It takes little time in Marlon Harewood's company to realise that his experience of playing in China was much more favourable than the largely forgettable four months that Paul Gascoigne spent in east Asia. When Gascoigne returned to England after four appearances for Gansu Tianma, in 2003, the former England international was asked whether he would consider going back to China. "Nae son, going up the road for a Chinese is enough for me now," he replied.

Harewood, in stark contrast, enjoyed playing for Guangzhou R&F so much that he has not ruled out the possibility of signing up for a second season with the club he has just helped to win promotion to the Chinese Super League, after joining on a short-term contract in July. "I had a great experience," says Harewood, who scored four goals in 10 league appearances and another three in friendlies. "I would certainly recommend it to other English players. But I'd also tell them to be open-minded about it because it's not easy at times."

Although the former Blackpool striker was well remunerated – "They gave me a deal that I couldn't refuse" – the Premier League wages came at a cost. He had to leave his wife and three young children behind and deal with the obvious language barrier at the other end. There was a tough training regime to get to grips with, four-hour flights for some of the away games and a local cuisine that was a little different from the Chinese restaurants back home. "I didn't try the snake or the dog," says Harewood with a smile.

The 32-year-old admits there were a couple of frustrations along the way, such as cutting through the red tape when he lost his English phone – "I had to wait four months to get it back because they're so guarded about rules and regulations" – but, on the whole, it was a positive experience and there was certainly no need to have any reservations about whether his skin colour would be an issue. "I did think beforehand about what it would be like to be a black man in China but it's 2011 now and I was there to play football, where there are lots of people from different cultures. I didn't have any issues at all."

Communicating was much more problematic but Harewood was fortunate that Marak Zajac, the Polish first-team coach, and the two other overseas players in Guangzhou R&F's squad – Aleksandar Zivkovic, a Serb, and Harison, a Brazilian – all spoke English. "Those people made my stay in China very easy because the manager spoke only enough English to get him by and the Chinese players would always say: 'Marlon, my English is very little.' It became a bit of a running joke."

The regime, however, was no laughing matter. "The Chinese managers have their strict rules and routines that they go by," Harewood says. "For example, in the morning, you have a set time for breakfast and everyone has to stand in the foyer waiting for the manager to come. The manager counts everyone and makes sure they're all there, because all the players, including the Chinese, stayed at the same hotel for the duration of the season. It was like preparing for an away game every day."

Training started at 9.30am and double sessions, in south China's sweltering heat, were the norm. Yet when it came to leisure time, Harewood, Zivkovic and Harison lived differently from their Chinese team-mates. "The foreigners have the freedom to go out but the Chinese have to abide strictly by the rules," Harewood says. "They have a 10 o'clock curfew and their rooms are checked to make sure they are in. We could do what we wanted to a certain extent but we didn't abuse it. We would go out to eat, come back to our rooms and talk or watch football."

Harewood laughs when asked what the food was like. "It was nice … but scary," he says. "It was very rural when we went out. You would sit down on stools and see the chicken complete with the bones, feathers and head being cooked on a big stove in the street. They would be cooking and peeling snake, and there was what they called 'Forest dog' – dog to me is just normal dog! They eat a lot of fresh fish as well. I'd look at some of it and think, 'Nah, I think I'll just have a slice of bread.' But it actually tasted amazing."

He enjoyed the football and was impressed with the standard – "My team could easily play against a decent Championship side" – but will wait to see what options materialise in England in January, when he becomes a free agent, before deciding his next move. "I wouldn't rule anything out," Harewood says. "Obviously the next task would be to play in the [Chinese] Super League but, watching English football on TV, I realised how much I missed it. Whatever I decide, though, I enjoyed myself in China and I'll never forget it."