Jiaxing
From Wikigogy
Asia : China : Zhejiang : Jiaxing
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Jiaxing is a fairly industrial little town 1 hour's drive south-west of Shanghai. Drive for 1 hour further south-west and you reach Hangzhou with its West Lake.
Jiaxing seems to be a small hub of schooling (and building of high rises) and will become bigger with the express train-line development (from Shanghai to Hangzhou).
[edit] Schools
Schools in the area were roughly the same as the rest of China (so look after yourself and understand the cultural differences/expectations).
[edit] 21st Century Foreign Language School
B has worked in a secondary school called 21st Century Foreign Language School in 2005 (for more info please message). The head of the school is verging on retirement, so the entire atmosphere might change from B's experience.
[edit] Jiaxing College
Jiaxing College a small university is mildly recommended (by B not from having worked there) not so much for the administration (no experience there) but for the level and motivation of the students that she met. Again this is not from the experience of working there, seek prior teacher experience to base your decision on.
[edit] Life in Jiaxing
Living is easy, although somewhat boring unless you travel a little. Unfortunately, travel can be extremely difficult in China not only due to the language barrier and failure to understand bad Chinese accents, but the general lack of understanding of mimicry (such as the frustrated communicator resorts to). Best travel advice would be to befriend a local English speaker and take them travelling with you. There's no shortage of university-age that would love the opportunity to travel and speak English with a foreigner.
[edit] Climate
Pack some (not much) Summer gear and lots of layers for Winter gear. It snows/sleets there in Winter and easily has -5 or 0 degree days (Celsius) for about 3 months.
[edit] Tips
There's cheap and yummy Point-and-click food on Jiaxing college campus. Via the back (or side) gate and bridge - walk straight. There will be smooth paving and a courtyard (cum carpark) on your right. Walk through the carpark. On your right you'll see a covered escalator (and ahead half a set of stairs which take you to the refectory). The escalator takes you straight up to the restaurant rumored to be cheffed (is that a verb?) by the same man of the best restaurant in town. As with every Chinese restaurant, you can ask for your own room!
Find a place in town called 'Milo Coffee' (pronounced /mi low ga fay/ or just /mi low/). The taxi man should know it if you say it the way they do. It has real coffee, private rooms, easy to understand menu and a very relaxing atmosphere. It's an absolute oasis after competing [sic] on the streets (or in the classroom).
The biggest shopping centre in town is called Da Ren Fa (/dar ren far/). It's like a supermarket and department store combined. Good shopping (ignore the stares they are just curious and bored).
[edit] Culture shock
Warning: this is a generalisation.
There seems to be three directions a 'lao wei' takes mentally after living in China (for at least a year without leaving).
1. The head swells and the person thinks they are far more important than they really are.
2. It gets to them and they become jaded or cynical.
3. The person stays away from the streets (a lot of car travel, etc) and remains oblivious.
Both these states come almost directly from being stared at. People are occasionally are stared at in the west, but generally most avoid eye contact with strangers. When the westerner steps out on the streets (in smaller places like Jiaxing) there are eyes looking at them from every direction. This can be unnerving.
