Many students want to know about the West because they do believe its a much better place to live. Of course it is. I would try and share as much as I can but on the other hand its not necessary to 'boast' even though sure we expect people to have pride in their home country.

I don't think your more clever students are asking the rhetorical "if its so good why are you here?" question. That's not a smart or informed question because one answer can be - because the teachers were too comfortable and because they wanted to test themselves in an uncomfortable world and because they know they have a Western home to go back to.

A clever student might ask why almost all FT return home but almost no Chinese who immigrate to the West will ever return to live in China. Zero. none will ever return to live.

As for religion, American isn't anything special though it sure has its share of 'antitheists' (oppose religion) aka 'atheists' but certainly Canada is sometimes said to have more 'quiet believers' and then to talk about devoted tradition its South America for sure (in that case many a hardcore Catholic but their Evangelicals are pretty intense) and for whatever reason every African I meet is a devout evangelical Christians these days. Australia and NZ (esp NZ) have quite the Christian groups. Spanish and Italians. I think spiritual beliefs are more widespread in China than maybe anywhere else I've been though certainly some Muslim countries and Burmese.

But im not sure where you've been. Have you ever been to the USA or outside China?

I know FOR SURE that that school is mentioned in the link below!

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=792912

The link that you have provided for us does not work properly! The contents appear very briefly, and then vanish.

What's up?

Very good of you to help him out.

I did an early morning visa run from a crappy school with a crappy FAO and I suspect an even crappier management in Guangdong after seeing that the apartment was terrible (right next to the school playground....anyone who is an old china hand FT knows what this means!!!!!), and the locale also very dangerous/seedy at night. I was on the first bus into the nearest big city in the morning which took under an hour, and then a bus ticket to a neighbouring city where my friend was, whom I stayed with until I secured a job elsewhere. They didn't even know I left as the security guard was asleep when I left or making tea or something as I left before 7 am. Serves these crappy FAO's/recruiters right!!!!!

I felt that in the circumstances it was encumbent on me to help him out.

I'm glad you managed to extricate yourself from a very bad situation. Well done, mate!

Please explain the bit about 'anyone being an old China hand FT knowing what it means', for the benefit of those readers who aren't old China hand FTs.

actually Liverpool has definitely improved and gotten a lot better in the last 10-15 years and is surprisingly nice and even sophisticated in some areas with far less of that image of insurance-scamming dumb football hooligans and scallies and all that. BUTTTTT hehe well I can't blame anyone for braggin up their hometown I suppose. I guess we should all want to 'overstate the hometown pride' after all.

Agreed. Much the same as Manchester post IRA bombing. Many people say the city centre looks better and more newer and taller buildings.

http://www.screenmediatechnology.com/solutions/screens-led/led-outdoor/

Europes largest LED screen outdoors. Even last time I went back on the train I was surprised to see a new skyscraper and work underway to connect the airport to the metrolink. Then there is manchester airport city underway, funded by the Chinese.

Liverpool did have a kind of 'Boom' somewhere around 2000 forward and you know I used to laugh a little because they were designated as 'european city of culture' (i think 2007??) so you couldn't go anywhere without Liverpudlians introducing that to a conversation as a kind of proof they were really a new metropolitan winner.

But realistically that 'City of Culture' is - to be very honest - its really more like a 'Help Program' for cities that quite frankly need a boost. Its not so much that they WERE a center of culture but by creating the festivals and lofty title it funneled cash, building projects and is also designed to encourage them to try harder, get involved in community etc.

Quite honestly the Olympics are even a little like this - they are just as much to help the city as they are an 'award' for excellence. yes.. the city must show they can rise up and are good enough BUT its also with the idea of helping that city become better than it is (sometimes its political or social reasons too).

but having said that, actually Liverpool has definitely improved and gotten a lot better in the last 10-15 years and is surprisingly nice and even sophisticated in some areas with far less of that image of insurance-scamming dumb football hooligans and scallies and all that. BUTTTTT hehe well I can't blame anyone for braggin up their hometown I suppose. I guess we should all want to 'overstate the hometown pride' after all.

I know FOR SURE that that school is mentioned in the link below!

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=792912

The FAO had no idea that I had assisted him run.
Would you mind detailing how you had assisted the Glaswegian in this regard?

No, not at all.

The Scot had a very large backpack. The problem was to exit the school without the police office at the gate seeing it. And also to pull the runner on a Saturday morning, so that the Scot's absence wouldn't be noticed for at least another 12 hours or so, until gate curfew, and certainly not before he was airborne on his international flight out of Chengdu. In fact, he was terrified that Sunny would be at the airport to prevent his departure. A phone call from the school to Sunny in Chengdu was almost a given should the school realize what was up.
Getting the huge backpack out of the school was easy. Empty its contents, and fold it. Then put it in a medium-sized hold-all bag that could pass as a shopping bag. Then do some more exits using the same bag to carry his personal belongings. Once everything was at the bus station, re-pack the backpack and place it under lock and key there on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, he departed by bus. The school didn't know about his run until Monday morning when he didn't appear for class. Shortly afterwards, the FAO had unlocked his apartment, which was on campus. As all his stuff had gone, and he was not there either, the penny had dropped in an instant!

The FAO had no idea that I had assisted him run.

Would you mind detailing how you had assisted the Glaswegian in this regard?

I just mentioned this in another post but (unfortunately) some ethnic vietnamese gangster types and their 'ladies' started moving into our neighbourhood and while that is definitely not a good thing because of the undesirables it attracted - its also true they did NOT want any sort of trouble from me or other foreigners in the neighbourhood. If anything they seem to go out of their way to be friendly and courteous. Which is fine. I'm not so much worried about them though again I sure don't enjoy some of their 'customers' who show up.

It's difficult for foreigners to find themselves in China where they must suddenly cope with changes in lifestyle, schedules, food and a different kind of morality. Even some of the better people will degenerate into the worst versions of themselves. Ordinarily pleasant people become resentful and quick tempered. You mentioned another becoming suicidal. I do notice a lot of Brits will become very impatient quickly. They are very much used to polite culture where everyone tries to accomodate the others privacy and comforts. In some ways the UK is the 'cultural opposite' of China.

In my case the comparison I wanted to make was that of working class cities. It's true Liverpool has moved to become a modern 'white collar' metropolitan kind of city but still their heart is a working man's hearty rough northern city without pretense and where even the women are tough. I guess you can say its their background. I felt Zhengzhou was something comparable in that sense. They aren't afraid to get their hands dirty and don't feel the need to act so important.

But yes most people will become miserable, impatient and even start lashing out in China but I think there is something where Brits are especially easy to crack this way.

Fair points. Many foreigners advise carrying weapons around these days. However, I'm reluctant to do so at night, in case my judgement is impaired by alcohol or something.

I'd also argue that you should only go to the right kinds of bars. Which are probably hard to find in Zhengzhou, can't exactly imagine Boxing Cat brewery opening a new pub there any time soon.

Also, a lot of mafia guys that I have met in the past, tend to be rather friendly with foreigners for some reason.

So, let's cut all the political correctness formalities and just say that its a shithole,

have been to Henan province many many years ago, and yes, it is a shithole. There is really nothing there for any foreigner who values him/herself and wants a social life, also the weather in winter is miserable beyond words.

After all, that's what most people say about certain parts of Liverpool.

Are you from liverpool perchance?

The chinese used to ramble on about Hangzhou being the most beautiful city, but in the suburbs you can find the same shitty apartments and dirty streets, people of any city should remember, the sewer lines run underneath them too!!!!

As for suggesting that foreigners shouldn't go out to bars at night, how silly of you! There's just two simple rules, which are:

I stopped going out to bars in China after I got attacked by 3 chinese guys one night, even after I had helped settle a fight they were having with some german guys. If you go out to bars in China, sooner or later, you will become a cropper. You do know a lot of them sell FAKE alcohol?

1.) Don't be a nob (people probably won't want to fight you, if you aren't a nob).

True. But given the increase in xenophobia, it may just be something as simple as you sat with a chinese girl, who is only a friend, that pisses a chinese guy off.

When a person says that bars in Chinese cities are dangerous places, I can't help but laugh... It's not as though there's large amounts of weapons being brought by gangs into a club, which often used to be the case in certain parts of the U.K. Not to mention, certain bars in American redneck towns.

I have seen a guy stabbed on the street in Shenzhen, in broad daylight, with a metal pipe in my first year in China....and I would be told that China is very safe, and Shenzhen one of the safest cities. Then there was the burglar I found prowling around outside my shoebox flat, and my phone getting stolen, among other stories.Then there was the british guy and his chinese wife who got followed home from a restaurant, their taxi window smashed in, and assaulted and robbed.Even chinese themselves will look down on people who hang out in bars as "trash" or people with nothing to do each day, and admit they attract a bad element. Often times, they are in cahoots with the police and local mafia....either group is not one, that an FT, wants to fall foul of.

I saw a chinese guy violently smash up a phone and some bottles as the girl behind one bar stood silent. They don't need weapons, a bottle is a weapon surely? As is a fist and boot, or a big stick? Ever seen some of the ktvs or clubs have metal detectors? Then there was kunming railway station massacre as well.

Weapons don't kill people. People kill people. Perhaps we need some people control, or should we ban knives, rice cookers, and baseball bats?

Zhengzhou is a hearty working class city I'd want to compare to what.. Philadelphia or how about Hamilton in Canada or Detroit or Liverpool in the UK by this I mean the people are rough and blatant and can easily be surly if they feel like it. I dont know why young foreigners insist on going to bars at night in Zhengzhou but that is absolutely asking for fights with locals yes. Zhengzhou really does have a reputation for scam artists, schemers, rip-off artists and by the way do NOT screw around with the local muslim people. I do believe it once held a record for the most noise pollution in decibels of any city on earth (seriously not joking) and yes they tend to have no respect for foreigners. Add to all this Zhengzhou people tend to be husky. Big old husky types. And thats just the women. but like some of those hearty working class former-steel towns its also true Zhengzhou has its own certain charm and people are, at least, real and more down to earth. but nobody should really want to go there. It really is full of rude, mean, dodgy and pushy people. also extreme particle pollution.

Stay the hell out of Zhengzhou. A) Me and a friend went to the Bird Bar. I left he didn't leave with me. When he left three men followed him down the street and beat him unconscious. Additionally Bird Bar double and triple charges foreigners. B) Another man walking to an appointment with a Chinese national were attacked by three men without provocation who were screaming "Get the f**k out of our country we don't want your kind around here". C) There is a recruiting agency with C's and Z's in it's name who send thugs to confiscate passports and hurt FT's who are leaving their employ after scamming, cheating, lying. D) Zhengzhou is a hotbed for companies and schools who scam foreign teachers. E) Zhengzhou is heavily polluted, with filthy streets, and I personally was hit by five e-bikes when I lived there. F) Massage parlor or bath house scams like this one are common in Zhengzhou. G) Zhengzhou is dangerous on many levels. Don't believe it research it. Posts are everywhere on the internet.

If you still insist on living and working there before you go I suggest you get an EEG and an MRI on your brain. Peace.

Read the whole story, the man got jailed and deported because after the video went viral the local authorities investigated his profile and found out that he was teaching illegally. These stories have only one goal: to scare the foreigners from doing anything when they get into troubles, so they can be abused all year round by frustrated virgin local men. You can punch back if you are 100% legal on a working visa tied to your employer, but don't make a scene if you are teaching on business or tourism visa.

I have fought more than once in China, local diaozi (loser) youth angry at foreigners for dating Chinese girls and other usual insecurity reasons. Anyway, I never punched first, but I punched back and usually much harder than those sissy men, I even won a case that ended up in court after I broke a dude's nose, thanks to a video recording made by my friend (also Chinese) who was there, I could have asked for some HUGE compensation but the man looked like a poor worker so I left him go on with his life.

If you are legally living here then you have nothing to fear from the legal system in China, not more than you would back home, if some local jerk decides to mess with you show them who's the real man, but remember, never punch fist, what they see on videos is what happened, no discussion.