{"id":6742,"date":"2022-01-04T08:35:59","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T08:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/?p=6742"},"modified":"2022-01-05T14:28:41","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T14:28:41","slug":"being-of-chinese-heritage-in-bath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/2022\/01\/04\/being-of-chinese-heritage-in-bath\/","title":{"rendered":"Being of Chinese Heritage in Bath"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Landscape<\/a>
Landscape of Shanghai, China. (Credit: Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

China is both a nostalgic and conflicting memory for me - despite having grown up and lived there for 14 years, I feel disconnected from it at times. It was not until I moved to Bath for university, when I was living on my own amid all the British people, that I yearned to connect to my Chinese roots more.<\/p>\n

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Life in Shanghai, China<\/h4>\n

I moved to Shanghai, China, when I was just a few months old, and lived there until I was 14. From attending local schools to having Chinese friends, I was fully immersed in the culture. Mandarin was the only language I could speak until I was 10 years old. My family has some Chinese traditions, from cooking its cuisine to hearing about my grandparents' experience in the Chinese Cultural Revolution. But I did not fit in - I got questioned about the French nursery songs I sung in kindergarten, why my parents spoke French and German to each other, etc. I never explored the city much, because you couldn't really get anywhere without a car. I got fully accustomed to the Western lifestyle when I moved to Paris, France, and lost touch with most of my Chinese lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\"Tall,<\/a>
My apartment in Shanghai, China. I lived on the 20th floor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Nostalgia in Bath<\/h4>\n

Moving to England was a big change, even for me who's lived in France 4 years prior. It would've been an even bigger one had I stayed in China until high school. Everything from food to cultural terms, the difference in lifestyle is striking. It is generally more laid-back and casual, with a big emphasis on nightlife and drinking, as compared to China. I adapted relatively quickly from living in a household of solely British people and being used to moving around frequently. While living on my own in a foreign country, where I did not feel like I fit in with the locals (again), I started wanting to reconnect to my cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

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How I tried to reconnect<\/h4>\n

The biggest thing I did was learning to cook Chinese food. From asking for recipes from my parents to seeing traditional ones on the Internet, I get that tiny spark of excitement when I see something that I ate years ago.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Eggs and tomatoes on noodles (\u9e21\u86cb\u897f\u7ea2\u67ff\u9762)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Noodle<\/a>
Noodle soup with egg and vegetables.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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There are a few Chinese supermarkets in Bath, in the city centre. The one that I usually go to is called\u00a0Hondo Chinese Supermarket<\/strong><\/a>, on St James's Parade. It has everything you need: sauces, rice, instant noodles, and my favourite: frozen dumplings. I bought food such as cha siu buns (\u53c9\u70e7\u5305) and scallion pancakes (\u8471\u6cb9\u997c), which are common in China and some of my favourite food when I was young.<\/p>\n

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