From caveman Paul Gascoigne to thankful Pato

Paul GascoignePaul Gascoigne described life in China in 2003 as like being locked in a cave but foreign stars in the country today earn among the biggest wages in football and live more like kings than Neanderthals The most talented English midfielder of his generation Gascoigne was one of the first bigname footballers to arrive in China when he made the shock decision to be a playercoach of second division Gansu Tianma Now 50 and fighting alcoholism Gascoigne lasted just a handful of games at the tailend of his career and in a subsequent book the man fondly known as Gazza described a nightmarish existenceI hated it at first especially the food We had ducks head ducks eyes chicken feet and a lot of bat Gascoigne said in the book Gazza My Story His anecdotes about his stint in Gansu even now one of the least developed provinces in China depicted a backwater where nobody understood him and there was nothing to do It fitted a Western stereotype of life in China strange food strange language and strange environment But China and Chinese football has come a long way since the early 2000s on the back of a booming economy now the worlds second largest after the United States Shanghai SIPG a year ago shattered the Asian transfer record to sign Brazilian attacking midfielder Oscar from Chelsea for 60 million eurosShanghai Shenhua at the same time lured Carlos Tevez to China on reported wages of 730000 euros a week making him at that time the bestearning footballer on the planet Tevez has since returned to Boca Juniors after failing to settle a common theme throughout his career Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba were two other bigname stars who arrived in China to great fanfare and hefty wage packets but similarly beat a fast retreat appearing in just over 30 games between them for Shenhua in 20122013Pato thrivesBut there are plenty of foreign players who thrive in China and Brazilian midfielder Paulinhos transfer from Guangzhou Evergrande to Barcelona last summer was proof that the country is no longer a final payday at the end of a career Striker Alexandre Pato 28 has rediscovered his love for football since signing for Tianjin Quanjian a year ago sparking suggestions of a return to the Brazil team Pato has embraced Chinese social media and posts regularly on Weibo Chinas equivalent of Twitter gaining 380000 followers Chinese football fans have noted favourably how the former AC Milan starlet has settled in Tianjin a port city close to Beijing a stark contrast to Tevez and his disgruntled stay in ShanghaiId like to say thank you to 2017 because in this year I found China as my new home I found happiness and I learned a lot from this experience he wrote at the turn of the year on Weibo along with a picture of him smiling at the Great Wall a Chinese flag fluttering beside him Wellknown foreign players enjoy a pampered life in China with plush homes and interpreters to help on and off the pitch Chefs prepare their favourite food and drivers are on hand for their every whim Living in socalled firsttier cities such as Guangzhou Beijing Tianjin Shanghai and Nanjing home of Jiangsu Suning coached by former Real Madrid and England coach Fabio Capello increasingly means international cuisine good shopping fellow Westerners and some English spoken The money of course helps Oscar openly admits that is why he came to China but as Tevez found it is not everythingHuge differencesJack Sealys time at Changchun Yatai a midtable Chinese Super League team that is geographically nearer to the North Korean capital Pyongyang than Beijing was more Gazza than Pato The Englishborn defender says there are huge cultural differences particularly in a place like Changchun a city of about 77 million that is rarely on the tourist map Everything is just rushed and busy and hurried and its loud You cant really find any similarities the 30yearold who joined Changchun from Hong Kong club side South China in 2016 told The Times of London No one really speaks English at all so trying to communicate can be tough added Sealy admitting that life can get a bit boring Sealy has since returned to Hong Kong after two seasons on the fringes at Changchun You have to be really openminded and really understanding and patient he said if you want to have any chance of survivingCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go