I must say I miss working in the smaller towns around China; magical amazing days of initiation into TEFL that will forever stay close to me. The attitude and way of life is completely the opposite to that of say Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu or Shenzhen and yes, it is completely stunning!
Things are always done in a more relaxed and less formal manner and it’s easy to get work, especially if there is a big tourist influx. Take Yangshuo (Yangers to the local expats) near Guilin for example. There are schools all over the place just ready to take on any foreigner for any length of time. People stay for a weekend, a week or a month. Even those who consider themselves regular teachers really only ever stay for around a year. Take your pick! (tx Wikipedia)
Excerpt from Just Turn Left at the Mountain Chapter 9 by Andy Smart
2006: Teaching the students is both a unique experience and a real laugh. Its great putting absolutely every bit of energy back into classes again. The students keep coming up with all kinds of eccentricities. I set some homework where they had to write about their ideal romantic candle lit dinner for two with their partner. Xiao Yan’s was a large fish head in a white soup while Jessie Li’s main ingredient was monosodium glutamate.

Plenty of trips out of town at the weekends
Still on the subject of food, one of the students reckons that her favourite is harvest mouse and also the moth pupa which are apparently very tasty. Indeed if you’re doing a topic based on food, asking anyone to list ten types of meat is always an experience and a half; “beef, pork, goat, chicken, duck, pigeon, fish, donkey, snake and dog” is normally how it goes.
After a while you realise that even the most straight forward questions or activities don’t go how you envisage them. We were doing a lesson on cooking when I asked for some similar verbs to the word ‘cut’ expecting to hear ‘chop, slice and dice’. The problem is, Chinese students love to have their heads buried in their electronic dictionaries which, although can be quite handy, often bear no thread on the language we use in daily life. Instead of the predicted answer, one of the students comes out with the word ‘slash’. So there I am trying to explain why we wouldn’t use the word slash in this instance and when we normally use it, showing them the difference between cutting and slashing using my board marker instead of a knife. Of course they delighted in this new word and it was in use for days after.
Nearing the end of class it was time to put all the new vocab into practice and they were given five minutes to work out the recipe for making a chicken and salad sandwich in English.
“Easy” I thought!
“First you need to buy a chicken” explained the first student. “Take it home and slash it with a knife in your kitchen until its dead. Put your hand inside and pull out its stomach…”
At that point I quickly stopped them, guiding them onto the ‘putting everything between the bread’ stage before it got even grizzlier.
We were discussing various jobs today. One that came up was that of a life guard. I asked what they thought it meant. One student guessed that as you move through life it was someone sent to protect you against danger. While doing a class on various warning signs from the text book, we discussed the one with a picture of a hard hat. One of them put his hand up and said that you would normally find it when ‘destroying caves.’ He explained that it is normal in China to rip the guts out of any cave and sell all the stalagmites and stalactites.
During a talk on the most important inventions in history the compass and paper were of course the first to get a mention. After all China was the first place to start using both way back near the beginning of its five thousand year old history. One guy however put his hand up with an excited look on his face; “guns” he said.
“Why are guns the greatest invention?” I asked. “Surely they are the worst.”
“Yes but they are more convenient” he explained.
I must admit, I was reluctant to start teaching to say the least. I guess it was a mixture of extreme laziness and “Hey, I’m on holiday, why the hell do I need to get a job?” Actually, the trick is not to see TEFL as a job and that’s all there is to it.
There are in fact a number of very sound reasons for choosing to teach when you’re travelling in China:
- Being able to stay on the road. The small towns may not pay that much but if you have dwindling resources then you can earn as much as you need and then move on.
- Being able to stay in the same place and really get a feel of it. When I was in Yangshuo I was able to get a brilliant flat near the river for next to nothing.
- Experiencing Chinese festivals and celebrations.
- Learning Chinese. People on the road rarely start to get past the beginners barrier. If you stay put for a while your know-how will definitely start to grow.
- Joining the school’s day trips to fantastic places at the weekend.
- Hanging out with your students if you are teaching adults. They will no doubt invite you to all sorts of places you never expected to go to.
- Gaining a deeper experience of what China is about, something that doesn’t really happen if you are moving quickly from town to town.
- Getting treated like a superstar by your students and royalty by the management.

My amazing flat by the Li river that cost me £50/$70 a month (2 bedrooms, kitchen, large living room and WC). Nice!

The English speaking competition and our esteemed judges.

Lunchtimes in the canteen.
If you’re thinking of hitting the road across China and would like more info drop by anytime and I’ll get back to you.
Safe journeys!
Categories: China, Chinese Provinces, On the Road
Wicked piece here, so informative and hilarious and v true and on-point reasons for settling/work in a place, hope you’re still having the best time on the road and super-jealous of your apartment..!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers FF > That apartment was back in 2006. I miss it but it was really noisy. I mean the noisiest place ever. Still on the road >>> Have a good weekend 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on A Good Book is Hard to Find and commented:
Check out Andy Smart’s awesome blog and photos of China! Also check out his book Just Turn Left at the Mountain! -OM
Note: Comments disabled here. Please visit their blog.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Heeeeyyyy Jason. Thanks for the reblog and have a brilliant awesome weekend mate 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You as well Andy! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I so enjoy your posts… keep trekking! you are getting to eat the “real” Chinese cooking.. =^_^=
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha > Thanks Dymoon. I like the spicy Sichuan food 😉 Nice of you to drop by. Wishing you a great weekend my friend
LikeLike
What a fascinating post, awesome photos. Thank you Andy, I want to travel China now!
LikeLiked by 1 person
China is a great place to come and visit. If you ever head over this way give me a shout 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will do!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on The Araneya Times and commented:
Thinking of travelling to China? Check out Andy Smart’s informative blog with awesome photos!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for the reblog Neven > That’s fantastic. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The pleasure is mine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did you think, before you began teaching in China, that you would receive as much education as you gave? And what a location! It must have been sad to leave the apartment by the river in such a beautiful area.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on PenneyVanderbilt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi there Penny. Thank you so much for your reblog. What a great surprise to come home to after work.
LikeLike
China is on my list of places to travel; however, by the time I get there, I will be somewhat prepared based on your posts. Hopefully, not too many things will change, but that’s the risk one takes for going elsewhere first!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hiya Karina. Actually China is in the middle of huge period of growth. It started thirty or so years ago and its now in full swing. Nothing stays the same for long here. However, China will always be good old wonderful China whatever and it will always retain its magic.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Some incredible photos captured my mind. Thank You.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hiya > Yes Yangers is an amazing place. In fact it’s really hard to leave. People get stuck there for weeks even years. Thanks for dropping by and have a brilliant weekend in the land of ice and snow 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful advice on immersing into a culture. Enjoyed this. Have a great weekend Andy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome to China any time Miriam. It’s a super addictive country 🙂 Have a great weekend back to you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
My brother and his wife adopted a child from China 12 years ago. She’s a gem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post – love the photos! Looks like you don’t really need a GPS? Then again – if all roads are in Chinese and you can’t read it – you may take a few ‘unplanned’ detours!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha > The detours are the times you remember. I hope I can find a GPS in English over here though I’m not holding much hope. Glad you liked the post. Yangshuo is an amazing place:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice pics, I think you had a great time👍👌
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Gamma > Yangshuo was hmmmm unforgettable. Let’s just leave it at that ha ha
LikeLiked by 1 person
😁😁😁cheers👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
This really does sound like a great way to spend some time in China. Shengdong and Milanda are trying to talk me into coming over to teach for a short while and I really thought it would be a bit more complicated . Your students actually look quite happy about the learning process.Hmmmmm? I’ll give it some thought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, well when you come over to China Yangshuo is a great place to visit. You’d love it there. Get a plane to Guilin and its an hour on the bus from the station. 🙂 wink wink!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll keep reading your posts and I’m sure between you and the Lins, I’ll be convinced to visit some day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That would be awesome Clare. It’s on the cards I know it > well to Fujian I am sure 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice mountains
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes Yangers in a gorgeous place. Tx for dropping by
LikeLiked by 1 person