Hi,

I echo Rin's comment about the dirt, I live in Beijing and it can be a bit of a shithouse at times. The air was so bad here last week the particle count was at danger levels!!!

And I get stared at too, even though there are an estimated 100,000 expats in the city, some Chinese still stare...they must have seen a whiteman before, you know? Even if it was just on TV.

The spitting is a bit rough, everybody does it. I know why now, the air is so shit you can't help it. It looks and sounds bad when some sweet old dear hawks and spits right in front of you...not good.

However, bad points aside, you come for the experience, and it certainly is that...!

Hi there,

hmm.. lets see.. the cons. There really aren't that many to be honest. People stare all the time, is that a con? I don't know, I'm kinda used to it now. It's very dirty and Chinese people spit everywhere and let there kids go to toilet in the street. That's about it really. haha. Again I've sort of gotten used to it. I have found the cities in South China to be more cleaner.. I don't know why.

I feel totally safe here. It is easy to make friends and we stay out all night eating, or drinking etc.. and I have never seen any trouble.

I came here with my boyfriend, but we split up and he has gone back to England now. I am here alone.. but I have so many friends here now it does not matter.

Good luck! 

My brother travelled for 6 months at 18 starting with India. He came back a different person and said it was the best thing he had ever done. Its good to see your thinking about things like this now get up and DO IT. You will lvoe it rest assured I am on the Thai internship atm but am thinging about swappingt o the China one (I'll have a bit more saved up) lr just going without an intership to earn some real bucks.  How old are you why does 19 spring to mind maybe I rad your profile earlier. If your looking for advice (I haven't been but there is not the slightest bit of doubt in my mind it will be the experience of a life time)

John x

Heya,

I used an agency. My life is good here, but I understand I am one of the lucky ones. The internship offers more support apparently, but going alone offers more money. You just have to decide which is more important to you. I felt I could look after myself so I didn't need support. Paid off.

Hi,

I teach in Hebei. China is a cool place, the people are lovely, and teaching is quite easy once you get past the initial nerves.

Saying all this, when you first come here, everything seems completely alien. Moreso than i've ever experienced. People in smaller cities stare at you ALL the time, and because they've never seen many foreigners, they find it hard to understand you need them to talk slowly when they talk to you haha.

Oh, and China is a really dirty and polluted place when it comes to city life.

I say go for it. I've got an easy life with enough money, nice people, and next to no work (That's a good thing). I'm not on the internship though, so you might find you need more work to have an enjoyable life here. Just come prepared for a culture shock, because once you leave the initial training in Beijing, it's a whole different ball game.

Hi there.

I love china and everything about it.. well, haha.. there are some bad things but nothing drastic. I've been here 8 months and don't want to leave!

To be honest, make sure you have some money in the bank to live on.. as on the internship you get very little spending money.. or be prepared to take on extra work.

Good luck!

I'm from Dublin and you ? ah k i see, emm well its not definite yet cz im doin the leaving in June so we'l see how that goes....Dont really know what iwant to do yet and i came across TEFL in school and i got really excited by it. I  dont really know if its safe and all that so im just gonna try find a few people that have gone and see how they got on....but i dont know if im bein a bit hasty wanting to go straight away, maybe i should have been smart like you and thought about it for a while haha

Hello :D

I'm really interested in going to China on the internship, but I would like to know a bit more about it...if anyone has gone on this internship i would love for you to help me out and tell me a bit about your trip :) i have no degree as I have just finished school, so I'm hoping that won't matter too much !!

Thanks, Amy