The long march: preparing for Student Sports Day

Spot the foreigner: the overseas students relay team
the waiguo, 2 Malay students and my Cantonese classmate

The latest form of exercise

This week's "life as a student in China" event was the award ceremony for hard-working students. I also discovered what the study of politics entails: reciting fluently a given text about the wonders of the country and the party. Interesting that questioning, argument and debate is not involved. My Kung Fu classmate had a crowd-pulling solo slot in the wushu (Chinese martial arts) performance which I now realise is the closing finale most student "events". 

Two days later we were summoned to the office to pick up our green "aodidas" (fake addidas) tracksuits with "zhong" and "guo" (central + people = china) on the front and our fashion faux pas silver sequined baseball caps!!! We were then lined up in order of size, but lines went rather tangential as the most western people (Brits, Hungarian, Slovakian) were placed on the exposed/leading end row and another classmate Alex has the unenviable task of holding the foreign students placard. As we're having our own little Zhong Yi Yao Da Xue (Chinese Traditional Chinese Medicine Uni) olympics there's no need to return to London for the real thing. We have one more marching rehearsal before the real thing on Sat 19th May. Ooops, forgot to mention to my 4x100m relay Malaysian women that a running practice might be an idea - or at least baton practice.

I finally found out where my unruly taiji group practices, so I was doing 4-5 hours a day midweek with my morning standing in my room, the "communist taiji" that I get taught at part of the course and the night time group practice in the park. They practice the same style that I've gravitated to in London, Chen, but it was modified by the last generation's master who went to Beijing. The originator of Hunyuan ("primordial chaos") is Feng Zhi Qiang who combines qigong health with taijiquan, focusing on circling Qi.

So, I'm circling chaotic qi and running a quarter of a circle as entertainment. Lucky that our essay deadline has been extended to 21st July. Study has not featured greatly in this week's agenda, but I've borrowed a cartoon version of Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) which is great bedtime reading, with gems such as: "Be cheerful. Don't be angry"; 

Spring is a time when all living creatures grow.

People can go to bed late and get up early 

(I live in perpetual Spring, much to my mother's anguish)

Take a walk in a courtyard, loosen your hair, relax your body and get excited.

Let things please your eye and mind, don't let anything harm your body

Just as you treat all budding creatures, let yourself grow. 

Wanting: my classmate & Chinglish student-teacher

Park life

Qigong clinic has been hard work, but worthwhile this week. As I'm the last foreign student still "gun fa"-ing (rolling technique unique to tuina) the doctor has transformed me into the fire-cupping queen (I had to experienced it first hand from a student - it was a fad at the Oscars in Hollywood a couple of years ago!). And I've learnt a lot from students who show me the odd tip. The gentle giant Chang Yu Xin explained how to incorporate some taiji circling moves into various massage techniqes today. I'm going to introduce him to my taiji teacher here. They all looked shocked when I cycled past them on the way to the pool in the Forrest Uni. They were heading back to clinic after their lunch break. While we in the west furrow our brows in (over-) analysis, the Chinese are happy to watch and wait and learn a little bit more experientially through absorption.

Alex and a Malaysian student

Simone's cupping experience in Chengdu (?)

Don't worry, it's a red tag from my t-shirt. Not blood letting!

Now I look like a dotty local!

 

Guess who Simone saw in Chengdu

Simone maybe staying a bit longer in Harbin depending on Cornelia's Russian visa. They're off in the morning to the outback of Mongolia sleeping in yurts. We've decided that Dalian (China's seaside) near Korea is a better option than the north pole which is a 22-hour train ride as apparently the aurora borealis is better seen in Norway. The (Korean) seafood is more enticing than outpost Russian/N China cuisine.