Students playing basketball (taken in the 1990s)

"He is arriving!" 

I heard the words softly spoken from a girl looking out along the corridor. I was approaching a classroom on the third floor of a college building in suburban Guangzhou, in South China's Guangdong Province. It was September 1992, the morning hot and humid. I was nervous. Although I had been a teacher for many years, as head of geography in a Scottish high school, I had no experience teaching overseas and at that time very little knowledge of China.

Entering the room, I was greeted by 30 smiling students, who broke into applause and a rendition of a song praising teachers. On the blackboard were the words, "Welcome Mr Bruce". I stood there speechless! Never had I experienced such a welcome throughout my career. What a start to a year that would leave me not only with profound memories but also become a life changer.

Five years previously in 1987, I had briefly visited Guangzhou before heading to Hong Kong at the end of a long railway journey from Scotland. China, I longed to return but how could that dream be fulfilled? My regional authority in Scotland had established relationship with Guangdong Province. Part of the agreement would be an exchange of teachers for a one-year residence. I was selected, partly because I had at least been to Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou.

The campus (taken in the 1990s)

At that time, the province was at the center of China's reform and opening-up. With its rapid growth of international trade and business, there was a need for high standards in English proficiency. Guangdong Foreign Languages Normal School was established to train English teachers and to enhance English learning across the province.

After the long air journey from Scotland, I spent some time in Hong Kong acclimatizing before taking the train through to Guangzhou. From the railway station I was taken by a mini bus to the campus that would be my workplace and home for the year. I recall its garden-like environment with palm trees rising gracefully above decorative ponds and pavilions. It was beautiful, indeed tranquil.

I soon felt how different the system was compared to that back in my homeland. Most teachers lived on campus with their families. Students all stayed in eight person dormitories. So much of it felt like communal living compared to the more individual lifestyle I was used to. When school finished around 4:00 pm we would all return to our homes across Glasgow, my city. In Guangzhou, daily life would be campus-based. Living together, of course there was not much privacy, but I enjoyed the experience. It brought me much closer to the people, something that would never happen if I was simply a traveler. It was indeed a learning opportunity about China. Before my teaching schedule began I was taken around parts of Guangzhou and the nearby Pearl River Delta, which I appreciated.

Soon I was into the daily routine that the students would follow. Before breakfast they would walk out to the playing fields for morning exercise, which I would participate in, despite the tropical heat! Classes started at 8:00 am. 

The campus (taken in the 1990s)

I would be working with the senior college classes who were in their fifth year of study. Each class had 30 students, mostly girls. They had been selected, on their ability, from their hometowns and villages across Guangdong. I found the students a true joy to teach, very attentive, respectful and keen to learn. They proved an inspiration for me to try my best in giving them as much of my experiences as possible. Unlike the system back in Scotland, learning was teacher-centered. There were very few visual aids, the courses focused on textbooks with me going carefully over prescribed text. I would explain the use and meaning of the English that the class was coming upon. Again, I really enjoyed the opportunity to discuss how to express meaning in clear English. I really felt I was again a teacher.

Interestingly, I realized the need to speak slowly and clearly for they had probably never encountered a Scottish accent before! When finally returning to Scotland in 1993, I noticeably continued to speak much clearer than before heading out to Guangzhou! 

At first, the students were very quiet, with very little interaction between us. However, I soon won their confidence and they would ask me work-focused questions and sometimes even about my life teaching back in Scotland. It steadily became a harmonious learning environment for all of us. As we got to know each other, I would learn more about Guangdong and of their lives, some, as I said, had grown up in rural villages. Some at that time also came from Hainan Island which was also fascinating to chat about. I would regularly be playing badminton with some after class. When opportunities arose, I would happily go on college organized residential visits with them to other towns and cities. 

I was struck by the intensity with how they studied, even in the evenings. They seemed to have little social life except on Sundays when they would head on shopping trips into the city. Asking them about their aims, the reply would often be about studying hard was the way to success and, if they became successful this in some ways would help China's aim for its future success and onward development. I realized how they expected much from their teachers. For example, were I to miss a lesson, they required me to make it up at a time that suited their schedules.

Such was the relationship with my students that they were always willing to help me, particularly adjusting to the daily rhythm of life in China. At that time, I had very little knowledge of Chinese language and certainly could not understand Cantonese that is widely spoken in Guangzhou. Regularly I would be taken by groups of students to local restaurants in the city, particularly in older areas near the Pearl River where they would order some delightful dishes I could never have experienced otherwise.

Bruce Connolly (center) with his students  (taken in the 1990s)

The respect for learning and for teachers was certainly very high. This was particularly apparent on September 10, 1992, when I would first experience Teachers' Day. Traditionally in China, education was important with that day designed to show deep respect for teachers, something going back to Confucian roots. Each class would have their opportunities to display this with messages of praise on noticeboards around the college grounds. There would be performances and even special meals. The respect was not simply on that specific day but noticeable all year.

Sometimes students would be giving Saturday English classes at local elementary schools. It was a pleasure to be invited along with them and being asked to speak with the youngsters. Noticeably those schools had much larger numbers of students in each class compared to the college. However, everywhere I went, I would experience the enthusiasm so noticeable then, in desiring to learn.

As the academic year drew to a close, so there would be the graduation ceremony where I was invited to speak at the assembly. A special lunch was arranged for the graduates, and it was there I saw emotion happening. Many of them had been together for five years but on that day, it was over, they would be heading back to their hometowns to begin their careers. There was much sadness at saying "Goodbyes" and my students also thanking me for the year we had together. I could never forget that.

However, personally it was not all finished for some would invite me to their hometowns — something I could never imagine aback in Scotland. Those became unforgettable experiences, for example visiting Taishan in the western Pearl River Delta. There I was taken to a village surrounded by rice fields, where one student had lived. I went to the village school where her mother and father both taught. The children, from rural backgrounds, had never seen or heard a westerner speak before. In contrast I would also visit Taishan No. 1 Middle School, one of southern Guangdong's more renowned public schools. There, I would give a lesson in English and have a conversation with the students who had been well trained in the language. Indeed, some of the teachers had graduated from the college where I worked in Guangzhou.

In northern Guangdong, I was taken to Lianzhou, home to a large number of Yao ethnic group. Again, I visited a village school with many children wearing traditional costume.

Working for that year in Guangzhou gave me so many insights into Chinese society and the country. It was an exciting time to be there with rapid economic transition going on around me. I learned so much that year. 

However, as a teacher, I was able to appreciate the lives of so many Chinese people, to see them both as individuals and indeed friends. When it was my time to leave, I had very mixed feelings. Obviously, I would be returning to family, colleagues and my homeland. However, my experiences in Guangzhou had brought me so close to China that I realized it would also be hard to leave. I recall that feeling as I departed on the train towards Hong Kong for the flight back to Scotland. Six months later, I was back in Hong Kong, taking the boat across to Taishan where I would teach some classes. Then I went to Guangzhou and back to the college where again I spoke with some classes.

Over subsequent years, I would return regularly to Guangzhou, sometimes taking groups from Scotland to witness the development of education there. I also saw the collage transforming and relocating into a modern building equipped with the latest in educational technology.

I can honestly say that year working as a teacher in China is one reason I am still in this country, many years later.

About the author:

Bruce Connolly, a writer and photographer from the United Kingdom, has been living in China for 36 years. He has traveled across much of China, and he has photographed the country through its incredible changes over the past few decades. 

Photos Supplied by  Bruce Connolly 

(Women of China)