Skip to main content

Ningbo

 In September 2017, Andy asked me whether I could work at the adult training centre in Ningbo which I was reluctant to do because I barely knew how to get back to Shanghai, let alone Ningbo. It was an opportunity I was reluctant to take, but did so, feeling obligated. 

I booked my train tickets, which was around 1 hour from Hangzhou. My initial impression was that it was more industrial, but much less people than Hangzhou. It also seemed to have less Western brands, as in Hangzhou there was a Starbucks in every street corner, while Ningbo didn't have this, with mostly Chinese chains. 

Consistently voted as one of the most 'liveable' places in China, it has a much lower population, so it was possible to actually get a seat on the subway and never seemed over-crowded. It also had more British influence, with spellings such as 'centre' and 'theatre', and probably due to the branch from Nottingham University, bringing academics from the UK. Churches was also a common occurrence, with ringing bells too, giving it a more 'European' atmosphere. 

During one of my days off, I went to Annvita, a 'middle class' European style 'Tearoom', as suggested by Alfred and got a Roobios. I got the 'cream caramel' flavour, apparently from South Africa, but it tasted more like fragrant hot water rather than tea, without milk too. At 60RMB, I thought it was also a little too expensive, but I loved the experience and atmosphere. 

One night Alfred took me too 'Laowaitan', which was a square filled with bars and restaurants and popular among expats. Here I was able to experience the 'nightlife', and expats in particular enjoying blending into Chinese life. I also met Alfred's hairdresser too, who tagged along. 

I loved Ningbo, and Alfred had become a really great friend, even spending my spare time with him and his friends, while they even paid for coffee from Starbucks, dinner, lunch, while we went on a drive to the sea and just on an 'exploratory' tour. I loved Ningbo and could definitely see myself living here too, even considering staying. 

After considering taking up a job in Ningbo I decided not to, mostly because of the large amount of documentation involved in transferring a visa and moving all over again just seemed to be such a pain, and they also tried to give me less money justified by the fact that the cost of living was supposedly lower. Although I liked the atmosphere, I decided to remain in Hangzhou instead and was happy to be back, but well-worth a visit for a British expat. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A visit to the Chinese Embassy

In the interview I was asked where I would like to be based, and I had been looking up places and learning about Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities in China. While looking I saw Nanjing was a pretty vibrant place, filled with many expats, but wasn't really 'international' on the same level as 'Shanghai', with the prospect of having a more fully immersive experience in China of learning about the culture and the language. I was told that Nanjing was 'competitive' and was already full, and then the lady suggested Hangzhou because the Olympics in 2015 had meant that many expats had left due to the increase in security and police interference. I looked this up and did some research and saw that it had been nicknamed 'Heaven on Earth', with Westlake as the main attraction....on that I was pretty much sold.  The process had started, and I was getting my online free TEFL certificate as part of the visa requirement that I had to finish before flying to Shanghai. I don...
Post a Comment
Read more

Exploring Hangzhou's Westlake, food and culture: the beginning curiosities

 YoYo took me to the bank because I wanted to see if I would be able to draw money out of my British bank account to at least pay Andy back. I only had 300RMB and I had no idea where to go to buy food, or how, or what anything was. Even though there was an English option I asked YoYo about on the small computer screen, she seemed to dismiss this and was shocked that I had the equivalent of 10 000RMB waiting in my British account. Andy also told me that we had been paid, and that I could submit my expenses from the Uk, including train tickets and visa fees, so I had also already submitted them.  Since this was my first 'real' job, I had only just clicked that companies also pay for the time spent training new employees, which I thought was generous. I checked my Chinese account and noticed 4000RMB, so this, together with the 6000RMB from my British account would be enough to pay Andy in full, and drew a further 2000RMB to tie me over until the next payday.  During the firs...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Training Centre

 YoYo was downstairs in the hotel waiting for me, and she kindly bought me breakfast, though I really wasn't sure what it was and whether I liked it, but she made me eat all of it. It included two tea eggs, that is, eggs marinated in soy sauce and bay leaves for around two days, again with another vegetable baozi, and soy milk, a very traditional Chinese breakfast. I was beginning to understand that Chinese cuisine didn't really have 'breakfast' in the same sense as the West where we generally have different types of food according to the type of day, for example, cereal or eggs on toast in the morning, while fish and chips, lasagne or pies would be served for dinner. From my limited experience in China, they would eat the same food for breakfast as what they would during the rest of the day.  She walked me over to a 'secret' passage in the shopping mall underground, and got the lift to floor 4F on the way to the centre. She introduced me to Andy, who was a rath...
Post a Comment
Read more