School Name:
Shaowu Elementary School
School type:
Public
School location:
Shaowu city Fujian Province
Student population: 2300
Student level:
Primary School (K1-6), age 7-12
Foreign affair officer:
Full-time on site
Current teachers:

Aleksandra POL	Dianna AUS	Louis canada

Some previous teachers:

Shane Australia 2010-2011	David Britain 2009-2010	Brian American 2009-2010	Nancy American 2009-2010

Bryan Alexander American 2008-2009	Theresa Ann Noe American 2008-2009

Shane Australian 2007	Joanne Canadian 2007

Teachers needed:

1, immediate start in May, 2011

Shaowu city

The city began as a small village over one thousand years ago.

As the village grew into a town protective walls were built and soon surrounded the fast growing town. These walls were built around five hundred years ago and only several hundred meters from Shaowu Primary school and your home sits the last remaining section of the city wall and the last ancient city gate that faces the beautiful Min River. The city also houses one of Fujian¡äs three Ancient Mosques which was built over 700 years ago.

Shaowu is very small and the primary school is located right on the main shopping street which is known as 519 Lu (Street). On this street you can buy clothes, electronics and almost anything you need. Being so small most of the city can be reached in about ten minutes walking or of course there are buses.

There are no Mc Donald¡¯s or KFC¡¯s but Shaowu actually has three chicken/hamburger stores and all are more than worthy of a bite to eat. Like all Chinese towns/cities Shaowu is filled to the brim with restaurants that include expensive modern types to your hole in the wall dumpling and noodle bars.

Shaowu has only several Chinese/Western type bars that do actually play some Western music along with selling beers such as Carona. You will of course pay a lot more for beers at these places but they are actually a great place to meet people and spend time with friends. Also being a foreigner you will sometimes get a lot of beer bought for you.

The bars can be found about just across from the school in 519 street. Simply walk across the road and down a small laneway and in the group of shops across the road and to your right is where you will find two of them. One is called The Legends Bar and the other has a French sounding name but it was always known as Ting Tings Bar as my friend Ting Ting used to work there.

SUPERMARKETS: the main supermarket is actually only around fifty meters from your school on the other side of 519 Street. Here you can buy everything you need to live comfortably. Turn left out of the school gate and after thirty seconds cross the road.

LOCAL FOOD MARKETS: Shaowu has many small food markets and two large ones. Several roads are in fact food markets during the day. Here you can buy all types of vegetables and fruits and they are much fresher and cheaper than buying them in the supermarket. It is hard to tell you where they are but take a walk around town and you will find them.

Shaowu is full of historical homes and buildings. The new streets are lined with newly built shops and homes that are about twenty to seventy years old. Enclosed within these structures can be found many awesome homes that are many hundred years old.

For a person who loves life the list really is endless, you can dance, go to Xi Chun park and climb a mountain, walk along the river, head to the Peoples Square to eat ice treats or bbq, fly kites, skate, visit one of the cities ancient river quarters where you will find the two remaining city gates and parts of the original walls, visit an ancient tea house which can be found down several of the cities tiny cobble stone lane ways or even learn calligraphy etc.

If you are a bike rider like me then Shaowu is a perfect place to live and teach. All around the city are mountains and fields that are full of beautiful bike rides, all you need is a set of peddles and an adverturous spirit.

Things to see and do an hour or so from city:

The Colourful World Below In The Yuhua Caves
Located seven kilometers (4.3 miles) south of the Jiangle County, the cave is a famous karst cave with a total length of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles), six caves and three springs. It is named after glabrous rocks like jades and shining rays in the cave. It is the biggest limestone cave in Fujian Province and it was discovered in the early Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD).

The Taining Geo Park & Golden Lake Adventure
It is situated in the northeast of the scenic area of Golden Lake. Here you can find red cliffs, rock holes, caves and several temples one of which is a beautiful Hanging Temple built high on a huge cliff face.

The Bumpy Road to the Ancient Town of Heping
Moss covered cobblestone alleyways allow you to zigg zagg your way around town and visit some of the 300 or so buildings. These buildings were built during the Ming (AD1368-1644) and Qing (AD1644-1911) Dynasties. On both the inside and the outside of many of the buildings you can find beautiful stone carvings.

Wuyi Shan: Prices and Details
It has a total area of 1000 square kilometres and its core being 636 square kilometres. It has a huge amount of unique and natural scenery that includes the nine-twist river, thirty six huge crags and what have been described as one hundred grotesque rocks. It is also an area for global biodiversity conservation.

Things to do all around Fujian province:

Gulang Yu & Xiamen City
On Gulang Yu (found just off the Xiamen coast) the colonial architecture was plentiful as were the giant Boa Trees. They were everywhere with their long beards flowing in the breeze. In Xiamen city you can visit the Nanputo Si Temple which was built 1000 years ago during the Tang Dynasty. It was ruined by the Mings and rebuilt by the Qings. You can also spend many hours in the beautiful Botanical Gardens and the Xiamen University grounds.

Hakka Minority Peoples 'Earth Buildings' Day 2
They have been proven to be fire, damp, earthquake and heat proof. Some are round and consist of one to five rings. Some are square or squares within squares. Others are half moons or spirals but it doesn't matter what their shape is, all are simply and utterly huge and stunning.

Chongwu Town - The Ancient Granite 'Walled' Coastal City
Located a few hours from Quanzhou city is an ancient walled city made entirely of granite. It is also totally enclosed by seven meter high granite walls. The city was built in 1387 as a military station to help fight the Japanese pirates.

Previous Teacher Feedback

Collected from:

Shane Johnson (Australian) , 2010-2011
My name is Shane and I left Australia at beginning of 2005 and have been teaching in China now for four and a half years.  I taught in Guangxi Province for a year and a half, Gansu Province for several months, Fujian Province for a year and a half and I am now living in Shaanxi Province.  I have no plans on returning to Australia to live for a very long time as I am totally in love with China.  This is actually my second time here in China. I was here nine years ago whilst traveling Asia for a year. 

I spent a year and a half in Shaowu and it would easily be one of the best times of my life.I made so many friends, most of whom I still talk to and will return to visit.Irode to and found so many villages that no foreigner had ever entered and I got to teach what I would easily say would be the most well behaved students I have had in the four and a half years I¡¯ve been teaching in China.

The Shaowu Primary school really is the perfect school to teach in as is the city to live in but sadly most who live and teach there have nothing to judge it by so I guess they will never know how lucky they really were!