With the football world cup in Brazil just about to start on Friday morning 4 AM Chinese time, I get asked by friends back in Germany the same questions time and again: How is it like to watch the world cup in China? What is the Chinese world cup experience like? Do they follow it at all?
In answering these questions, you’ll have to differentiate between the general atmosphere in the streets in Chengdu on the one side and certain places like bars and cafes prone to foreign (mostly “western”) football enthusiasts on the other side. With regards to the general atmosphere in the city, you barely see signs that the world cup is about to start. Images you may be familiar with in your home country – national flags in the streets, special world cup bargains in supermarkets and bakeries – are not that often seen here in Chengdu.
Well, this has something to do with the standing of China’s own football league and its national team. The fact that the Chinese national team is not participating in the world cup 2014 in Brazil doesn’t really help in creating a somewhat exhilarating world cup atmosphere. Due to their relatively bad performance in the world, the Chinese professional football league as well as the country’s national team have a very bad image among Chinese sport fanatics. There are quite a few Chinese, who follow European football leagues, but I have never met someone who talks well about Chinese football and this eventually has a soothing effect on the general atmosphere in the streets.
On the contrary, the Chinese Basketball league and its national team are considered to be performing better in the world. Chinese NBA stars like Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian have certainly triggered the fan support of basketball in China. That’s why quite a lot of Chinese people will rather chose to watch the world’s most popular basketball games also starting this week: the NBA finals.
However, when it comes to certain places in the city, I am still expecting a quite exuberant world cup atmosphere. There quite a few football maniacs from western countries among the 14 million people living here in Chengdu. You can already notice that Western bars, restaurants, and supermarkets (such as Carrefour) have started big marketing campaigns in order to attract Western (and Chinese) Football fans.
There is one really great place for watching football in Chengdu that can only been beaten by very few places in the West: The “Beer Nest”. The “Beer Nest” is a brewpub with fantastic self-brewed Indian Pale Ale and German wheat beer among many more classy beers from around the globe. For the world cup, they will put up two big screens and offer special Belgium import kegs for the cup final – can you ask for more?
There are football oases all around Chengdu, such as the Irish pub “Shamrock” not far away from our office, and a so-called “Fan Fest” held on the rooftop of a skyscraper downtown. We, at the Chengdu office at InternChina are very much looking forward to mingle with Chinese and foreign football fans from all around the world – I expect it to be a special experience for all of us.
Stay tuned with the Chinese perspective on the world cup with InternChina on instagram! Want to do an internship in China ? Apply now for an internship in Qingdao, Chengdu or Zhuhai
Apart from the great business and work opportunities that Zhuhai has to offer, it also has a great nightlife for those that like to have fun on their nights off.
There are many various places you can go to enjoy your Friday night, whether it be KTV, Bar Street (where all the clubs are) or the downtown bars.
KTV is a favorite amongst the Chinese locals, they absolutely love KTV’ing. KTV is actually so much fun, you get your own private room with a massive TV and sound system, and you can karaoke privately with your friends. If you don’t feel like singing, you’ve basically got yourself a private club for the night! Drinks tend to be expensive, but it all evens out because the price to rent the room for the night is very inexpensive. KTV’s can be found all over the city.
Bar Street is a favorite amongst the interns because there is a street full of bars and clubs. 88 Club in particular is the main club to go to when you are in Zhuhai. Opening, and happening every night of the week, you can always expect dance music, flashing lights, live dancers and free glow sticks. Because the drinks tend to be a little expensive, the interns usually buy drinks from the 7/11 down the street, drink them by the big lit-up tree outside of 88, and then enter the club when they are ready to party.
Right next to Bar Street is BBQ Street, where you can find lots of delicious street vendors ready to make you food at 2:00am when you’re drunk and hungry.
For those more relaxed nights, there are many great bars to go to. London Lounge, for example, which is located opposite the Jida beach, has become very popular. Sports games are played on the regular, and there is always great live music. If you’re craving western delights such as sausage rolls or fish’n’chips, this is the place to come to. If you’re a little tired of drinking Chinese beer and feel like a nice change, London Lounge serves Guinness, Tuborg, Carlsberg, Heineken, Corona’s, etc.
King’s Flanc is another hidden gem in Zhuhai. They offer a vast variety of wines and other drinks for those more classy nights.
There are many great places to have a great night when in Zhuhai. Here is a list of some other great places:
The Factory Restaurant & Bar
Location: Street: Huafa New Century Plaza 113
珠 海 香 洲 -拱 北 昌 盛 路 华 发 世 纪 城3113号
Chicago Brewery & Grill
Location: Dongfeng Road 6
香 洲 区 东 风 路 6号
London Lounge Bar
Location: Ground Floor, Ridong Square
香 洲 区 情 侣 中 路 51号 日 东 广 场
88 Club
Location: Jiu ba jie
香 洲 区 拱 北 水 湾 路 酒 吧 街 203号
The One
Location: Jiu ba jie
香 洲 区 拱 北 水 湾 路 酒 吧 街
To find out more about what events and fun things are planned for Zhuhai, visit www.zhuhainights.com
Are you interested in gaining some great experience, as well as having a great time with people your age? Come to Zhuhai to experience the great party scene! Apply now to InternChina by sending your CV and cover letter to info@internchina.com.
Shaolin Soccer
by Xavier
Plot:
Shaolin Soccer (2001) is a movie about a guy called Sing, who is a former Shaolin Kung Fu Master. One day he meets Fung, who was a famous soccer star, but was betrayed by his friend Hung who also broke Fungs knee, thus ending his career.
The ex-soccer player helps Sing reconcile with his five brothers, who also became Kung Fu Masters, and teaches them soccer, adding Shaolin Kung Fu. Sing’s specialty is the “Leg of Steel” and the whole team is using their martial arts skills to their advantage.
Together they enter a big soccer competition and appear to be unbeatable, until they meet Fung’s arch-enemy and his team: Team Evil…
Why watch this movie:
As I write this, I have watched Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer for the amount of times relative to my age (Editor’s note: Xavier is 22). And I still enjoy every single minute of it. Also after you watch this film you will know the funny side of Chinese. Also, this film was the first movie which used the Chinese Kung Fu & Western sports mixed together. There’s something about this movie that attracts me to watch it every single time it is playing on TV, and I’m still trying to figure out what exactly it is. In my opinion, what makes Shaolin Soccer the best film ever made in the history of films, is simply the cast and the variety of characters. No one else is able to step into the role of “Golden Steel Leg” so effortlessly like how Stephen Chow did. Put in “Golden Hammer Head”, a guy who breakdances while juggling a ball, a flying fat man…and you will get the best movie there ever was. So basically, why you should watch it is because it is a great way to learn something about Chinese humor, the movie is a genre-mix and making fun of all the old Wuxia movies (that’s the old martial arts movies) and it is about one of the world’s most favorite sports!
Learn more about Chinese humor with Xavier and come to Zhuhai! Apply directly orsend us an Email! We hope to hear from you soon!
Picture taken from:
https://www.unionfilms.org/films/reviews/siu-lam-juk-kau-shaolin-soccer.html
Since the Olympic Games in Beijing, Qingdao has become famous for Sailing activities. This led InternChina to organize a 3-hour sailing activity.
After a quick instruction of the two professional skippers we could board the ships. The majority of our small group had no previous experience in sailing before, so it was quite helpful that our sailors gave us a lot information about how to sail and everyone was more or less involved and had their own tasks to do.
But just in order to avoid any misunderstanding: we were definitely not too busy to enjoy the nice weather, the sea and the beautiful view of Qingdao’s skyline. After around 2 hours of sailing we stopped the boat in the middle of the sea and were allowed to jump into the sea. It was an amazing swim and – thank god – nobody got caught by a monster-jellyfish 🙂
What the Internchina interns were lucky enough to experienced is that Qingdao offers many possibilities of different kinds of water sports. Unfortunately, I am going to leave China in one week and I already know that I will miss the sea when I depart 🙁
To all “Yùndòngyuán“ ( 运动员 ),
I want to dedicate this blog entry to a mysterious, hidden but at the same time fantastic place…
The “Fight Club” (Bó Jī Jù Lè Bù – 搏击俱乐部)!!!
Maybe first some background information: Jenny used to train long time ago with a wise, old and peculiar Chinese Kong-Fu/Kick-Boxing teacher, “Lǎoshī“ (老师), which dedicated plenty years of his glorious life to different kinds of fighting sports. One day, he disappeared without a trace– no one knew where he has gone and why he left unannounced.
Some days after my arrival, after getting to know the Qingdao-guys, Jenny told me about her ambition for fighting sports (what I would never believe to be honest :)) and that she plans to revive this ambition by having work-outs on a regular basis, when finding the suitable location. Because I am also interested in these martial arts, we arranged to search for a “Fight Club”, which suits our needs. So we started consulting different people, visited different gyms and finally entered THE glorious “Fight Club”. By entering it – the place is just 5 Minutes away from our office, inconspicuously based on the third floor of a random building, you sense the atmosphere of freedom and peace. The place is not especially clean and well-equipped but looks more like a basement or underground “club”, a place for initiated; people who just want to escape the big-city-feeling and the routine working life. And guess who we met there, sitting on one of the nicely suiting sofas, immerged in the special atmosphere of the “Fight Club”? The mysterious, wise “Lǎoshī“(老师) or master “Guànjūn” (冠军)!!! Please don’t ask why he is there and how he managed to be invisible for such a long time (2 years!) – We simply don’t have a clue but we are pretty sure that this is miracle! 🙂 Because he knew Jenny from earlier times, he welcomed us all (the two of us and two other “fighting friends”) with the words: “ Finally you made it, I waited for YOU for a long time” ( Ok fine, he didn’t say it, he just speaks Chinese, that’s what I understood or would like to hear… -.- ) He introduced us to some (unwritten) rules, e.g. that by entering the place, you should forget the daily problems you are struggling around with – during the workout-time neither problems, nor sorrows exist. And it helps – to train there is like a “therapy”; not important with what mood you enter the “Fight Club”, you are always leaving this place with a positive attitude and in a much better mood!
But what is it exactly making this place so special?
First of all, it’s the “underground” style itself – it looks like someone just said he wants to use a floor and opened a club, probably without having a license but the necessary connection. So you have a big floor, which is divided into separate “parts”, which altogether harmonize like different kinds of plants and trees in a forest. You have an area with punching bags, an area with a small boxing ring, an area functioning as a gym with some basic appliances, second area with mats and punching bags and an area which is not developed yet, also called the “black zone”, leading to a staircase, which brings you to a dancing place, where different kinds of dances are practiced (ranges from traditional dances to belly dancing :)). This area is occupied by (hot) Chinese girls, girls who also want to feel the magical atmosphere of the “Fight Club”.
Secondly, it’s the people training there, just Chinese people, ranging from very total beginners to very good fighters, from young to old and from pupils/students to business men. It is like a big family, everyone has a personal story to tell (in most cases in Chinese, so not everything is clear) but the sport bands us all together. Furthermore, you can try different sports, such as Chinese Kong Fu, Thai Boxing, Karate and others. You always can get assistance from one of the “Xiǎo Guànjūn´s“.
Last but not least, the place is just next to our office, so it´s really convenient and you can go there every day (!!!), from 10 am – 9pm. Because you know that after finishing work the traffic is horrible, going to our sacred place appears a reasonable alternative to go directly after work – after the work out you feel relaxed and it´s much more agreeable to go home, eating something and falling death on your bed! Moreover, because we represent “foreign faces” and make the place more multifaceted, we paid special prices, e.g. 1200 RMB for 1 year, which is a real gift for what the place offers!
Ok, enough rhapsodized about the “Fight Club”, I’m off for a work out there! We would be happy to welcome you one day to this place and feel the magic which is “hosted” here!
One thing in life is granted – no matter what happened in the past, there is always a next fight waiting for YOU! 😉
Hey guys,Here is what the three of us, Leo, David and I, did last saturday. We went to the sport center “Ti Yu Zhong Xin” in Zhuhai to try something new we never tried before – shooting! The sports center is a big complex where you can do different kinds of sports. There you can find the sports hall for shooting. You can see it on the picture above! My very first impression was: “Is this really the right place for this activity?” But it was the right place and it was amazing. 🙂
After we entered the hall, a co-worker accompanied us to the room for the “beginners”. We went through other halls with different kinds of targets; I think some of them were also moving targets. Our “targets” were empty bottles which were located on three long, iron racks. First of all we tried the small gun. (See pictures! :)) A magazine of 8 bullets was 22 Yuan. It was the same price for the rifle which we tried afterwards. Both guns were nice, but all of us had more problems with the small gun because you have to target at the bottles more accurately and calculate some centimeters lower or higher. With the rifle it was much easier to hit the bottles but therefore less interesting. After few magazines were empty, we took some pictures and asked the two guys, who helped us with the guns, whether there are also other guns. Suddenly they opened a big, old closet with different other guns. Unfortunately our knowledge of guns is poor so I cannot say which guns those were. 🙁
But we recognized the big shotgun and we immediately asked the co-workers whether we can try it and what the price for one bullet is. One bullet was 12 Yuan. Not that cheap.
But we just wanted to try the shotgun, at least 2 bullets. It really was worth it because the feeling was incredible. It is like you experience a kickback after you shoot and it is so f…g loud. 🙂
To all guys who want to try it I can just recommend it to you. For us it was the first time and I can honestly say that we really enjoined it although it was just some minutes of fun! 🙂
