| Students from King Edward VII School in King's Lynn Norfolk have been writing about their experiences in Beijing. Sophie We arrived in Beijing on the 6th August and since then we have been busy with cultural trips and viewing Olympic events. Our school has a partner school from Chongqing, and they have accompanied us on occasions such as shopping and traditional meals.  |  I feel I have personally gained a lot from this trip |
The culture over here in China is very different to the UK. The toilets were the first challenge! As we travelled on the coach we saw a range of living standards, from six star hotels to shanty towns. Naomi When we first arrived in china I was very shocked at the heat even though it was the evening. I thought people where making the weather sound hotter that it really would be but I guess I was proved wrong! Also the toilets where horrible! Some areas were very nice, others not so. But this helped you to understand the difference in their culture. Many areas where very well decorated with Olympic flags and pictures, this showed how proud china is when it comes to there country and the Olympics. Beth | It is weird here because we stand out from everyone else. We get our picture taken as we walk around |
The security around the Olympics is very high. There are soldiers standing at every entrance and exit, and police all over the place at the events. It is quite weird because we are not used to it and they are very different compared to England. I like Beijing, it is very clean and it feels quite safe. I think that this is on purpose because of the Olympics, but it is very nice. It is weird here because we stand out from everyone else. We get our picture taken as we walk around and people stare at us. Rebecca On the 8th August we met again with out partnership school, where they took us to the Silk Market in Beijing. The boys from our partnership came around the market with us, and were extremely helpful when it came to 'bartering' with the stall holders. They managed to tell us which prices were ridiculous, and when we were getting a good deal! The next day, we met up with our partnership school, after visiting Tiananmen Square, which was beautiful. We brought our partnership school a McDonalds, and although that doesn't sound much to us, it was a real treat for them! That night David, their trip leader, then asked us for a meal to a traditional hot pot, in Beijing. The food was certainly not what I expected. We were brought a pot of boiling water, into which meat and vegetables were put in to cook. The children explained that the hot pot in Chongquing, was a lot bigger, so much that it would nearly fill up the table! Shambavi | we tried sheep's stomach, neck and head |
On the 8th of August we went to watch the opening ceremony on the big screen in a local park. It was AMAZING!! You could tell that everything had been practiced to perfection. I remember thinking that London had a lot to live up to!! On the 9th we went to the cycling race. It didn't last long as they managed to cover the distance we could see in seconds, but you could see that there was an enormous amount of security taking place. We went to the Temple of Heaven and the acrobatics show which shoed the amount of skill the people had which was brilliant. We have also tried some very traditional dishes, the most unusual was the Hotpot (a specialty in Chongqing) and we tried sheep's stomach, neck and head. Which was... interesting to say the most. Jessica The Olympic events we have seen are the opening which was amazing we watched it on a big screen in a park. The cycling which was about 5 seconds of action however, it was still good and the rowing which was good and lots of fun. We still have to see handball, two hockey events in which we have men and women from Great Britain is the most I'm looking forward to. Rowing and the equestrian events where we will be travelling to Hong Kong to see it at the famous jockey club. Maillie I feel I have personally gained a lot from this trip, and will continue to gain until we return home. I have tried many traditional Chinese foods of which I thought I would never be able to stomach, but have surprised myself, I have also learnt a lot about the culture of people not in the Western world and how different there lives are to ours.
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?