夏丹宁夫妇
When I heard about the opportunity that I can go back to china from learning Mandarin, I jumped on the occasion and asked my wife to accompany me, so we could be two speaking a new language. I found the language interesting, it looks complicated, but after you understand some base, it is easy to learn.
This trip was different from my first time in many levels.
First thing I notice when we arrive in Beijing, the pollution was better than last year. TJ was telling me that China Congress was going on and therewas no construction because of it. I found the city safe.The hotel was close from wangfujing street where you can find some snacks like scorpions, hawthorn, sugar-coated figurine and more. Our tour guide in Beijing, Jackson was getting along very well with the group and the teenagers love him. Even though this was the second time visiting The Forbidden City and The Temple of Heaven, we had entered at different gates giving us new beautiful views on those historic building. At the Zoo, we went at a perfect time to see the Panda for the very first time and they were not sleeping. All the animals we saw were very active, my wife was impress with the monkeys and the white polar bear. The Great Wall of China, walking on it for a second time and still amaze me that it was build by human hand. I can’t help but think about all the people that build it and died for it.
Second thing is the food, I was very surprise of the many different and delicious food that we had during our stay in china. Got to try some famous dishes like the hot pot, Peking duck, Dumplings and many more. I really enjoy Chinese foods that we started to try to cook some at home.
The best part for us was Qufu, the staff were very friendly, eager to please us. We had a chance to learn more about the culture. Every time we were speaking a little mandarin, the people was amaze. The Gourd Museum was captivating, so many different arts made of gourd and the sounds of the instrument was very different. I wish I could have bought one of those instruments. Going to Tai Shan was our highlight of the trip, I think Chen was very happy to show us his hometown. The view is incredible, you can see a line where on the bottom is the pollution and the blue sky. Even though we had used the cable cars, we still had a lot of stairs to climb. Now we saw one the five great mountains of China, I have four more to see.
We are grateful that we made some news friends and we are now connected on we-chat.
XiexieHanBan for this trip, cannot thank you enough. Also, a big thank you toTengLoashi, She is amazing.
We will visit again China.Wo ai Zhongguo。
回到中国
当我听说有机会通过学习普通话回到中国时，我激动地跳了起来，并要求我的妻子陪伴我，我们可以一起讲一种新的语言。 我觉得这个语言很有趣，虽然看起来很复杂，但是当你理解了这个语言的基础后，学起来就很简单了。
这次旅行跟我第一次来中国的经历太不一样了，不管从哪方面来说都不同。
当我们刚到北京时，我注意到的第一个不同就是现在北京的污染情况比去年好了很多。滕菁老师(加拿大新布伦瑞克省孔子学院中方院长）告诉我中国正在召开两会，因此城里都没有任何施工的情况。我也发现这座城市非常安全。我们下榻的酒店就在王府井大街附近，你能很容易买到不同种类的小吃，比如炸蝎子，糖葫芦，糖人等等。我们的地陪导游，Jackson跟我们相处的非常开心，年轻人都喜欢他。尽管这是第二次游故宫和天坛，但这次我们从另外一个门进去的，看到了这些历史古迹另一面的美。我们还去了动物园，超级幸运的是我们第一次看到了熊猫没有睡觉的样子。我们看到的动物都非常有活力，我太太非常喜欢猴子和北极熊。长城，第二次踏足，但它的一砖一瓦都是人们亲手建造的这个事实仍然让我敬佩不已。
第二个不同是食物。这次我们的旅程中，那些花样繁多又让人垂涎欲滴的食物让我感到非常惊喜。我推荐你一定要去尝尝有名的中国菜。例如火锅、烤鸭、饺子还有其他各种不同的中餐。我非常享受在中国吃到的食物。回到家后，我和太太开始尝试自己动手做中国菜了！
这次旅行最精彩的部分是在曲阜的旅程。学校的老师对我们非常友好，非常热情。我们由此了解了更多的中国文化。每次我们说几句中文时，人们都会露出赞叹的表情。葫芦博物馆非常吸引人。我们欣赏了数不清的葫芦艺术作品。用葫芦做成的乐器发出的声音非常独特。真希望我能带回一个这样的乐器。爬泰山是我们这趟旅行的高潮部分。我想小陈（学生志愿者）一定非常开心将他的家乡介绍给我们。山上的风景让人惊叹，你可以看到山脚下一条被污染的线，你还可以看到近在咫尺的蓝天。尽管我们乘坐了缆车，但是还是要爬很长一段台阶。现在，我们已经看过了五大名山其中之一了，将来还有四座名山等着我们去探索。
我们非常感谢新认识的朋友们。我们彼此加了微信，可以在微信上继续联系了。
谢谢国家汉办为我们此次旅行所做的一切。一句感谢不足以表达我的感激之情。另外还要特别感谢滕老师。她太棒了！
我们一定还会再来中国的。我爱中国。
（供稿：夏丹宁，加拿大新布伦瑞克省孔子学院三月中国行访华团团员）
