General Info
What is it?
A Chinese orienteering club called Deer-O – based in Nanjing (map, Wikipedia) are organising an international youth orienteering camp sponsored by the Chinese Bureau of Sport. Young orienteers from many European countries are invited, including the UK, Czech Republic, Norway and Sweden. The aim of the camp is to see what orienteering in China is like, to make international friends and to learn a bit about Chinese culture & history. It’s not about serious training.
This camp is a self-help opportunity: the programme in Nanjing is organised by Deer-O, not by any UK organisation. The entire trip will be coordinated and supported by Ben Windsor, but the athlete and their family will remain responsible for their own conduct and safety.
How many people?
Maximum of 12 athletes from each country, M/W16 or M/W18, limit of 80 athletes in total.
Location
Nanjing, China.
The time zone is 8 hours ahead of GMT, 7 hours ahead of BST.
Costs
Once there, all costs (food, training, accommodation, cultural visits) will be covered by the Chinese Bureau of Sport. Costs of flights and visas are to be met by the athlete.
Here are typical total costs for the trip (flights may vary):
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Flights | £520 |
| Visa | £175 |
| Travel insurance | £50 |
| Travel vaccinations (advice) | £50-100 |
| Total | £800-850 |
Food
We guarantee you’ll miss western food by the end of your time in China. The food is very different, but is hugely varied and our Chinese hosts will put a lot of effort into taking us to interesting places to eat - it is part of the experience and you should get enthusiastic about trying things!
If you are a vegetarian who isn’t fussy about meat having been on the same plate as your food, or that the same utensils have been used to serve meat and veg, you will be fine. If you are a fussy vegetarian or a vegan, you will find it very difficult to manage. If you have a strong allergy to something such as nut traces it will be impossible to guarantee that food does not have traces of allergens in it.
Orienteering
Orienteering in China is less developed than in Europe. A fair amount of the terrain is likely to be parkland, generally in or close to Nanjing. The parks will generally be quite interesting, with lots of them being semi-forested and having complex path networks. In the past we also orienteered in an orange orchard, a beautiful bamboo forest, as well as some slightly less beautiful forests. The terrain won’t be up to Scandinavian standards, but it can be challenging and certainly different to what we are used to.
There will also be some sessions with younger Chinese orienteers (probably aged 10-12), where you will pair up with them and help them round the course. Some of them won’t speak a word of English, so get practising your miming skills!
The adults leading the groups from various countries will be doing some running but will also be available for coaching during the orienteering sessions, and we will be doing our best to make sure that athletes don’t get lost on the journey and during the trip!
Culture
The main aim of the tour is to get a taste of Chinese orienteering, to meet new friends and to see for yourself what China is like. The cultural element is very important, so we would especially encourage those who are keen to see different cultures to come. China has a very rich history, so there will be no shortage of opportunities to explore a range of monuments from the imperial era. As for the food, it is amazing!
Language
Zuzka Strakova, who will accompany the Czech group, is pretty fluent at speaking Chinese, and most of the younger generation of Chinese speak some level of English. Communication isn’t easy, but you will manage!
The organisers
Deer-O orienteering club is a club in Nanjing. We know them and some of their athletes from the previous camp in China, and before that we organised four days of training for them in the Czech Republic in 2016 when they visited Europe. We trust that they will once again organise an impressive programme for us!
Travel insurance / Vaccinations
See the medical page.
Safety
As this is organised by a Chinese club, it is not covered under British Orienteering’s usual policies, safety guidelines, or insurance. The reason we say “the athlete and their family will remain responsible for their own conduct and safety” is because taking a group of people to China is quite a responsibility. They will be expected to behave in an adult way. We will take care of everybody as much as we can and will be with the group for the whole trip. If anything serious happens we will be able to sort out getting to hospital and contacting parents. Hospitals will look after you very well, but it will cost a huge amount (we’re talking at least £1000/day), and then you’ll need to try to negotiate the refund of that with your insurance company.
It is sad when paperwork stops people from being offered fantastic opportunities - this trip goes on trust, not on qualifications and paperwork. If parents are not entirely happy with this situation, then you should not allow your child to attend the trip.
- Water Do not drink tap water. Brushing teeth is fine, just try not to swallow it. There should be somewhere to buy bottled water near the hotel.
- Food The most likely thing to make you ill will be eating something dodgy. This will either make you sick or have diarrhoea and you will feel rubbish, usually for about 24 hours, and then you will be fine again, so don’t worry if it happens to you. Things which can help to avoid this:
- Only eat freshly cooked food
- Wash thoroughly or peel all fruit before eating it
- If we have “hot pot” (a pot of boiling water in the middle of the table where you cook the food yourself), make sure any meat is well cooked before eating it
- Buying food from stalls on the street gives you a chance to sample some really interesting things, but it is less safe than reputable restaurants. I have eaten it several times and always been fine, but it’s a risk.
- If you stay vegetarian when eating street food or at cheap restaurants you’ll probably be fairly safe
- Buying things Sellers at market stalls, markets, taxi drivers etc., will try to rip you off because you are a foreigner. Bargaining is all part of it, and you will often be able to get a price a fraction of what they originally ask for.
- Personal China is, in general, a safe place – but there will be a rule that you must always be with at least one other person when we are in the cities. We will generally stay close together, for example “you have half an hour to look around this market and then meet back here” rather than “you have four hours to look around this city”. It is very important that you are back at the agreed place by the agreed time.
- Valuables Keep your documents and money close to you – China is probably safer than London in terms of people trying to steal these things, but you really don’t want to lose them, so wear a money belt, or at the very least keep these things in a zipped pocket on your person and not in your rucksack.
- Wildlife You might see the odd snake in the forest. Try not to step on it!
Internet Access and communication
Many common services such as Google, Gmail, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are blocked in China. Other services can become blocked and unblocked at any time. WhatsApp sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. WeChat is the Chinese version of WhatsApp, and this will be reliable for communication. There will likely be a massive WeChat group where people from the trip post photos and messages, so if you want to be included in that then you should install WeChat before we go.
Remember that calls, text, and data will be quite expensive whilst in China. Using WeChat or WhatsApp over the WiFi in the accommodation will be the best way to communicate.
There are various VPN apps which you can download to your phone which allow access to blocked services. They are not especially reliable, but you can experiment with them as you like.
Hopefully I’ll be able to post some short news articles/photos on this website during the trip (unless that is also blocked).
Passports
It is vital that passports remain safe throughout the trip, if it is lost then you will need to go to the British embassy and it will take around two weeks before you are allowed to return to the UK. Passports are also needed for buying transport tickets and checking into accommodation. I am willing to collect passports and keep hold of them during the trip, but I leave this to you as to whether you would like to keep it yourself or give it to me.
In either case, I would like both me and you to be carrying a photocopy of your passport, as this will help things if anything happens to it.
Tourist information
More useful information can be found on the Lonely Planet essential information page
What to bring
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should include the essential things:
Documents
- Passport with visa
- Two paper photocopies of your passport – one for you to keep and one for me to keep
- Student card, if you have one, this might give a reduction on entry to some tourist attractions
- Printed copy of your insurance information
- Signed consent form, unless you have already emailed it to me
Money
The currency in China is the Chinese Yuan. On a long term basis the exchange rate is about 10 Yuan = £1, but of course it varies all the time. There is nothing during the trip for which spending money will be required, however there will be opportunities to go shopping, and buy snacks and street food. I recommend bringing £100 worth of Yuan at the most. If you end up without enough cash, I will probably have some spare cash which I can lend you and bill you for in pounds after the trip.
- Up to £100 in Chinese Yuan
Bags
- Big rucksack (NOT a suitcase - we may need to hike with it)
- Small rucksack to use as a day bag
Orienteering Kit
Hand washing of kit will definitely be possible, we expect there will be washing machines but can’t be sure until we get there.
- O-tops – at least two
- O-trousers – at least two pairs
- Clothing for training in possibly wet and cold weather
- Running socks (lots)
- O-shoes (something suitable for parks and something suitable for forests)
- The usual O-kit (compass, whistle, description holder, tape, red pen, SI card not required)
- Small torch – there is no NightO planned, but it could come in useful if we are delayed and it starts to gets dark
Warm/Waterproof clothes
The weather is typically dry, sunshine and cloud, 20 degrees in the day 10 degrees at night
- Waterproof top
- Warm outer clothing / underlayer
- Optional: waterproof trousers
- Optional if you’re the kind of person who gets cold easily: Hat, gloves, scarf
Other clothes
- T-shirts, trousers, jumpers
- Socks and underwear
- Nightwear
- Swimming costume (outdoor swimming unlikely, but hotel may have a pool)
- Swimming hat
Food
There will be plenty of food provided at meal times, but it’s probably a good idea to bring a supply of cereal bars to take training with you. There will be some shops around too if you want to buy snacks, but the things available might be quite different to what you would expect in the UK!
- Food for the journey there. There will be meals on the flight but if you are a hungry person they won’t be enough, and with the coach journey at the other end it’ll be 20 hours or so of travelling
- Cereal bars
Bits and pieces
- Washkit (toothbrush, toothpaste etc.)
- Spare glasses/contact lenses, if applicable
- Small towel (towels will probably be provided though)
- Sun cream
- Insect repellent (should be fine, but just in case)
- Small first aid kit, including:
- Plasters
- Blister plasters
- Paracetamol/ibuprofen
- Diarrhoea rehydration powder
- Antiseptic wipes
- Small amount of tissue – our accommodation will have it, but public toilets do not have toilet paper
- Chinese socket adapter for charging phones – sockets in China are not the same as in the rest of Europe. Sockets aren’t always consistent but the most common type is two flat prongs
- Optional camera/charger
Activities
- Things to do – books, card games, pen and paper, music players
- Some “typical” food from the UK to share around with the other countries
- A selection of interesting maps which you have, others will be interested in seeing them!
You don’t need a sleeping bag, or a mat.
Documents which I will need a copy of
- A scan or photo of your passport photo page
- A scan or photo of your passport visa page
- A copy of your travel insurance documents
- Filled in Data and Consent Form – ideally you would print, sign, scan and email this to me. If that’s not possible, email me an unsigned version and bring the signed one to the airport.