by Alison | Jul 8, 2026 | Blog, Chinese Language and Culture, Travels
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I went to Shaoguan （韶关）, a city in the north of Guangdong province to visit a couple of schools. My university has a cooperation with a couple of schools in the Ruyuan （乳源） area, and I am considering the possibility of going there...
by Alison | Jul 1, 2026 | Blog, Just Life
“Do you want to know the future?” That’s what I asked the students when we were talking about Macbeth, our last Shakespeare play of the semester. Actually, my specific question was: “Why did Macbeth fall? Did he have a choice, or were his evil actions a result of fate...
by Alison | Jun 3, 2026 | Blog, Just Life
This semester, I had a dream come true—a good dream! During my first year teaching in China, more than a decade ago (Yikes! It feels weird to say that!), I taught spoken English for English majors. I loved it. We had lots of fun practicing random role plays and...
by Alison | May 20, 2026 | Blog, Chinese Language and Culture, Travels
I may have mentioned before that I really enjoy hot pot. China has many different flavors of hot pot. Different areas often have their own specialties. Sichuan and Chongqing hot pots are both spicy but with different degrees of spiciness and with different...
by Alison | May 13, 2026 | Blog, Just Life
Students and colleagues and friends often ask me where to find good American food in Guangzhou, and this post is my response to all of them. I love Chinese food, but sometimes it’s nice to just have a good burrito or a nice hamburger (contrary to popular opinion...
