In July of this year, I will be teaching at the Sichuan University
– University Immersion Program for the 4th time. Going to China for a teaching opportunity is
a lot of fun if you are prepared. In the Chinese Culture, it is not proper to
offer information that may put your country or your university in a bad light. This has resulted in some invited professors not
having a good experience because they came unprepared. The purpose of this blog is to prepare
academic visitors and also suggestion questions you may want to specifically
ask should you be visiting any university in China.
The Teaching: The classes are taught in 2 hour blocks (actually 2 X 50 minutes). During UIP, teachers have two class assignments in one day. If you are teaching 1 class, you will teach a morning block and an afternoon block either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. There are no classes taught during lunch, noon to 2 pm. You will be teaching either 8–10 or 10 – noon and then 2-4 pm or 4-6 pm. If you are teaching 2 classes, you will teach one class on Monday and Wednesday and the Second on Tuesday and Thursday. The two classes will run concurrently. The students are undergraduates. While all Chinese high school students take English, they often have more book knowledge than actual experience listening to an English speaker. Remind yourself to speak slowly and clearly. Avoid colloquial phrases and slang.
The Classrooms: Each
classroom has a podium/desk with a built in computer system and projector. The
classrooms are not connected to wifi.
Plan on taking your electronic lecture materials on a flash drive,
including any videos you plan to show. In addition, not all computers have the
current windows and office programs so saving your files in compatability mode
is helpful. Each building has an office
with computer help and I’ve never had a problem getting my powerpoints up on
the screen. The IT office can also provide you with pointers, microphones and
other supplies as needed. Often students
will come up after class with their own flash drive to copy the lecture. All Chinese are taught paper conservation so
the students rarely print out lectures.
Classrooms are not air
conditioned. In, fact most of China is not air conditioned. Classrooms have multiple fans with one
usually directed at the teacher. I
bought a small fan that plugs into a USB outlet. This way I can have the fan right on the desk
close to my face. I also suggest that
soon after getting to China you buy a good hand fan and possibly a
parasol. Chengdu will be in the 90 F
range during July. Keep this in mind
when planning your clothing for teaching.
You are not required to dress up or wear a suit. Think light, breathable, easily washed out
clothing and very comfortable shoes. There is a lot of walking in China.
Some university buildings have western
toilets and some do not. Generally there is one stall in the first floor
restroom. Often it is marked
handicapped. If you have any problem, finding a suitable toilet ask your
assistant for help.
Your Assistant: The
University will assign a graduate student to help you. This person can pick you up at the airport,
help get you settled at the hotel, help
you find the classroom, take roll in your class, administer tests, get copies
made, show you how to use the subway and taxis, help you get paid, and act as your
translator. The student will contact you
by email long before you arrive. Your assistant can help you with any questions
you have. Remember that it might not occur to a student to tell you that there
isn’t any air conditioning in the classrooms because they have never known any
different. So be specific with your
questions. You may also want to bring a
gift for your assistant as a thank you to present at the end of the teaching.
The Hotel: The University usually contracts with several nice
hotels close to the two in-town campuses.
In China, it is common for a hotel to advertise as international if
there are western toilets in the rooms. Hotels will differ on whether they
offer western beds (softer) or a western breakfast. Most hotel rooms will have an electric kettle
for boiling water and tea is typically available however coffee may not be
available. I usually bring some high
quality instant along with sugar and creamer packets. Instant coffee is available at many stores in
China. Even in packets that say 1,2,3 to show they have sugar and cream
included. Starbucks is also popular in
China. You should plan on walking from
your hotel to your classroom (or the shuttle bus stop). The campuses are sprawling
so it may be a 15-20 minute walk.
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| Mountains surround Chengdu however they are often not visible. |
The Food: Generally,
the breakfast will be provided by the hotel.
Chinese often eat the same foods for all meals. Since each year the
University has chosen different hotels, I cannot tell you what to expect. Fresh
fruits and juices are popular as are salad and steamed vegetables. Muffins and pastries
are sometimes available.
You will receive a card from the
University to use at the cafeteria. This is a traditional cafeteria not a food
court as is found on most American Universities. The cafeteria is available at lunch and
dinner time. The cafeteria meals are at set times, noon for lunch and 6 pm for
dinner. The card is also good at a small
store below the cafeteria on the Wangjiang Campus. I don’t know if the new
campus or the Huaxi campus have a store that accepts the card. However both campuses do have small stores.
You will be on your own for dinner. Chengdu is a city of 14 million. There are plenty of westerners living in
Chengdu. You will be able to find a good variety of western food options should
you desire some comfort food. Note that
China does not raise cows and beef is limited.
Only order a hamburger or steak from a long established and higher end
restaurant. A good question to ask local
expats if you have your heart set on a hamburger. Another caution, all Chinese food is cooked.
Therefore food handling techniques to keep salad ingredients free of
contamination have to be taught. Only
order non-cooked food at a well established restaurant. There are many
fantastic Chinese restaurants near the campuses. The nicer restaurants (those
in a building) usually have picture menus to help you order your meal. Food is served family style.
Note that
American-Chinese Food and REAL Chinese food are not the same. I can’t even eat
American-Chinese food anymore. I hunt
down the real Chinese restaurants everywhere I go. There
are many small noodle shops and cafes near the campus. These are called “Fly”
restaurants (as in eat on the fly). My
advice, go to the busiest ones. Most
Chinese don’t cook at home because it is so cheap to eat out. You will not find many English speakers at
Chinese restaurants however you can communicate by pointing.
Special Events and Activities
On the Sunday before classes start.
There will be a welcome presentation, tour of the three campuses and
reception. Ask your assistant about the
timing for this usually it goes all afternoon and evening.
On the Saturday between teaching weeks, the University
provides an all day program that includes going to the Giant Panda Research
Base, a nice banquet lunch and visiting one of the pedestrian shopping streets.
The Panda Base is outside the city and is a well maintained zoo/reserve for
panda viewing and breeding research. I always enjoy seeing the pandas. Be prepared for lots of walking. It’s a good time to have a sun hat or
parasol. The shopping streets feature
many local crafts, traditional candy making, souvenirs, restaurants and bars.
I’ll be buying some of my favorites.
Ding Ding Tang (Taffy), Hua Sheng tang (peanut brittle) as well as
brittle made with white or black sesame seeds.
The Shopping street will also feature both high end and local tea for
purchase and tasting.
Plan in advance how you will be
communicating with your assistant and other teachers you meet. I have had off and on luck using an American
phone with an international dialing plan.
I suggest you download WeChat (Wei Xing). This is a very popular program similar to
WhatsAp or Facebook messenger. Remember you will not have Facebook in China and
you may or may not have access to google or gmail services without a VPN. All Chinese phones use sim cards. If you have
a sim card compatible phone you can have your assistant get you a card for local
dialing. The cards are like a prepaid
temporary phone in the US.
If you check the web you will find many
VPN services available for short term purchase.
I get one to cover my laptop and phone while in China just to make it
easier for me to connect with home. Most
restaurants and bars will have free wifi although often the service is slow in
the evening when everyone is on their phone.
Cash and Credit
China has a unique combination of old school and high
tech monetary practices. It is
fundamentally a cash society. There are very few locations that take Visa or
Mastercard. The China debit/credit card, Union Pay, uses the same computer
system as the Discover Card. If you print
out the instructions from Discover Card in Chinese, some merchants will make
the effort to charge your purchase. Most
young people in China use the WeChat money AP to pay for purchases. Meaning they have skipped over checks and
debit cards and gone straight from cash to electronic payments. As a visitor you will primarily use cash so
be prepared to make an exchange at the airport or any of the major banks. You will receive your payment at the end of
the first teaching week in US dollars.
Also be prepared that the school is required by the government to
withhold taxes. If your country has a tax treaty with China, bring the
documentation with you.
I am planning a
second post about things I plan to do while in Chengdu. Until then feel freee to ask questions.
