by Website Editor, 23 March 2012

Eight years in China, a language and literature degree from a Chinese university, the first foreigner to act in Shaanxi Opera, and countless media appearances – this would be a good track record for anyone. For a Scottish 26 year old, it must be pretty unique. We caught up with Adam Varjavandi, originally from Dundee but now based in Xi'an, during a short visit to Scotland to develop his new “gap year” programme, Chinaberry.

Adam's China experience began, as it does for many young people, with a gap year trip in 2003. “I had friends who'd been to China and who told me I had to experience it”, he says, “so I started in Macau before moving on to Xi'an”. The northwestern Chinese city attracted him because of its historical connections and the “romance” of old China, he explained.

He quickly settled in - “I was so welcomed by the people, they were so forgiving even if you just tried a little Chinese”. Adam was also struck by their simple and straightforward attitude to life. As he put it, “if I asked someone what they did yesterday, they might say, 'I visited my mother' – whereas a westerner might say, 'I visited my mother...and then I did this, and then I did that'”.

Adam remained in Xi'an until the spring of 2005, learning Chinese as the only westerner in a class of Koreans. He almost returned to Scotland to take up a place as an architecture student, but during this period, he became particularly interested in the Chinese language. “It was when I met Professor Tang Han, a Chinese etymology researcher, that I decided to stay on in China”, he explains, adding “Professor Tang invited me to be his student and take part in his ground-breaking research, as a foreign 'guinea pig'”.

The focus of Professor Tang's research is the folk origins of Chinese characters, and into the transformation of a society with no language into one with language – he believes that they all originally “came from life”. In addition, he argues that the stories of these origins are a very powerful way of teaching Chinese to foreigners, and one that is superior to more recently “made up explanations” of why certain characters have certain forms. “This is a very new area of research”, Adam noted, “that really only began with the discovery of the 'oracle bones'” (see here for more background). It remains a controversial topic in Chinese language studies.

After completing his degree at Shaanxi Normal University, Adam's own study of the Chinese language continues, not just from books and day-to-day life, but also from using it as a performer. He came second in CCTV4's 2008 national competition for international students speaking Chinese – one element of this was a short talk on “my favourite character”, for which he chose 安, “ān”, meaning peace or safety. As he says, “I love the fact it is made up of the characters for a roof and for a woman – so if you have a home and a woman, you are safe”.

In 2007, he went one better by being the first foreigner to perform in Shaanxi Opera – he appeared in a play called 'Picking up the jade bracelet'. He explains, “I was wearing a traditional white cloak with huge sleeves and my make-up was very severe with pink eyes, and big eyebrows – I looked like a punk musician but it was very striking, and everyone started cheering as soon as I came on stage”.

Adam is now working on developing a “gap year” programme in Xi'an for students from Scotland and elsewhere, called Chinaberry, which is due to be launched in September 2012. As he explained, “I see Chinaberry as the culmination of years of experience and work in education and cultural exchange, it was my research into the language and the need for new teaching methods that inspired me to start this project”. He adds, “as well as intensive language lessons, the programme will also include internships in local businesses and cultural field trips, giving participants a taste of real life as well as the classroom”. Throughout, Adam emphasises, “we will stress respect for Chinese culture”, as he has done in his own China experience so far.