Only in China

Sat in the corner of Starbucks, I am surrounded by multiple small business meetings. MacBook Airs are the laptop of choice and the dominant language is English. I’m not in London, I’m in Beijing.

Two weeks into my fifth visit (a vacation), I find myself thinking back over what I have observed and wondering what I have learned about China. Relatively speaking, I’m a China newbie: I can barely speak the language and I have yet to take the plunge and work here, but already some things are starting to feel vaguely familiar. It doesn’t take long though before any illusion of familiarity is shattered in a way that is only possible in China.

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Soundtrack to China (April 2011)

During my recent trip to China, I kept a record of the songs I heard as I wandered around Beijing. This is by no means a complete record and it only includes songs that were successfully identified by Shazam.

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A Gift from Bread et Butter

Today is Valentines day and courtesy of the Bread et Butter, my wife is (or soon will be) enjoying The Sleekster Love Collection from Hotel Chocolate.

The Selection arrived within 48 hours of posting the winning comment over on her blog and I’m sure you’ll all agree that the box is a work of art in itself. The selection of chocolates is perfectly balanced, ideal for sharing. I just hope it goes some way to making up for me being away from home on Valentines day.

I’d like to express our sincere thanks to Su-yin for The Selection and encourage you to head on over to her blog for a complete review of the Hotel Chocolate selection and many other gastronomic delights.

Bread et Butter introduces the: Hotel Chocolat’s Sleekster Love Selection

Education: The Local Schools Network

In a effort to address the myths (and hopefully the truths) about state schools in the UK, Fiona Millar, Francis Gilbert, Melissa Benn and Henry Stewart have set up The Local Schools Network, a site where questions are asked and personal experiences are shared.

A former pupil, Yupei Guo, of both the British and Chinese eduction systems had this to say:

“A saying in China goes, “Western schools have exams for their education, Chinese schools have education for their exams”. It may be a little arbitrary, but recent trends show that it is true. We are losing the grip on the essence of learning, we are forgetting the purpose.”

We should listen more to people like Yupei as, whilst there is a lot wrong with both systems, it isn’t hard to see that there is also a lot that is right. It would be nice to say that we should just select methods from both systems and create an education system where academic results and focus are on a level footing with creativity and individualism, but I fear that the two approaches are incompatible.