I don’t think Shantou gets many foreign  tourists, well I haven’t seen any yet. I’m here to visit the first school that I taught English at and to see how this backwater of a place had changed, and it has. As soon as you cross over the river into Chenghai it’s very obvious indeed. The banks of the river and the old village have been transformed into massive residential tower blocks. In the middle of the road a new rail line is under construction and its also very busy.

It was quite easy to find the old place. From the bus stop to the school, everything looked familiar, although there are many changes. The Friendly Supermarket is still there, and it sells products from Bundeberg.

The two petrol stations and the primary school are still there, however the corner shop where I bought most of my supplies has shut its doors. The Kindergarten is still there, but being a Sunday it was very quiet. Mind you, it did seem smaller for some reason.

I worked here back in 2014 for six months and I can’t say that I enjoyed it all the time, but it was an experience that I’m glad I participated in. It was also amazing to see what much of China is like before the heavy hand of government moves in to demolish and reform. This is not the kind of content that you see on YouTube from all those influencers paid for by the CCP.

After my Chenghai nostalgia, I headed back to the hotel for a snooze to recharge and to escape the heat.

I went into the old city of Shantou this evening and I’ll go back tomorrow also. At night the buildings are lit and there is one in particular that looks amazing. Watching a giant Panda escape through a window was great.

There is some lovely old architecture here and really narrow streets and the like and so tomorrow after a lazy morning, I’ll wander down there and the Port area for a wee swatch…