Well, we didn’t manage to do much shopping, mainly because our time was taken up in some really interesting meetings about the multimedia and interactive side of 100 Words. We have made a very good link with the Media Lab at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. The quality of work produced by CAFA students is extremely high and we’re excited about the possibility of involving them creatively in the project. We spent lunchtime and the rest of the afternooon at Dashanzi Art District, talking with potential bloggers and having a great brainstorming session around the logistics of producing live linked events in countries 7 hours apart in time.  It’s no coincidence that numbers have cropped up throughout our trip, and that our final meeting should take place at 798 Space (all auspicious or lucky numbers, apparently). We’re also keen on ’12′, ‘32′ and of course, ‘100′!  Keep reading over the forthcoming weeks to find out why…

It’s very late and I’m not remotely tired, having enjoyed another stimulating day.  Highlights included lunch at Le Lan, a fantastically swanky Phillippe Starck-designed restaurant at the top of the Twin Towers in Beijing, a tour of the National Centre of the Performing Arts and dinner at Bellagio with Neil Webb from British Council China.  

The National Centre of the Performing Arts is a stunning building. Known locally as ‘the egg in the water’, the complex will include an opera house, concert hall and theatre when completed, under a gently curving glass dome.  There’s still a lot of work to do before the scheduled opening this autumn but progress is being made all the time. This was the first day that Pan Yong (from the Department of Business Development and our guide) had heard the sound system being tested, and that guards standing at the entrances to all the auditoria were saluting guests! 

There were other meetings too – with representatives from various international festivals and Lin Zhaohua Theatre Studio. Our time management went out of the window as the Beijing traffic defeated us today.  At one point, during morning gridlock, we got out and walked. The situation wasn’t much better in the afternooon, when every journey seemed to take three times as long as normal.

Looking forward to our last full day tomorrow, when we visit the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Dashanzi Art District. We’ve left the evening free to digest everything that’s happened during our visit and to draw up a plan for what needs to happen next.  We might even manage to squeeze in a little bit of time for shopping…

100 words/characters

Writers at work

Live performance

It’s been a fantastically busy and productive day, with back to back meetings starting with the Olympic Attache at the British Embassy followed by the Mayor of London’s Chief Representative in Beijing, Beijing Dramatists Association, National Theatre Company of China, Central Academy of Drama, Xi Xiao Tang and finally, a relaxing dinner with Li Zhenhua (project manager for the China International New Media Arts Exhibition 2008) and Shi Li. There’s tremendous interest both in 100 Words and in the National Youth Theatre’s work, and our plans for next year are starting to take real shape.

It’s also been fascinating seeing the amount of construction going on in Beijing. I’ve never seen so many cranes and roadworks here – obviously there’s a real push going on to get everything ready for next year. Even some of the back streets have been given a makeover - the hutongs surrounding the Central Academy of Drama now have smart paving stones rather than potholes. It’s obviously being developed as a bit of a destination with more and more relaxed, Beijing-style bars and cafes.  There are also large outdoor screens popping up everywhere. We were taken to an amazing, vast overhead screen in The Place a large pedestrianised space between two shopping malls. Even Jiuge Juchang or 9 Theatre in Chaoyang District has its own screen – this was a fascinating place, housing at least four theatre spaces as well as exhibitions of old artefacts, books and posters.  In total contrast, we’re off to see the futuristic Grand National Theatre of China tomorrow or ‘The Egg’, just one of Beijing’s many landmark buildings.

It’s night in Beijing after an extremely long day. We arrived very early this morning to a hot and sultry city. After checking in and discovering I can access the internet from my hotel room, we went for a late breakfast at the office aka the Jackpot Cafe and then went to meet the British Council.  As ever, it was a very interesting and productive meeting, which threw up a lot of ideas about how 100 Words might contribute to the Cultural Olympiad linking Beijing 2008 to London 2012.  We spent the afternoon checking out a couple of very different spaces that could be used to host a site specific/interactive event linking London and Beijing next April – Beijing Planetarium, which was unfortunately closed although we had a good look around outside, and ‘the altar’ at Ditan Park.  By this time, the rain was falling steadily again, something I’ve rarely seen in Beijing. We got pretty wet trying to locate The Bookworm off Sanlitun Lu - finally got there to share a drink and dinner, and to hear an American author talk about a recently published book about China. A very busy day tomorrow, with seven meetings lined up.  More to follow soon…

Another trip to Beijing, this time with Paul Roseby, Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre.  We’ve developed a close partnership with the National Youth Theatre since running a week of 100 Words workshops and performances as part of its 50th anniversary season last August.  We’re planning to do a similar thing this summer but with an added Chinese dimension including performances of 100 word plays written in Mandarin and live links to China. Identifying writers and bloggers who might want to be part of this is just one of the objectives of our forthcoming trip to Beijing. We also want to meet potential partners for an innovative programme of events designed to mark and celebrate Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the start of London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad. Taking place in London, Beijing and online, the programme will bring together British and Chinese young people.

More generally, this visit will provide an opportunity to introduce the work of the National Youth Theatre to Beijing-based theatre organisations.  As the first company of its kind anywhere in the world, the National Youth Theatre has simulated the creation of many youth theatre companies across the UK and beyond.  Its way of working - using theatre to provide young people aged 13 to 21 from any background with opportunities to develop their creative and social skills – produces innovative models that may be of great interest to Chinese theatre practitioners.

It’s Paul’s first visit to China so I’ve sent him a reading list as long as your arm.  We’ve got a bulging agenda, with most meetings confirmed (unheard of!) thanks to the help of staff at British Council Beijing. We’ll hardly draw breath but I hope they’ll be a chance to show Paul the many different sides of Beijing and that he has the best possible introduction to this complex and fascinating city.

Rachel

Natasha talking to a student

Cheng Haifan faciliating an English Corner session

End of the school day

The school run

Off to Beijng in a couple of days but before that, some looking back at developments over the past couple of months. 

In April, Natasha, Ruru and I visited Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong supported by a Development Grant from the China:UK Connections through Culture programme.  Our aim was to lay the foundations for expanding 100 Words across mainland China and Hong Kong, identify potential partners and gain a greater understanding of the specific culture of each city. 

It was a fabulous trip, greatly exceeding expectations. All the organisations that we visited responded extremely postively to 100 Words. The fact that we had already run workshops in both China and the UK grounded the project and made it easier for potential partners to understand. They were able to relate it to their own organisations, establish areas of mutual interest and identify what the next steps might be.  We left Guangzhou and Shanghai with concrete plans for activity later this year, while useful connections were made in Hong Kong.

In Guangzhou, we kicked off with a visit to the Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Foreign Language School and met the dynamic headteacher, Qin Jinhua, and her team.  The school has had a specialism in the teaching of foreign languages for three years and has aspirations to expand beyond English.  It has established links with a couple of schools in Birmingham, Moseley and St John Wall, and will be hosting some of their students on a summer camp when participants will have the chance to stay with a Chinese family.  It runs a weekly English Corner, which we were invited to attend – for around an hour, we took part in lively discussions about what students might want to be when they finish their studies.  The school has invited us back to run a two day workshop for around 25 teachers, which we’re very excited about.

Other highlights of our stay in Guangzhou include visits to the Guangzhou Repertory Theatre Company and Guangdong Museum of Art. We also managed to get a good feel of the city, visiting Shaiman Island (the first area where Westerners were allowed to live), wandering round the Chinese medicine market and going on an evening river cruise.  Guangzhou had a relaxed feel to it, reflecting its location in the far south of China near Hong Kong and its role as a trading hub. The latter was very much in evidence with our visit coinciding with the 101st Canton Fair – trains were heaving, hotel accommodation scarce and very expensive.  British Council Guangzhou staff were extremely helpful, as ever, and we look forward to continuing to work with them.

It was then off to Shanghai and a packed schedule of meetings with Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai Jingju Theatre, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School, British Council Shanghai, Grass Stage and Neocha. There was the chance to meet up with some ‘lao pengyou’ including Nick Yu from Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and Zhao Bingbing, the Mayor of London’s Chief Representative in Shanghai.  It was also great to make new contacts including Jon, Sean, Cy and B6 from Neocha, which has recentlly launched www.neocha.com as a Chinese language platform aimed at China’s creative community. Ruru, as a ‘Shanghai-ren’ who grew up in the city and trained at Shanghai Theatre Academy, was a fantastic guide, showing us hidden secrets such as restaurants where she used to eat and local food markets as well as the more well known sights including views from Pudong at night.  We left Shanghai with plans to return to run workshops at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School. 

We then returned to Hong Kong for a few hours before catching onward and return flights. We had stopped off briefly on our first day, when we were shown round the stunning facilities at Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and travelled on the near vertical tram up to the top of Hong Kong Island for a delicious dim sum lunch. On our return visit, we visited British Council Hong Kong’s Teaching Centre to discuss ways in which 100 Words might be integrated with its work.

Since our return home, there have been many meetings - with Arts Council England, Birmingham REP, the British Council, Southbank Centre and Norfolk & Norwich Festival with whom we’re exploring the rather intriguing link between Norfolk and Xuhei District in Shanghai.  There have also been many hours spent at the computer, pulling all the various strands of 100 Words together in the form of a development plan for the project which will act as a blueprint for our vision and ambitions. And, of course, planning a return trip to Beijing with the National Youth Theatre, more of which shortly…

Rachel