# 215. Fender Jackson: Leaving China

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ireland-podcast-6592574/215-fender-jackson-leaving-china
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ireland-podcast-6592574/215-fender-jackson-leaving-china.md
Podcast: [The Ireland Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ireland-podcast-6592574)
Published: 2026-05-25T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-ireland-podcast/episodes/215-fender-jackson-leaving-china
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/64e340adddadb00012365278/e/6a13591e4c45d20ee22c57e4/media.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ireland-podcast-6592574/episodes/215-fender-jackson-leaving-china
Duration seconds: 1884

## Resource

After living in China for eight years, Fender Jackson returns for the first time since leaving during COVID. In this personal episode of The Ireland Podcast, he reflects on life in Kunming and Shanghai, raising children in China, cultural differences, the emotional impact of the pandemic, grief, identity, Irish voices abroad, and the strange feeling of returning to a place that once felt like home. This episode also sets up a new series of travelogue and vlog-style episodes recorded during a recent return trip through Kunming, Xishuangbanna and Shanghai - including street food, Irish bars in China, random encounters and reflections on modern Chinese life. Featuring: Life in China during COVID Returning to Kunming after four years away Chinese culture and daily life Teaching in China Irish identity abroad Prince: The Musical on Banjo The origins of The Ireland Podcast New China travel episodes coming over the next few days. A quick note - some of the audio from this episode came out rougher than intended while testing a new recording setup. We decided to publish it anyway because the story itself felt important to tell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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## Transcript

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