China Stories

Ping pong and a stuffed peacock...

24th May 2008, Maria

After yesterday's frustrations we had a brilliant time today. We drove an hour out of the smoggy, polluted city and saw blue sky for the first time in a week.

We were visiting our one child family at their weekend retreat, which sounds really posh and it was... It had a room the size of a barn which was just for playing games like table tennis, chess and indoor golf. It also had two quad bikes, tons of books, a red telephone box and (rather bizarrely) a stuffed peacock.

The family were so hospitable and pleasant that everyone enjoyed the day despite the temperature being about 38 degrees. We filmed the family outside with the backdrop of a beautiful green mountain. They played a board game which was like Connect Four except you had to connect five.

What a difference a day makes.

Maria's next entry

Three things that made my day fun:

24th May 2008, Gerald

1. Played basketball with Maria at Xiao Di's country retreat (had to fish the ball out of his fish pond mind you). She might tell you she won but I was just warming up - honest.

2. Had a good laugh with Dave in the back of the bus. He taught us Chinese words and we taught him English and French phrases. A funny video will be posted sometime in the future.

3. Took funny pictures with Xiao Di.

Gerald's next entry

Friendly folk.

24th May 2008, Alasdair

Since arriving in China, our work has been made easier by the friendliness and helpfulness of the people. Everyone we've met has been happy to talk and support us as much as possible.

Today we travelled to a town a little over an hour from Beijing to visit a family at their summer house. Having filmed the interview, they wouldn't let us leave without having dinner. No ordinary dinner either but a special meal cooked only once or twice a year on certain occasions. It was delicious. The meal, which is traditional to the area, consisted of small parcels cooked in boiling water, some contained meat and some were vegetarian - to the relief of pescetarians Gerald and Maria.

This is a good example of the kind of people we've met here. From day-to-day the camera crew, who are from Beijing, are very helpful. I'm used to working with foreign television crews through my work on Eòrpa and the three people working with us in China are excellent.

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