Aihua

Because there are no coffee shops, bars or restaurants, and because they are contracted for 18 fourty minute teaching periods per week, our teachers have a lot of free time on their hands.

If you want a western dinner, or time in a bar or disco, it is about fourty minutes by train or subway: too much really for more than once a week, but nice for a change of scene and pace. You will save money living in Shijingshan because you are not as easily tempted to indulge in an expensive western meal, or have a bar priced drink.

Sometimes, Aihua teachers get together for a meal and a drink in one of the local restaurants. This is particularly nice in the summer, when we can sit outside at the dapaidans, and let the life of the community flow around us. If spirits are particularly high, there is the option of continuing on into a ktv, or the disco.

Such nights, however, are rare. Teachers typically use their free time to educate themselves, and to better themselves. It is easy to gain the knowledge, if not the actual certificate of, a PhD in Film Studies here, by regularly combing the open markets for DVDs. Other teachers have achieved uncertified qualification in Games Studies through combing the open markets for Xbox 360 games.

It is almost impossible not to learn Chinese while here, though there have been those who have tried. Some teachers put a great emphasis on learning Chinese while they are here. For teachers who are interested, we provide Chinese lessons. We provide one teaching period per day for each of three levels of students. Chinese staff at Aihua are also always willing to help foreign teachers learn Chinese. Most of the local Shijingshan people speak very little or no English, so that the teachers will need to learn some Chinese. In the Haidian and the CBD, waiting staff are expected to have some English, and the people you meet will want to practice their English with you. In Shijingshan, it all has to be done in Chinese. The school will help with this of course, but the teacher will also find himself forced to learn enough Chinese to get by.

As well as learning the Chinese language, some teachers avail of the opportunity to study other Chinese disciplines. There have been teachers at Aihua who have studied Chinese medicine, acupuncture, taichi, baguazhan, wushu, chinese cooking and chigong, among others things.

There are a number of excellent newly opened gyms in the district, and many of these have swimming pools. They all have running machines, weights, and classes in yoga, spinning, aerobics, etc.
Some of the ladies at Aihua, and a few of the gentlemen, enjoy medical massages, usually by blind men, foot massages and facial treatment.

There are a lot of parks and markets to wander around, but the most interesting time for this is early morning, the earlier the better, when you will see Beijing at its best. Women are out dancing with fans or pompoms, in colorful silk costumes, and men are standing alone doing taichi, maybe with a sword. Some people are at the neighbourhood exercise machines, slowly working out a knot in a limb, and some others, younger people usually, are moving forward or backwards, arms flailing rhythmically in a spontaneous, self designed, and very straight faced fitness routine. Vendors are out with steaming mobile kitchens producing Beijing style breakfasts.

To the west of Shijingshan are mountain villages, and many spots of scenic or historic interest that are ideal for a day or an afternoon trip. To name but a few, there are caves, Peking man, Badachu, Xiang Shan, Fahaisi, temple that is older than Beijing and the summer palace.