China: My Short Stay In The Far East
“With a look of slight disappointment in their eyes, we warmly embraced as I tried my best to hold back the tears. I was home.”
Part One: The Opportunity of a lifetime
Allow me to take you back to 5th August 2017, to the early hours of a foggy Saturday morning, of what was a standard night shift at work, at least to begin with. As I was sat at my desk, surrounded only by my thoughts, I received a rather unexpected message on my LinkedIn account.
The message was from the Founder/Director of a recruitment agency called ‘China-Link ESL’, who claims to be one of the leading ESL recruitment agencies in China. The Founder/Director, whose name I will not disclose, messaged me to say that after discovering my CV through Reed, a separate recruitment agency, she believed that I was a good candidate for one of their English teaching positions in a language school in China.
It is worth noting that before receiving this message; I had no initial aspirations to pursue any form of teaching career. In the last year leading up to this date, I had attended multiple interviews and assessment days for jobs operating in a wide array of sectors, but not in the education industry. However, as I was not prone to receiving unprecedented messages from recruitment agencies, this was not an opportunity I took lightly.
Suddenly, a job that never would have been looked upon seriously beforehand had now become an interesting prospect to me, but one which I approached with scepticism. ESL teaching scams are far more commonplace than I was initially aware of — therefore, rather than accepting the information presented to me at face value, I took the liberty of carrying out extensive research on the agency and the language school in question.
Along with carrying out thorough research, I contacted some existing teachers in China who had acquired their roles through China-Link ESL. I wanted to find out if each of these individuals would vouch for the agency and the Founder/Director, and to my surprise, they did. Each teacher confirmed that China-Link ESL, along with the Founder/Director, were completely legitimate. At this stage, I was satisfied that I had enough conclusive evidence to write off any potential ESL scam, and conclude that no ulterior motive was in place. Filled with further confidence and reassurance, I was ready to take the next step.
My first step into the world of ESL teaching began with a choice — could I see myself teaching English to children, or would I be more comfortable teaching English to adults. I decided that given my personality, I would be far more suited to teaching in an adult environment. At this point, the Founder/Director introduced me to their client, an adult language school called Meten English.
Meten English, part of the wider Meten Education Group, is a private training institution that was formed in 2006 and now has more than 80 learning centres across China, along with head offices in Beijing and Shenzhen. Whilst mainly providing ESL teaching, Meten also provides additional services such as standardised test preparations, overseas services, and a preparatory academy. After learning about Meten English, the Founder/Director of China-Link ESL arranged for me to undergo a Skype interview with a member of Meten’s operations team in Shenzhen. Prior to this, I was briefed on the format of the interview such as the questions I would be asked, the duration of the interview, and more. Not only was I provided with guidance on the interview format, but I was even told exactly what to say in response to each question asked throughout the interview.
My Skype interview took place the very next day. I sat at my desk, wearing my best suit and my cheesiest smile, waiting for the Skype call to connect. My interviewer then appeared on my screen, looking pixelated, with crackly feedback as she spoke. Only a few years older than me, she seemed friendly and interested in learning about my life, and of course, my reasons for pursuing an ESL teaching role in China. When asked why I wanted to teach English in China, I responded by saying “I believe that teaching English should be fun and interactive” — the blanket line China-Link ESL advises all of its prospective teachers to use. At this point, her eyes lit up with excitement and joy — this was my only job-related question throughout the entire interview. After telling the interviewer about my hobbies and interests, she then proceeded to offer me a second Skype interview. I couldn’t believe how simple it was.
Before arranging the details of my second interview, I had a second choice to make in my pursuit of an ESL teaching role — where I wanted to teach. At the time, Meten had vacancies in two second-tier cities called Ningbo and Nanjing. Both cities are located in Eastern China and are heavily populated, but in the end, I opted for Nanjing. One factor which considerably influenced this decision was that, unlike Ningbo, Nanjing has a large ex-pat community, and as a foreign visitor with little knowledge of the Chinese language, I wanted to be based in an environment with a mixture of cultures.
Not only did Nanjing’s ex-pat community have an influence, but another reason for choosing this city was the fact that some ESL teachers, whom I had contacted beforehand to verify the legitimacy of China-Link ESL, also lived in Nanjing and other nearby cities. Knowing there were familiar faces nearby further reinforced my belief that Nanjing was the right city for me to relocate to. With my decision made, it was time to proceed to the second interview.
My second interview took place just 3 days after passing my first interview; it was scheduled for 1pm UK time, meaning my interviewer carried out this interview at 8pm (local time in China). I was interviewed by a teaching manager who was responsible for working with new teachers making the transition to life in Nanjing — once again, I was prepped thoroughly on the questions that would be asked, and how I should respond to each one. However, on this occasion, some questions required me to think on my feet. The teaching manager wanted to know how I would assert my authority in a classroom, given that a majority of the students would be much older than me. I answered this question by drawing upon my experience outlined on my CV and highlighted my ability to effectively communicate across different levels within a business.
Following on from this, I was finally asked how I would explain the difference between past and perfect present tense to a group of students. Specifically, as an example, the teaching manager asked how I would explain the difference between the following 2 actions: “I have eaten a burger” and “I am eating a burger”. In response to this, I stated that roleplaying could be used as an effective method to explain the differences between past and perfect present tense, and referred to the example given by the teaching manager beforehand. I explained that “eating a burger” (present tense) could be demonstrated by using hand motions which portray somebody eating this food, whereas “eaten a burger” (past tense) could be demonstrated by placing a used napkin on a plate, or even through the use of simple hand gestures like rubbing your stomach to portray that you have finished eating. The teaching manager was impressed with my approach to this scenario and stated that roleplaying is commonly used by teachers at Meten as a learning tool.
After discussing the use of roleplaying at Meten, the teaching manager took a long pause, appearing in deep thought, with a look of contemplation on her face. After a minute had passed, I was told that I would be put forward for teacher training and recommended to the operations team for appointment. To be offered this opportunity felt surreal — the prospect of teaching English in China was about to become a frightening, yet exciting reality that would completely change my life, or so I believed. After receiving messages from the operations team at Meten and the Founder/Director of China-Link ESL, who all congratulated me on my appointment, it was time to prepare for my big, ‘life changing’ move to China.
Part Two: The Reality
In the three months leading up to my departure, I was required to apply for a criminal background check certificate, which then needed to be notarised by a solicitor, along with my original degree certificate.
After acquiring notarisation, both documents then needed to be authenticated by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and the Chinese Embassy. Without the authentication from both organisations, I would not have been eligible to apply for a work visa.
When I began the visa application process, complications soon started to arise. On their website, Meten Education Group state that to work for them as an ESL teacher, you must hold a TEFL certificate (certifies that you are qualified to teach English as a second language), and a Z visa (work visa). However, what they do not tell you on their website is the method they use to bring you to China. Legally, if you want to teach English in China, the applicant can only obtain a work visa providing that they already hold a TEFL certificate. This becomes an instant stumbling block for new teachers who do not hold this certificate — given the varying backgrounds of ESL teachers; this would be the case for many.
Throughout the application process, Meten reiterated that all of my training for the TEFL certificate, an essential requirement to teach English, would take place in Nanjing, the city I chose to work in and relocate to. However, in the months leading up to my departure, I was introduced to a member of Meten’s operations team who was responsible for visa applications to China. This member was also based in Nanjing and would later become my point of contact upon arrival in China.
She revealed how Meten manages to bring new teachers over to China who do not have a TEFL certificate or a Z visa. She stated that for the majority of foreign teachers appointed to work for Meten, the school advises new teachers to apply for an L visa (tourist visa). This is because the application process is much shorter, meaning it takes far less time for a foreign teacher to move to China.
In order to obtain an L visa, the applicant must provide a full travel itinerary including the address of the applicant’s accommodation, the destinations to be visited, along with the dates and duration of each visit. Alternatively, the applicant can provide an official letter of invitation from a Chinese citizen; this letter must also provide destinations that will be visited upon arrival, accommodation arrangements, and a copy of the Chinese citizen’s national identity card.
Once a foreign teacher obtains an L visa, they can then legally enter China and begin their training for a TEFL certificate, which takes 7 days to complete. After gaining a TEFL certificate, Meten then sends their teachers to Hong Kong, where they can transfer their current L visas into Z visas. The reason why teachers are sent to Hong Kong is that it is not classed as Mainland China. Therefore, after gaining a TEFL certificate and travelling to Hong Kong, the teacher is then eligible to apply for a work visa — granting entry to Mainland China with the right to work there legally. Another reason why Meten adopts this method is that it takes approximately 2 days to transfer an existing L visa into a Z visa when visiting Hong Kong, whereas applying for a Z visa to enter China from a foreign country can take many months.
This method used and advised by Meten is controversial for two reasons. Firstly, when applying for an L visa, Meten stresses that the school, along with your intention to study towards a TEFL certificate, must not be mentioned in your application under any circumstances. This means that by applying for an L visa (tourist visa), as a foreign teacher, you are effectively travelling to China under false pretences. When going through this process myself, I felt that Meten demonstrated a lack of care towards the risk they were imposing on new ESL teachers like myself. By travelling to China with false intentions, this put me in a vulnerable position which could have resulted in serious consequences.
The second reason why this method is controversial is that it highlights a major loophole in Chinese immigration policy, a loophole Meten has arguably exploited for many years. Unless a thorough investigation is carried out before departure, the Chinese authorities have no way of proving that Meten Education Group is operating through these channels. Though I understand the logic behind this approach and accept that new teachers follow through with this approach at their own risk, I also believe it is irresponsible of Meten to fail to disclose these details until the applicant is fully vested in the process.
Unfortunately, once I had obtained my L visa, the complications did not stop there. As previously mentioned, Meten reiterated that all of my training for the TEFL certificate would take place in Nanjing. However, two weeks before my departure to China, I was told by Meten that I was required to complete an online TEFL course and that I had to pass this to teach English for Meten in China. It was also at this point where I discovered that my TEFL training in China would be taking place in a different city to where I had been told, and that I would need to find my own way to this city whilst also covering the travel expenses. The training was due to take place in a city called Hefei, two hours away from Nanjing.
In the compensation pack outlined on Meten Education Group’s website, it states that foreign teachers can expect a “paid hotel on arrival”. Once again, what the school fails to tell you is that this hotel would not be in your city of residence/work and that the applicant would be required to share a hotel room with another teacher in training.
Meten also fails to tell you that on arrival in your city of residence, the teacher is required to pay for a hotel room, including a deposit, before they undergo any training. I was required to arrive three days before the start of my training; this is because Meten wanted me to find my own accommodation at this time, undergo a health check, set up a bank account, and purchase a Chinese SIM card. Once these tasks were completed, Meten expected me to travel to Hefei to begin my TEFL training. During the application process, it was made clear to me that the start-up costs of moving to China would be expensive, but the extent to which was never truly explained until I was fully vested in the process.
Part Three: The Departure
I will now take you forward to Monday 13th November 2017, exactly three months to the day since being offered a role as an ESL teacher and one day before departure. After overcoming the previous complications, I was then faced with another problem, this time from China Eastern Airlines. My journey to China was due to take approximately seventeen hours, including flights from London Heathrow to Paris, Paris to Shanghai Pudong, and finally Shanghai Pudong to Nanjing. However, when making a phone call to China Eastern Airlines regarding a baggage enquiry, I discovered that my journey would not be as simple as it seemed.
During this phone call, I asked for my journey details to be confirmed to me. At this point, I was told that my journey from Shanghai Pudong to Nanjing was not a flight, but a rail journey. I was disappointed to hear this as this information was not stated during the booking process. Therefore, when I had finally departed and began my journey to China, I had to prepare myself for a rail journey after being in the air for eleven hours on my flight from Paris to Shanghai Pudong. Once I had arrived in Shanghai after a long and tiring flight, despite facing a multitude of problems before and after departure, my journey to Nanjing started to go from bad to even worse.
I needed directions to Shanghai rail station to undergo the final stage of my journey to Nanjing. When I asked a member of China Eastern Airlines for these directions, I had the misfortune of discovering that the rail station was located next to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport — meaning I had landed at the wrong airport in Shanghai. To reach Shanghai Hongqiao, I needed to travel via the underground metro, which took just over an hour. However, this was made far more difficult when carrying twenty-three kilograms of luggage and an additional ten-kilogram hand luggage case. I was also unhappy because I had to pay extra money on top of the cost of my journey ticket, and this additional journey subsequently resulted in me missing my train to Nanjing.
When I arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, the time was seven o’clock in the morning. At this point, after an extremely tiring journey, I was hoping to simply check my baggage in and be pointed in the direction of the rail station. Sadly, this was not the case. When I arrived at the check-in desk, my baggage was not accepted because my journey to Nanjing was via train and not a flight. Therefore, I was sent to the third floor where the rail station was located and told to show my ticket at a help desk, where I would receive further assistance.
When I did this, I showed my journey ticket to a member of staff at the help desk. The member of staff seemed confused and asked why I had come to this desk. I explained that I had been sent there to be pointed in the direction of the rail station. The member of staff stated that I was in the wrong location because my journey to Nanjing displayed on my ticket was a flight, not a train journey. At this point, I explained that China Eastern Airlines told me this journey would be via rail — which added further confusion for the member of staff, who told me to take my ticket back up to the first floor and explain this to the China Eastern Airline’s help desk.
When I reached the airline’s help desk on the first floor, the situation became even more confusing. I was told the same thing as the airline told me before departure — the journey to Nanjing was via rail surface. Once again, I was sent back down to the third floor, but to a separate help desk to explain the situation and hopefully be given some helpful assistance. The situation was made far more difficult due to the language barrier in place, however on this occasion; I came in contact with a member of staff who spoke a high level of English. I explained the situation to them and was accompanied back up to the airline’s help desk on the first floor to discover which mode of transport I would be taking to Nanjing.
After many mixed messages, my fears were confirmed — the final part of my journey would be by rail. This caused additional problems insofar that my previous rail ticket had expired due to the initial confusion over the mode of transport I would be taking in the final part of my journey, and I was given no clear information on how to get this problem resolved. On this occasion, I made my way towards the ticket kiosks located on the third floor, in the hope I could explain my situation to a member of staff and replace the expired rail ticket with a new one.
I queued for 10 minutes until reaching the front desk, only to be brushed aside after brandishing an expired ticket combined with additional language barriers. With no assistance provided by members of the public, I walked away from the kiosk in a confused, panic-stricken state of mind — wondering how I was going to get out of this mess. By a stroke of luck, I noticed another group of kiosks located further along in the station. I made my way over, carrying my luggage back and forth, in the hope of finding a solution. I showed my ticket to the member of staff, slowly trying to explain the situation in English and finally had a breakthrough. I was given a new ticket with a train departing to Nanjing in the next hour.
The train journey to Nanjing took approximately 2 hours, most of which I slept after hours of travelling. As previously mentioned, I arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport at 7am. The train station was located in the same building and I spent an entire day trying to establish the correct mode of transport needed to depart to Nanjing, something that should have only taken a few hours at the most. I finally arrived in Nanjing shortly after 7pm. Greeted by my contact on Meten’s operations team (and their partner), I was swiftly ushered into a taxi which took me to my temporary hotel. I was made to pay for this journey despite hours of travelling and additional expenses.
On arrival, the contact from Meten’s operations team checked me in and escorted me to my hotel room. It was not long until I felt the gaze of a Communist state upon me — my every move watched by the Meten contact and their partner, I was intensely followed around my hotel room as I began unpacking my belongings. The two contacts told me to stop unpacking and offered to take me out for a bite to eat, which felt sincere at first. That was until I was also made to foot the bill once again, just like I did with the taxi fare. My tiredness after a long journey made me feel further agitated by this behaviour, but I tried my best to hide my discontent.
After paying for mine and the contact’s meals, we made our way back to the hotel, where I was introduced to another Brit who had been employed by Meten for the same purpose as myself. It was comforting at first to express my concerns about the recruitment process and highlight my current misfortunes in the very short time being in the country. I established that the young male did not share my scepticism and felt far from homesick, especially when his partner happened to be studying in China and even staying in the same hotel — lucky for some! After a brief chat, I made my way back to my room — alone and in no way reassured about the next steps.
Part Four: The Journey Back
Years after this horrid experience, the first thing I remember is the sadness I felt sat in my hotel room. On the other side of the world, staring at four walls, tired from hours of travelling, I had never felt so alone. All I could do was burst into tears and find a way to call home. Despite the time difference, my father picked up to hear me sobbing down the phone as I explained my grievances. He felt helpless as he tried to offer words of consolation, but there were no words at that moment that brought me any comfort. The feeling of scepticism felt on my journey had amplified ten-fold since my arrival and after the treatment I received on arrival. I realised I had made a huge mistake and being in China, on my own, was the last place I wanted to be, so I made a choice. I decided to come home. Western internet access and use of social media were not permitted in China during this time — luckily, I had downloaded a free ‘Virtual Private Network’ (VPN) before departing from the UK. Without the use of this app, I would have had no way of purchasing a plane ticket home.
My whole body powered through the tiredness, fuelled by the prospect of being back home with family and loved ones. My flight was booked at 3am to depart Nanjing airport four hours later. I packed up my belongings and made my way to the hotel reception. The long wait for my flight did not cross my mind, only that I wanted to get to the airport and be closer to returning home. I received my initial room deposit back from reception and used these funds to grab a taxi from there to the airport. On my way there, the driver picked up a speed of 100 miles per hour, mistaking my journey to be more urgent than it was, but I didn’t care — I just wanted to get there ASAP. Thankfully, the check-in process at Nanjing airport was far simpler with no hassle. The contacts from Meten were not aware of my snap decision to return home and I purposely chose to avoid contact until arriving at the airport, to ensure it was too late for anyone from Meten to take me back to Nanjing.
I had a long journey back to the UK ahead of me. My flight from Nanjing took two hours and arrived at Hong Kong Airport for a connecting flight to Heathrow a few hours after landing. I slept for this entire flight and even needed to be woken up by a member of the cabin crew. When arriving in Hong Kong, an instant weight lifted from my shoulders as it was then I realised I was halfway home. I used my spare time to explore what the airport had to offer, refuelled with caffeine and freshened up after leaving no time for this back in Nanjing.
Waiting to board my final flight to Heathrow gave me an extra lift as I knew it would be a matter of counting down the hours until I arrived back in the UK. The flight took just over nine hours in total and arrived at Heathrow around 10pm local time. I couldn’t get off the plane fast enough. I collected my baggage and made my way to arrivals, where I was met by both of my parents. With a look of slight disappointment in their eyes, we warmly embraced as I tried my best to hold back the tears. I was home.
Final Thoughts
I waited for over a year until I finally landed a graduate opportunity, after attending several interviews, assessment days and also undertaking many online tests. The process of moving to China took over three months. It is a great shame that this opportunity did not work out for me, but after arriving in China, it didn’t feel right for me in terms of the culture, how far away I was from family and loved ones, and the sheer size of Nanjing as a city.
I was fully aware of how distant China was from home, but it was only on arrival that it really sunk in just how far away it is. Being so far away from family and loved ones, in a country that limits the contact you can have with the outside world, simply made me unhappy. Whilst I may have enjoyed the job itself if I stayed on, I feel that I accepted this job simply because it was the only available option to me at the time — I had no initial aspirations to go into Teaching, I was personally approached for this role by an agency.
I wanted to finish this story by saying that if you are considering moving to China to work as an ESL Teacher, be sure to carry out extensive research, weigh up the pros and cons, before deciding if it is truly right for you. It is only on arrival that I realised how far from home I really was, and I would urge those considering this job to give the distance serious consideration.