Newman Huo

AMERICAN businessman Allen Ashley has started a new life in Shenzhen teaching English in the city's kindergartens over the past three years.

Ashley first came to Shenzhen in April 2004 to buy machine parts, such as valves, compressors, and fan motors, for his company Ashley Heating & Cooling Inc. in his hometown in Kansas City, Missouri.

Ashley's father founded the company in 1986, and he took it over from his father and incorporated it in 2001.

"When I first came to the city, I saw a lot of blacktop roads as well as many McDonald's, Pizza Huts and KFCs in Shenzhen, which are very similar to the United States," said Ashley, 44.

"Shenzhen looks more international than many people think it is," he said.

Ashley liked the city so much that he decided to settle here.

With a bachelor's degree in general education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Ashley once taught computer programming in a community college in Kansas City.

With this teaching experience, he landed a full-time teaching job in a private kindergarten in Bao'an District during the first year of his stay here.

Now he is working as a full-time English teacher in the Maha Kindergarten in Futian District, while living in Nantou in Nanshan District.

He commutes to work by bus so he has become familiar with the city's public bus system.

Encountering newcomers to Shenzhen, whether Chinese or expatriate lost at bus stops, he is often able to tell them how to get to their destinations by bus.

Ashley believes most private cars sold in China today are still about 30 percent more expensive than those in the United States.

"With prices going down, I'll consider buying a private car and driving here," he said.

He also plans to either start exporting computer parts to the United States or opening an Internet bar here.