China

Spent 19 months in China as EFL teacher

Working Abroad: Henry Badenhorst

Journey 5: China

(2005-2006)

Teaching in Guangdong province

I spent 2 months teaching EFL in Zhongshan at a private school for the Bond Language Institute.

It is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province in southern China. The city was originally a county renamed in honour of Dr. Sun Zhongshan, who is also known as Sun Yat-sen and considered by many to be the "Father of modern China"

Zhongshan 中山

Zhongshan 中山Time for morning exercise. Every morning the students

had ‘controlled’ exercise with music before school started.

My first job, a private school in Zhongshan. TEFL teacher

responsible for teaching English to grade 3-5.

Judging an Englishspeech competition at theChina Hong Kong EnglishSchool (Zhongshan), whichwas broadcasted on CCTV.

Houjie 厚街 Houjie ( 厚街 ) is a town under the jurisdiction of Dongguan prefecture-level city in Guangdong province, southern China. I spent 6 months here at the JuniorOxford Bi-lingual school as a EFL Kindergarten teacher. Right: Pic taken from my apartment.

I taught kindergarten to the children of Taiwanese factory owners residing in Southern China.

Trip to BeijingJuly 2005

Trip to BeijingIn front of the

Forbidden City

At the Summer palace in Beijing

BeijingMilitary guard below

Mao Tse Dong’s picture at an entrance of the

Forbidden City

Mao’s picture at the entrance of the Forbidden City taken from

Tian Men Square

Great Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in Northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups.

Summer camp at Zhongshan-July 2005

Some of the kids we had to teach through activities and games. The camp was held at the same school

I was teaching at in December 2004 up to February 2005.

On a “zebra” at happy Valley Theme park in

Shenzhen

Below: Happy Valley Shenzhen where we took the kids on an outing.

Right: Right to left Henry, Andrew & Dylan, the South-African delegation, performing Shosholoza, a traditional South African mine workers song.

Street scenery

Old men gathering

House of Sun Yat Sen

Lake fun

GuangzhouShamian island

Hong Kong

I made 4 visits to Hong Kong over the span of 3 years. These are some highlights.

Brightly lit street at night. The city that never sleeps.

Hong KongHong Kong skyline from Victoria

Peak

Street scene from walkway crossing

Aberdeen HarbourAberdeen harbour is home to

hundreds of people living on fishing junks. Their traditional lifestyle is dramatically juxtaposed against a

modern high-rise community spread over the nearby hillsides.

On a fishing junk with Kitty. Aberdeen floating village (Chinese: 香港仔水上人家 ). Aberdeen

harbour contains approximately 600 junks, which house an estimated 6,000 people.

Delter Telfort International

Business Institute

I worked for Delter International Business Institute for a year at 4 different locations around China, namely Nanjing (1 month), Wuhu (4 months), Liuzhou (4 months) & Shanghai (3 months).

The Delter International Business develops & delivers high quality “western styled” curriculum at its Telfort and Delter International Business Institute, located throughout China.

Nanjing ( 南京 )

I was placed in Nanjing for a month before being transferred to Wuhu in Anhui province.

Often went cycling with friends through the city and surrounding countryside

Wuhu 芜湖 •Wúhú (literally "Weedy Lake") is a prefecture-level city in the south-eastern Anhui province, People's Republic of China.

•Wuhu City is located in the southeast of Anhui Province, on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

•I taught Business ESL to college students at the Anhui Traditional Chinese Medicine College for 4 months and lived on campus.

Wuhu street scenes

Those who are retired or bored? Every city or town has many parks

where hobbies are eagerly practiced.

Chinese chess is a serious ‘hobby’ and those on break or those retired

find themselves in parks or on sidewalks challenging opponents

with curious onlookers enjoying the spectacle.

Wuhu street scenes

Markets are plentiful and carts are used to transport goods.

Wuhu is one of the poorest cities in China.

Wuhu TransportationDad can chauffeur you

around on the back of his “ air-conditioned” bike…

Or you can cycle, or Take a yellow Tuk-Tuk or then again there is always the bus, but if

you are a foreigner the red Chery taxi’s (not in picture),

even though more expensive is probably your safest bet.

Anhui Traditional Chinese Medicine College

Male student dormitories: Laundry was hung to dry

for everyone to see. I lived just below all this chaos.

The campus: Students from all over China came to study

Traditional Chinese medicine. My job was to teach English.

Work & Home @ Wuhu

The entrance to my apartment on campus. Notice the white

picket fences. The College was extremely good to me and I had

a cosy newly refurbished apartment.

Our offices: Rex, Cecilia (China) & Ann (Canada) and I had to share

one big office. We taught foundational English & Business English for the Business diploma

programme.

Parties & Parades

Campus students look on as the cheerleading squad gives

a performance.

Opening of the “Olympic” Sports park. Different groups

performed with Chinese precision. Celebrations are

for most the only entertainment allowed.

My studentsStudents during a

lesson in the classroom

Class photo of Business students – Wuhu Traditional

Chinese Medicine college

Campus

Entrance at the hostel where I had to climb

over the gate sometimes after returning from

town.

A dreary looking winters day, with added pollution, made campus a very depressing

place to be if you were free.

Outings with my students

Canal scenery

Wuhu

Yangtze river sceneryWuhu

Romantic Wuhu

For the romantically inclined…… Restaurant on the water. Each unit can ‘house’ a family.

Day trip: Xuancheng-Anhui• Xuancheng ( 宣城 ) is a

prefecture-level city in south-eastern Anhui province, People's Republic of China.

• One Sunday when I was bored I just boarded a train and this is where I ended up. I wondered around and took some great pics that characterises Chinese life.

• Tourists don’t usually get to experience this.

Hangzhou ( 杭州 ) is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern china. it has also been one of the most renowned and prosperous cities of China for much of the last 1,000 years, due in part to its beautiful natural scenery; the city's West Lake is its most well-known attraction.

Hangzhou

Hongcun ( 宏村 )is a village in Yi County county, Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, near the southwest slope of Mount Huangshan. The two traditional villages of Xidi and Hongcun preserve to a remarkable extent the appearance of non-urban settlements of a type that largely disappeared or was transformed during the last century. Their street plan, their architecture and decoration, and the integration of houses with comprehensive water systems are unique surviving examples.

Anhui trips: Xidi, Hongcun & Huangshan

Huángshān - literally "Yellow Mountain", is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. Huangshan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography.

Trip to Dalian via Yantai & QingdaoOctober 2005

Shanghai 上 海 ; is the most populous city in China. The city is located in eastern China, at the middle portion of the Chinese coast, and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Due to its rapid growth over the last two decades it has again become a global city, exerting influence over finance, commerce, fashion, technology and culture.

Trip to Shanghai - 2005

ShanghaiDecember 2005, 5 months

before I knew I would actually live in Shanghai, I made a winter’s weekend trip to

Shanghai. Here I am at the Bund promenade with The Pearl

Tower, The Jinmao Tower and other skyscrapers behind me.

Some of this skyscrapers and landmarks closer up. I took a

boat ride on the Huangpu river to take these shots.

• Huangpu river

• The Bund

• Shanghai skyline scenery

The Bund – ShanghaiThe Bund or Waitan "outer bank" is a waterfront area in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing the high, modern skyscrapers of Pudong.

Shanghai old street

Shanghai Old Street, historically called Miaoqian Dajie, is an old business street that has a combination of tourist attractions, shops, entertainment and cultural exhibits.

Liuzhou 柳州 After 4 months in Wuhu I asked for a transfer to Liuzhou in Guangxi province to get a different taste of China.

Liuzhou 柳州 is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in southern China. Population: 3.6 million.

As with much of Guangxi, the landscape around Liuzhou is a mix of rolling hills, mountain peaks, caves and karst scenery.

Liuzhou

Downtown Liuzhou. Liuzhou's population is made up of around 30 different ethnic

groups. As in China as a whole, the majority are Han Chinese. However around 40% of the population is made up from various

minority groups, with the Zhuang minority being the largest.

Liuzhou is located on the banks of the winding Liu River, approximately 255

km from Nanning, the provincial capital. Its an industrial city and the

air pollution is quite bad but has very scenic spots .

LiuzhouDowntown Liuzhou where

we often frequented restaurants

The Hong Guang Bridge crossing the Liu River into downtown central Liuzhou

Delter @ LiuzhouOn the right the teaching

building, and on the left our apartments. Late coming

was thus no excuse…..

Group photo of the Liuzhou Delter staff,

including the Chinese English teachers

Teaching @ Delter (Liuzhou)English club members who came in the evenings to improve their

English. These conversational classes were voluntary and

students were self-motivated.

My Sunday teens classes whose English were actually at a much higher level than those of the

College Students.

Teaching @ Delter (Liuzhou)

Private lessons for kids

Some of my Business-English

students

Teaching @ Delter Liuzhou

Left: Taking a selfie. Above” Teaching block on campus. The English level of the students were very poor and we focussed on basic conversational English. College is a technical railway college.

Liuzhou Colleagues

Conchi (Right) from Spain with a Chinese student, rehearsing for a Snow White play we as teachers

participated in as part of a concert. I was telling the story

in English with a Chinese translator while the others

performed it.

Aaron (Australia) with Angelina’s husband (Phillipines) who came to

visit her, celebrating a birthday. The College provided us with fully furnished apartments on the

campus

Liuzhou parks

Liuzhou park

Dule Park

Liuzhou hills

Climbing a hill near my neighbourhood

On top op Ma-An Shan (Horse Saddle mountain), with a

beautiful view of Liuzhou city down below

Exploring per bike

During my breaks Conchi or Ron and I would cycle around

Liuzhou to explore

We bought Giant touring bikes for off-roading and it was such an

adventure to go where no foreigner has gone before

Cycling trips with Luizhou cycling club

We took one day trips of up to 120 km around Liuzhou in the rural areas much to the amazement of the locals, who could not understand why somebody in his

right mind would cycle for fun

Most beautiful scenery around Liuzhou. Guangxi province is a mountainous region with a sub-tropical climate, ideal for rice production, reminding one of Vietnam which is in actual fact not too far away.

Cycling sceneryCommunal washing area I came across for the rural

women to do laundry

Extensive rice paddies for miles and miles

Exploring LiuzhouConchi (Spain) with 2

local girls who wanted to talk to us

Ron (Canadian), our Director of Studies, with Conchi in the front, on a

Liuzhou city bus , on our way to explore Liuzhou’s fascinating life.

Liuzhou food

Exploring Liuzhou

Cable car taking one up to Ma-An Shan Park, which could be a

very daunting experience as one is not always sure how

important safety is for the Chinese…

Whilst in the Cable car I took this picture of the Hong Guang

Bridge crossing the Liu river into central Liuzhou.

Trip to Nanning I visited Nanning for 3 days over Chinese new year January 2006, and we visited the South Lake Park in the centre of Nanning, which is the capital city of Guangxi province. Below left with a T-Rex @ Zhuluoji Dinosaur Park

Longsheng & Longji• Conchi and I took a week-end

trip to the Longsheng Rice terraces and we stayed in the wooden buildings in the Longsheng village where not much has changed over the last 500 years. The Yao minority people lives here. The Longsheng Rice Terraces are located in Longsheng County, about 100 km from Guilin.

• The terraced fields were mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, about 500 years ago.

Yangshuo & Li River

I took a trip by myself to Guilin and then took a ferry boat to Yangshuo on the Li river.

In Yangshuo I met other foreigners I met before at Huangshan mountain, and we took rafts the next day down smaller sections of the Li river. We then cycled back to Yangshuo town. Yangshuo is a county in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China.

Yangshuo & Li River

Guilin @ night

Yangshuo town

Yangshuo & Li River

At the start of our rafting adventure

Yangshuo rice paddies

Yangshuo & Li River

Anne from New Zeeland

Anne and I together on the raft going down a rapid

On the Li River

Relaxing on the Li. This is bliss.

We had to cycle back to Yangshuo when the raft trip

ended.

Scenic YangshuoRecycling rubbish is for many an

income. Hard work it must be! The Chinese is renowned for their

strength and willingness to work.

Yangshuo centre with the incredible Karst hills unique to

this part of the world

ShanghaiAfter 4 months in Liuzhou @ Delter, I decided to move to Shanghai where I found a TEFL job with the same company I worked for in Nanjing, Wuhu and Liuzhou. I stayed with Delter another 3 months completing my year, Before my return to SA I did a 6-week summer camp for Naling in Shanghai for 10 Korean exchange students who had to learn English. In August 2006 after 37 months, I returned to SA.

My favourite picture of Shanghai. Taken @ the Bund.

Working in ShanghaiBoats on the

Huangpu river

At the Bund: The Pearl Tower in the background

Working in Shanghai DelterThe entrance to the Teacher apartments, which are next

door to the teaching complex

Scott and another teacher from the US who were my

colleagues

Exploring Shanghai

One of the neighbourhoods of Shanghai near the school. This neighbourhood tended to be predominantly Anhui people, keeping their provincial culture alive in the mega city.

Exploring Shanghai

Cycling for exercise and adventure in Shanghai. Behind

me a barge on the Huangpu river.

Jacgui an Australian colleague trying to decipher a map…..before

GPS came out….we often cycled together to explore Shanghai.

Shanghai: Modern vs TraditionalShanghai is a city of

contradictions. Modern skyscrapers and shopping

malls….

Versus the old traditional style fishing village scenery . One can

walk from the one into the other by crossing the street.

Shanghai: Nanjing Nan lu

The Bund @ dusk & night

Chongqing tripChongqing ( 重庆 ), formerly transliterated as Chungking, is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China..

It serves as the economic centre of the Upstream Yangtze area, a modern manufacturing centre and a transportation hub for Southwest China.

I took a week trip to Chongqing during June 2006 including a 3 day boat trip on the Yangtze river before inundation.

Trip to ChongqingThis guy fixed my one

shoe for me which came apart

You see a lot of carriers in Chongqing transporting various

goods.

Informal food stalls… And small little tuck shops selling phone cards and glue characterises Chongqing ……but more so the friendliness of the people

Trip to ChongqingNight scenes of Chongqing & scenes of the harbour from where the Yangtze river trips depart from.

Boat trip on the Yangtze river

The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for 6,418 kilometres from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the biggest rivers by discharge volume in the world. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP.

The Yangtze river GorgesThe 3 Gorges

The smaller gorges

Yangtze river sceneryOne of the towns we stopped at along the

way.

Lonely sunflower on the banks on one of

our stops

Small gorges

Daning River is a large tributary of the Yangtze River, joining the Yangtze River at the western end of Wu Gorge. The Lesser Three Gorges, stretching 25 kilometers (16 miles) in the lower reaches of Daning River, are some of the the highlights of a Yangtze River cruise.

Three Gorges Dam project

In 2005 the dam was still under construction and the river level not yet raised. Today, much of what I was able to see lies under water.

Shanghai Summer CampArrival of the Korean students at Shanghai

International

With the Chinese teacher, Apple, in the middle and

Sydney, one of the Korean students.

Shanghai Summer Camp

Day 1: I gave them instructions on how the 6 week camp was to

be conducted. It was an immersion camp where they were only allowed to speak

English during the camp.

Sydney, Alex and Kim busy studying. I chose textbooks for them. They were enthusiastic

students.

Shanghai Summer CampKimchi - Korean food, which was served by our Korean cook thrice daily. We all lived together in the penthouse for the duration of the

camp, which also served as our classrooms.

Kim, Apple, Sarah and John (L-R), watching a video during a break.

Shanghai Summer Camp

We went on outings once a week. Here we are waiting for the train to Shanghai central.

Alex and John in a tourist tram taking people around

Nanjing Nan Lu (Road)

Shanghai Summer Camp

BBQ on penthouse patio in Shanghai

Clarke and Kim enjoying their food which was different than

their usual Kimchi.

Shanghai Summer Camp: Karaoke night

Shanghai Summer Camp• Group photo of

all the participants.

• L-R: Apple, Me, shy girl, Alex, Sydney, Kim, John and Clarke. After 6 weeks of intensive immersion English I was ready for a break.

China: The End