Welcome to teach English in China

Tired of the present? Want to time travel into a society encased in historical amber? Or maybe you want to peer into the future by looking into the Global Village’s crystal ball? No, not through some science fiction book but …travel to China.

China is one of the oldest and largest civilizations on the planet and with it’s past distance from western countries, it has a rich culture and tradition that still preserves the past. Sure you can visit and take photos of historical sites, maybe buy an antique or two, but if you want to actually live history, you need to live in China. Only then can you hear the stories of the people, walk the ancient paths and ruins of the warriors and emperors, taste the recipes handed down through the ages and feel history seep into your soul like nowhere in the western world.

Or maybe you’re keen to surf the tides and trends of time into the future. One in five people in the world are Chinese and Chinese is said to be the most spoken language in the world. China is a society, soon to outweigh the US in economical power, deemed the world’s next superpower. So you can get an idea as to what kind of influence China will play in the future of our global village. Living in China will help you understand the Chinese, their culture, their language and put you far ahead of the future of the world.

But maybe you’re not Indiana Jones looking for lost treasure, or H.G. Wells zooming ahead of your contemporaries for a glimpse at what’s to come. Perhaps you’re just like me, living in the present and enjoying what life has to offer. China still beckons. With it’s diverse cuisine. It’s beautiful mountainous landscapes. It’s curious and friendly people. It’s blend of modern technology and million-populated cities contrasted with age-old structures and traditions.

China has plenty to offer the holiday traveller, but what it has to offer the foreign citizen is more then an adventure of a lifetime. One way to snatch that adventure and earn a good living is to teach in China. Only then will you discover how much China has to teach you.

History of China

The world’s most populous country with about 1.3 billion people is China. It is the third largest country in the world. China borders the Pacific Ocean on the east. Most of China's largest cities are along the east coast of China, where the land is low and flat. Rice paddies, water covered flat fields growing rice, cover these lowlands. Most of China's millions of people live in the eastern portion of the country.

China has perhaps the world's longest continuous civilization; for more than 40 centuries its people created a culture with strong philosophies, traditions, and values. The start of the Han dynasty 2,200 years ago marked the rise of military power that created an empire—one that provided a golden age in art, politics, and technology. Ethnic Chinese continue to refer to themselves as the "People of Han," and Han Chinese constitute 92 percent of the country's population. Successive dynasties developed a system of bureaucratic control that gave agrarian-based China an advantage over rivals. China remains a predominantly rural society, with only 39 percent living in urban areas.

The first half of the 20th century saw the fall of the last Chinese emperor, Japanese invasion, World War II, and civil war between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces—ending with the retreat of the Nationalists to Taiwan. The People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976 imposed state control on the economy. Since 1979, China has reformed its economy and allowed competition, and today has the world's highest rate of growth. Rapid industrial development has increased pollution—with China having seven of the world's ten most polluted cities. The largest producer and consumer of coal, the country is turning away from coal toward clean hydroelectric resources, such as the Three Gorges Dam. Politically it still maintains strict control over its people. Chinese rule over Tibet remains controversial, fighting with Muslim separatists in Xinjiang continues, and political issues with Taiwan remain unresolved. China regained Hong Kong from Britain in 1997 and Macau from Portugal in 1999. In 2003 China became only the third nation (after Russia and the U.S.) to launch a manned spaceflight—with plans to reach the moon by 2010.

Transport

China, as you know, is a really big place with a lot of people. Therefore you can expect there’s going to be quite a bit of moving around, so no worries about jumping into the transport stream. You’ve got your buses, trains, planes, ferries, pedi-cabs, taxis, subways and let’s not forget all those bicycles. The problem is not getting around but how are you going to get around today. But when you decide on how, what about applying your limited Chinese character reading abilities. Not to worry, lots of foreigners report on how friendly the Chinese are in helping to point you in the right direction (although you may want to get a second opinion before hopping on moving transport just to make sure you hurdled the language barrier successfully).

Buses run from about 6 in the morning until 11 in the evening and are really cheap, but expect to be packed in like the suitcase of the over-spending tourist. Ditto on the subway and maybe a little more space, with trains passing through stations every five minutes in bigger cities and the fare only a couple RMB. You can find metro lines in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Tramways and trolleybuses run throughout other big cities and it’s fairly easy to hail cabs, just make sure the meter is running rather than the driver’s mouth. You can find cheap pedi-cabs around (a guy, his bicycle and a seat) and just negotiate a price before you clamber in. If you like bicycle travel but would prefer the exercise yourself, rent a bike at local hotels for around 20-30 RMB a day.

As one of the largest countries in the world, getting around the country is best by air. China has some wonderful, clean and modern airports in all the major cities. The CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) connects over 80 cities through 14 regional airlines, although seats can go quickly in May or Sept./Oct. Expect to pay “tourist prices” which could be up to double what the locals pay.

Trains are also a great way to get around the country and see the landscape, or just get to your desired location faster with an express train. River ferries can get you around most major rivers and most settlements can be reached by bus, some that are inaccessible by train. Cars can be rented with by leaving your passport and showing an international driving permit.