Half way through!

After a month of living here I can safely say that visiting Beijing through the CRCC Asia program has been an incredibly insightful and fulfilling experience in my life from a number angles. And I’ve still got a month to go!

On the first day of my internship, CRCC made sure we were all dropped off at our host company locations. Betty (CRCC coordinator) went out of her way to make sure I arrived safe and sound. She directed me into the building where I was met by the British Council Education team – the people I would be working with and learning from for the two months to follow. Right from the start, the Education team have been incredibly welcoming, listening to my learning objectives and providing guidance where possible. On my first day I was introduced to exciting projects such as Generation UK – China. The purpose of Generation UK – China is to provide 80,000 UK students with the opportunity to experience studying and working in China by 2020. Within Generation UK – China, I have been working on the Spotlight campaign. The aim of the campaign is to inspire Generation UK alumni to return to China. This involves identifying individuals with unique China experiences to write a blog post about their China experiences on the Generation UK: China Linked In Network page. I have picked up some key skills whilst working on the Spotlight campaign such as partnership management, market research and content creation. In addition to Spotlight I have also been working on the China resources pack. The objective of the China resource pack is to highlight additional scholarship, internship and volunteering opportunities for British alumni. Working on the resources pack has allowed me to develop my project planning, project management and time management skills.

In addition to working on Generation UK – China, I have also been working on the UK – China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance. The purpose of the alliance is to create a platform for the UK and China to share best practices for teaching and entrepreneurship. The UK – China IEE Alliance is still in the research and planning stages. However, I have learnt a lot about how Entrepreneurship is taught and assessed by educators in the UK as well as policy expectations of entrepreneurship education set down by the UK government.

With so much to see outside the office I have also been trying to explore as much of Beijing as possible at the weekends and in the evenings. My top experiences so far have been camping out on the Great Wall, taking Kong Fu lessons in the Temple of Heaven and attending a tea ceremony in Western Beijing.

Camping on the Great Wall was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. Myself and five friends from the CRCC program were picked up from the apartments and driven for two hours out of Beijing to Hebei province. Upon arrival we were given a Chinese feast for lunch consisting of around 5-7 different dishes to share between us. After a short rest to let our food settle, we set off to hike up to the Great Wall. Once we arrived at the Great Wall we set up camp, took a rest and drank some water before setting off for a long hike up the wall. After seeing some amazing views we headed back to our camp to eat a delicious barbecue on the great wall while we watched the sun set. A sight I will never forget. After a good nights sleep we woke up at 4:00am to watch the sun rise. Another beautiful view. We took one last hike up the Great Wall before being taken back to eat Chinese breakfast at the same place we ate lunch
the day before. Finally we drove back to Beijing, arriving before noon. An amazing 24 hours and definitely not one to miss out on!

Another rich Beijing experience was learning Kong Fu in the Temple of Heaven. I was up and out by 06:30am to be met by a local Chinese interpreter at the East gate of the Temple of Heaven for 08:00am. She escorted me to an area of the Temple of Heaven hidden by the trees. Here she introduced me to 76 year old Master Lee, a Kong Fu Master with a lifetime of experiences. He was training a group of 12-16 year olds. They were synchronistically pulling off punch kick combos and round house flips. I was very impressed. I joined in with the kids but I could only try to keep up. I was pleasantly surprised by their patience and willingness to teach me the moves. They were keen for me to return so they could continue to teach me authentic Kong Fu. This is something I would love to do. They told me I must purchase some adequate Kong Fu pants and shoes before returning!

I think the biggest culture shocks so far has been the prices in Beijing. It’s ridiculous how cheap the necessity items such as travel and food are. You can go from one side of Beijing to the other for 5 yuan. This is the equivalent of £0.65p. A price beyond anything you could ever imagine from Transport for London! Street food is cheap and tasty but you must be careful with who you buy it from as it’s hard to trust the hygiene of street sellers. But for a street food meal, you can expect to pay the same price as it costs you to go from one side of Beijing to the other, 5 yuan or £0.65p. The one thing that seems to be the same price if not more expensive than in the West is coffee. So if you rely on coffee, you may find your love for caffeine costs you more than food and transport in Beijing!

Up until now Beijing has been a life changing experience. I only have my parents, the British Council, CRCC Asia and everyone else involved who has made this a fantastic experience to thank! If you’re considering applying, all I can say is just do it. Don’t miss out on this enriching opportunity to experience a completely different culture from what you’ve become accustomed to in the West.

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