Stuart in Xi'an: "There are always fun things to do here"

Why did you decide to move to Xi'an?

After my TEFL training to be an English teacher, I was given a long list of cities in China who were looking for teachers. To be honest there just seemed to be a long list of places staring with 'Z', 'X' and 'Q', and I hadn't heard of most of them! I did a bit of research and discovered that Xi'an was the home of the world-famous Terracotta Warriors, and in addition was surrounded by rivers and mountains. When I heard that it had the best night markets for street food in China, my mind was made up and I packed my bags ready to fly to Xi'an, China!

How was the moving process?

As with any move from your home country for a year or more, there is a lot of planning and a lot of goodbyes to say. Back in those days, schools sent jobs offers and if you agreed to take the job, then the school would book the flights and send you the flight ticket by DHL. This is what happened to me and I remember my heart pounding as a DHL man handed me a parcel on my doorstep in England and I opened it to find a flight ticket from London to Beijing in there! ' What have I gotten myself into?' I remember thinking! Following that, I had to get myself up to the Chinese Consulate in London to arrange my visa for travel and a few weeks later, I was taking off with a mixture of excitement and trepidation from London on an Air China flight!
Arriving tired, confused and disorientated about 16 hours later in Xi'an, it was with huge relief to see an unfamiliar Chinese face holding up a big sign at arrivals with my name on it! I've never been so happy to see my name in all my life! We jumped into a waiting car and I was taken to my new apartment which had been arranged by the school. I was teaching 48 hours later and have never looked back!

Did you face some difficulties to adapt to your host country?

The biggest barrier at first was language. In European countries, one can carry around a local dictionary and phrase book and work out unfamiliar words by looking in a dictionary. In Chinese, this is impossible as they use Chinese characters and there is no way of referencing meaning from a book! As such, there was a lot of pointing, miming and use of simple pictures with a pen and paper in my first few months. As time went on, I found myself learning a few basic phrases and words which made life a whole lot easier.

What surprised you the most in Xi'an?

As someone growing up in England, what surprised me the most was local peoples' attitudes to things not being perfect. I remember walking down a busy street at night and there was a manhole cover missing in the pavement... Imagine, just a large, round hole stretching down into darkness right in the middle of the pavement! In the west, it would be cordoned off with large flashing sirens around it in case of lawsuits, but here people just walked around it without batting an eyelid. And do you know one thing? Not one person fell down that manhole! Haha! And that attitude, or some would just say common sense, is found all over Xi'an. Something shut when it is meant to be open? I'll just come back another day. Some guy smoking a cigarette in the queue in a bank? I can still get my money and walk outside after. We have learned to be overly fussy in the west.

As you run a business in Xi'an, could you share with us some advice and useful information to start a business here?

Running a business in China can be pretty tricky or can be very easy. Certainly, one won't be able to come to China for the first time and hope to set up a business within a few months. As with any business, you will have to work out if there is a market for your ideas here and also plan a good business model to see if your ideas will work. China has lots of rules, regulations and paperwork to understand and be adhered to. This is still essentially a Communist country (well, the government is, even if society isn't) and you have to do things by the book. Having friends here will help you enormously if you plan to open a business here as they can find the right people to advise you about procedures, which line to queue up in and the order in which something must be done. Most of my friends here who run businesses came over as English teachers and after a couple of years, then had made the friendships and business relationships which allowed them to start businesses here in China.

Could you please share with us something you like about Xi'an and something you don't like?

The spring and summer in Xi'an is wonderful and there are always fun things to do here from exploring new places to meeting up with the many interest groups here, to drinking cold beers on small outdoor tables late in the evening, to eating the wonderful local Chinese food. There are a large number of expats living in Xi'an and there is always something going on. What I don't like, and last winter was the worst I have experienced, is the winter pollution which reached hazardous levels four or five months ago, with many wearing specialized masks to filter out the air. I hope that it isn't that bad this winter!

What do you miss the most from UK, your home country?

Wow! What do I miss most?? I miss walks on the South Downs (a national park in the south of England), pork pies, sea air and fish 'n' chips! Some things you just have to go home for sometimes!

What do you do in your spare time?

When I'm not working 24 hours a day trying to find teaching jobs for TEFL teachers coming to China, I like to spend time with my wife and 6 year-old son and I also like to ride my mo-torbike into the Qinling mountains, which are about 20 miles south of Xi'an. Every October, a number of expats and Chinese who ride motorbikes here go for a one week 1,000 mile tour of local provinces. We call this 'The Road House Tour'...very Patrick Swayze!

Which advice would you give to people wishing to live in Xi'an?

Before moving to Xi'an, or any other new city, I would always advise doing as much research online about the city as you can before you set off. Xi'an has a local free expat magazine called Xianease which comes out monthly, where you can find out about great places to eat and drink, events going on, places to visit, discounts on loads of stuff and a thousand things in between. There is also an on-line community called Talk Xi'an where you can ask expats living here questions before coming over. Check out both of these online before coming, it will be worth your time.

What are your projects for the future?

We are looking to tie up a partnership with the local Shaanxi government to provide all the English teachers for the universities across Shaanxi. They have approached us because each year there is a shortage of good applicants for English teaching jobs within universities in China. Hopefully, we can sign a partnership with them to help out with those numbers. I also plan to write a book later this year to help parents think of fun ideas to do with their children on a budget which will get them away from the XBox or Playstation! Wish me luck!