Things to do

Things to do on your typical day in China

Qingdao – Where Europe meets China

Beer in plastic bags, KFC with draft beer and Medieval German churches. Where do I start?! The city of Qingdao is part of historic Shandong province where Confucius gained his claim to fame and it is also a place where you can enjoy a beach in the northern part of China. The city has a high speed station and a normal one allowing access to and from many areas of China and enjoys a pleasant climate of cool winters and warm yet not too hot summers. One of the main sites in this post-colonial town is an immaculately preserved European…

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Standing on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin

Big city, big company, big dreams. Living and working at EF Chengdu.

I found myself in a situation where a lot of people find themselves. In the early summer of 2017 and I had just graduated. I was feeling very proud of myself, let out a sigh of relief then asked myself, “So now what?”.  Whilst looking for jobs I saw a job ad for teaching English in China and I thought I’d at least apply. Within a week of applying I had completed the interview process and received my job offer from English First (EF). I was going to live in China. Prior to starting my job, I had absolutely no…

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The confucius institute at the University of Nottingham next door to our office at Noon Elite Recruitment. Many test centres are based on university campuses and they are prestigious buildings.

HSK – Everything there is to know

HSK. You hear it when looking at Chinese courses, on job adverts and see it required on University courses. But what is it and why is it worth looking into? This post is is all things HSK.  What it shows, why to take it and what it stands for? Here’s everything you need to know… What it is HSK stands for hanyu shuiping kaoshi. This literally means Chinese language water level examination. More accurately translated to Chinese language level exam, or, examination of your Chinese language level.  The examination is run and accredited by Hanban, a department ran by the…

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My latest Chinese adventures

I have been living in Guiyang, Guizhou province since October 2015, and life here always seems to throw me new surprises, no matter how predictable I think the daily flow of life has become. After our hectic Summer Camp classes, we were given some time off afterwards. Me and my girlfriend decided to go to some places in Guizhou we hadn’t visited yet (when you have time off for travel you always naturally think of going to some of the best known cities in China, but that is to overlook just about how much Guizhou has to offer ) We…

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