A family photo of IES Global's Beijing Office. Joanne Wong is the 2nd from right sitting in the chair. [photo courtesy of IESG] 

Having been born in Malaysia, educated in Australia and worked in China, Joanne Wong has a truly international life story. However, she has a strong sense of her Chinese roots.

"I am an overseas-born Chinese, but I feel very comfortable here. To me, it is like I was born here. I am very proud of being Chinese."

A 54-year-old mother of two and a veteran in the education industry Joanne has looked after many international students during her time in Australia. Now, having established her office in Beijing, she has helped more than 500 young westerners enjoy a unique experience thanks to various learning and working programs in China.

"In the past, it was always the foreigners or the Chinese going overseas to study. I think now is a great time for foreigners and all the foreign overseas Chinese to come back to China to study mandarin and further their education. I can see huge excitement as people slowly become more and more mature, and they start thinking of China as a great country."

Joanne, a smiling lady who always listens with patience and speaks with grace, is founder and managing director of IES Global (IESG), a global education management services provider that has been running for 15 years.

She is a woman full of ideas. Teach & Travel in China (TTC) is one of them. Literally, it is a pipeline that provides unique opportunities for western high school graduates. It offers them the chance to learn mandarin and teach in schools in China, before entering university.

"I find that there is a need for foreign teachers ere. And in Europe, they have what they call a 'gap year'. Before young people go to universities, they go overseas to get out of their comfort zone and become more mature."

"So I decided to start this Teach & Travel network which is essentially a gap year program for students who have finished high school but have yet to begin universities. It will suit students whose English is very good already. We have two intakes per year. The students come over to China for training which is done by professional trainers from Australia. The group of gap-year foreigners learns how to teach English as a second language (TESL) and then we place them in Chinese schools for one semester. And because these new teachers are young and vibrant, they make studying English very interesting for the Chinese kids."