centre of attention. So, to appease all, I punched him flat on the ground…No I didn’t, I, listening to my girlfriend, who I must say had of course born the brunt of his frustration and was becoming a little embarrassed by all the fuss, respectfully retreated back the way we had come, muttering this and that about the Chinese under my breath, as I went.

It has just struck me that although I am often critical of the western media being particularly negative, when I am faced here with giving an example of life and the people in Xi’an I too have chosen a less than glorious example. I like the people here and very much enjoy living amongst them, but it is interesting that my mind first moved to a negative, though amusing, portrayal of a Xi’anese person and, what at the time was a frustrating experience. I will correct that in future notes. We cannot after all have the Chinese being tagged, on a whim, by a western mind, now can we?

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It Is Not Just The Summer Heat That Lurks Ominously Under The Surface

Two weeks ago, we experienced temperatures touching into the 80’s and I felt the sense of foreboding, usually felt in May, that accompanies thoughts of the sweltering hot summer months here in Xi'an. Summers here are not what they are back in the lush green Isle of England and, though still a relatively young and healthy chap, I have, during them, found myself subconsciously acting as a rather efficient sweat producing machine. Here I was in March already concerned about what lay ahead.

However, only a few days later and with talk swirling around about dust clouds drifting off the Gobi desert, the skies darkened and everyone one came across had some kind of sinus problem to sneeze about. The pollution here is something, I believe, you get used to, but every now and again it comes up and hits you. Temperatures during the rest of the week steadily decreased and by the weekend, this was reminiscent of being back in Britain, it was raining.

Now, it doesn’t often rain, so it is sometimes quite pleasant to close the windows and curtains to the local street vendors cries and the murderous noise emanating from the newly fabricated building, just yards from my home, that now houses a KTV (karaoke) studio, and to retreat inside. Not to mention being happy to escape from the weekend masses that gather ten deep at bus stops and who jostle for position on street corners, hoping to stand out in some way from the crowd when the next taxi driver passes by, red light lit. There are also all the children in bookshops and the husbands joining wives in coffee shops, giving these places an unusual sense of busyness, that can be happily avoided.

However, the days of sunshine had managed to fool the poor shrubs and trees into offering us a branch or two of fresh buds and even a few light coloured petals in places. They say here in Xi’an that we really only have two seasons Winter and Summer, as Spring and Autumn are dashed through so quickly we are always seemingly being faced with the harshness of freezing winter, or baking summer temperatures.

I am not sure how true that is, as the last couple of years, we have had reasonably enjoyable autumnal evenings and a plentitude of spring mornings. However, these last few weeks the poor plants have been left confused and battered by the onset of summer and an almost immediate return to winter. We may have trouble enough dealing with this situation, the old plants, without the prize of consciousness and the consequential awareness of circumstance that it entails, must be pretty confused indeed.

However, to see the blossom on a sunny day after the bleakness of a polluted Xi’an winter is quite something, but to see the fresh growth of spring being splattered and dashed by the rain and wind is less uplifting indeed. Tomorrow, though, is another day here in Xi’an.

Finally, with reference to life on the playground this week, I have, as my Chinese has improved, begun to talk a little more with the kids at the various schools I teach at, this week a new lad came over and introduced himself to me. He was probably about grade 3 or 4, so about 10 or 11, he didn't seem a particular earnest young boy, just your average kid running about like all the others and then throwing out a couple of questions in my direction, as he passed by on the way back to class. However, his second question, after asking where I was from, was whether Britain would help China or Japan when they have a fight. I diplomatically shrugged my shoulders and replied that I was not entirely sure. In China, you quite quickly gain the sense of the loathing for Japan that exists not simply under the surface, and get used to it, but occasionally, just like the situation above, you observe the odd circumstance that concerns you.
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Reckless and Lazy Western Journalism

I am going to branch out in a different direction today and begin to engage with a new subject, the issue of Western journalists occasionally misrepresenting, exaggerating or propagating an image of China in an unjustified manner. This could be a headline, a photograph or even the content of a story itself, that misrepresents a subject concerning China and portrays it in an overly negative light.

This I consider somewhat lazy, as it is an easy turn for a journalist to maintain or exaggerate a Chinese stereotype held in the minds of many of its readers. Secondly, the recklessness and irresponsibility of it is held in the effect such stories have on the psyche of the media audience, which in its darkest form can lead to the justification of violence or sanctions from one nation upon another, or from one person towards another, and in its lighter form breeds misunderstanding and prejudice.

This general theme is ofcourse in no way meant as justification for the blackout of a number of issues in the Chinese media and/ or the mis-representation of so many stories here, let alone the actual circumstances where a persons freedom to not only communicate but to walk freely has been curtailed, sometimes indefinitely. This criticism solely exists in its own right as a criticism of the misrepresentation and/ or the exaggeration of a stereotype for what I consider are negative ends and consequences.

I will take a recent story as an example, I may well also continue to add others in future notes as I come across them and as I feel fit to include them.
The first I noticed in the UK based Guardian Newspaper. The headline was:

China's Giant Step into Nanotech
'Nanotechnology is big business conducted on an atomic scale. China is a major player, using it for a speaker just 1mm thick - or super-strong armour'

No problem there, China does seem to be one of the leading countries developing nanotechnology. There is a problem however with the picture that the newspaper decided to put alongside the article.


It is a regular concern that this image of a militaristic state is so frequently forthcoming in the western media when they wish for an image of China. In this day and age when we are over-burdened with information, headlines and details, a picture can go along way in settling a perception of something in someone’s mind. This image is a wholly aggressive image that speaks of China’s investment in Nanotechnology as if the forerunner of military expansionism.

Now, these ideas may or may not exist but they don't exist in this context. This is not an image that represents the reality of the story laid beneath it. Where yes, investment in military uses are mentioned along with those investments made by the US, but it actually highlights that China’s investment, research and development in terms of luxury consumer items and environmental uses are ahead of most if not all other nations. 

The picture used is absolutely unrepresentative of the issues involved and can only create negative connotations in the observers mind. Especially, when so often these days people only have limited time to flick through headlines and pictures and don’t always get the chance to study the details of every article. When in fact there is the potential for a positive headline and picture with regard to China's research and development on environmental projects.

Living here I am conscious of the Chinese being somewhat frustrated by the perceptions of them that emanate from the western media. This is a big country, with a gigantic population and that is having to emerge from some pretty dark recent history, as we know issues not always clear to the Chinese themselves, but alot of changes that need to take place here will take time.

All I can say is that I generally find the Chinese as a peaceful and respectful people and take great pleasure in living amongst them. The images and headlines I often see in the western media create an image of a place I don't recognize. That is not to say i do not understand some of the darker political forces under the surface here, maybe being hinted at, but there is sometimes more light in places than I think our western media often wishes to or is able to recognize. (Additional link, recently added-' Lack of News about China has Nothing to do with Bias'
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What is Xi'an Like? Part II

The city centre is surrounded by an ancient city wall with the main routes out of the city all passing through one of a variety of gates, the largest being simply the North, East, South and West gates.  I live in the south, about a 20-minute taxi ride or a 30-minute bus ride from the centre of the city, which is marked by the Bell Tower (see below). Taxis are easy to flag down, run on a meter, relatively cheap and often used when first arriving as bus routes in Chinese characters can be somewhat daunting at first and, depending on mood, somewhat depressing later.


When you do start getting the buses or even when getting a taxi, do not wait for those around you to usher you in, or recognise that you arrived first, if you do you will be waiting some time. What is though interesting and begins to reveal the street level value of life here, is that even in the hurly burly of getting on a bus, or asserting your right to get the next taxi, you will very rarely if ever come across anger and violence. Over and above the seeming disorder is a quiet civility and respect, it is maybe not always obvious to the eye on first arrival but it is there. The best and most frequent examples are the regular near miss scenarios between pedestrian and cyclist, motorcyclist and cyclist, bus and car, taxi and everything, but the absolute lack of aggression in these circumstances, verbally or physically.

I am not speaking for the whole of China, though sometimes my tone may mislead and I apologize for that, but from my experience of living in Xi’an now for nearly three years. I have so rarely seen anger and certainly not actual physical abuse. This is in a place where you are nearly hit by something on a regular basis, I will not now ponder the source of this internalization of emotion or the potential consequences of bottling up emotion, if that is infact what is going on. A superficial observation is that it seems that the people here are so accepting of circumstance, something happens, they face it. One of the nicest things about living here is this absence of aggression in these day-day situations, when back in Britain we attain or witness various levels of anger and abuse on a semi-regular basis.


My preferred form of transport is motorbike taxi, which are supposedly illegal but exceptionally useful and if illegal the government should really attempt some form of licensing. The remarkable thing about the motorbike and moped riders here is that they are nearly all helmet-less; it is actually the thing I like about it. Though, with the rate of car increase sooner rather than later it will become a little too dangerous, not that I have ever been one for riding a helmet cycling but there will come a point where a motorbike and helmet will form the same symbiotic relationship they have in the West. One of the amazing aspects about the lack of motor insurance here or the limited policies atleast, is that if two cars collide, even if a minor incident and even if they are spread across the traffic, they will not move until the police arrive, incredible to witness. Rush hour backed up because two cars have touched, maybe someone has grazed someone else’s wing mirror, but they will just sit there side-by-side with all the traffic just backing up behind, without an inkling of concern.


Xi’an is in the West of China and is considered somewhat "out west". These are some of the last remnants of the Chinese Wild West. Xi’an is quickly on the change but the heart under the surface is I believe, for now atleast, still maintained. The people are friendly, there is an openness and innocence that is so refreshing to be around, there is hope and excitement, but a feeling of pressure and the perception that the opportunity that these greater levels of development supposedly supply, will actually pass most by. 

The question will be how will all this manifest here in Xi’an, here in China. Why I love living here is because of some of the above, but also because we are in the middle of all this and they/ we don’t know where it is going. These are good people, who just want to face the life as best they can, as we all do, let’s hope we all get that chance, I for one feel very lucky to be living this life and experiencing all this here in Xi’an. I am not sure if these notes have done Xi’an or my views on Xi’an justice, but I no doubt will uncover more about life here as these notes continue.
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What is Xi'an Like? Part I

I have written a few notes here now but have not yet really given an account of what Xi’an is like, so I will do that now. This note will come generally from the perspective of a foreign teacher here, though with an eye on the whole. Xi’an is a great place to live, but I must first be clear that the life here for a foreigner teaching is far and away easier than it is even for our Chinese counterparts, let alone the majority who do not have anything like the opportunity for the lifestyle we have. That is not to say there are not the ridiculously wealthy, there certainly are and their number is swelling. While what could loosely be described as a middle-class ( a problem term at the best of times but more so here with the so-called middle class being generally such a minority) is becoming more visible year on year, or even season upon season. Fashion season that is- with the joy and energy with which the Chinese are turning to shopping, as a relatively recent pastime, it is easy to see where the domestic consumer growth could be found to off set the slump in exports, to the suffering West.

The life here as a foreign teacher allows, what some of us refer to as, the retirement life style with youth attached. This means that we do part-time work (doing nothing in retirement doesn’t seem that possible or desirable for interests sake let alone it's viability financially in this day and age), we then study Chinese for a good chunk of the week, but still have time to hang out with friends and loved ones! Finally, the money we earn for a week doing what we do, far and away exceeds the average workers monthly salary for working fulltime. None of this I was aware of before coming here and ofcourse it contributes greatly to the enjoyment of life.

You can certainly work full-time, though not really learn Chinese, and earn a lot of money. This, as in the case of a large number of African teachers here, allows the opportunity for investments, that supply the basis for a business back at home. If you are a foreigner here doing your job from back home, then you are living the classic expat life, still working full-time but with your money going a lot further. However, Xi’an doesn’t really have a 'classic' expat life comparable to the large cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, or even Dalian and Guangzhou, it really is predominantly a community of teachers and students. 

However, I want to take this note outside the realm of affluence and opportunity and just outline a few things about Xi’an which make me actually feel at home, as well as giving an idea of what is going on here. Xi’an is a great city with an incredible history, it is a city of about 8-9 million with 4-5 of those in the main centre and inner suburbs, but still doesn’t feel like a big city at all and is actually considered somewhat of a backwater with regards to modern Chinese cities, though that is beginning to change. I do not believe people in other countries who have not been here can comprehend the construction work that goes on here. Cranes are everywhere; buildings are being pulled down within every street and around every corner (my building above-on a particularly smoggy winter day- may not be long for the chop). Pavements are being laid for the first time in places where a track was just months or a couple of years earlier. Fields on the outskirts of town, as well as in town centres, are being concretized at a rate probably comparable to a decade or two of growth back in the day in Britain, but that is taking a year or two here.

As an example, eight or so of the Universities here in downtown Xi’an have built shiny new ‘Super Campuses’ on the outer southern edge of the city. When I arrived in Xi’an those areas were quite literally rice fields, these ‘Super Campuses’ now exist and so increasingly do the apartment blocks and restaurants that service them and, that with their own life force, are transforming the area into a whole new suburb of the city. Just south of the Big Goose Pagoda (see picture opposite), which is one of the most famous historical spots here in Xi’an and not far from the city centre, a huge lake was created and is now one of Xi’an’s favourite weekend retreats. That area is itself now being developed with the building of luxury apartment blocks, fine restaurants and shops. As a living area it did not exist when I came here, it is now named Qu Jiang and is quickly becoming the place to live. I will continue this note above in Part II.
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An Inability To Answer And The "No Why" Situation

A couple of experiences last week from the wider Chinese educational sphere. The first has been observed numerous times before but never fails to act as a shining, though diminishing light on the mentality being bred inside Chinese educational institutions. I happily got my kids this week, 60 odd in a class, throwing up hands to answer questions, the answers simply being dragged off the page and into their mouths, as not simply a sentence in a book but an answer to a question, no problem, these kids are pretty good. Then, for the third activity I introduced a question that had two perfectly acceptable and simple sentence answers, these answers I wrote on the board leaving space for the appropriate activity to be added by the students.

However, instead of this time being greeted by a lightening show of hands I was faced with confusion and dis-interest. Maybe they were tired but on checking they actually didn’t understand how to answer. Now this is the concern, the level was most certainly within their range and answers could be found within their known vocabulary. The sentence questions and answers were again carefully explained to them, a few more hands but not many. Chinese children when faced with having to actually think of an answer for themselves have no answer.

There is an amusing, though often frustrating, anecdotal manifestation of this in the wider society, and that represents the non-necessity of an answer because there is actually a denial even of a question. It is when you are instructed to do something by a security guard, an official of some kind or some other worker, or just hear someone's opinion on something and you ask "why? The answer in Chinese is 没有为什么 which directly means not have why or no why.

This leads me onto my second little anecdote of the week and that involves my very articulate 17-18 year old 1-1 student. She asked at one point during our class whether I knew what 资本主义 means, I did, it means capitalism. She then laid out the words for communism, socialism and capitalism on the table, talked a little of the Communist Party and then continued to tell me that China is a socialist society.

At this point, I was considering whether to move onto another topic or to dig a little further on this topic, you can’t break habits of a lifetime (or you can but it takes the desire to want to) so I continued. I gave her a few examples of small and large organizations in China that we both knew, including the Jiaozi restaurant across the street and the Chinese health service, and asked who paid for the services or products. That was us, and who produced, distributed and profited, it was the private individuals or companies involved. I admittedly did point out that a number of the major utilities and banks were still state or part state owned.

I then asked her which system was it that China was. She somewhat hesitantly pointed to socialism. I asked her why that was her answer, she was silent for a moment before stating "that is what they told us at school". After a couple of awkward moments where she was clearly playing over the scenario in her head we moved on.

China is obviously a mix of capitalism and socialism and although my most certainly non-expert opinion does not allow me a position to define it as one or the other it certainly seems a capitalist society to me.  The fact is that the type of economic system that you and I experience here on a daily basis, is most certainly one of a free market persuasion, even if the devil-is-in-the-detail- as an aside- the inequality here between the majority and the wealthiest is almost fantastical in its extreme. 

However, what was most interesting was the ease with which an obviously intelligent and actually quite challenging person could quite easily turn to a previously heard answer rather than give her own opinions. I might also point out that she is much more inquisitive and questioning than a vast majority of the young people one comes across here. These anecdotes are not meant as slights but merely as thought evoking observations.

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Primary Practices. Part II

A brief continuation of last weeks theme concerning the fragmented teaching practices in Primary Schools here in Xi’an. A school I teach in on a Monday, which appears well structured, resourced and managed, seems to have respect for the foreign teachers they are employing, which is positive, but they also have faith in who we are, and by that I mean the organization we work for. Now, this may not seem a problem but in fact it is. The concern here is twofold, that firstly, though yes, maybe the teaching we carry out in class is of high enough standard, for the school I am placed in it is more their luck than their judgement. Secondly, the way in which we integrate into the school's English programme could be improved upon.

So firstly, the situation is that I and a couple of others are intentionally placed in new schools because we can do our job. The contract the school has with our company is then extended at the end of the year and we then generally move onto another school, often leaving a completely inexperienced teacher in our place. This is not simply due to a lack of able teacher’s in China, though that is a problem, but is also down to the fact that the company I work for is not organised well enough to keep pace with the recruitment requirements.

 The moving on of teachers is not, I should also add, always simply down to the companies decision making, but is sometimes ofcourse due to the teacher's own desire to change schedules for the sake of interest or to balance the hours that are also taken up studying Chinese or some other interest.

The school also places trust in our company being a responsible educational institution, when in actual fact the company I work for is more concerned about cost efficiency and profit. This simply can manifest, as it has here, with us teaching from our own cheaply produced textbooks (pamphlets) that are not user friendly and are actually aimed at a higher level student, and ofcourse come at a cost to the school. I have recently discovered the books the school uses in their own classes, they are at an appropriate level and of interest to young kids and should also be used by us.

That leads onto the second point, that we should simply be used to reinforce what the school is doing with its own teaching. The school needs to put trust in its own system and if they don’t actually have one, then they should make sure they organise one, and not rely on us to shoulder the responsibility we are not prepared or organized well enough to shoulder. At that stage, an externally recruited foreign teacher can simply come in and help the students use and reinforce the language they have already been acquainted with. 

Finally, another school I work at regularly has everything working quite smoothly. They have regular classes with well-trained Chinese-English teachers, with a rigorous system of monitoring. Foreign teachers then come in and review work the kids were introduced to the previous week. All seems well  in the idea and the structure but is whole-heartedly let down by the text books the school has chosen to use. The books are impenetrable, with not a useful sentence pattern insight, no clear clarification of any particular grammar point and random vocabulary that each teacher focuses on differently. Which means that when we go in to review work with them and ask them to independently use some of the language, they have no idea at all. If you ask them to recite what is in the book out loud, no problem. If you question what something means or switch a sentence pattern around or try and activate a key phrase, you are met with a wall of silence. This fact in essence, as far as I can see, breaks down all the good work that is done in the recruitment and structuring of the department and departmental staff. 

It is amazing that such a simple issue of choosing a text book can have such a detrimental effect on the level of education and erode so much good work done in other areas. I must emphasize how frustrating it is too see how these decisions so negatively effect the class content and subsequent education, and how easy it would be to become so much better. 

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Primary School Practices In Xian. Part I

Over the last semesta or so I have begun to recognize a couple of important facts, the first maybe I should have always noted but didn’t, that primary education may well be the most important stage of education and have the most lasting impact, the second, that the structure for teaching English in Primary Schools in Xi’an is generally pretty poor.

When I studied for a PGCE in the UK, we were required to organize a two-week placement in a primary school before our training in the secondary school system commenced. The idea was to get a sense of where the pupils were coming from. The over-riding impression I was left with, was that after only the first few years of primary school most students’ academic level and subsequent achievement was laid out for them- somewhat of a disaster really in educational terms.


In terms of teaching a foreign language in China, it is quite obvious to see the importance of the foundations that are laid in matters of language acquisition and, we have to include it, levels of discipline in the Primary school sector. In the various schools I have taught in there are quite different standards already appearing, even in equally affluent areas, though particularly where the wealth of the parents has a major influence. In China, with the emphasis on continual extra-curricular studies for children, wealth makes a big difference to a child’s ability. However, that aside, it is enough for now just to comment a little on the poor structure of the teaching of English in most, if not all of the schools here. 

In one of the schools I teach in the senior students, in grades 5 and 6, have a co-ordinated programme of study and homework with a Chinese-English teacher but no foreign-teacher, the younger students, grades 1-4, have an external foreign teacher but no qualified Chinese-English teacher and no structured programme of homework. The foreign teachers are supplied by external private language schools. It is not my intention here too analyze the nature of private business practices on schools and schooling, as I am sure I will do that at a later date, particular with the profusion of private English teaching institutions already here in China and which are exceptionally influential in the extra-curricula sphere.

The exam in Grade 6 is of great importance, so maybe the thinking by the school above is to have a full-time Chinese-English teacher for the upper grade so to prepare the students as best they can for their exam in the short time they have available, having not previously had English as a compulsory subject. However, I would argue the most important aspect would be first to make sure that a reliable and comprehensive programme of study is set in place for the younger students, so that in 5 years time they have the best possible chance that they can for achievement. It seems that every year that these changes are not implemented it constitutes an abdication of responsibility for these young children's education.

The problem is in the nature of a results based education policy and the emphasis that is placed on last-minute fulfilment of requirements and not a reasonable thought through process of knowledge acquisition, from the most suitable source. In some contexts, this may be multi-media based educational provision or closer to the issues involved here, whether the teacher is foreign or Chinese, or both, and if both how the work between the two can be co-ordinated so to be relevant and comprehensive. It would seem obvious that a results based education and a well structured process of education are not mutually exclusive aspects, however they often seem to be treated as such.

The main concern I have is that foreign teachers are not being used correctly and that they should supplement the Chinese- English teachers work and should certainly not be left to be the soul provider of the early years students foreign language education. Though this would be based on the postulate that the Chinese teachers know what they are doing in the first place and that the resources and syllabus available are relevant. I will continue this theme next week with another couple of examples from the other schools I am presently teaching in.
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Teaching Again And Talking About The Financial Crisis In Chinese

The week that was, was a week of settling back into a routine that required early starts and late nights. The early mornings involved being both woken by an alarm clock by my bedside and re-awoken a short time later by the young masses gathered before me in the classroom. Late nights, as learning Chinese often requires, although is not always given, a candle burnt at both ends.

I spent the early part of the week outlining to one Chinese teacher why the use of Chinese by foreigner teachers is actually constructive rather than destructive. Explaining that the use of Chinese in the classroom by a foreigner helps the students concentrate on the target language taught, is quickly understood and seemingly more piercing in its effect when giving instructions or getting attention, and finally, creates amusement. The frustrating aspect of this little discussion, is the light it actually shines on Chinese teachers' over attentiveness on teaching everything that is in the textbook or requesting, without proper thought, that foreign teachers only speak English in the classroom. When firstly, alot of the content in the books taught here is often not particularly useful, secondly, that the Chinese phrases often used in class are either so inconsequential the children already know them in English or don’t need to know them.

Thirdly, if more advanced English is used together with the focus language it can quickly become a case of new language overload. In this scenario, the children are distracted from the key words and phrases being taught, largely because they have difficulty distinguishing the new words introduced from the random. Ofcourse, as the students get older this is an important skill to develop but I would suggest that acquiring a good basis in a foreign language is initially of most importance, before being subjected to further confusion. Teaching is a balancing act that requires patience, reflection, creativity and the skills of adaptation, as well as, and maybe most importantly, quite an acute appreciation of the mood, not only of individual students but of the whole class. These are skills that are sometimes a little lacking amongst Chinese teachers, though this may well be said of many foreign teachers here too. Humour goes along way towards alleviating boredom, regaining attention and lightening the load, foreign teachers speaking Chinese can often be a very quick way of creating these results, as well as attaining the more formal benefits of understanding and discipline.

The week also required a re-engagement with regular Chinese classes and the attention to detail in the preparation that this entails. My Kou3 Yu3 (mouth language) confidence was significantly boosted by the chatting that went on in class this week, especially my 45-minute monologue on the so-called ‘credit-crunch’ (very useful radio broadcast explanation-click on ‘full episode’). I was, however, assisted by my teacher who fed me some of the topic specific vocabulary that I had yet to learn, such as bankruptcy, risk, credit and so on. This is actually a nice fluid process and makes for a confidence inducing exchange, discussing a reasonably advanced issue while being helped just enough to keep you flowing but little enough for it to still feel like an autonomous act. However, the reviewing system I have implemented in recent months had to take a back seat to the learning of new vocabulary and the identification of Chinese characters in the short articles being translated. Another week and another mild step forward, although not something this week that can be said about most of the world’s economies or simply the world’s economy, depending now on how we are supposed to look at it.
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Chinese New Year- If It Is Going To Go, It Might As Well Go Like That

Well, if the curtain has to be brought down on these celebrations then you might as well go down fighting for them. That is how it seems the Chinese greet the Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year and marks the end of these weeks of travel, celebration and the good old-fashioned eating of too much food. Although, when they went, they went down with a smile on their faces.

From about 6 in the afternoon, to past 10 at night, there were fireworks and crackers being let off everywhere, and I must emphasise everywhere. If they were not in the sky over ahead, they were in the sky just ahead of me, if I was caught between two buildings they were reflecting in both the apartment windows and in those of the cars below. This crescendo of celebration also brought with it a little too much of what could be described as a crashing din, with the bang of the banger (popular!) reaching around every corner and within every building. This is one aspect of the night that can actually begin to wipe the smile from your face.


As I cycled slowly towards Shi Da Lu and with my attention taken by the lights and patterns ahead, I did not at first notice where the shapes and sounds were coming from, as I got nearer I realized that someone was, every few minutes, just putting a box of fireworks in the middle of the road. With vehicles still passing-by, rockets gained heat and then whistled into the night sky, above the shiny, reflective bonnets of the cars beneath. The odd one, with a low trajectory, sent a thousand multi-coloured sparks dashing across these metallic frames. It looked amazing, the more so for the fact I would probably be locked up for doing the same thing back in Britain.

After some time, there is a point surely, where you reach firework overload, I retreated to Sculpting in Time Café for a bit of study. But I soon realized my appetite for fireworks was unsatiated as I found myself bending ever lower in my seat to catch another glimpse of these locally named "fire-flowers", still rising and fanning out over the buildings and trees outside the window.

On another note, a pleasant thing I acknowledged this week that was connected with my return to work, was that after just a couple of days of being around young kids again I was feeling fresher both physically and mentally. I have noted it in a wider sense before, never in such a specific instance, but there really is something quite splendid about being around Chinese children. They are just so full of life and simplicity and not the duplicity, which I am afraid, seems to have infected even some of the quite young in Britain.

If I had to do this everyday then maybe I would not feel quite the exuberance I do. However, the limited number of teaching hours a foreign teacher can quite happily live on here, means that a taste of this youthful inhibition and honesty is rather uplifting, leaving you free to use your Chinese studies as a source of disillusionment and despair. On that note, I will conclude with the observation that 2-3 weeks away from regular classes and subsequent chatting in Chinese, has left my carefully choreographed Kou3 Yu3 (oral language) confidence in tatters. But, that’s nothing new and will be dealt with in due course.
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Chinese New Year Comes And Is Still Going

Chinese New Year (Guo Nian) seemed to have come and gone but on returning to Xi'an it is obvious it is still in the process of going, pleasantly. Back in the village, my girlfriend is actually from a small village outside town, New Year was spent trying desperately not to eat a feast of fine proportions at every home in the neighbourhood. However, when the neighbourhood consists of fields and homesteads drifting off into the far distance and when everyone seems to be a second father, an uncle, a sister, an elder brother or an aunty this can prove quite difficult. Even harder, having arrived at the destination where you have actually planned to have dinner, is to politely find excuses for why you cannot now eat all the delights laid before you. In areas of China where maybe the selection of food on offer is not usually of the widest variety, come Spring Festival things are different. Fish are found, pigs and chickens are killed and even the odd dog finds its way to the plate. This is the time of year in China to treat yourself and, as best you can, everyone else around you.

Now, having left the festivities behind and returned to the provincial capital of Xi’an, the centre of western China, I have found a sleepy city still suffering the feeling of loss, the loss of its population to neighbouring towns and villages. Many of the restaurants remain closed and the streets relatively quiet. There is still a week left of the 4 week holiday I have had from my school and this has meant I have spent the last days in true holiday spirit. (Many Chinese people still seem to get atleast a couple of weeks off for Spring Festival) It is quite a splendid feeling to enjoy the festivities of for example our own Christmas celebrations but have days to savour them, instead, as it is for so many now back in the West, a few days of dashing around to see family knowing full well that work is lurking in the background. Ofcourse, the more China develops economically or specifically the more it adopts Capitalist fundamentals, the more its major chains open earlier and the more holidays are cut short. Let us hope the number of family run businesses can hold off the onslaught of larger franchises and keep a hold on this great time of year and the opportunity it offers for reconnecting the increasingly disparate Chinese family.

As an aside and with reference to the subway system that is being built here in Xi’an, it is marvellous to have returned to discover Chang’an Lu (the main southerly tributary from the city centre and the south gate) free from a couple of sections of subway related road closures, that have been causing disbelief and despair for months. These closures seem to have coincided with a noticeable increase in car use over the last year or so and have led accordingly to a noticeable increase in the number of minor accidents. I will refer back to these issues in later posts, but it is enough to conclude here with the observation that people maintain the habit of crossing the road and swinging out of junctions as if cars were still a strange anomaly here in Xi'an, they are not. This week I am able to trundle down the street on my bike with an absentminded holiday attentiveness, next week I will not be able to do so, but then I will be back at work.
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