Shenyang, China - Heart of the North East

"You go to school at WHAT time?', I asked. "6:30am", Melody replied. "And you finish when?" "Well sometimes 8:00pm and sometimes 9:00pm," she said softly. "So when do you get to play with your friends or do something other then schoolwork?" "Not allowed", came the reply. Welcome to the Chinese... Sign in to see full entry.

The students who attend our school range in age from 14-50 with the vast majority being in the 22-26 year old range. They have many varied reasons for wanting to learn to speak English. Some are improving their spoken English to attend university or high school in the west. Some because they work... Sign in to see full entry.

It has certainly been an interesting 14 months with the non chinese teachers. When I arrived there were 3, an Australian lady, a Canadian lady and an American guy. With my arrival that made 2 Aussies. The American had some big problems. He was married to a Chinese lady and she had total control over... Sign in to see full entry.

The school I work at is called Web International. The head office is located in Shanghai and branches are franchised out. I have no idea who the owner of the school is but I am told that he is a rich guy. The school is located in a Department Store in the centre of the city. Within 5 mins walk we... Sign in to see full entry.

My personal bugbear about Shenyang are the road users. This includes pedestrians, bicycle riders, cars, trucks, buses, donkeys pulling carts and the 3 wheel carts. They successfully work together to create chaos on a scale which even exceeds other cities in China. The basic road rules are: 1. The... Sign in to see full entry.

Shenyang is not exactly the tourist Mecca of China. Shenyang's real claim to fame is that the first two emperors of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) are buried here. There is a palace although much smaller then the Forbidden City in Beijing. One emperor is buried in Beiling Park and the other in... Sign in to see full entry.

I live in western side of Shenyang which is the Tiexi (Tea eh She) District. My apartment complex has about 200 apartments which is quite small by Shenyang standards. My apartment faces another complex which is quite large and would be maybe 40 metres away. In between the two blocks there is a... Sign in to see full entry.

I wasn't planning to write anything until later today but I just had to add this. Coming to work this morning on the bus - yes its Sunday but thats our busiest day at the school - this was the scene. Picture a 4 lane street, 2 lanes each way. In the middle of one of the middle lanes a woman on a... Sign in to see full entry.

Of all the non chinese I have met in Shenyang, Simmo, whose real name I never knew, would have to be the wierdest. I first met him in the winter of '04-'05. He rolled up at the bar of the Sheraton Hotel where I was having a quiet drink and introduced himself as a journalist. His mission, he told me,... Sign in to see full entry.

I have had the pleasure of living in China since 1996 - Beijing until 2002 then Nanjing for 1 year. I returned to Sydney for 6 months then in March 2004 was invited to work in Shenyang. I stayed until March 2006 then again returned to Sydney. I didn't have a lot to do so I took up a writing course... Sign in to see full entry.