JAY

Jay is from County Durham in the North East of England and studied Chinese and Spanish at the University of Leeds. As well as a first class degree with a distinction in both spoken languages, he has nearly two and a half years’ experience working, travelling, living and studying in China. He has worked as a Tour Guide and Tour Operations Manager in Shanghai and Beijing, appeared on Chinese national television and also worked for NGOs in China.

Jay is passionate about languages, travelling, Chinese and Chuanr (lamb kebabs to all those who haven’t yet visited China) as well as enjoying socialising with friends of all nationalities, often accompanied with a good bottle of Chinese liqueur or baijiu.

As well as travelling as much as possible, Jay very much enjoys hiking, and has done so all over the world; Britain, South America, Spain and China to name but a few. Within China he has worked on farms in Sichuan and Hunan, climbed three of China’s greatest mountains, and hopes to climb a lot more in the future!

His previous academic work has focused on the overall effect of social reform in China since 1979, the impact of growing Chinese international tourism worldwide and the growing pressure on China’s social security system.