Teaching English in Wuhu

English teacher in China

Teaching and living in Wuhu

September – December 2005

The story…

In 2005, I taught ESL (English as a Second language) at the Traditional Chinese Medicine College in Wuhu, Anhui province, China for a 3 month period. 

I left South Africa in June of 2003 to go and teach ESL in Taiwan. I stayed for 18 months in Taiwan and then decided to experience mainland China in addition to Taiwan. 

I stayed a period of 19 months in mainland China, mainly working for one company called Delter-Telford International Business Institute. I was fortunate to move around China with them, staying and teaching in 4 different provinces: Nanjing, Wuhu (Anhui), Liuzhou (Guangxi) and lastly Shanghai.

Anne (Canadian) and I were the only expat teachers at the Chinese Medicine College in Wuhu. We lived on campus in small apartments just below the men’s hostel. We could eat our meals at the Cafeteria on campus, but after I ate dog meat accidentally, I tried other options. 

It was winter in Wuhu at that time and Anhui being an impoverished province, campus made for a sad and depressing scenery. I had wonderful students. I had a class of nurses who taught me to speak Chinese and took me on sightseeing outings in and around Wuhu. One of these trips they booked a mini cruise for us on the Yangtze River. I also had a bicycle which I sometimes took out for a spin to take pictures of the countryside.

 Anne, an elderly lady, and I had a standing Saturday morning arrangement to go and eat at a restaurant in Wuhu and do our weekly shopping. I also traveled during my stay in Wuhu and visited tourist destinations in Anhui province, such as Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and the ancient villages of Hongcun and Xidi. 

During my stay in Wuhu, I also undertook a tour of the North-Eastern part of China, including places like Qingdao, Liu Gong island, Yantai and Dalian. 

The photo exposé paints a picture of life in Wuhu and the wonderful experiences I had.

Wuhu street scenery

About China

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia. It’s the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing. 

It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing) and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). It also claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

The country's major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Hong Kong.

It covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. China is the world's second-largest state by land area and either the third - or fourth-largest by total area, depending on the method of measurement.

China has a vast and diverse landscape, ranging from the Gobi and Taklimakan Deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir, and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia.

The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, respectively, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long (Wikipedia).

Chinese chess - Wuhu

About Wuhu

Wuhu (literally "Weedy Lake") is a prefecture-level city in south-eastern Anhui province, of China. Sitting on the south-east bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou, and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei to the northwest, Ma'anshan to the northeast, and the province of Jiangsu to the east, and is approximately 90 km south-west of Nanjing. 

By the end of 2017, the total population was estimated to be 3,842,100，of whom 1,665,000 live in the 4 urban districts and the others live in the counties. The city has over 47 ethnic minorities present — the largest being the Muslim population. There are other ethnic minorities with over 500 inhabitants in the city: Yi, Tujia, Miao, Zhuang, and Manchu.

Wuhu is known to have been inhabited since at least 770 BCE. It became a strategically important town during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD) when it was controlled by the Eastern Wu. Under the Ming dynasty, Wuhu developed into a major commercial center and river port and since that time has been known as a center of the rice trade. 

The city is the second largest economy in Anhui, after Hefei, the provincial capital. In 2017, Wuhu’s GDP reached RMB 306.552 billion. Its per capita GDP was RMB 83880 (~$12426).

Wuhu Economic & Technological Development Area in the north of the city launched in 1993 is one of the first state-level economic and technological development area in Anhui province. It has the only export processing zone in the province. Chery Automobile and Anhui Conch Cement Company are headquartered in this development area. (Wikipedia).

Wuhu Taxi tuk-Tuks

Teaching in Wuhu

Group photo - with my Business-English students

Traditional Chinese Medicine College campus

My students

Campus scenery

The main entrance to College

College hostels

Campus activity

Wuhu street scenery

Street vendor - Wuhu

Wuhu streets

Sidewalk street food restaurant

Transportation

Downtown Wuhu

Wuhu streets near the port area

Porter - Wuhu

Shopping & Markets

Street market adjacent to Canal - Wuhu

Street market adjacent to Canal - Wuhu

Wuhu shops with accommodation above shops

Wuhu Fruit and veg market with fruit & veg garden

Parks & Recreation

Central lake - Wuhu

Central park - Wuhu

Central park - Wuhu

Wuhu lake restaurant flotillas

Central park - Wuhu

Accommodation

Apartment block - Wuhu

Impoverished community - Wuhu

View More of Wuhu city

Yangtze River scenery in and near Wuhu

Riverboats on the Yangtze

Yangtze River barges - Wuhu

Yangtze river boats - Wuhu port

Yangtze river community - Wuhu port

Yangtze river boats - Wuhu port

Wuhu Canal scenery

Canal walkway/corniche

Main canal

Canal boat cook - Wuhu

Main canal - Wuhu

Main canal - Wuhu

Canal boats - Wuhu

View more Wuhu River & Canal scenery

Rural Wuhu

I sometimes went cycling in the countryside for exercise and sightseeing. Here are some pics of rural Anhui farming communities.

Rural China - near Wuhu

A farming village in Wuhu county

Farming - Wuhu county

Farming - Wuhu county

Outings with Students

Two of my students on a boat we took for a cruise on the Yangtze

Sunset on the Yangtze - near Wuhu

Bitterly cold

My students

On the banks of the Yangtze

Xuancheng

Xuancheng - Street market

I took the train one afternoon from Wuhu to Xuancheng and explored the town for a couple of hours.

About Xuancheng

Xuancheng is a city in the southeast of Anhui province which was founded in 109 BCE. It has Xuancheng has over 2,000 years of history. 

It is located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta, and it borders Wuhu to the northwest, Chizhou to the west, Huangshan to the southwest, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu to the southeast and northeast respectively (Wikipedia).

Xuancheng is known for its production of high-quality Xuan paper (宣紙), Xuan writing brushes (宣笔), and Xuan ink stones (宣砚), all of which are used in traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. These products make up a large proportion of the city's exports.

Xuancheng - Street scene

Xuancheng - Street scene

Xuancheng - Street scene

From Wuhu, I transferred to Liuzhou in Guangxi province in the South-western part of China for a very diffrent experience in many respects.