Attempting to put my experience in China thus far into words is going to prove a very difficult task, however in this article I will articulate, as exquisitely as possible, how amazing my China adventure has been so far. I am a twenty-three year old, aspiring History teacher, from England. I could not believe my luck when I found this opportunity to move to work in China, and not only teach, which is my genuine passion, but also travel and immerse myself into another culture. Therefore, I have passionately embraced China, continue to explore the country and enjoy the teaching.
My journey began in Beijing, whereby I completed the Beijing Fengtai English Summer Camp. This ten day experience symbolises my roots whilst living in China. These were the first children I had the pleasure to teach in China, and I will never forget the impact I had on them, and they to me. Here is a photo with my class and fellow teaching buddies.
Admittedly, participating in this English Camp in order to attain my TEFL certificate did not quite immerse me into Chinese culture immediately. Unfortunately and also in many ways fortunately, we did not leave the school premises whilst in Beijing. However, halfway through the camp, a cultural visit was arranged to the Temple of Heaven, and this trip sparked my love and deep desire to travel throughout China.
Following my successful completion of the camp and completing all requirements for my TEFL Qualification, I was ready and fully-equipped to move to Shanghai, find an apartment and start teaching in September. Whilst on the bullet train, one of China’s many amazing advanced technologies, I reflected on my time in Beijing and decided I would definitely return to explore Beijing further. Coinciding with these thoughts was my utter excitement to be on my way to Shanghai. Shanghai is an extremely large, thrilling and exiting city. Therefore, I settled in very quickly and fell in love with Shanghai.
I loved, embraced, explored and enjoyed Shanghai to my maximum ability. Some of my favourite areas became the French Concession area around South Shanxi and West Nanjing Road whereby I would find many unique places to grab a coffee and read. I also fell in love with the Tianzifang market immediately, in which I spent my birthday at the Indian restaurant there named Lotus Land Indian Cuisine.
However, I had this deep yearning inside me to explore the rest of China as much as I could. This urge and desire led me to the Yellow Mountains in Anhui Province, towards the end of September 2015. It was an immensely revitalising and beautiful experience. I felt like through each step I took, and peak I climbed, I was going through a spiritual, personal, natural journey in which I was at absolute peace. The views were mesmerizingly phenomenal, and it was an unforgettable weekend. I realised that China contained many hidden gems, waiting for me to find them.
A week after my trip to Mt. Huangshan was a week-long Chinese National Holiday in which I embraced as an opportunity to travel further. Before embarking on my travels to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, a few friends and I made the thrilling decision to visit and go up Shanghai’s infamous Oriental Pearl Tower. One of my most favourite places to wander and think had in fact become the bund, as the view never dulled for me, evening or day.
Thus excitement took over me when we found ourselves rising higher up the lift of the Pearl Tower at the beginning of the National Holiday. The views were exceptional and it was at that moment that I felt this warm pride knowing that I lived in such a thrilling, amazing city – Shanghai.
Nevertheless, I said goodbye to Shanghai for just short of a week during the National Holiday, in October. Hong Kong was my chosen destination to visit, and I have no regrets! Hong Kong had its own unique character, as compared to mainland China. In fact it’s very distinct traits has not allowed for my memories in Hong Kong to fade.
Teaching whilst travelling and living in China has ensured, at present, a fulfilling life for me. This is because, for me, it is not enough to be able to not work, and freely travel the world. I passionately love education and teaching. It has been, and continues to be, such a pleasure to teach English to grade one and grade three, in both my schools in Xujing and Qingpu. The end of October signified, a popularly celebrated Western festival, Halloween. Forget will I not the student’s electrified faces during the game “pass the pumpkin”. In this game I had a toy pumpkin in which the students passed around whilst the timer ticked on my slideshow, and when a BANG sound was heard it was the child who was holding the pumpkin that had to answer an English related question, i.e. Halloween related vocabulary. Ultimately, it has been an honour to teach here in Shanghai, and my students are the main attributes to my amazing China experience so far.
I am a firm believer of adopting a healthy work-life balance when possible. I feel that “life is too short” in that a person grows and develops through not only succeeding in their career, and working hard, but also travelling, experiencing new things and learning along the journey. As a teacher, it is important to encourage your students to want to learn by demonstrating the important of education. Thus, in aiding this it is important to never stop learning oneself. I feel I learn something new every time I visit a different area or city in China. I learn more about Chinese culture, practices and in due course it has, for me, become a journey with myself.
My next weekend trip was to a city nearby to Shanghai and often referred to as the “Venice of the East”; Suzhou. I spent a beautiful weekend in Suzhou visiting a close friend and exploring her city. Mudu, an ancient water town in Suzhou, was my favourite visit of the trip due to the sensational calmness it bought to me. Floating through the town on a small boat, with a Chinese lady wonderfully singing, is an unforgettable memory.
As prior mentioned in this article, I had every intention to travel back to Beijing again. Therefore, towards the end of October I decided to return to Beijing whilst also visiting my friends who were living there. I studied History for my undergraduate at University, and it was in Beijing that I strongly felt pure Historicity. Perhaps this was due to my exploration of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. It was the most revitalising weekend for me in China yet. As I walked through the Forbidden City, it felt like I could really feel and sense that the Emperors had once lived here. The Great Wall of China was an indescribable daytrip. As we walked along the wall, I reflected on how appreciative, happy and content I was in living in China.
I feel like I’ve fallen in love with Chinese culture. Since living here I have not experienced any negativity or hostility. I have made very good friendships at work. For instance, at my Qingpu school, I have a regular “Teacher Workshop” whereby the English teachers and I get together and chat about various topics!
An ancient town, named “Zhujiajiao”, has become my favourite place in Qingpu thus far. Tina, my Chinese teacher colleague and friend, recommended to me that I visit – and also spent a day with me there herself with her friends! Visiting this town was astounding. I realised even further just how vast and diverse China was. It’s beauty, to me, lies in its wide range of character, beauty and history. The constant discovery of more and more beautiful places in China, and its cities, has fuelled my desire to keep exploring and travelling. I feel like even if I spent my whole life in China, I’d only solve a fraction of the puzzle.
China has helped me to grow as a person due to the challenges I have faced. The most obvious example is leaving home and moving to a new country, in which there is barely any correspondence to England. The dissimilar food, language, weather, customs and practices have been a joy to embrace. Less obvious, is the challenges I have faced but quickly overcome in the classroom. In England, the maximum amount of children I taught was 25-30. However, it has been so fun to teach classes of 50 children in my grade three, Xujing School. I have always loved the feeling of captivating students in a classroom in my teachings. No feeling, to me, can compare to when you inspire a child, educate a child and engage their attention.
Moreover, at the beginning of December, I decided to meet up with some friends and spend a weekend in Xi’an. We spent the weekend visiting the Terracotta Warriors, trying new, scrumptious food in the Muslim Quarter and finishing the weekend with a cycle around the city on the Ancient Xi’an City Wall. As I said at the beginning of this article, it is an extremely difficult task to explain in words just how marvellous China is. Xi’an was stunning. Adding to the beauty of the city was the kind people I met and numerous friends I made. During my China experience thus far, I have made an infinite amount of friends and received nothing but compassion. I am being completely honest when I say; the kindest people I have met have been in China.
I mentioned that living in China I have tried many new things which are unique to Chinese culture. In Xi’an I made dumplings and tried various teas in a teahouse at the Terracotta Warrior’s. In fact, I enjoyed the tea so much that I bought some “lychee” tea home to Shanghai with me.
Teaching, living, working and travelling whilst in China has provided me with many skills. Most important of all, I feel self-dependent. My final trip of 2015 has been a recent trip to Hangzhou; a city nearby to Shanghai. I can totally understand why it has been described as “Heaven on Earth”. The mysterious views of the West Lake mesmerised me and the Lingyin Temple was unforgettably captivating. It’s Buddhist scriptures in the caves were outstanding.
This article has proven that China is huge, diverse and beautiful. I hope it can be well interpreted just how miraculous my China experience has been thus far. Here is a quote that I feel sums up China very well:
“The one thing I know for sure about China, is that I will never know China. It’s too big, too old, too diverse, too deep. There’s simply not enough time. That’s for me the joy of China. Facing a learning curve that impossibly steep. The certain knowledge that even if I dedicated my life to learning about China, I’d die mostly ignorant.”
Quote by Anthony Bourdain, Unknown
Check out Sabrina’s blog about her adventures in China Sabrina’s ‘Wanderlust East’ blog
Below a video of Sabrina teaching her Grade 3 class in Shanghai
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