Beijing trip for Award
We went to Beijing on Saturday morning, 27 April 2014 to attend the Award ceremony for "Favorite Foreign Teacher". Two UPC students had won prizes in a related essay competition titled "My foreign teacher and I", Ma Jia Hui and Wang Ya Ru. From the International Office Liu Li Na came along to make sure everyone behaved appropriately.
The high-speed train from Qingdao to Beijing took 4.5 hours to cover the 880 km. Cost was $50 each way per person. I was surprised how smooth the ride was. Very comfortable. Every seat was occupied.
We stopped at Weifang, Zibo, Jinan and Dezhou, all in Shandong Province, and then Lang Fang in Hebei on the approach to Beijing. The landscape was one of continuous and intense cultivation. I suppose that should not have surprised me, as Shandong has a population of about 96 million (second most populous Province after Guangdong). Imagine the Australian State of Victoria with a population of about 120 million (or Florida in the US with a population of 100 m) and you'll get an idea of the density of population here.
We disembarked at the modern Beijing South Railway Station, and took a taxi to our hotel. Beijing is big, and noisy and busy; people and cars everywhere.
Our hotel was near the Olympic Park, where the 2008 Olympics were held. We spent a couple of hours that afternoon walking around the Park. Lots of people wandering around. Good atmosphere. Saw the Birds Nest stadium and the Water cube - both impressive, cutting edge pieces of architecture.
We were blessed, weatherwise. It had rained the night before, so Beijing's air was clear and the sky was blue. Actually, it was quite warm in the bright sunshine.
Sunday morning off to Beijing Normal University for the Award ceremony.
At lunch we sat with a young American teacher from Changsha in Hunan Province. Turned out he knew our friends Jan and Brian from Canberra. Amazing coincidence.
All too soon it was back to the Railway Station for the trip home to Qingdao.
A very pleasant little sojourn in the Nation's capital.
| Taking the bullet train from Qingdao to Beijing, 880 km in 4.5 hours. $50 one way. |
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| The maximum speed of our train was 301 km per hour. An impressively smooth ride. |
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| Intensive agriculture the whole way, including many greenhouses around Weifang. |
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We looked around the 2008 Beijing Olympic site which was near our hotel: Birds Nest stadium and the swimming Cube.
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| It was an honor to receive the Award as one of the 50 "Favorite Foreign Teachers" in China, from the head of the State Administration of Foreign Experts. |
| Award winners from China University of Petroleum (UPC): Ma Jia Hui, Liu Li Na, Wang Ya Ru and myself. The two girls won prizes in the Essay competition "My foreign teacher and I", and Li Na got a Commendation for her work supporting foreign teachers at UPC. |
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| The departure board at Beijing South Railway Station. Many high-speed trains to southern destinations. |
Building activity
You may recall a couple of posts ago I expressed my bewilderment at the pace and extent of construction in China.
Found this little graphic in The Economist. The top half shows that China built 5 times as many skyscrapers (more than 250 metres) as the USA since 2000. Crazy isn't it?
The bottom half of the graphic suggests that China will become the world's largest economy within 10 years on a GDP at current exchange rates basis (and, presumably, sooner on a GDP/PPP basis).
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| The Economist 19 April 2014. Top: Since 2000 China has built about 5 times as many skyscrapers (higher than 250m) as the USA. Bottom: China will become the biggest economy in about 2024 (and by about 2020 on a GDP/PPP basis). |
Cities ranked
Every two years A.T. Kearney an American consulting company publishes the Global Cities Index which assesses 84 cities around the world on 5 criteria: business activity (30%),
human capital (30%), information exchange (15%), cultural experience (15%),
political engagement (10%). Its 2014 Index was published on 14 April 2014.
Top 10 Global Cities in 2014:
1
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New York
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61.7
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2
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London
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58.1
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3
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Paris
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52.3
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4
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Tokyo
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47.2
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5
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Hong Kong
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41.3
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6
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Los Angeles
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38
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7
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Chicago
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36.8
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8
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Beijing
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35.1
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9
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Singapore
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34.3
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10
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Washington DC
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33.4
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Beijing was a big mover, from #14 in 2012 to #8 in 2014. Shanghai was ranked #18 in 2014 (up from #21
in 2012).
Two Australian cities were included in the list of 84 cities:
Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney was ranked
#14 in 2014 (down from #12 in 2012), while Melbourne was ranked #25 in 2014 (up
from #32 in 2012).
Emerging cities
...
That's it for now.
As part of our contracts the university organises a trip once a year for the foreign teachers.
Tomorrow morning, at sparrow's fart, we are off to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. The University has 3 days off over the May 1 (Labor Day) national holiday, so we are taking an extra day and heading south to Panda Country. A long way south - Chengdu is a 3 hour flight from Qingdao.
So I'll do another post when we return from Chengdu.
Best wishes,
Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao.
www.upc.edu.cn
Tuesday, 29 April 2014.
As part of our contracts the university organises a trip once a year for the foreign teachers.
Tomorrow morning, at sparrow's fart, we are off to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. The University has 3 days off over the May 1 (Labor Day) national holiday, so we are taking an extra day and heading south to Panda Country. A long way south - Chengdu is a 3 hour flight from Qingdao.
So I'll do another post when we return from Chengdu.
Best wishes,
Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao.
www.upc.edu.cn
Tuesday, 29 April 2014.
