How to Move to China as a Teacher!

I almost moved to China as a teacher – see how I did it and if you can too!

Edit:

Spoiler alert! I never actually made it to China! Covid restrictions prevented me from flying across and beginning my post in person for around 7 months. During that time I worked online, starting at crazy early hours in the mornings. By the time restrictions were being lifted and it came to fly out, I had unfortunately decided that the school and the post weren’t for me. I had been misled about the role I was going to be taken. I was only teaching ESOL and not English Language & Literature, as the school turned out not to be an international school, but a school only for Chinese pupils who were not at the level of English necessary to read and write English. This would have been fine if that was the role I had applied for, but it wasn’t.

I don’t regret my decision and one day hope to manage to travel around China, exploring all the sights I was so excited to get the chance to visit during my time working there.

I’m Moving to China!

I am more than excited about having secured an International Teaching post in China for the next school year. I’m going to be moving from my current home in Shetland, Scotland (a tiny, tiny island with a population of approximately 22,000) to Zhuhai in southern China: population 2 million!

If you would like to find out more about what is involved in finding a teaching job in China, jump down to The Process below.

Why China?

I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit China in the summer of 2019. I escorted a group of 9 pupils from Shetland, as a part of a much larger group of 120 from all over Scotland, as part of the Confucius Institute programme in Scotland. We spent 3 weeks exploring some of the best that China has to offer.

My 2019 trip to China

We split our time between Beijing and Tianjin, between sightseeing, learning Mandarin and engaging in other cultural activities. Our 3 weeks were filled with making dumplings, visiting with a family in a cultural exchange, practising fan making and getting the chance to play the Guzheng, (which is a Chinese plucked string instrument with a more than 2,500-year history).  We walked through gardens with parents looking for a spouse for their child, saw retired locals exercising in public parks and traditional Hutong courtyard housing. On top of that, we saw the sights you would expect to see. I had an emotional moment in Tiananmen Square, we visited the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City and walked on the Great Wall.

I absolutely loved everything about my visit. The amazing foods we ate, the historical sights, the people we met, the weather: all of it was a feast to the senses. I even loved the hot, humid weather that is Beijing in July. The days were long and often exhausting, but I could run out of adjectives to describe how much I enjoyed my experience. If you want to read more about that first visit to China, I’ve got a blog post about it coming soon.

The timings that were planned to visit these amazing places, were obviously decided with teenagers in mind, (which is understandable, as that’s why we were there). We only managed a quick overview of the sites we visited. Regularly, where we got 40 minutes to explore, I could have spent hours. China was giving me a taste of what it had to offer. And I wanted more.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse

Not long after I returned from China, a friend gifted me this book written and illustrated by Charlie Macksey. Inspirational quotes and beautiful illustrations fill the book. It is a beautiful gift. One page stood out to me.

At the time this was such a clear message to me. Having discovered a passion for travel a couple of years earlier, I was searching for a way to incorporate more travel into my life. However, I had no savings or way to fund such a lifestyle other than a few weeks in the summer. And I wanted more. I was also ready to move on from my current teaching post, but had no plans or real idea where and what to do next.

Epiphany…

Suddenly, I had a moment of epiphany. What if I combined my job and my love of travel? I am a teacher and am lucky that it is a sought after occupation; there are international schools all over the world. I’m also a parent, however, my kids are now all adults and have flown the nest. I had nothing stopping me other than myself. That was it. My decision was made. I was going to do all I could to make my dream my reality.

My travel wanderlust will be sated with not only having all of China to explore on my doorstep, but look at where I can travel to from there. Hong Kong is literally an hour from Zhuhai. Long-haul flights from the UK will now be short-haul. In only a couple of hours I can be in Vietnam. All of Asia is there for me to explore, with flights taking both a fraction of the time and money from the UK. Even Australia is only a 9 hour flight, as opposed to 22 from London. SO much adventuring will be getting done.

Emotional Intuition

This past year I’ve been trying to listen to my intuition more. I’ve been working on listening to the way my body feels when I think about making a change. Are my physical responses of anxiety or of excitement? My motto for the year has been ‘but what if it works out?!’ I think we are often more likely to think about all the things that might go wrong when we step outside our comfort zone, than consider what might happen if it goes right.

But what if it goes wrong? What if I don’t like it? My feelings about my adventure not being what I hope are that I can come home. But at least I’ll have tried; I won’t ever be left with thinking, ‘what if…’ The only feelings I have when I think about this move are ones of excitement. Occasionally my head has a ‘what if…’ moment but I’m listening to my gut, it’s telling me this is a fantastic opportunity, go ahead and jump right in!

It might seem a bit impulsive to suddenly decide to move to China as a teacher. Looking back on my life, you can see that I’ve always been a person who has been a bit impulsive. I moved to Edinburgh from my home in England at 18, started over following a divorce by taking a Masters course at 40, then moving to Shetland 4 years ago. In my eyes, China is just a bit further away.

Practical Reasons for moving to China

One interesting fact I discovered, when I started researching international teaching jobs, is that the pay is much better than in Scotland. Add onto this packages that regularly include accommodation, flights and bonuses, it is easy to see the potential to save for an early retirement. This was a huge draw for me, I won’t lie. I wouldn’t go just for the money, but the potential to have an amazing experience whilst earning good money is definitely a bonus. You may not be thinking about retirement yet, but the potential to save for our future is always a good thing.

Getting excited about options…

So, I spoke with another friend about my thoughts. She 100% encouraged me to go for it. So that night I did. I sat at my laptop and opened a search for teaching jobs in China; 4 jobs came up and I set about applying for them. One of the jobs was in the south, in a city called Shenzen. I had never heard of it before and immediately started Googling. And that was it. I had found where I wanted to work. Shenzhen is a city with very low pollution levels and a tropical climate, so it’s warm all year round and had lots of green areas. I submitted my applications that evening and waited to hear back without telling anyone I had applied.

The Process

Within 24 hours I had a response from an agency who were dealing with applications. Teach Anywhere wanted to have a chat with me on the phone, to do an initial screening and get to know me in order to help me be successful in finding a job. One thing stood out for me from that chat. My agent, told me that I was an excellent candidate and said that I might find the process easier than I thought. At first I doubted him; I thought it was maybe just sales chat. He couldn’t have been more right.

Interviews

The opportunity for interviews literally came flooding in. Interviews were typically at between 5.30 and 7am, due to the time difference. At least it didn’t leave time for me to work up nerves!!

The school I applied for in Shenzhen wanted me to interview for a new school they were opening in Zhuhai. Zhuhai is also in the south of China, around an hour from both Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It’s on the coast and is an even smaller city. I had two interviews with the school, one with a HR person and the second with the Head of the school. After the 2 interviews I found myself with a job offer. This was the school I really wanted to work at. So exciting!!! Both to be working in a new country and to be in at the start of a school’s inception, therefore able to have some input and influence on texts, teaching elements and how the department will function.

My agent said the process could be simple and he was right. Hopefully, China opens it borders in time for me to start my new life in August. I’m anticipating a life filled with new experiences, delicious food, exciting exploring of heritage sites and hiking. I cannot wait.

If you are a teacher, and interested in finding work abroad I 100% recommend TeachAnywhere https://www.teachanywhere.com/ (not an affiliate link, they have just been fantastic to work with).

Would you move abroad to teach or work? Where would you go? Let me know in the comments below

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