Books, Films & Music

Living in China you will inevitably watch the odd Chinese film and become slightly more familiar with the local music scene (unfortunately). Most people will also want to keep up with current films, books and music as well though. Depending what you are looking for this ranges from very easy to impossible.

Bookstores that sell English books are not terribly common however every Chinese city would have at least a handful of places that you will be able to buy English books in. They usually don’t have a whole lot of books on offer but you can certainly pick up some good items. They generally have quite a good selection of classics, from Shakespeare to Moby Dick you can find quite a lot of titles on sale. For newer books they fall down a little bit, whilst you will probably be able to find the Harry Potter and Twilight series, for other recent titles it is a bit of a lottery. Of course if you really like reading then I’d give you one bit of advice – get a Kindle.

Due to the thriving industry in pirated films, buying DVDs is slightly easier than books. In fairness there are fewer stores selling pirate DVDs than there used to be but it is still pretty easy to get hold of them. Because of the cap on the amount of foreign films shown in Chinese cinemas, unless you do opt for the pirate DVD option then there are a lot of new films that you just won’t be able to see. Probably the best thing about the DVDs are the price, usually about £1 equivalent, on the downside you very  much get what you pay for – after the second viewing (and sometimes before the first) they have a tendency to start skipping and freezing so perhaps don’t look to build your DVD library with these. I should mention as well that along with movies, TV series are also widely available and most big shows are on sale, though unfortunately the most common shows are vampire diaries and gossip girl – doesn’t speak highly of the Chinese viewing habits.

Music is basically a no-go. The biggest foreign artists here are Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Adele – as far as other artists go if it isn’t mainstream pop then they probably haven’t heard of it. There is of course a large music industry in China, though from my own experience the Chinese music industry is dominated by saccharine pop which I have little taste for. While you will meet people who are into their music, and may even find some independently run cafes with a good playlist on the go (generally owned by former art students) these cases are few and far between.

When it comes to keeping up with pop culture such as films, books and music China is very much a mixed bag. Essentially if Chinese people also have an interest in it then you’ll be fine, if not then you are really going to struggle. Foreign books are not terribly common nor is music that is not either a) Chinese or b) Mainstream pop. Foreign films and TV shows on the other hand are widely seen and enjoyed by many Chinese people and are far easier to get hold of. Of course if you want to really keep up with everything then my best piece of advice would be: get a kindle, get a subscription to Netflix and subscribe to Spotify.

 

 

Where to work in China?

This is a huge question for many people who have made the decision to come to China, but who have not yet decided on where. For people who have not had previous experience with China, they may not know much else about China other than Beijing and Shanghai. As such many people prefer to come out and teach in one of these two cities. Having been several times to both cities there is a lot to be said to their credit. For new people coming to China these cities are the biggest, most cosmopolitan and have the best access to western conveniences. As well as this there is also the general kudos some people attach to these cities, there does tend to be a leaning towards working in better-known places purely for the ability to tell family and friends. I have a lot of fondness for Beijing and Shanghai, however I think that when people decide on which cities they want to work in, they are not considering some of the things that they should be, and for me the benefits of working in a smaller city outweigh those of working in one of these metropolises.

“I don’t want to be working in the middle of nowhere!”

There is a feeling that cities outside of Beijing or Shanghai must be somewhat backward or in the middle of nowhere. This of course vastly underestimates the size of Chinese cities; wherever you are working it will likely be a large well-developed city with good transport links. To give an illustration of this, Wuhan is bigger than any city in Europe, has an extensive subway network, direct flights to a host of international destinations as well as being a central hub on the fast train network (four hour trains available to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Guilin respectively).

What is great about living somewhere smaller is that the people are slightly less used to foreigners. A lot of people who have travelled will have inevitably run up against the industry of tour operators, beggars and rip-off merchants who prey on foreigners. People often ask me if they will be ripped off or targeted because they are a foreigner. In central areas in Shanghai or Beijing you are likely to come up against this kind of thing, as anywhere with a tourist industry is prone to this. In smaller cities that see slightly less international tourism this does not really happen, if anything it goes the other way around. When I walk past people distributing leaflets for example, they often don’t bother hassling me - as a foreigner they assume that I wouldn’t be able to read the leaflet anyway.

Another offshoot of being in a city that sees less foreigners is that far fewer people you run into are likely to speak English. While this can be troublesome to begin with, it forces you to engage with the language and pick up Chinese that much quicker, getting a more intimate knowledge of the culture as a handy offshoot. Yet this is not to say that you will be the only foreigner in the city – far from it. Most places do tend to have bars or areas that see higher concentrations of foreign people, and many people will go there to hang out with their friends. Because of the relatively small numbers of foreign people this does tend to lead to an inclusive and tight-knit feeling amongst the foreign community. The balance is the most important thing, when people come to China I think the best thing is getting to know the culture, yet you do also need a group of friends with whom you share a common language and culture – smaller cities are perfect for both of these.

It is true to say that wages tend to be higher in Beijing and Shanghai, however this does not necessarily give the whole picture. Wages are rising rapidly in smaller cities, and are now not far behind their larger counterparts. Importantly the cost of living is much lower in smaller cities, so even though wages may be slightly lower, you would probably end up saving more money per month anyway.

Beijing and Shanghai are really great cities, with a number of well-known tourist sites as well as western conveniences – so go there on holiday! For day-to-day life, smaller cities in my opinion are a much better option – go for it.

 

 

The Internet

Even though many people in the west are aware of the restrictions to the internet in China when it actually comes to going there it’s still a bit of a shock. The internet is heavily censored and the government works tirelessly to identify anyone who writes anything outspoken and remove their comments from the internet.  For foreigners spending time in China it doesn’t really make much difference to our day to day lives as the majority of the censorship is on Chinese sites however there are a number of more famous foreign websites that may have more of an impact when you’re in China.

For most of us the 3 main websites that are notably blocked are YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. China has their own versions of all of these sites widely used by everyone and that’s how the Chinese Government want it as views and opinions from outside China is not something they are keen for people to be seeing on a regular basis. However the growth of the internet has meant its becoming harder for the Chinese to prevent their citizens using alternative sites.

For many travelling to China this poses a welcome break from procrastinating and quite frankly wasting too much time looking through photos of people you don’t really care about. Even though Facebook is great for keeping in touch with friends after a few weeks I really enjoyed getting out of the habit of just logging onto it every time I turned on my computer. I was even more pleased with the endless notifications I had after 10 months on not looking at my Facebook profile…I had 13 and very few of them were directly to do with me.

Now for all you computer boffins out there I’m sure there are endless  free options to get around the amount of sites that are blocked unfortunately I am close to useless on computers and went for the safest, most well-known option of Astrill. By downloading Astrill for a small monthly fee you are able to access whichever websites you like. The server is redirected as if you are online in the UK or the U.S. meaning you can roam the internet freely and even watch BBC IPlayer or Netflix. One subscription allows you to use it on as many as 3 devices so I had Astrill on my phone, laptop and IPad, this would only put you back about £50 for the year so is well worth it if you’re planning on using those sites regularly.

In all honestly it’s not really a great problem when spending time in China if a few websites are blocked, some of our applicants have concerns about not being able to contact home freely but it’s simply not an issue. All email accounts will work in China as does Skype which are the 2 main methods our teachers use to keep in touch with loved ones back home.  

 

Strange Food

The Chinese couldn’t be more proud of their cuisine and rightly so, it is delicious and full of flavour and I thoroughly look forward to getting back to my favourite dishes every time I return to China. My friends and family back in England have asked me on several occasions if I have eaten anything strange or a bit weird during my time in China which from my experience some foreign teachers coming out to China initially have some concern over. There are a few things that are commonly eaten that aren’t exactly “normal” in the U.K but on the whole it’s mainly meat, fish and vegetables and you would have to be an extremely fussy eater to not find any local food you like to eat.

If anybody has seen the TV show “An Idiot Abroad” with Karl Pilkington there is a scene in Beijing when he visits a food market to find caterpillars and cockroaches being barbecued.  From my experience I would say that food such as this isn’t commonly eaten and is a bit of a novelty/tourist attraction with most Chinese people agreeing that these types of food are also disgusting. Having said that two of the most popular things to eat in Wuhan are Duck’s neck and Chicken’s feet which aren’t much better. Duck’s neck is fine I suppose, it’s a bit tough and there isn’t exactly a lot of meat but it tastes perfectly acceptable but as for Chicken’s feet I simply cannot understand the appeal. There is absolutely no meat on it and I cannot see how it’s comparable to a wing or bit of breast. Chinese people also proceed to spit the majority of it on the floor but they speak of a wonderful flavour that cannot be replicated in any other part of the Chicken…unless you like nibbling on toenails though I would give it a miss.

One extremely palatable surprise is Bullfrog, if you ever see them in the tanks in the supermarket they look revolting, I actually can’t even bring myself to go near them. I unknowingly ate bullfrog on a staff dinner during my first year and was a little shocked when somebody told me what I was eating but it’s become a local favourite of mine. I still can’t bring myself to buy a live one in Wal-Mart and take it home to prepare but I often order it in restaurants.

 

 

Without a doubt the most disgusting thing I have eaten in China is a type of egg know as Pi Dan 皮蛋. I have been told by my Chinese friends that it’s made by preserving eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of processing. I have seen it done with duck, chicken and quail eggs all leaving equally awful results. The yolk changes a greyish colour while the egg white changes to a dark brown and it gives off a sulphur smell….It gets a right pong circulated the room.

 

Don’t let any of the above put you off because Chinese food is brilliant, my only criticism is there isn’t a lot of variety so you will find yourselves eating similar ingredients cooked in similar ways frequently but for value and flavour there isn’t anything in The UK that compares to it. You can eat out at very cheap prices and their attention to flavour isn’t compromised at all.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTIs9fvkUA

 

Karl Pilkington in Beijing

Do I need a TEFL/TESOL or a degree to teach in China?

Many of our applicants ask us about the necessary qualifications to teach English in China as a full-time teacher and it’s a question that depends on a few variables. There is a lot written online on blogs and various schools/agencies will tell you different things so it can be a little confusing for somebody thinking about teaching in China. It can also vary from province to province what qualifications you do in fact need.

Graduates2china which is part of the registered UK company West-East connect is based in Hubei province the regulations are very clear about what’s required to work as a full-time teacher. Firstly all applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree in any discipline and secondly the person must have a TEFL/TESOL certificate or 2 years work experience.

Now we are aware that there are other companies that may say differently and that there are plenty of teachers working in China without a bachelor’s degree however they may not necessarily be working legally as teachers in China and this is commonly seen and something we won’t involve ourselves in.

Often Chinese companies will not explain this fully to the teacher until they have arrived in the country and already begun to work. Only recently we spoke to an applicant who was looking to change jobs as he wasn’t given a Z-visa and is sometimes told to stay home by his school in case the police came in for checks. This is very common and means schools are free to abuse the contract and make changes at their own discretion and there is nobody the teacher can report them too for breach of contract because technically they aren’t working legally in China anyway which can leave teachers in a vulnerable position.

We strongly advise that nobody goes to teach in China unless they have the correct qualification and are working under visa (Z-working visa). If there is another company telling you that you don’t need it I can assure you they are lying for their own benefit. All full-time placements we make offer a working (Z) visa from the school you’ll be going to and your contract is directly with them.

Regulations for Shanghai

http://files.shafea.gov.cn/html/c03cab1b-b757-447c-96c9-5777eca7881c.htm

Regulations for Beijing

http://beijing.caiep.org/faq/content.php?id=14887

 

 

Unsung Heroes

Rainy Day Umbrella Sellers

It happens to everyone, you leave the house in the morning and the sun is shining, however by midday the skies have clouded over and a downpour starts. Unprepared for such inclement weather you have little choice but to carry on as you are and get drenched. This is a problem that is worse in Wuhan than some other places, because when it rains here it rains. In the UK you might be able to get away without an umbrella in a light drizzle however when the heavens truly open you really don’t want to be outside. What you see in Wuhan a lot is random vendors who will station themselves at crowded areas (Metro exits, bus stops etc.) selling cheap umbrellas for people caught unprepared. While this can be quite useful, it does raise the question – what do these people do when it isn’t raining? Do they have jobs that they abandon in a breathless hurry every time the sky clouds up to hit the streets with their wares? I like to think they spend their time poring over meteorological maps and population densities around the city plotting their next appearance in a far more sophisticated manner than anyone could have imagined.

Motorbike Men

Taxis are a fairly cheap and quick way of getting around, and there are huge numbers of them around the city. Having said that, depending where you are in the city and the time, it can be next to impossible to get a taxi. To fill this gap are random people in cars and on scooters who will offer to drive you to your destination for an agreed-upon fee. For some of the people in cars I assume that they are basically chancing it – perhaps they are on their way somewhere and see an opportunity to make some easy money. This is not the case with the scooter men though who are often found corralled in groups like a really scruffy, lame version of a biker club. Getting a scooter ride to your destination is invariably more expensive than a taxi, though depending on traffic it can be quicker. Having said that you really are taking your life in your hands, and on top of that I am not sure how legal it is…

Watch and Shoe men

In fairness this one is not confined to China, though probably my favourite thing is how specific it is. If you go to a busy outside shopping area (particularly Jianghan Lu) at some point you will probably be approached by shady-looking men trying to sell you watches and shoes. ‘Nice watch, nice shoes’ is pretty much the limit of their English, though just in case you were unclear what they were selling they generally bring accompanying pictures. As I said, my favourite thing is how specific it is – why shoes and watches as opposed to say – shoes and other items of clothing? Presumably they know the market better than me and when it comes to fake goods the true connoisseur knows that the real deals are to be had in the shoe and watch sections.

Huanying Guanglin!

Go into most large restaurants and stores and you will be met with a chorus of ‘Huanying Guanglin!’ (basically ‘Welcome’). Sometimes this will just be from the people who work there and happen to be close to the entrance, though lots of places will have people stationed at the entrance whose job it is to loudly welcome everyone into the premises (they also say it when you leave and welcome you to come next time). I can only assume that this is a way of creating jobs because I can’t really see any other reason – are there genuinely customers who feel treasured by being loudly shouted at every time they go into a store?

 

 

Rise of the Coffee Bean

When it comes to the drink of choice in China, tea with its long and storied history is the first thing one thinks of. Most restaurants will provide tea free of charge for you to drink with your meal, whilst people across the country can be seen carrying flasks on their person to be drunk during the workday. Teahouses are also very common, and often a sit-down and a taster session are required before settling on a leaf that you are happy with. Other than this though, teahouses do not really function as a place to spend an afternoon nor a place to have a chat with a friend. Like in many other countries, cafés very much fill this hole. The consumption of coffee in China has grown year on year which has had a knock-on effect on not only the choice of coffee available at supermarkets, but also the proliferation of cafés – both big-name corporations as well as independently run coffeehouses.

Similar to pretty much everywhere else in the world, Starbucks can now be found all over the country while Costa is also making some pretty big inroads, as well as other brands like Caffe bene and Lavazza. When I picture a Costa outlet in the UK I generally picture drab cafés on train platforms however what is common in China amongst all these chains is that they are quite upmarket. Unfortunately this is matched by the price, and what you will often find is that even when taking the currency into account, coffee at Costa and Starbucks is more expensive in China than it is in the UK or US. Presumably this is how they keep out the riff-raff though I pretty much consider myself amongst their number and wish the price wasn’t quite so prohibitive.

Apart from the bigger outlets, smaller independently-run cafés are also very common. These tend to be grouped in certain areas, frequently near universities. Unlike the more homogenous main brands (decorated in their pastel shades and replete with a pretentious jazz soundtrack) these smaller cafés are generally decorated by the owner and the décor reflects their individual taste and style. People generally like to be more artistic in their design and often there are some really interesting places to go. On the downside the coffee often doesn’t work out much cheaper than the chain stores, which I can only assume is a result of a country-wide conspiracy amongst coffee purveyors to drive up prices (as opposed to say – high import prices). As somewhat of a philistine when it comes to the fine art of coffee brewing and consumption (I usually drink granulated coffee at home) I am not really in a position to comment on the quality, however it seems pretty much fine to me.

As a final point, when the weather is disgustingly hot in the summer they do provide a much-needed haven of air-conditioning. As a final final point, public toilets in China are notoriously bad so if you are out and about and feel the call of nature do yourself a favour and find a Starbucks – bliss.