Sunday, March 31, 2013

CCTV

Happy Easter

These are a few cute bunnies we spotted on a recent outing.  Thank goodness we live in China or I think we would've owned pet bunnies.  They were adorable. 

CCTV 
 We were recently invited to go with some students I tutor, Daniel and Lila, to a local tourist attraction called CCTV.  Although most of it was in Chinese, we were able to gather that this is the place where they film many famous Chinese Movies and TV shows.   I guess you could compare it to Universal Studios, but not really...
 
According to a website I found online this is where we went...CCTV Wuxi Movie/TV Base is the first large scaled base for movie and TV shooting and for tourism built in China. Constructed in 1987, it is the first theme park incorporating movie and TV culture and tourism throughout China. With its unique functionality and charms it has been attracting over one hundred movie/TV production units every year to shoot movies and dramas here. Thus, it was given the title of "Oriental Hollywood". Moreover, it has accepted over 2 million visitors every year who come here purposely to explore the secrets of movie production.
The CCTV Wuxi Movie/TV Base is consisted of three main sections which are the Town of Tang Dynasty, Town of Three Kingdoms and Town of Water Margin. Its grandiose scales, well adapted to movie/TV shooting as well as for tourists enjoying, the sites of settings where movie and TV are shooting and which offer inexhaustible sources of interest, plus the par excellence performances and especially charming landscape of Lake Taihu, together with the well equipped sites of settings and other facilities for filming have been attracting tens of thousands of tourists and numerous production units both home and abroad.
CCTV Wuxi Movie/TV Base occupies a total area of over 100 acres and water area of 3000 mu of Lake Taihu.
 (http://www.beijingimpression.cn/beijing-attractions/cctv-wuxi-movie-tv-base.shtml)


The kids with Lila and Daniel just inside the main entrance.
We watched three shows.  This one included people from the audience participating, although it was in Chinese, my Chinese students were able to interpret enough so we got the gist of the story. 
The one below was a pirate water show with lots of stunts.
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This is the guy Hattie wanted to ride with, but she was too shy :)
 Here they are in a processional march heading to battle 
Performing a battle stunt


Located on the grounds was an awesome playground, that we played on for about an hour before lunch.  We all, yes even Luke and I took a swing across the moat.  Eventually both Gabe, Mason and Daniel were wet.  All of the obstacles were made of wood and rope.  It was a great time!




A balancing log that swung back and forth, you can also see how wet Daniel's pants are from the moat.

Giant Maze
The Rings



Some costumes to represent the culture.  One of the many beautiful buildings, many had historical relics and replicas inside.

The grounds of CCTV were huge.  This racetrack was one of the rides you could do.  They also had bumper cars, archery, a 5D movie and carnival games.  We did not do any of those, but they reminded us of a small town fair back in the states.

Cooking Lesson

 



Here is Daniel getting the tomatoes weighed and bagged. 
Looking at the spatulas...this is a great way to practice your English
The checkout, Mr. Q is the man in the plaid.  He is watches over Daniel while he is at school.  I have heard these positions referred to as house fathers.  He takes video of me teaching also and shares it with Daniel's Mom. 
Hattie and Daniel mixing up the dough



Monday, March 18, 2013

Lantern festival...






 

A few Saturdays ago we did some window shopping along Beijing Road which dates really far back...

"Underneath glass, below ground level, you can see the remains of streets from three different dynasties – namely the Song (960-1279), Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming (1368-1644). The older the street remains, the deeper they lie beneath the modern-day Beijing Lu mall, which makes you contemplate just how much history is buried undiscovered under Guangzhou and, indeed, all of China"
http://www.chinatravelsavvy.com/destinations/guangzhou/attractions/beijing-lu/

We also enjoyed a delicious lunch at Papa John's.  It was a very exciting lunch because pizza is hard to find in China and good pizza is even a bigger deal.  Many of our experiences like this have helped us really enjoy and appreciate the things we see as normal and take for granted back home. 

212 acres in downtown Guangzhou decorated for the end of the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year.
We paid about $2 each to get in.
 
Entrance
Dragon that was about three times in length   



 
According to...http://www.chinancient.com/fish/
"The Chinese, the character for fish is pronounced the same as the Chinese character for “abundance” or “surplus”.  Therefore, the fish symbol is frequently associated with other symbols and Chinese characters to symbolize the wish for “more” in the sense of “more” good luck, good fortune, long life and children. Despite being an ancient symbol, it is still often found in modern-day Chinese culture"




The teapot below was made out of recycled brown medicine type bottles.

This one was made out of ping pong balls



The smurfs even made an appearance?  We also saw Iron Man and Spiderman.

A section with more traditional lanterns






A snapshot of our daily life in Country Garden...




Country Garden...


These are two photos of classes that were given to show what 1st grade is like.  Basically they are putting on a demo for the parents, which you can see located at the back of the classroom.  It is a boarding school so they pay tuition and have choices.  They pay more for the international classroom (which I believe gets them English taught by a foreigner) vs. a bilingual classroom where English is taught by the Chinese staff, many of them have good English, but many do not.


 



We are fortunate to be experiencing so many new kinds of foliage. 
Mu Mian Hua or Kapok Flower
Kapok Tree

 This  red one is a Mu Mian Hua or Kapok Flower.  They are beautiful with relatively no smell.  I noticed people going to great lengths to collect them as they fell and even removing them from the tree with a net.  I asked around and found out why...this website also explains it in better detail.

http://www.thechinesesouplady.com/gossampinus-malabarica/

Ingredient Name:  Mu Mian Hua, Gossampinus malabarica flower, Kapok
Traditional Chinese Name: 木棉花  (mu mian hua)
What is this?
  • A large, pretty flower which is harvested at full bloom (during the Spring) and then dried to preserve for easy use
  • These flowers can be found on the tops of large cotton trees (which grow 12 - 15 metres in height) and are native to Australia and South East Asia
How do I prepare it?

  • Rinse before use and put directly into your soup.
Where can I buy this?
  • This can be found in most Asian herb shops and some asian supermarkets.
What is the cost?
  • 2-3 flowers (which can be used in one large pot of soup with 2-3L of water) costs under $2 CAD.
Any benefits?
  • A diuretic (good for kidneys)
  • Promotes blood circulation, reduces swelling
  • May also help with chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, diarrhea, dysentery, sores, and bruises
  • Used by some to treat hypertension, diabetes, migraine, kidney stones, asthma, slimming, back ache, libido
Any precautions?
  • As with most diuretic herbs, maintain proper hydration when using and avoid long-term use
     
     Gabe and Mason (and Hattie) have had the opportunity to practice a lot of basketball with Luke, but they have only recently gotten an opportunity to be a part of a team.  This a a shot of them warming up.  They play all their games outdoors, because the weather is beautiful.  They traveled to a near by town to play this game. 
Here you will notice the coaches, they have many of them.  The best part is, if you look closely, they are all taking a smoke break...add it to the list of things we usually don't see back home.  Luke has really had to step back and just observe, which has been difficult, but also comical at times.  We have noticed that a large percentage of men smoke here.   It is really cheap, some are only 50 cents a pack, but we heard they are awful. 
 



They are so cute!  They are very affectionate and the boys and girls interact with one another very well.  These students English names are Alex, Kevin, Leon and Maggie.


They love to pose :)
Located inside the building is a supermarket, restaurant, clothing stores and a pool outside. 

Maggie in my sunglasses
Oscar :)

Zach and Kevin trying to tie each other up...
This is Dou Dou or Kevin Chun looking sporty, his English is spectacular!  He was telling me about Coral Reefs last week.

Eilm...peace out!


Last but not least I had a student move in December.  She was adorable and always wore bows in her hair, she gave me this cup (with a bow) and I was so excited to remember her with this memento.  Much to my surprise when I opened it,  it said this...another point in the column of things we don't usually see back home :)