Beijing running club helps expat athletes flex Mandarin skills as well as their muscles – and learn slang about military strategy
- Joining Heyrunning social club is not just a way to explore China by racing across the country – it’s also the perfect place to learn bizarrely specific Chinese slang
Running is usually a break from studying, but a social running club in Beijing is proving the perfect place for expats to try out their Mandarin.
For serious training, solo sessions may be better but Heyrunning is the perfect way to socialise. Swiss Jonas Thurig was introduced to Heyrunning after securing his job in Beijing in 2018, moving from Chengdu. Soon, the talent of Thurig became apparent – he won his first 50km race in Qinghai – and he was promoted to coach.
But it is more than his running that has flourished. Benefiting from post-training dinners, expats are receiving the kind of hands-on Mandarin lessons they could never get from expensive language schools and private tutors.
Thurig’s Mandarin level is impressive even in the eyes of most Chinese – he knows far more than just the basics. But he is eager to study more, even if most of the terms he is picking up are very niche.
“I also learned some cheng-yu, or Chinese Slang, which is quite interesting and not as hard to understand as I expected with a little extra explanation about its background,” he said. “Such as the zhi-shang-tan-bing or ‘Armchair Strategist’, which means talking about military strategy only on a paper map, originated from the Warring States period,” Thurig said. “And jin-yu-liang-yuan or ‘The Marvellous Affinity of A Golden Boy and A Jade Girl’ [which signify wealth and faithfulness respectively in a household].”