Going back out to China

 

It is a little hard to believe that it is more than six years since I was last in China. If that sounds like a humblebrag I apologise, but China has loomed very large in my life in all kinds of very enjoyable ways. 

I first went out there in I think 2000 (maybe 2001) for work. I worked in ELT publishing, and of course it has always been a big market for anything to do with learning English. I have been maybe four or five times for work over the years, usually travelling to Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai; the big commercial centres. And of course what was lovely about all those trips was that because I was working with colleagues based out there (Hi to Joe and William and Helen and Forrest and all the rest of you!) was that you had an 'in' to the way that life was in the country, rather than what an ordinary tourist would see. I went for lots of meals, swapped life histories, and got to see interesting off-the-beaten-track or cutting-edge places.

And, partly as a result of a very interesting train ride with my colleague William (Shanghai to Nanjing, which then took 3 hours and now takes 73 minutes!) I became interested in the Chinese language and then, bit by bit, in Chinese culture. William explained the nature of the language in a really helpful way, and I was stimulated to start taking weekly classes back in the UK. Slow progress but progress. 

I talked to Cro about the place and we realised that we both thought it might be worth visiting eventually for a holiday, so Cro started taking lessons too, and eventually in 2003 we made our first trip out there with a little very basic Chinese to help us. And it was brilliant! We summoned up our courage and dived into it like a real couple of backpackers, and went back about six or seven times together and a couple of times separately and in 2005, I think, Cro went over there with her three still-quite-young children. They had a great time, and what do you know, two of them ended up living in China for extended periods of time and one of them is now hugely fluent in the language and deeply knowledgeable about the country. I am massively jealous, but whatever.

But the whole upshot of this contact with the country is that I have always followed what happens there, with interest, and I am very interested in the whole long and deep history of the country, the language and the culture. I am not at all fluent yet, but this little trip will give me a chance to get back up to speed, and a longer trip later should help even more. 

I also, and this may be a little surprising, have contacts in the burgeoning Irish Music (!) scene in China, and I will be packing my flute and joining in at least one session while I am over there. I will no doubt post pictures and thoughts and observations when I return. It might not be possible to do from over there, because there is still a very real and present 'Great Firewall' that limits which methods of online communication work across the national boundary. But within China, the online scene is vibrant and extensive, and I have just downloaded some of the apps with which life functions so seamlessly in the Middle Kingdom. When I remember how much China changed even in two or three years between our trips, I am open mouthed with anticipation of what new changes I will see this time. 

And, as a nod to my lexicographic colleagues, I need to give you at least one of my favourite 'chengyus'. These are the usually-four-character idioms that have been around for such a long time and which give great joy to speaker and listener when they crop up. Many of them are highly metaphoric and allusive, and they are always fun. Here's one:

井底之蛙 

and this is how it is represented in pinyin:

jǐng dǐ zhī wā

And it means 'like a frog in the bottom of a well'. It describes someone who has a very narrow-minded view of the world, of events, of people. If only I could think of a current world leader to whom I could apply it..

So there may be a break in the blog for a while, but I will be back, with news from the Middle Kingdom.