Volunteering in Mian Yang, Si Chuan Province

Famous Si Chuan province is located in western China. It covers most of the huge Si Chuan basin and is bordered on three sides by beautiful mountains: Tibet and the Himalayas are to the west, Qinling to the North, and Yunnan to the South.

Si Chuan is China's most populated province and has been important both economically and culturally since ancient times. Its fertile lands and large rivers (Si Chuan means "four rivers" in English) have earned it the name 'The Land of Abundance." Historically, it was an important center during the Qin, Jin, Tang and Ming dynastys. As a result, numerous important historical and archaeological sites are scattered throughout the province. These sites have yielded artifacts that can traced back to the Shang Dynasty as early as 1500 BC.

Si Chuan is famous for its tea production and was the first area in the world to begin planting and exporting tea on a large scale. Other products include rice and wheat, citrus fruits, sugar canes, sweet potatoes, peaches, grape seeds and wine. More recently the area has become a center for Chinese software, electronics, and space technologies. And, of course, spicy Si Chuan cuisine is famous all over the world.

In May of 2008 the province was hit by a massive earthquake that measured almost 8 on the Richter scale, killing over 70,000 people and leaving more than 100,000 homeless. Mian Yang City, where Xu Bo volunteers are based, was around 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the earthquake's epicenter. Although Mian Yang didn't experience anything like the devastation felt further west, it was still strongly affected with over 5000 people killed. Life in the city is slowly returning to normal and Xu Bo has been sending volunteers back to the area since early 2009. For more information about the devastating 2008 earthquake, see this map of the affected areas and/or this Wikipedia ariticle about the earthquake.

Xu Bo Volunteering in Mian Yang Area

Mian Yang is Si Chuan's second largest city, located in the north about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from the capital, Chengdu. Mian Yang district is home to over five million people, with around 600,000 living in the city itself. Evidence exists which shows people living in the Mian Yang area for more than two thousand years. Mian Yang is also famous within China as the birthplace of a number of historical figures including Li Bai, the famous poet, Wen Tong an important painter and Luo Zu, the mythological Chinese mother of silk. The city has also begun to attract international tourists due to the nearby archeological sites and the natural attractions elsewhere in Si Chuan province

Volunteer Projects Available

We offer three types programs in the Mian Yang area:

	Teaching English in kindergartens, primary, middle or high schools
	Assisting in a Disabled Children's Center
	Assisting at Summer camps with children from 4 to 19 years old

  Teaching English

In Mian Yang City, volunteers teach English at a variety of different schools. They work with local teachers and school administrators to plan and deliver lessons. Volunteers can be placed at schools within the towns and villages surrounding Mian Yang or at larger schools within Mian Yang city proper.

The quality of the schools and the level of English in the Mian Yang area vary greatly. Schools in the villages outside the city are generally very poor with little equipment and very basic standards of English proficiency. Within Mian Yang city, the schools are generally much better equipped and usually have correspondingly higher levels of English proficiency.

Because so many Mian Yang schools desire our volunteers, the local school administrator assigns each new volunteer to a specific school, ensuring that all schools get a turn at having a foreign teacher. The schools listed below give an idea of the kinds of schools where you might be placed.

Cheng Mian Lu Primary School

This school is located in northern part of Cheng Mian city, one hour away from Cheng Du. There are 2,500 students in the school and students range in age from 6 to 12 years old. There are 60 students in each class. School hours are from 8.30am to 5pm. The school has 130, 11 of which are English teachers. Volunteers will deliver between 11 and 15 lessons per week, each lesson being 35 minutes in length. The post office, a Bank of China, and a hospital are nearby. The city has very few foreign teachers, so our volunteers will be warmly welcomed. As of March, 2010, this school has never had a foreign teacher, and they are quite excited at the prospect of our arrival!

Mianyang Government Kindergarten

This kindergarten is located in the southern part of Mian Yang city. It's actually a very old kindergarten, built in 1950. The school is open from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. It's a very nice kindergarten with modern and convenient facilities and it occupies an area of over 5000 square meters. There are 650 children studying there, divided into 16 separate classes.

Mianyang Pioneering Primary School

This school is quite famous in Mianyang city and, because of its great achievement in education, it is honored as the model primary school of Mianyang. As a quite well equipped school, it has fostered many winners in a variety of great competitions, such as the first runner-up of international Math Olympic competition. It was built in 1965 and has 92 teachers and about 1800 students. Each class has between 60 to 70 students. Lessons last 35 minutes.

Mianyang No.2 Middle School

This school is located in the centre of Mianyang city and enjoys a history of more than 50 years. It has a lot of experience in teaching English and is also honored as a national English experimental middle school. It has more than 43 classroom TV sets and more than 150 computers. The teaching facilities are among the top level for schools in Mianyang. There are 153 teachers and 2600 students: each class has about 60 students. Lessons last 40 minutes.

Mianyang Experimental Middle School

This school was built in 1993 and is a boarding school as well. There are about 3000 students divided into 46 different classes. The teaching level is quite high. Among 130 teachers working there, 29 are advanced teachers and 95% are well qualified. The school is now implementing a new special management techniques in an attempt to make the school one of the best. Each class has 60 to 70 students. Lessons last 40 minutes.

The first lever equipped, well qualified and stylish could be used when describing this school. It is built in 1999 but has a lot excellent teachers. The school has 2152 students and 96 teachers. As a modeling primary school of Mianyang city, it has won a lot of prizes in education field. Each class has 60 to 70 students. Lesson lasts 35 minutes.

Mianyang Experimental Kindergarten

This kindergarten enjoys a very pleasant view along the PeiJiang river. It occupies an area of 5086 square meters and more than 2000 square meters are covered with grass and flowers. It is famous for its comfortable environment and beautiful scenery. It has more than 600 students and 75 teachers

  Assisting in Disabled Children's Center

For this project, volunteers work in Mian Yang Special Education School for children ages 6-15. There are three types of disabilities affecting the children living and learning in the school: mental disabilities, deafness, and blindness. Volunteers will assist the local teacher with physical exercise, and help in dance, cooking, English , pottery and craft classes.

The delightful children at the center have more difficulties learning, relaxing and playing than other children - and this is where you come in!! Because of their disabilities, these children might not be able to learn as easily or to walk, talk, eat, or interact in the way most kids do. Deaf and blind children need to learn independent living skills to live by themselves in the future. So, volunteers will bring their own cultures to the centre as they help children learn skills such as English, dancing, cooking, art and craft, which they could use in their careers. Just by reading and talking with a child, volunteers can greatly enrich the children's lives, bringing kindness and friendship to them along with their education.

Working in Mian Yang Special Education School is a new placement starting Feb, 2010. We offer two options: 1) Volunteers may work full time from Monday to Friday in the Centre, or 2) volunteers may teach English in a regular Mian Yang school Monday through Thursday and spend Fridays in the Centre.

At moment there are 145 students with 23 teachers in the centre. Volunteers will work with local teachers on on a one-to-one basis to help children with mental handicaps, blindness or deafness. Volunteers will

	Help the children to look after themselves
	Help with the children's personal development and hygiene education
	Help the staff with the school curriculum
	Give one-to-one lessons, such as reading, western dancing, and/or cooking

If you have studied special education, nursing or medicine, or have any similar qualifications, you may help in other ways as well.

  Summer Camps

Volunteers work in Mian Yang Children's Palace, which provides full day enrichment programs for children from 4 to 19 years old. Our volunteers in Mian Yang help local students improve their oral English through playing dancing, drawing, games, singing songs, reading western stories and organising dramatic performances. Meanwhile you will organise local field trips, such as activities in area parks. You will have a chance to organise activities in nearby villages. Mian Yang was struck by an earthquake in 2008. About 90,000 people died and many schools were destroyed. Our volunteers have the opportunity to only enrich the students' lives, bringing happiness and new ideas to them while helping them build their self-confidence.

Our volunteers will help bring energy and enthusiasm to the teaching and learning environment. The students are always interested and participate fully in lessons taught by volunteers. The local teachers also see new ways to make classes more interesting. In addition, our volunteers help model correct English pronunciation and grammar. The local teachers appreciate this very much. Moreover, our volunteers help to quiet local students' fears from the earthquake in 2008 and build up confidence again. Our volunteers bring happiness and joyfulness to the community.

General Mian Yang Information

Accommodation

Volunteers will stay in either a flat or with a local family ("homestay") in Mian Yang City. Accommodations are usually located within a 10 to 20 minutes walk of the school and have air conditioning, a washing machine, hot shower and a TV. Some accommodations have internet access, but if not you may use internet at your school office.

Food

From Monday to Friday volunteers will receive 3 meals a day at their school. On weekends, the volunteers are responsible for purchasing their own food. Si Chuan is famous for its food, particularly the internationally renowned Si Chuan cuisine, which is based around the spicy Si Chuan peppercorn, chili and ginger. Like most Chinese cities, Mian Yang has a huge variety of available food, ranging from cheap although usually excellent street food at around 1 to 2 dollars, to more expensive restaurants.

Area Sights and Activities

Si Chuan is known as the home of the giant panda, and includes the famous Wolong Panda reserve. The reserve was founded in 1980 with the help of the World Wildlife Fund and covers over 200,000 hectares. It houses over 150 pandas both captive and wild, with one of the world's most successful breeding programs. As well as the giant panda the park is home to a number of other rare and endangered species including red pandas, golden monkeys, white-lipped deer and gnu.

Many of these species, including giant and red pandas are also found in Jiuzhaigou, a narrow 400 kilometer valley in the Minshan mountain range in the west of Si Chuan. Jiuzhaigou is famous for its spectacular scenery, lakes and waterfalls and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Among other famous sites is the Leshan Giant Buddha. This Buddha is the largest stone statue in the world. In it 71 meters in height and was cut into a cliff face during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). For anyone with an interest in archaeology there are a huge number of sites surrounding Mian Yang and throughout Si Chuan province.

Weather

The Si Chuan basin has a subtropical monsoon climate with long summers and short winters. Summers are humid although not too hot with average temperature ranges between 25 and 29 degrees Centrigrade (77 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit.) Winters tend to be cool and cloudy.

How to Get to Mian Yang

Mian Yang airport has regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Kunming. The city also has excellent rail links including high speed links to Beijing and Shanghai.

To Apply or Learn More

To apply to volunteer in Si Chuan please see our Overseas Partners page where you will find links to several different international organizations who will happy to help you submit your application and/or learn more about the program. You can also submit questions directly to Xu Bo by using the form below. After you enter your name, email address (take care to enter address correctly), age and your question in the provided fields, press the Send button. You will receive a confirmation email shortly and we will respond to your question as soon as possible.

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