The Sias University foreign faculty community is unique in China. Sias has maintained a faculty of around 130 [before the pandemic] not including dependent spouses and children under 18. This community lives on campus in Peter Hall, the foreign faculty residential building.

In addition to its many restaurants, tea shops, quiet walkways, and gardens, Sias has multiple basketball courts and competition-sized running tracks that provide opportunities for exercise. Basketball and soccer pickup games with students take place across the campus. Students have inline skating clubs, skateboard clubs, and a faculty-led Frisbee club. Soccer tournaments which include foreign faculty are scheduled for the Spring Semester.

Sias University is located in Xinzheng, a county-level city under the administration of Zhengzhou City, the capital of the province of Henan. A small town by Chinese standards, Xinzheng is a historically significant one that retains elements of traditional China while still providing modern amenities. It is considered to be the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di), the founder of the Chinese nation. The city has parks, museums, historical sites (including the 3,000-year-old ancient Xinzheng city wall), large department stores (Dennis and Waka), and several neighborhoods, industrial areas, and surrounding villages that give you a window into a China that most foreigners wouldn't usually see.

The city of Zhengzhou is about an hour away from Sias and is a large metropolis with a population of about 10 million. The city has a variety of options for Western food and shopping with an array of malls and restaurants. Zhengzhou is also a major transport hub that is well connected by rail and air both domestically and internationally. The airport (Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport) is only 30 minutes from Sias.

Foreign teachers have 6-8 weeks off in the winter between the beginning of January and the end of February. Teachers have often spent this time traveling in China and throughout South East Asia. During the semester, most teachers teach from Monday through Thursday with three-day weekends, and can therefore take short trips to Beijing, Shanghai, or Xi’an.

There are also paid holidays throughout the academic year. These include about a week off for the (Chinese) National Holiday in early October, and days off (each) for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. In the Spring Semester teachers will have days off for Tomb Sweeping Day (in early April), May Day, and the Dragon Boat Festival (in June).

On-Campus
Starbucks
McDonald's
Restaurants and food stalls, tea shops, juice shops, pastry stores, and fruit stores.
Convenience stores, stationery stores, photocopy shops, hairdressers, salons, cell phone repair shops
Gyms (membership required)
Swimming pool
3 Running tracks (2 outdoor, 1 indoor)
Soccer field
Gardens - Statue Garden, Chinese Garden. (French Garden coming soon!)
Sias Library
Internationally themed architecture and streets - Italian Square, Roman Amphitheater, German Street, Russian Red Square, Spanish Square, London Street

Near the Sias Campus
Restaurants, tea shops, bakeries
Jinmao supermarket
Street food
Salons and barbershops
Clothing stores
KTV
Riverwalk and parks
Gyms

Xinzheng
Large Supermarkets - Dennis, Waka
Xinzheng Museum
'Yellow Emperor's Hometown' (Huangdi Guli)
Mausoleum of Zhou Dynasty
Ancient City Wall (over 3,000 years old)
Zhengfeng Park
Shizu Mountain
Ouyang Xiu's Tomb
Xuan Yuan Temple (Yellow Emperor's Temple)
Open plazas (where locals gather in the evenings)
Street markets

Zhengzhou (Provincial capital)
Henan Museum
Erqi Square
International hotels - Hilton, JW Marriott, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, Le Meridien
Foreign stores and restaurants - IKEA, Metro (German warehouse-type store), Walmart
American BBQ restaurant (Zax)
Yellow River Scenic Area
Malls

Other Tourist Attractions in Henan Province
Kaifeng
Millennium Park
Iron Pagoda
Xiangguo Temple
Chrysanthemum Festival

Luoyang
Longmen Grottos
White Horse Temple
Old Town
National Flower Garden

Dengfeng
Shaolin Temple
Songshan Mountain
Zhongyue Temple

Jiaozuo
Yuntai Mountain

Anyang
Oracle Bones
Yin Ruins
Grand Taihang Canyon

Cities outside Henan
Beijing (2½-3 hours by bullet train from Zhengzhou)
The Great Wall of China
The Forbidden City
Tiananmen Square
Summer Palace
Peking Opera

Shanghai (5 hours by bullet train from Zhengzhou)
The Bund
Pudong District
Shanghai Disneyland
Nanjing Road

Xi'an (2 hours by bullet train from Zhengzhou)
Terracotta Army
City Wall
Bell Tower
Muslim Quarter
Shaanxi History Museum
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
Huashan Mountain

Chengdu (6 hours by bullet train from Zhengzhou)
Giant Pandas
Hotpot
Sichuan Opera
Dujiangyan Irrigation System