My name is Ben Noon, I am a 23 year old Englishman and Nottingham university graduate. For the past 13 months I have been living and working in a small city in South west China, the provincial capital of Guizhou province for private school TT elite education as an English teacher, teaching students from age 5 to 13 English as a second language.

Living in Guiyang is a totally fresh experience compared to living in the West. The culture here is less international and very Chinese. Personally I love Guiyang. The people are extremely friendly and welcoming towards foreigners. There is also a great night life here with many nightclubs and bars and the locals are always keen to talk and drink with you. The weather is also very amicable with warm winters and warm (not scorching) summers. Life here does take a little getting used to, the streets are dirty and greasy and the cultural customs of spitting and car honking are real. However, the local food here is delicious and famed around China for its spicy taste. Everything is eaten with chopsticks and you will find yourself eating either rice or noodles with every meal. If you prefer to cook at home, food is relatively cheap in supermarkets too.

I would describe my lifestyle as that of an adventurer. Last year I went on over 10 holidays to different places of beauty and interest from the paradise Boracay Island in the Philippines to China’s delights of Xian, Beijing, Guilin, Yangshuo, Libo and many more. I seen the Pandas in Chengdu and the holy sunrise from the summit of Emei Mountain. I seen the ancient Miao tribe in Xijiang Miaozai and sipped cocktails in 5 star hotels in tropical Sanya. Not to mention ate cobra in Vietnam alongside numerous antics traveling Thailand and Hong Kong. This year I have just got back from Korea and Japan. The low number of class hours and long holiday breaks give you a decent amount of time to go on many breaks. Over the year, there are three major holidays with on average 9 days paid holiday. These three breaks occurring around March, May and October gave me and my colleagues 3 big windows for adventure which we used for international travel to multiple countries. I have done so much in my one year here.

I work at 5 schools in 5 locations, daunting as this sounds it is actually great. I go to one different school each day of the working week and for the two schools that are out of the city transport picks me up close to my home and takes me to and from work. Working in multiple schools has allowed me to see more of Guiyang and has also made me more friends as I mix with friendly English speaking Chinese colleagues from all 5 of the schools.

Another aspect of the wealth of free time is the benefit it has to my studies. As TT is a private school it only operates during the time of the evenings and weekends where the children are out of school. I work from Wednesday to Sunday an average 3 hours and evening Wednesday to Friday and then 2 full days on the weekend. This gives me a wealth of time in on weekdays to study Chinese. When I first arrived here 13 months ago I didn’t even know how to say hello. However, after 13 months in the real China I can now speak, read and write Chinese and have just passed my Chinese proficiency test officially certifying my Chinese to at least beyond conversational level. Such an ability to speak Chinese is an increasingly valuable asset in the modern world.

My boss is a 34 year old local who not only speaks perfect English, but is by far the fairest, polite and encouraging boss that I have ever had. He is a true gentleman and far more reasonable and considerate than I could ever be! Any concern I have ever had he has always tried his best to answer and is extremely considerate of our working responsibilities. After finishing my contract, not only did my boss allow me 2 months off of work to spend time at home and traveling Europe, but he also arranged a special short term 7 month contract following on for the next year to suit my commitments at the expense of the school and allow me to continue to live in and travel around China. Not only is he a boss, he is also a true friend and I enjoy being able to go out and drink with the same man that takes care of me at work.

My accommodation is definitely ‘passable’. I live in a large apartment on my own in the city centre, a two minute walk from my main school on the second floor. My apartment is clean, has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, washing machine kitchen and open plan living room. It comes fully furnished and has WIFI and gas water heating. Frankly, it is far better than I could afford back home. The apartment is regularly maintained and any faults are quickly solved by the school staff.

I sum up my experience of Guiyang as a young lads dream. I have done and experienced so much this past year and continue to progress. The city is hectic but the nightlife is great and the job is very comfortable. Picking a school in China to work for is always a gamble as you can never be sure of what it is like until you go there. However, I am grateful to say that I got very lucky. This school is certainly a good one! It has been nothing but excellent to me and I couldn’t be prouder to write a good review. I hope upon reading this that you too are encouraged to make the brave jump to China and if you are choosing a school then I would definitely recommend TT Elite in Guiyang. I truly love it here.