Welcome to all of the eight episodes of “My Dad’s Kilt went to China” together in one omnibus edition.
I was lucky enough to go to China at the end of last year and from the moment I landed and the plane taxied at Beijing airport to returning to the same airport to return to Scotland, I recorded sounds and noted my adventures.
These included watching firemen in chains, business banquet etiquette and KFC, the ladies of perpetual Jasmine tea and their mystical ways. Precision meetings and meals and a lonely invisible lady singing in the darkness on the banks of the Hai river.
I experienced smog, the benefits of having sequential translation (and a snooze for lunch), a trip into the city on the Tianjin city Metro where I saw fake Apple stores and real Starbucks.
Insomnia fogged by mind like the thick morning smog as I pondered the amazing ambition and openness of my young Chinese colleagues and their chosen English names. The fastest train I have ever been on took me to Beijing where tall flats were synchronously cleaned and contained the graceful morning Tai Chi (or Chi-Gong) groups in the freezing cold.
My conversion to Chinese breakfast (trying to suck yoghurt through a straw) and a bit of speed sight-seeing in the freezing cold took in the Forbidden City, a rickshaw scam artist some fantastic food in the Wangfujing food street and a menu misunderstanding in a restaurant called RBT.
I managed to compress a lot into a few days. The resources I used were the kindle versions of the Lonely Planet Guide to beijing, Lonely Planet guide to Tianjin & Hebei, China Road by Rob Gifford and the Android Apps : CamDictionary and China Subway .
A big thanks to all my colleagues and in particular Simon Poulsen, who helped me notice 100% more than I would have on my own.
What of the kilt? It was worn only once. Did it all end there? No. My willingness to find out more about Chinese culture led to more experiences. All original sounds were recorded on my Samsung Galaxy S3.
Thank you for listening. What did I get wrong? Let me know.