Chinese Bridge 2018

The Chinese Bridge is an annual competition held in Beijing and Kunming, China. It is a proficiency exam for students learning Mandarin, and two students from every country are chosen for this competition. After a rigorous regional round, I was selected to represent India at this competition held in October. It is a Chinese Government sponsored program. More than just a competition it was also a cultural festival, with more than a hundred countries participating. It was a dream come true and I was thrilled to be a part of this great experience. This was all possible under the guidance of Ms. Usha Sahoo,  founder of Yeh China, an independent institute that teaches Mandarin to people of all ages. This was also her dream and I am extremely happy to have been a part of it.

We left Bombay at 1 am on 7th October. I had just gotten back from my class trip to Jamnagar. The flight was just 6 ½ hours long to Beijing and I slept the whole way. We shared a bus with two Sri Lankan girls, Jenny and Ravi who were our first friends helped us throughout the competition. We even left for the airport with them on our way back. The first time we saw the kind of food we would be getting for the next 18 days was a day to remember. We immediately made a mental note to make sure we get enough cuppa-noodles to last us a lifetime, three times a day.

That evening we had a photo shoot where we had to wear our traditional clothes and introduce ourselves in Mandarin. We also had to hold a robot that can teach mandarin!  We called it a day early that night after revising for the upcoming test.

We started the next day early, as we had a one-hour bus drive to the Great Wall. We climbed the wall for an hour and met some very interesting people. Soon after we visited the Hanban Institute. It is responsible for establishing Confucius Institutes around the world and prepares all the exam papers we write. In the Institute there were flags of every country where a Confucius Institute was present, and we found the Tri-colour after an expansive search. In the institute, we also saw different parts of Chinese culture and its reach across the world.

We were part of Bus 5, and some of my strongest bonds were formed here – Begona and Claudia from Spain, Sebastian and Vanessa from Uruguay, Paula and Jana from Croatia and many more.

The next day was also packed, and we left early to visit the Summer Palace. Over there we walked through the palace and saw the magnificent palace and compounds. The beauty of the summer palace was identified by the fact that the king had made different parts of it to show the different seasons we experience. I got some beautiful pictures of the palace.

An interesting part of the day was the dance I shared with Mikko and Kurra from Finland. In the middle of the palace, there was a clearing where two traditionally dressed woman were dancing, with a few foreigners following them. I danced with them and a bond was instantly created. On the way back I met Arian from Australia who had lost his group. We laughed about his situation and from then on it was the two of us saying random things in each other’s accents.

We visited the Forbidden City and saw all the highlights ‘The Karate Kid’ had screened. We touched the doors and braced ourselves from the wind. Clad in the pink Chinese Bridge jackets we climbed the different bridges and steps and saw the different parts of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City served as the home of emperors and their households as well as a ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for almost 500 years.

Here I met the Pakistani boys – kind, compassionate and my now life-long friends – Faraz and Mohammad. Faraz was a quiet boy with excellent command over Mandarin, while Mohammad was a natural comedian and took an interest in the world of Robotics. He wasn’t afraid to be loud and boisterous. I spent a lot of time with the two of them, and we would often sing Hindi songs together. We also sang songs with the Nepali boys – Rushil and Moksada. Rushil was fluent in Hindi and Bengali as his family was from Kolkata and was extremely humorous. Moksada was soft-spoken but his smile and laugh were contagious.

 

With a wake-up call of 3 am, there was no chance of getting a good night’s sleep. We were leaving for Kunming in the first flight out, and a wave of pink took over the airport that morning. Having slept throughout the plane ride we did feel refreshed and ready for the day ahead. All we did that day was practice for the upcoming competition.

The next three days we focused on the different parts of the competition. We wrote an exam, primarily focused on the cultural aspects of China. We had a speech competition where we spoke for two minutes on Chinese New Year. We had gotten the topic the day before and had spent the majority of our time preparing this. The last and most exciting part of the competition was the talent round. We spent a full day practicing this in the actual auditorium and had spent many nights perfecting our song. I was playing the flute and my partner sang the song – ‘Niwen wo ai’. Our performance went well, and we also did well in the speech competition. Since we were number 24 of 110 teams we would often finish our part early. After this, we would go back to the hotel and have lunch, practice for the next day and then head out into the University Campus.

We were staying in the Fontaine Blanche Hotel which was on the outskirts of the Yunnan Normal University. All our performance were held in the classrooms and the auditorium of the university. The campus was beautiful, with electric scooters and buses zipping around. It was cold in the evenings and during sunset, the red flowers turned pink. There were a couple of supermarkets with everything from snacks to computer chargers. There was also a square with restaurants and cafes dotted with college students. Stationery and bookshops were also abounding, and different buildings for different subjects were also present. There was a river flowing through and the parks and bridges were visually stunning.

In Kunming, we were divided into different groups and I was in ‘San Ban’, which means ‘Third Group’. These people were my family for the trip, and they were brilliant in every way. We shared a bus, a hotel floor and would often stay up late in the night in the corridor and sing, dance or share a laugh. We were 11 countries together, so 22 kids and 11 teachers. This was the best group to be in and is evident by the fact many people would often switch up buses to be with us. Some popular song choices were ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Hotel California’ and for some weird and random reason – ‘Hotline Bling’.

The Spanish and Uruguayans were also a part of the group, as well as my close friends Daniel, Patrick and Gabriel from Brazil. Patrick was another loud one with the best laugh I have ever heard. He was also an amazing dancer and actually won a prize for the best performance. Daniel was softer than his partner and started opening up to the group later in the trip, but we had a great time together. He too played the flute and we would often play together for the group. Gabriel was their teacher but could pass off as a student being only 24 years old. He was a master of the ukulele and we would lead the songs in the bus rides. He taught me the basics of the uke and he was also a huge fan of Star Wars. We would often sit and look at prequel memes and laugh all evening. Lola and Reema along with their instructor Miriam from Estonia were the third to be a part of our group (Brazil, India, and Estonia). Miriam and I had a similar taste in music, and she was absolutely hilarious. Lola was a great dancer and Reema a singer.

Other than Brazil and Estonia we had the boys from Tajikistan with us – Mohammad, or ‘Mumu’ and ‘Manolo Sanchez’, who forbade us to use his real name. We had the girls from the Cook Islands – Kimberly and her sister Tiare. Tiare was incredibly loud and after a few days, Kimberly just gave up on her. The girls from Malaysia – Joanne and Aniss had a brilliant performance, featuring multiple dances and a saxophone. Katerina and Mariel from Panama were amazing showmen. Romeo from Cameron made it to the finals of the competition and was among the top 5 teams. In his speech he mentioned our group and how he was very happy to be a part of it and it really touched the hearts of everyone.

Other than San Ban, there were many others who I consider friends for life – Gabriella and Sophia from Canada. I met them first around the lunch table and joined into the conversation without realizing this was not my group. After that, I sat at that table for the better part of all meals. During breakfast, I would often get custard and juice – a great way to start the day. The girls would make fun of me for these choices, and it was fun to talk to them.  The group also included Dallan and Anais from Canad and Mario and Nicholas from Italy. The Canadians were incredibly fun and It turns out Marion and Nicholas stay quite close to the school I went to when I was attending RIMUN and they have many good friends there.

With the participants, there were also the volunteer

s who were in charge of certain country delegations. They were college students who helped out with all the logistics of this huge competition.

These people played an integral part in making this experience the best it could be.

The very next day we visited a multi-leveled flower market where we saw the week’s fresh produce ready for sale. Four floors high the flower market also had a digitalized auction center with huge screens. We even bought flower snacks and flower tea at the market.

Later that day we planted a tree. We were the second group from India ever to attend this competition, and the team that went before us had a tree in the university gardens. We attached a board with our names on it to the tree and planted the ‘seeds of friendship’ and watered them.

When one says tea ceremony one expects to see the tea preparation that requires patience and skill, and that’s exactly what we saw. What followed was a 2-hour lecture on the different types of tea and how tea shaped Chinese culture – it just went on and on. When it was finally done, everyone hurriedly ran out of the college lecture room and back to the hotel.

As part of the competition we go on cultural exchanges to different schools and families, and speak to them in Chinese and learn about their way of living. We visited and primary school where we sat with the children and learnt about ‘family’ with them. Each of us was allotted 7-8 students and began our activities with learning everybody’s names, which led us up to the front of the class where we had to introduce everyone in our group. We learnt different parts of English grammar and sang and danced to some popular Chinese music. At the end of the session, we exchanged gifts with the students – I got some great Chinese Character books and some easy-read Mandarin books about Chinese history.

From the school, our hosts, students from the eight and the ninth grade of that school, picked us up and took us back to their apartment. Our host, Candy, played the guzheng, an extremely complicated instrument that requires a lot of skill and practice. We spoke to them and described Mumbai, and they spoke to us about Chinese culture. We met our host’s family, her grandmother and her father even came back from work early to meet us. We went out to eat food that tasted like heaven, primarily because we were able to add the correct and much-needed spice. We ate like there was no tomorrow and learnt the correct way to eat many popular foods. After the brilliant lunch, we bid her father goodbye and continued down the market lane. Candy’s best friend was also hosting a student, who happened to be a good friend of mine – Maria from Bangladesh. The oldest competitor there I often referred to her as ‘Aunty’ but we got along well. We painted traditional masks, and soon it was time for us to head back to school. We boarded the buses there and left with many memories of a wonderful day.

The next day was extremely exciting, as we were leaving the hotel at 8 am for the Stone Forest, a 2-hour drive. We were going to stay the night at another hotel and had to pack an overnight bag. The other hotel had excellent WiFi, a key factor for all of us.

Every time we would travel, in the city or on the highway, we would have a convoy following us. We were eleven buses led by two police squad cars. Bringing up the rear were the cars of the organizers and other officials, another squad car and an ambulance. During our city travel, we were flanked by policemen on motorbikes, who did not let anyone come close to the buses and break the line. At major intersections, the traffic was stopped and we were allowed to pass, and we would reach the destination with a limited number of stops. This just goes to show how careful the government is in maintaining its global image when tourism is considered as well as the amount of money and resources they spend to increase tourism.

The Stone Forest is a beautiful green, lush area where we saw many different limestone formations. We were surrounded by beautiful lakes. According to legend, the forest is the birthplace of Ashima. More importantly, it was the first time I was able to properly mingle with people in my group as well as others. We took many pictures and even rented some costumes for the same.

We returned to the hotel for an exceptionally early dinner and then immediately left for the yet another cultural part of the tour. We were visiting a traditional Chinese village and saw the places they lived and how they lived. We saw the foods they ate and the instruments they played. We even had a huge bonfire in the town square and danced with the locals to traditional Chinese folk music.

The next morning we visited cultural and traditional schools. In the first school, we saw a massive performance of dances and songs, similar to what we saw the previous night. We saw students painting scenes, some children weaving and some drawing. Inside we sang old cultural songs about Ashima, the girl who fell in love and was forbidden from marrying her chosen suitor.

At the second school, we were greeted by students putting up displays of dragons and trumpets just outside our bus. When we stepped out, we followed a path made by the students by flowers and other decorations to view a certain education ceremony. Professors were performing a traditional Confucius-affiliated ceremony of giving students scrolls.

This was followed by an exciting football match between our friends and the local football team. Out on the field, a pre-game show was put up with similar dances and students waving Chinese flags. What followed was 45 minutes of a fun-filled soccer match with a wild audience screaming and hooting. Players for the Chinese Bridge were chosen at random, by the process of chits. Unfortunately, I did not make the cut but was extremely happy to see us win.

We took the 2-hour bus ride back to our hotel in Kunming after that to enjoy a concert in the night. Some of the best performers from our talent round were selected to play songs on stage not only just for us but for the other university students as well. They were accompanied by college and student bands and everyone did a fantastic job. We also had a DJ at the end and we danced like absolute lunatics, with cartwheels and handstands. I also met some Indian and Pakistani students studying at the university, who danced with us for a while.

The next afternoon we watched many Kungfu performances that were exceptional. These were students of the university who have been training for years and were good at what they did. There were a series of performances featuring jumps, rolls and kicks and other demonstrations. We also saw different dragon dances, some featuring 2 performers and some entire dance troupes. In some performances, we saw people climbing onto each other and jumping in their costumes. We also saw the traditional dragon dance where a group of 10 people would be holding a dragon on a stick and following a ball placed on another stick. It was beautiful as there were two dragons, and the two would often intertwine.

After the performances we had some of our very own competitors perform on the spot. We even learnt a few Kungfu and Taichi moves at the end of the segment.

That night was the first of many dance practices we were going to do for the weekend. The finals of the competition were on the Sunday of the week, and Thursday night we stated practices at the Yunnan Music Group. There was a recording studio and some good singers were chosen to do covers of popular Chinese and English songs, to be displayed in the finals.

The next morning was also practice, and it continued into the afternoon. We were performing on a stage in a stadium filled with lights (gobos – really expensive), more than 200 of them. In the night practice for the finale was canceled and so we were able to go out. We went to the market across the street in a big group but eventually broke up into smaller groups as we progressed. We saw knock-off after knock-off, some intelligent some plain. China and the rest of the world are going crazy about Peppa Pig, and we saw a lot of merchandise for it as well. We went to the supermarket and bought lots of party food, and then went to a local shop to eat dumplings. In the excitement we kind of triggered our soft aerated drinks and upon opening them we were drenched in soda, thus giving us yet another thing to laugh about.

Saturday and Sunday were both taken up by practice and dress rehearsals. Sunday night was the final competition and the top participants from every continent were competing – North Korea, Bulgaria, USA, Cameroon, and Australia. They had a talent round again and the North Koreans (good friends) took the stage by storm with a brilliant performance. They ended up winning the entire competition as they had the quickest and correct answers, best dialogue and cooperation.

That night was very emotional as it would be the last time we would ever see each other. Everyone was crying and taking pictures. We made the most of the night and ordered dumplings and soda and sat in the hallway, singing, and dancing. We saw the photographs taken and the video compilation given to all of us by the organizers. I was awake the entire night bidding farewell to some of my friends who were leaving. We were leaving the day after, and so had an entire day to kill. We were only a few left, so we left quietly in a minivan.

Some of the food that we didn’t understand in the beginning became the highlight of the trip. China is known for limited vegetarian options and so I had to expand my palette, and I am very happy I did. My favorite on the list is duck – softer skin and more juicy than chicken. Next is pork, excellent with dipping sauces. Chicken is always a safe option, but to step out of a newly-formed comfort zone I tried squid, shrimp, and octopus. It was an absolute delight. In Beijing we would sit at a table with a Lazy Susan filled with food and keep trying new things. Turns out you can eat too much meat in one sitting.

Being in international hotels sometimes we would get the occasional western option, exposure to Chinese cultural food was a major part of this competition for me. When the food options went out of hand, fried rice and noodles was always a net we could fall on. Mini pastries, fruit pizza, and custard were some common deserts we got in our hotel in Kunming.

This competition has been a great opportunity to get to know so many different people, and more importantly gain more Instagram followers and social media connects. No other event will come close to be as important as this is for me, and the exposure I got over those 18 days cannot ever be matched. I am thankful to have been a part of this competition and to be chosen to represent India.