Working while traveling affords foreigners unique way of seeing China(2)

Cottle feeds a panda on the base. (Photo: Courtersy of Cottle)

Jenny Cottle, a 53-year-old retired kindergarten teacher originally from Australia, took part in one of Greenway China's conservation projects in Ya'an county, Sichuan Province in July 2013.

"I got to spend time with pandas. I could feed them, bathe them. It felt great to be able to work with such incredible animals," Cottle said.

"Recently I read an article saying that the wild pandas in that area have increased 30 percent. It's very encouraging."

Volunteers were also given the opportunity to learn about Chinese language and culture during the trip, said Cottle. "The surroundings of the panda base was also very beautiful, with all the waterfalls. It was absolutely stunning."

According to the organization, Greenway China has recruited 3,000 volunteers from abroad since 2008.

"The numbers continue increasing," said Liu He, a project supervisor from the organization.

"More foreigners are participating in the volunteer programs to see and get to know China, while making a positive difference."

A traveling foodie

Lillian Chou, a Chinese-American culinary consultant and journalist, has been traveling and working in China since early 2009. In that time, Chou said she had managed to cover more than half of China's provinces.

"I never liked to travel like a traditional tourist that just sees the populous sites," Chou said. "I like to explore: go to the tea houses, noodle shops, local market to see how real people live and eat."

Chou is based in Beijing, but said she spends half of her time in other parts of China on freelance work.

"Many great cooking masters were lost during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). I want to go back to discover the food traditions," said Chou, who added that when traveling through rural parts of China, she sometimes feels as if she is being transported to another era, where it is possible to recover food cultures, traditions and ingredients that are now rare in Chinese cities.

Earlier this month, Chou was invited to attend a wedding ceremony in Luzhou, Sichuan Province, which she parlayed into a half-month expedition through Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

"I spent the [Spring Festival] holidays researching traditional foods and local customs, partly with farmers," said Chou.

"In Luzhou, I had a feast with 500 people in the farm. They killed the pigs and the pork was great, and so were the pickles."

"In Dali, I visited farms. I also went to Nuodeng to see the ham and salt traditions. In Xizhou [a town in Dali] I ate lots of baba [sticky rice] and erkuai [rice cake] plus all the rose petal jam and sugar."

Incredible freedom

Chou said that while traveling and working as a freelancer afforded "incredible freedom," it wasn't always easy.

"I do not have a consistent monthly salary. The jobs do not come all the time. I have to generate my [own] work and learn to budget for myself," Chou said.

She suggested that people who wanted to do something similar could consider doing seasonal work, or looking for jobs that were amenable to staff taking unpaid leave.

"Some people stay in a city for a few months while teaching or working in industries like hospitality, but [your travel] must be pre-arranged and your travel schedule is still not entirely up to you," said Chou.

Through his volunteer program, Jaspert said he had managed to make trips to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Guiyang.

"Sometimes, the volunteer program takes us to other cities to participate in other programs or give speeches at universities," Jaspert said. "I've also couch surf[ed], staying at local people's homes, so I don't have to pay for accommodation."

Jaspert said that through the program, he has gotten to know a lot of locals, which has also expanded his opportunities for traveling outside of Gongcheng.

"This Spring festival, I went home with a friend from Guiyang, where I got to experience the local traditional way to celebrate the festival," Jaspert said. "There is so much to see. Every city is very different."