After two days of sightseeing and adjusting to the time zone and temperature in Hong Kong, it was time to venture over the border to Shenzhen. Then take the high speed train to our final destination of Ping’s new school on the outskirts of Jieyang.
Filling up for morning at the very tasty breakfast buffet, we managed to just miss a torrential downpour as we headed to the train station. Our time there was mostly spent waiting around, as you’re required to check in early to allow time to go through customs on the Hong Kong side. It wasn’t too long though before we arrived in Shenzhen and had to travel across the city to change train stations.
There are two main reasons I like getting across the border. Firstly, I can start to speak Mandarin. Secondly, the prices are a lot cheaper!
In fact, a lot of the people crossing the border are Hong Kong residents who are taking advantage of lower prices in China for all sorts of things from clothing to haircuts.
It wasn’t long before we were on the high speed train to Jieyang, a three hour journey from Shenzhen. Sam, of course, enjoyed a good sleep!
So we arrived in the heat of the afternoon at Jieyang railway station and were met with a warm welcome from Master Ping and his wife Guiping.
This week would mark my 5 year anniversary of training with Ping, so it really is like seeing old friends when I arrive now. It was Sam’s first time meeting them and they delighted in meeting him and telling him how he was the same height as me now!
A brief car journey – electric car, of course, as they all seem to be in China these days – and we arrived at XingLin Village where Master Ping’s new school is located.
You park at the bottom of the village and it’s a short walk up a narrow road to the school.
Bearing in mind, I had seen the school in December last year, when it more resembled a building site. The progress to get it “90% finished” in preparation for our arrival, was nothing short of remarkable.
Of course I was delighted to be the first of Master Ping’s students to step through the doors. One thing I love about the place is that it’s a real family affair. Ping’s father is retired but previously worked in construction and oversaw the building project, with the planning being done by Ping and local architects. Several close friends and family members worked on the building in a variety of ways.
Ping’s children, nephews and nieces were running around, many making the most of what will become a pond by using it as their pool in the meantime!
As you walk through the entrance there is a large open area, and the buildings themselves make up what feels like a traditional courtyard area. The building is actually where the villagers would have held meetings, celebrations, and events. However a newer building was built at the bottom of the village quite a few years ago for these purposes, leaving this one to become derelict before the building work commenced to turn it into a tai chi school.
The attention to detail from the design, to the building, to the furnishing and decorating is amazing, and we were delighted with the room which we would call home for the next week.
After a little time to settle in and check out the training area (split over two floors, one not quite completed) Ping took us on a walk around the village, taking in some nice views, as well as stopping at a small village temple. The village is at the bottom of a hill, with bananas growing everywhere, and small caves built into the hill where the bananas are stored to keep them cool.
(We get through a tonne of bananas each week at home, Sam eats loads of them. So we joked about this being the perfect place for him. During the course of the week Ping, Guiping, Ping’s mum, Ping’s dad, even Ping’s uncle brought some to the school for him. So if you see he’s looking a slight tinge of yellow upon his return, it’s not jaundice).
In the evening it was time for us to do what we really came here for… the eating we went out for a meal with Ping and his family, including his mum, dad, sister and her family. It was so lovely and we received such a warm welcome.
The evening was definitely a highlight of the trip for us both. The restaurant was a large, sprawling …. encompassing ponds, a small lake, bridges, and many private rooms.
The food of course was amazing. I won’t rehash it here as I wrote about it in a blog post from last year, but Jieyang is part of a cultural-linguistic group called Chaoshan.
One of the unique features of Chaoshan culture is the food, there are many many local specialities, each as delicious as the last. The table was full of meats, fish, seafood, vegetables, noodle dishes. Sam took a particular liking to the duck heads and roasted goose. All washed down with green tea (Chaoshan culture is big on the tea ceremony know as ‘gong fu cha’ – kung fu tea*) and local beer.
*Kung fu tea does not mean drinking tea whilst punching someone in the face. One translation of gongfu in this context is to have the time to do something – and there is nothing more Chaoshan people enjoy doing more than sitting, chatting, and drinking local teas.
The next day, a Sunday, was our first full day in Jieyang.
Ping teaches children’s classes in the morning on a Sunday, and it was really nice to be invited down to the classes at a centre close to his house in Jieyang.
We thought that we were invited down to watch, so I was a bit surprised when as we got there Ping said, “You can teach them something”.
Travelling and staying in the more remote parts of China, places less frequented by foreigners, means you get stared at. A lot! We joked that the stares come in three general categories:
Category 1 stare: ‘Oh look, a foreigner’ surprised stare
Category 2 stare: ‘A stare and a smile or a hello’ friendly stare
Category 3 stare: ‘Jaw dropped, never seen an outsider in my life, what on earth is this person doing here’ absolutely gobsmacked kind of stare
You experience them all during the course of a day, we certainly did as we stopped for a lovely breakfast (local speciality of course!) by the roadside on the way to classes.
Needless to say the both the kids and parents in the classes were as surprised as the rest of the Jieyang population we had encountered that morening, especially when I started teaching them. It was great fun though. With a group of older kids I taught some Chen sword moves from the 49 form. A younger group followed and we taught them some Praying Mantis kung fu, which they seemed to love. The funniest comment from that class was one kid excitedly shouting “He’s bald with more hair on his face”, not realising that I understood.
It was interesting to get a glimpse into teaching Chinese children. In China, the teacher is very much revered and far less prompting to be quiet and listen is required! Historically, of course, China has been a Confucian society through the ages. Sometimes the philosophy has been more prevalent in society than others but aspects such as reverence for your teacher, and helping your parents as they get older, etc, is fundamental in their mindset.
After the class, Sam and I went for a walk into the centre of Jieyang and the large town square. A large square where the temperatures were easily in the mid 30’s. As I looked at my watch and saw it was 12 o’ clock, It seemed a pertinent time to teach Sam the phrase about mad dogs and Englishmen!
Back at the tai chi school and we had some time to relax and do some training by ourselves. Another student, Linda, arrived from Holland in the evening, and again we celebrated with more food (very tasty home cooked food from one of the workers at the school, who is also employed as the cook), green tea, and a couple of beers.
Linda is another longtime student of Ping’s, and I have also visited her in Holland before, so it was a nice group of myself, Sam, and Linda all set to be the students in Master Ping’s inaugural class for the week of training that was to progress the next day…. which I shall write about in part three…
