If you have a chance to go to Shanghai definitely choose Shanghai over Suzhou. You will feel more at home there being a China virgin. Connections and everything else will be better for you in the long run as well.

Right

It's possible that the school has a 100% placement rate if they have a selective admissions process...but I would bet it's BS. Lower-tier Western schools require a minimum 5.5 IELTS score which is around 5th grade level. The IELTS test has a speaking section...so it's not just written.

If it's money you're after, you can teach till you drop via private lessons. The only reason you need the school is for your residence card. My suggestion would be to cozy up with some of your students' parents (if you teach at a private school, they will most likely be insanely rich) and build up your relations. Some offers will inevitably fall into your lap. If not, you'll at least get a few free meals at some nice restaurants.

Going to Beijing in a couple days. Any underground places I can play poker?

i visited suzhou on my travels. nice city with large pedestrian street / area and some nice nature gardens etc. seemed quiet slow paced and relaxed city to me.

not as nice as hanghzhou but that's not far from suzhou so should be fine

A question for those expats teaching in China. When you are offered a contract the salary is almost certainly pre tax unless otherwise noted, right? How much can one expect to have taken out in taxes? Is there any sort of tax refund?
Thank you

The tax rate is surprisingly low. I have a low 5-figure salary (rmb) but haven't paid more than 300 rmb in taxes (per month). Offhand, I'd say it's about 3-5%. No tax refund. Your school will most likely take care of everything, but I know some teachers who have to file their own taxes. Also keep in mind that even though you don't need to pay income tax to the US (unless you make more than $90,000 USD a year which is impossible as a teacher) you are required by law to file.

Beilock if I am correct on what your salary is roughly I have to tell you you could be doing alot better than that. If your school also pays your accommodation costs that is something I suppose.

Perhaps it's just a preference thing, but I started out teaching at a school they paid for my accommodation as well, it was alright but salary was just meh. Eventually I moved on to freelance teaching where I was paid by the hour rather than a salary. Granted I had to teach at many different locations thus more time spent in taxis, buses and subway cars, but if you can string together enough work you'll be making a good bit more than you ever were teaching at a school.

Like I said it's a matter of preference, I suppose it depends on what you want out of your time in China. If you really like the feel of community, knowing your boss and co-workers personally, being with the same students day in and day out well then a school can be a good idea. It's also easier for getting a work permit. I'll admit when I was doing freelance I was working illegally which obviously can potentially backfire.

But if money is what you're after, profit, I do suggest considering freelance, working by the hour rather than for a salary. In my experience there is a good bit more money to be had in going that route.


By the way, not talking to just you here. Seems alot of new guys post on here and everyone talks about schools only.

Just wanted to let those new guys know about other, potentially more lucrative, options.

Given that a lot of contracts are for a max of 20-25 hours I'm hoping to do both. I don't love the idea of signing a contract but as a China virgin I figure getting my accommodation paid for and working for a school the first year is probably a good way to go.

Thanks for the reply. This is shocking to me. Thought I remembered seeing a post in another forum that the tax rate was like 40%!

Yes, as you are new to China I agree that is the way to go.

A heads up for you, that 20 - 25 hours is probably hours they expect you to be in the classroom teaching. It most likely doesn't include prep hours. You may have guessed that, just be aware that they may also expect you to be at the school during the time in between classes. So a 5 teaching hour day may still be an 8 or 9 hour day at the school. If that is the case you may not so easily be able to get jobs elsewhere.

If you do be careful about who you tell as the school might not be cool with it, they may even consider it a breach of contract.

Hope this isn't getting you down on China before you even arrive, just a heads up like I was saying.

Doesn't get me down at all. Thx for the heads up.

Hey Guys,

Landed in Macau last weekend, have had a few showings for apartments, and want to make sure I'm not getting owned price wise, looking for a 2 bedroom furnished place (24mnhts+) here are the rough numbers provided by the agent(s) in HKD$:

- One Oasis, 18-24k month
- Once Central, 20-25k month
- Nova City, 14-16k (Add extra for furnishing)
- Buckingham, 20-24k
- Nova Park, 16.5k

Out of all of them the Nova Park place is surprisingly the best, with One Oasis being pretty far out of the way (Cologne) anyone staying in Nova Park or One Central? would be great if you could let me know a ball park figure.

Thanks,

I'm contracted to teach 12 40-minute classes/week. Yes, if it's money you're after, you should do the minimum amount of work at your contracted school (just for your work visa) and spend the rest of your time freelancing. Since I'm not white and hence not a walking English teacher advertisement, it took me awhile to build some connections, but the gravy train really starts rolling once you meet some tuhao who will pay you 300-350 rmb an hour to play twister with their 5 year old kid.

If you teach at a private school, another thing worth mentioning is that you'll probably get pimped out by your school.

-You will most likely have to do promotional activities. You basically show up at a place (usually a shopping center or apartment complex), get everybody hyped up, hand some candy to children, dance like a monkey, play an English game, then leave. It's fun the first one or two times, but it becomes a real pain when you're out there 10-15 times a year. So even though you'll be an economics teacher, prepare to do the dancing monkey routine at least once a month.

-One day you will wake up and find a huge 50 foot banner of yourself plastered on a shopping center wall (without your permission.)

-You may be rented out to other schools. Though this is generally for smaller cities.

Taiwan taxes... : http://www.englishintaiwan.com/engli...n-taiwan/taxes
another:
http://investintaiwan.nat.gov.tw/eng...sp?ID=56&MID=2

Realistically dont worry about this unless you are banking over $90k USD.

Im not a teacher here, Im in textile industry. But most teachers here.. you are hired for 1 class, 1 hour.... which will be about $60 USD in pay.
This is a trial.. see how it works out. Not to mention getting through a mock interview to see how you teach. For those who never done this you quickly learn that it becomes more like a acting career. I tried to get a side gig doing this.. and I failed at this horribly. It's not for everyone thats for damn sure. I was told I would need to teach about past, present and future tense. So I quickly googled it, got some ideas... they had three students in the classroom. I started explaining away what this that and the other do... all to blank stares from the students. Then I asked one if she ever been on vacation... blank stare... oh ****.. maybe they use the term on holiday as well... so I asked again... blank stare... da ****. 3 more minutes of utter hell and I was done. Now here comes the kicker.. the interviewer tells me that I am hired!?! We will call you to set up your schedule... shake hands... walk out. 10 minutes later get the phone call: "Sir, we found someone else thank you." Which brings me to saving face... they avoid arguments and awkward situations like a matador vrs. a bull. Perfectly..... so prepare yourself for allot of disappointment. Best way to get a teaching job is to come here on 60 day visa... hit the ground running. Then get ready for doing visa runs to HK when its near expiring... until your school sets you up correctly, if they do. There are ALLOT of bull**** underground illegal bull**** english schools here and many legit ones. My 2 cents... the market here is flooded with teachers in Taipei.. so expect to be out in some small city... where you will make way better bank.

Wow Bellock thanks for the info. What city do you teach in?

I know if I go to Beijing or Shangai I will have no prob finding side work. Curious if you think there would be plenty of side work available also in Guangzhou or Chengdu? Just want to be sure if I sign a contract for only 8k rmb that I'll be able to find plenty of side work.

Guangzhou is a big city as well, you should be able to find ample side work there.

I recommend Shenzhen if you get a chance. Not for travel/vacation purposes but for work purposes.

In my years in China I spent serious time in 4 cities. Wuhan, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shenzhen.

Of those 4 I liked Shenzhen the most, by far. Both for work opportunities and for living. It's also right next to Hong Kong and you can enter Hong Kong by foot from Shenzhen. That is useful for visa runs and the like. Plenty of freelance side job opportunities when I was there as well.

When I was looking for a job I believe I read things to the effect that to teach in tier 1 cities you needed like 2 years experience?

Definitely not. It's just always best to be in china when applying for jobs and usually that's not the case for someone looking for their first job in china.

Hey Bluegrass, I seen some of your earlier posts about pollution and have been checking this site once in a while. http://aqicn.org/map/china/#@g/23.0211/113.1798/8z

It looks like the only area with tier 1 cities that doesn't have "unbearable" pollution problems is Guangdong. Does this sound accurate?

Cool site, thanks for the link.

In my experience, Guangdong has been incredibly polluted as well. For a few months last year, Zhuhai, GZ and Zhongshan all had completely blue skies and almost no pollution though. It really depends on a few factors, and it can clear up, but on average I'd say it's still pretty polluted. So you might want to watch that site for awhile to get a better idea of the average pollution there.

So far the cleanest tier 1 city I've lived in by far is Xiamen.

I found this article on the concept of face in China interesting. It makes the Chinese out to be very sensitive wishy washy people who won't say how they feel and have no qualms telling out right lies.

Curious to hear peoples stories about losing and saving face in China.

http://www.china-mike.com/chinese-cu.../cult-of-face/

u have to experience it to know it,

u might have alot & LOTS of fun during the first few months,
after that, it will seems like a bloody grind !

have fun !
Godspeed !

Face is a huge thing in many Asian countries, and yes it's definitely a big cultural thing in China.

I won't say any more than that though, last time I spoke about it Bluegrass accused me of being a racist. So I've got to step carefully

Since we're all poker players I would compare "face" to level 2 thinking. "What does he think of me?" is more important than what I actually am...just like "what hand does he think I have" is more important than the cards I'm actually holding. It all comes down to projecting a good image of yourself in front of other people. Don't make someone look stupid in public. It's a passive aggressive version of sprezzatura.

A recent example - I called on a particularly dumb student to answer a question in bio class. Instead of saying "I don't know" and losing face, he went on a tirade about how I kept picking on him and how he needed to study for the gaokao test, not English...then he went back to sleep. In this scenario, I guess we both lost a little face because I let him go back to sleep and he didn't answer the question, but he would have lost a lot more face if he admitted he didn't know the question.