While investors worldwide are keeping watch on the financial picture in China, a retired Gorham educator home for the holidays gave a snapshot of grandeur in the capital city Beijing where he heads a school.

Ted Sharp, 73, who retired in June as Gorham’s school superintendent, accepted an offer last year as head of school at Beijing City International School. Sharp and his wife, Sharon Sharp, a retired teacher, returned to China last week after vacationing at home in Cumberland Foreside and visiting family for the holidays.

Last Wednesday, before returning to Beijing, Sharp shared some details about his life in China, including the opulence he’s seen.

“The wealth in coastal China is staggering,” he said.

Financial reports during the first days of 2016 pointed to a volatile stock market situation in China, making markets in the United States and abroad uneasy. But China’s stock market woes, on the heels of a troublesome 2015, don’t appear to be hampering the lavish lifestyle Sharp has witnessed among the Chinese rich.

He told of American food franchises, nuclear plants under construction, and the popularity of designer clothes. Upscale cars like Rolls Royce and BMW, he said, are commonplace in Beijing – much like Hollywood. Sharp and his wife were among special guests at a lavish dinner where meals were served on silver plates and, he said, the table centerpiece cost $5,000.

But, Sharp said, it’s a different story in areas of inland China, where, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook website, per capita income is below the world average.

Sharp and his wife have been in Beijing since mid July last year. He is also a former Falmouth superintendent and served nine years on the board of directors at North Yarmouth Academy.

After announcing his retirement in August 2014, he subsequently accepted an opportunity to head the school in Beijing, a city that Sharp said has a population of 22 million. Sharp had visited China several times previously, but his wife had not. They easily adjusted to the transition to the Chinese culture.

“It was almost seamless,” Sharp said.

A day school, Beijing City International School has about 1,000 students, from toddlers to 12th grade. The student body is 50 percent Chinese, with the other half representing some 40 countries. Tuition is $42,000 in U.S. funds, and, he said, “I’ve never had a complaint.”

The school is located in the embassy district, where his students include children of diplomats in addition to China’s premier, Li Keqiang.

Sharp said all students in China begin learning English in the first grade and many have adopted westernized names. As a volunteer, Sharon Sharp teaches English to Chinese parents and works one day each week in the school store.

Sharp’s salary is double the $140,000 he received in Gorham. For perks that come with the job, the Sharps live in a townhouse owned by the school and is located a short walk from the school. Their residence has two floors and includes four bedrooms, four baths featuring marble amenities, a study, balcony and terrace on the roof, where Sharon Sharp enjoys gardening. He said the townhouse on the market would sell for $2.8 million.

The school also provides the Sharps a chaffeur and an $89,000 car with a refrigerator. The Sharps have a maid-cook, but declined to have her live in.

They have the opportunity to dine out at a steakhouse with American-style cuisine. And just like in Maine, Beijing has American food outlets – McDonald’s, Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Nonetheless, he and his wife have each dropped two sizes and he has lost 16 pounds.

“We walk a lot,” he said, “and we don’t eat fast foods.”

Sharp’s favorite Chinese dish is sweet and sour pork. He said Chinese like seafood.

“They’ll eat anything from the sea except a submarine,” he joked.

On the street in Beijing, natives favor American-brands apparel like Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers and L.L. Bean.

“Chinese are very stylish dressers,” he said.

Since last July, Sharp said, there have been eight smog alert days. China burns an abundance of coal, but, he said, it also is building 110 new nuclear plants for energy.

The Sharps have attended many social events and have visited the Forbidden City. In October, they went to Tiananmen Square, site of a massive political protest in 1989. This year, they plan to ride the rail system from Beijing to Shanghai. He called it the bullet train that travels 400 mph.

They regularly update friends and family – they have three children and four grandchildren – with their China experience. She authors a journal and provides updates on Facebook.

China has Internet access, he said, but without Google. He receives international news and follows the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

Sharp said the weather temperatures in Beijing are similar to those in Portland – without the snow.

They flew out of Portland on Friday, Jan. 8, to Newark, N.J., to connect with a flight to Beijing, representing 14 total flight hours. For the trip, he planned to take four packages of peanut butter crackers. They fly business class, so their seats tip back into beds.

He initially signed on for a year as head of the school, but now that could stretch out to three years. He cited fiscal accountability for budgets as one of the things he brought to the job.

In coming home, the Sharps were eager to see family, but were looking forward to returning to Beijing and the school.

“Sharon and I classify it as an adventure,” he said.

Sharp has visited 33 countries and said traveling is a joy.

“You’re always reminded what a special place we have here,” Sharp said. “I appreciate my home country.”

Ted Sharp of Cumberland Foreside is pictured while home for the holidays from his job as head of school at Beijing City International School in China. He retired as the Gorham superintendent of schools last June.