Day 9 continued

Today we visited the Great Wall. Despite the wind and rain it was an amazing experience. It is listed as one of the wonders of the world, built over 2000 years ago and stretching a distance of 5500 miles. Sadly I didn't make it all the way across! We climbed the wall over a mountain and there were a lot of steps, some of which were higher than my waist. It really was a great defence system. We stopped at one of the stations to take photos and ended up with a queue of Chinese wanting to take photos of us!!

After lunch we travelled to one of the greatest sights in China, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The square itself is known for its historic riots and now its peace. It is heavily guarded by uniformed and plain clothes officers. It is the size of 60 football pitches but there were very few people there because it was so cold!

The Forbidden City though, was worth the freezing fingers. It was a truly unforgettable sight with a long and intriguing history. It was the Imperial Palace for the Emperors of China and consists of building upon building and named as it was forbidden to enter without the Emperor's permission. There were many rules about moving around the city during the time of the Emperor's, including one where if you walked on an Emperor's path you would receive the death sentence! Even today there are many rooms that visitors are not allowed into.

And that is the end of our colourful Chinese adventure. Tomorrow it is time to fly home. Bye for now.

Day 9

We are all absolutely shattered today but looking forward to the day ahead.

Day 8

Another day, another flight. Back to Beijing this morning. After a rather turbulent flight we check back into the hotel just in time for our final meeting about the project. Following tonight's banquet we collapse into bed exhausted!

Day 7

Today we visited the Panda Breeding Base at Chengdu. There are only 1600 pandas left in the world. 80% of these are in the wild of Chengdu and the other 20% are just southwest of this. The Base we visited is helping to ensure that this endangered species continues to exist. There are 180 pandas currently at the base.

                                                                 Three months old

This evening we had the chance to see the famous Chinese facebook opera for ourselves. It was an incredible sight with dancing, music, magic and the famous mask changing experience.

Day 6

Back in school today to visit the classes I didn't see yesterday. To cut down on time 90 children were brought to the lecture theatre where I held a question and answer session so that they could practice their English. The children were interested in the British and Welsh lifestyle and were big fans of Michael Jackson. Following this I had to make a speech to the entire school!

After lunch it was time to say goodbye to the school for now. Finally a summing up meeting took place before we left as a group to travel on to Chengdu by bus for the next leg of our journey.

Chengdu is the third largest city in China and another very busy one. It is never quiet here and life goes on by night as busily as by day. We visited a beautiful part of the city which was a restored ancient street, lined with shops and beautiful buildings. It was here that we found the famous street sellers with their cooked creatures on sticks. The chinese seem to really enjoy a deep fried bat!

                                                                        Starbucks!

                                                                        Jinli Street
The shops here were full of chopsticks, tea and calligraphy pens.

Day 5

Today was the first day to visit our schools. It was an amazing day that I will never forget. The school is a brand new school which was rebuilt in a different area of Sichuan after the original school was very badly damaged in the 2008 Earthquake. It was built with money donated from all over the world and cost £40m to build. It covers many acres and has an impressive sports area but otherwise is quite basic. Classrooms are very small and there is nothing on walls. Children sit in rows at all times. The school day starts at 8 o'clock for children and ends between 6 and 8 o'clock for most children with a two and a half hour lunch and nap break in between. During this time children go home unless they are boarders. Boarders nap in their rooms.

                                                             Being greeted at the school.

During 'recess' all the children (3000 of them!) gather on the sports field for morning exercise. The older children take part in a form of martial arts and the younger have aerobics activities. This takes place for half an hour come rain or shine and then it is back to classes. Children move around for lessons in each subject whatever their age.

I joined in an art class during which the children learned about the famous art of facebook which is a

form of drama telling a story through music. It is most famous for the magical way in which the faces change.

Next I joined a music and dance class in which the children were learning to perform a traditional Tibetan dance.

I taught a number of classes and visited many more. I also visted an exhibition about the earthquake and the re-building program, ate lunch in the canteen (beef in black bean sauce) and visited the dormitries! Phew! Thank goodness for my translator U Ay who was fantastic.

But it wasn't over yet. I was taken to a nearby temple nestled into the mountain side. Although there are lots of religions practised in the region Buddhism is the main one. Can you spot the sleeping Buddha?

To finish the day off I was invited to Miss Yin's house for dinner where I joined in by making dumplings. I sat in the place of honour during the meal - this means sitting directly opposite the door. Lots of the school's English teachers came too. It was lots of fun.

Day 4

Last night we attended a banquet at which children from a local school performed as a choir and an orchestra. A banquet here is a meal served as lots of different dishes that you can choose from all served on a revolving table.

This morning we were up at 4.30am to get a plane to a place called Mianyang, southwest of Beijing in the province of Sichuan. This is where our partner school is. We attended a meeting then a greeting ceremony and dinner. The Principal of Mianyang Experimental School is Zhao Youzhang (pronounced Chow Uchang).

Catching up!

Hello everyone

Unfortunately access to sites such as Blogger, Facebook and so on is blocked in China! This in itself tells you a little about control there. That is why I have been unable to post while I was there. I came home to lots of lovely e mails though so thank you for trying to follow. Now that I am back I will post daily more information for you. I am looking forward to sharing the experience with you after half term.

Day 3

Hello everyone


Using the internet here is more difficult than I thought so I am making the most of this opportunity.


We arrived safely after a 10 hour flight during which I ate two meals and watched two films but didn't get any sleep despite flying through the night!


Beijing is a different world. It is all skyscrapers and bright lights but its History is thousands of years old. There are 20 million people living in Beijing in a city that is 120km x 140km.


After arriving at our hotel we were whisked straight back out to a very old an historical part of Beijing where there are ares known as Hutong.These are in a beautiful part of the city near a lake and we travelled around it by rikshaw. The buildings are the old Emperor's Palaces nestle amongst the Government housing which now belong to the 'common people'. We visited one family who own a number of small dwellings which surround a courtyard, a very different way to live than most of the people in Beijing. The home we visited was a guesthouse and had been in the family for generations. It was very humble but would cost upwards of 4 million pounds of our money - all because there is air above you!

Later we visited The Birdcage stadium which is an impressive sight. We met some chinese children there who asked us if they could have their photo taken with us and not the other way round!

We have been fed lots of lovely Chinese food so far - it is not very different to the Chinese food we have at home.

This morning we have met some important people who have arranged this visit and I tried on some lovely Chinese clothes. I am about to go to my first language lesson so I will teach you a little bit later on.

I have lots of photos but at the moment I can't uplooad them so I will try again when I get to the school tomorrow.

Lots of love

Mrs. Bolt

we're off!

So what's it all about?

The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities and they have organised this visit. Lots of schools in Swansea have visited lots of countries already, including Africa, India and China. 

My visit will allow Glyncollen Primary School to expand its involvement in Global Education with the partner schools learning from each other. It will open doors for you as children who live in a global society.

I am going to China with Heads from the other schools in the Morriston cluster, so when you go to Morriston Comprehensive you will have shared experiences with others in your year.

We will be partnered with a school a bit like ours and I will be finding out all about them while I am there.

When I come back we can start a new and exciting school project and work towards the next level of our International Award. http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/home

 See you soon x

Currency

Here's the currency boys and girls. Each 100 yen note is worth £12. So how much would a Big Mac cost in yen?

I'm a  little emotional leaving school today. I can't believe I won't be there for a whole week! I will miss you! x

Innoculations done - very painful!