Teach English in China, a land of archaeological and cultural wonders. You share your native English skills with Chinese children, teens or adults in on of two distinct urban centers, and learn about their lives in return. Our decades-long partnerships in China enable you to teach English to either students or teachers – or both! – to leave your personal service legacy. Teaching English is an unforgettable, purposeful volunteer journey into China’s centuries-old traditions and culture of today. Explore this captivating nation – in the classrooms of eager youth and adults.
Service program fees are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers when you follow our itinerary. Select program options below to see upcoming service program dates for China. Then select a program date to hold your place on a team with your $350 deposit. Call a volunteer coordinator at (800) 487-1074 for help if needed. If you prefer, you may print a text application and submit it by mail or fax. Minors – under age 18 – must complete a minor application and travel with a parent or adult legal guardian.
Most partner community lodging is double-occupancy, with a single room option for an additional fee. Click for single room fees in countries where this option is available.
Wang Bao Li is Global Volunteers’ China Country Manager, and works to maximize your contribution as a volunteer. Born and raised in China, Bao Li loves to share her culture – language, food, traditions – she’ll even explain the Chinese zodiak to you! She earned a degree in English, and served the Sino-American Society in Xi’an before joining Global Volunteers’ staff in 2005. She’s experienced in volunteer management, and participates in our intensive annual two-week training in Minnesota. Bao Li consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership capabilities, and is regarded by her team members as “a national treasure.”
“Wang Baoli is extremely efficient, knowledgeable and cheerful. I cannot conceive of anyone doing a better job than Baoli.”
Leonard Eilbacher, IN
She’s energetic, enthusiastic, kind, gentle, supportive, friendly, helpful. You are in good hands with Wang Baoli!
Paul Whelan, WA
“Wang Baoli is a treasure! Very professional and hard working!”
Tim Stockdale, IL
Global Volunteers’ China Service Program begins with the evening meal on the first Saturday. For Xian programs, plan your flight to arrive in Xi’an, China (airport code XIY) anytime before 4:00PM on the first day of your service program. Plan your departure from Xi’an anytime after 8:00AM on the final day of your service program. For Kunming programs, plan your flight to arrive at Kunming airport (airport code KMG) between 8 am and 5 pm on the Saturday your program begins. You may depart from Kunming airport any time after 8 am on the Saturday your program ends.
Provided you confirm your flight itinerary with Global Volunteers at least two weeks before the service program arrival date, our Country Manager will meet you along with your teammates within the prescribed arrival window. If you choose to spend time in country before the service program begins, please plan to meet your team at the designated airport within the specified arrival window on the first day of the program in order to be transported to the host community.
For help with your flight planning, please visit Janbala, our travel partner’s website.
Your health, safety and security is our top priority when you volunteer in China. Your lodging, food and transportation are provided always with a mind to protect you while teaching English, caring for children and after work. Your hotel lodging offers 24-hour security, and utmost safety in guest rooms and common areas. Your team leader is trained in CPR and first aid. Read more about health and safety here.
In China, city traffic is dangerous and the smog can cause respiratory problems. Our country manager will advise you on how to substantially reduce these risks. We strongly recommend you consult your own physician, public health clinic and/or travel clinic for detailed travel health information for volunteering in China. For general recommendations, consult the following sources:
Centers for Disease Control | Health Canada Online | Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade | Travel Health Online
Global Volunteers includes emergency medical evacuation insurance in your China service program fee. We also recommend health insurance that covers you while you are volunteering in China, and trip cancellation insurance in the event you must cancel your participation on the service program. Your travel agent can refer you to travel insurance providers.
After a day of English teaching, your evenings and weekends are free to explore the many cultural, historical and natural points of interest around Xi’an or Kunming. Both partner communities offer numerous museums, galleries and historical military attractions for culture and history buffs, and shopping areas for bargain hunters.
While our non-profit status prohibits us from planning your free-time activities, our local staff will provide a list of the many opportunities to explore the region. For instance, Kunming is known as the “City of Eternal Spring” due to its pleasant sub-tropical climate and abundant flowers. It is a city which combines the old and the new – featuring numerous attractive parks and temples along with significant military artifacts. Just outside the downtown area is the site of the 1999 Kunming International Horticultural Exposition, anchored by the Expo Garden, in the “Golden Temple Scenic Area” known as the largest and most diverse horticultural gardens in all of China. Two hours outside the city, the Shilin Stone Forest National Park is a vast area of limestone pillars, spikes and crags – resembling a petrified forest – probably formed by an ancient lake. It’s considered the premier attraction in Yunnan Province
In Xi’an, you can visit the ancient City Walls and 18 Gates enclosing the oldest, rectangular part of the city. Built to repel the Mongol hordes by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Wall survived – only to be badly damaged by Japanese bombers during the Nanching War in the 1930s. It was superbly restored after the war, and now is the only complete city wall left in China. Another attraction, The Forest of Steles, is a museum of seven exhibit halls displaying more than a thousand inscribed stones, engraved during a 2,000 year period from the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) to the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911). Of course, the Terra Cotta Warriors archeological site draws visitors from every part of the globe. Depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, the funerary was art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE to protect him in his afterlife and was unearthed in 1974.
Volunteering as a family in China can be a most rewarding experience! Children ages 8 to 18 can teach English along with their parents or guardian in classrooms and small groups of children and teens. You can also volunteer together at a special education center for disabled children. Your volunteer coordinator will work with you to find the ideal program schedule and partner community to meet your family volunteering goals.
For instance, pre-teens can often tutor children the same age – and practice English skills through songs, games, skits, art projects and the like. Chinese children are bright and accepting of volunteers of all ages – and like children worldwide – love to talk about friends, movies and family life. Our partners readily welcome child volunteers into their classrooms to teach English! Mature teens can team-teach English lessons from our English Teaching Guide along with a parent – or invent new sessions on topics of mutual interest, such as music, sports and Hollywood personalities.
Chose program dates during school breaks and summer vacations. Parents and guardians are expected to teach English with their children, and collaborate with our team leader and Chinese teachers to maximize the service experience for everyone. Youth are invited to offer their own perspectives in team meetings and fully participate in free-time activities. In this way, your child can form a rare, personal perspective of today’s China beyond what they can find online, in school or in personal study. What’s more, they’ll gain life-long friends in one of the most fascinating – and dominant – countries on Earth.
The benefits of volunteering in China as a group with Global Volunteers are many. Teaching English conversational skills to students or enhancing Chinese English teachers’ classroom capabilities can be many times more enriching than a traditional “tour” experience. Learn about each other in a non-traditional way as an intact China volunteer team, and know that your unique skills advance the futures of those you teach.
China service-learning for high school and college groups
Groups volunteering together in Xi’an and Kunming discover the “real China,” apart from network news stories and government reports. Doing business in China takes on a new meaning when you meet one-on-one with those who live and make the “news” we see from afar. Language comes alive when you hear and use it in English classrooms and on the street. Nothing can replace the experience of teaching in China together and experiencing the culture as you live it daily.
We launched our program in 1996 to teach English in China and support students’ desire to learn the language of commerce, technology and opportunity. Direct one-on-one English instruction has evolved into a wide range of meaningful English teaching projects to meet Chinese students’ and teachers’ expanding needs in an increasingly competitive society. Review a standard China English teaching work-day schedule here.
1, 2, 3 weeks year-round
Tax-Deducible Fees From:
$2,495.00 – $2,895
Projects Include:
Teaching English, Childcare
Local time:
Your health and safety are our highest priorities when you volunteer in China. Your “home” in both Kunming and Xi’an is a comfortable tourist-class hotel in the downtown area. The double-occupancy rooms are air-conditioned and generally feature two twin beds, a desk and chair, closet, small dresser, safety deposit box, mini refrigerator, television, telephone and laundry service.
The variety and quantity of the food in China are legendary. You’ll most often be served stir-fried dishes of vegetables and meat, sweet & sour pork, Chinese dumplings, and fried rice. Bottled water is provided in Xi’an. In Kunming, a water dispenser is available in each hotel room. Vegetarian diets can generally be accommodated.
Be The Change.
Through important, full-day volunteer teaching or childcare assignments, cultural activities and time for personal adventures, you’ll learn about China and remain forever invested. Our time-tested and proven philosophy of service ensures that teaching English in China helps advance the host community’s vision and goals. You contribute to important volunteer projects, and in doing so, you‘re accepted as family. Our commitment to work in partnership on long-term community projects enables you, in just a short time, to serve as a critical link in a chain of volunteer support spanning three decades.
Read more about volunteering in China though the prospective of our volunteers below or on our program blog.
