I have been living and teaching in China for nearly two years now.

To say that the experience has been life-changing would be a gross understatement! When I return home to Runcorn this summer, I shall be bringing a rather special Chinese takeaway with me: a beautiful Chinese bride.

So what brought an ordinary Runcorn bloke like me, all the way out to China for two years? And how did I end up getting married to a lovely local Chinese girl? Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing my story.

After I had graduated from the Open University in 2001, I decided to enter the teaching profession (what else can you do with a degree in English!?), and I got my first teaching job at William Beamont High School in Warrington. That was in 2002.

One afternoon, I was sitting in the staff room after a particularly hectic lesson, and started to thumb idly through the weekly job vacancies sheet while I was waiting for my coffee to cool. It was then that I spotted the teaching opportunities in Tongling, China. It all seemed above-board and appeared to be relatively risk-free, since the vacancy was advertised under the auspices of Halton Borough Council as part of their Town-Twinning programme.

I mulled the whole thing over in my mind for a week or two before phoning up to ask for the details.

I decided to go for it. After all, I had no dependents and no commitments to tie me down in England. Besides, the opportunity to travel and work abroad like this doesn't come around every day. So, why not? And now, here I am in Tongling, and let me tell you, I have never looked back!

Having decided to head off to China for a one-year teaching contract, I then had to make preparations. First, I visited Halton Borough Council's Municipal Building to collect my travel itinerary and plane tickets. Here, I met Richard Stevens, the borough's town twinning officer. Previously, we had only spoken over the telephone. I can't speak highly enough of Richard - he was extremely helpful and efficient, and he continues to be very supportive, as we still keep in frequent contact by e-mail.

Next, I had to go to the Chinese Embassy in Rusholme, Manchester to get my visa. Once all that was sorted, it was just a matter of packing my bags.

I took the train from Runcorn to Manchester Airport, checked my luggage in and headed to the departure lounge bar for one last pint of English ale. The first leg of the journey took just over two hours, from Manchester to Frankfurt. Here, there were about three hours to kill before the connecting flight to Shanghai, so after I had had a good browse around the airport shopping arcade, I repaired to the bar and ordered a German Weiss beer.

As I sat at the bar in Frankfurt, I began to wonder if I was actually doing the right thing? Had I thought the whole thing over enough, or had I been too impulsive? What happens if I don't like China? What if my students in Tongling are unable to understand me? Oh, well, it was too late to think about that now. So, I drained my glass and made my way to the departure gate ready for boarding. This was going to be a long flight - 11 hours! I had never spent so long on an aeroplane before.

The plane touched down at Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport at around 10.15am. My first impressions were very favourable. I mean, I think airports are interesting places anyway, but Shanghai just seemed so, well, exotic.

Lots of pretty Chinese girls in colourful airline uniforms; lots of pictures and posters of faraway locations - Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Tokyo; the female airport announcers speaking over the PA system, first in Chinese and then in English, giving details of arrivals and departures - I felt as though I was in another world! Indeed, this was another world, as I would begin to discover over the next few months!

Next week:

John feels the culture clash.