Struan Rutherford 2015
正如我在上一篇博客上眼，我在北京过圣诞节。寻找传统圣诞午餐的麻烦以后，我们都去西式酒店吃饭 。很多我给打电话的饭馆说他们有传统圣诞午餐可是他们的圣诞午餐跟英国的有很多区别。这并不是抱怨：我认为中国接受，改编圣诞节的办法是非常有意思。我们在酒店享受优秀宴席，包括火鸡，寿司和香槟。由于别致圣诞节的场景，我们想有别致吃饭后的活动所以我们决定去打保龄球。还有，我们在北京过新年。不幸，北京没有焰火。我认为原因是城市的污染，最近的更厉害。当地政府以前说焰火应该被禁止来缩小污染。
一月十二号，我去日本旅游。我有在东京和京都学习的朋友所以我还想去看他们，我不是单独！除了东京和京都，我去广岛，宫鸟，奈良和日光。日本是非常漂亮培养的国家。虽然日本文化有很多中式地方，日本文化还是独特的。我现在在东京，已经花了差不多一个星期。我去看各种各样名胜古迹，包括东京国家博物馆和常常引起争论的供奉战死者寺庙：靖国神社。回来北京的时候，我盼望在中国庆祝春节。我知道春节大概是我在中国时间的一大亮点！
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
As I touched upon in my last monthly report, I spent Christmas in Beijing. After some of stress in trying to find a traditional Christmas lunch, we all went to eat in a Western style Beijing hotel. Many other restaurants that I had called said they had a traditional Christmas lunch but this differed greatly from the Christmas lunches I know in Britain. This is certainly not a complaint, rather I found it interesting to once again see how the Chinese have accepted Christmas and adapted it to create their own version of Christmas. At the Western style hotel, we enjoyed a fantastic feast including turkey, sushi and champagne. As it was an usual Christmas setting, we wanted to have an unusual after lunch activity so we decided to go bowling. We also celebrated New Years in Beijing however there were no fireworks in the city. I suspected this was to do with the pollution which has not been too good recently. The local government has said before that fireworks should be limited in order to lower pollution.
On the 12th January, I went to Japan for two weeks of travelling. I have friends studying in both Tokyo and Kyoto so I also planned to visit them, I am not completely alone! Besides Tokyo and Kyoto, I went to Hiroshima, Miyajima, Nara and Nikko. Japan is a beautiful country with great culture. Although the culture has many Chinese traits and similarities, it remains as a distinct one. I am currently in Tokyo and have spent almost a week here now. I have had the chance to visit all sorts of tourist sites, from the National Museum of Tokyo to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine which honours Japan’s war dead. Upon my return, I look forward to celebrating Spring Festival in China. I know it will be a highlight of my time in China!
Struan Rutherford 2015