Gesus man, sauna. That might be the best idea yet. Can I put my big luggage there? How's the sleeping area like? I'm quite prone to noise. Is there internet? A locker for my valuables like laptop?

Just realized, it Macau/HK were separated from this thread, it would be dead cept for me and peterk9

Long time no see peterk9...

.de? you would not happen to be in Germany one of these days?

Good idea to expand the search into hostels, hole-in-the-wall hotels and saunas since staying one month plus can add up quickly.

I was just in that neighborhood. I will check that place out next time and ask around.

I have not been looking into places, but will pick it up this month.

I stopped by one place called New Nan Pan Hotel. They were fully booked, but said it is 200 something a night. No discount for a one month stay. I did not get into more details than that. There were a few German and Chinese backpackers in the lobby. I will bring a camera and ask for more details next time.

No worries. Not my list, just copied and pasted.

Here is the Youtube link to No Reservations - Hong Kong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKbviRHN8O0

I believe there are two types of sleeping options depending on the Sauna. There are the ones with a large lounge chair with an attached Television at your disposal. It is quite comfy and usually the disturbance level is low because your television will drown out ambient noises. I believe BoDiddley´s post has a few photos from the Grand Waldo. I will try to track down the post.

Then there are the bunk bed types with people coming in and out of the room. The bed is not comfy and too much noise with people in and out.

I have not much need to stay in a local Sauna, but have stayed in Saunas in China that have a similar setup.

The comfy lounge chair I can get some sleep, but the bunk bed style; there is no way for I.

You will most likely need to leave your luggage at a Cloak Room at a major Casino. Other items, you will have a locker before you shower and rest to store your stuff.

Here is what I found, but the links are dead. At least the images are dead.

thanks a lot. Sounds like every stereotype I've heard about chongqing residents is then.

Nothing to contribute to the thread
A friend of mine stayed there once, the .de, I have no clue why. Makes no sense . Netherlands, Germany all the same . Life like 2 minutes walk from the border

For the luggage, most saunas will be able to take one or two medium sized pieces of luggage for storage in their locker room. The saunas are quite used to having ppl going for one last sauna visit before they catch their flight. You also get your own locker that you can use to keep all your stuff.

As what YuanDynasty said, sleeping area is either big lounge chairs or bunk beds. Both are quite ok to me. The bunk beds area is no more noisier that what you'd find in backpacker's dorms.

As I've said, food will be free in the saunas, so if you decide to have 2 meals per day there, that's about MOP 100-200 saved. The fare will be Chinese style food which is quite good. Usually, for lunch I'll get something like this:

1. Plate of cut fruits
2. Orange juice
3. Hong Kong milk tea
4. Hong Kong style seafood fried rice &
5. Claypot chicken.

It's quite a hearty meal and you can prob skip dinner after that too. Very limited selection of Western food though.

Another thing to note about saunas is that the entry fee of MOP 300-400 is good for only 12 hours. So if you stay more than 12 hours per entry, you will get charged an additional entry fee. Also, once you enter, you can't go out of the sauna without incurring the entry fee. You can go to the locker area to take your stuff, etc.

About using your laptop in the sauna itself, I havent' seen anyone using it...so I'm not sure on what the policy is. But I know that at East Spa, they will lend you a small laptop to use if you want to. East Spa also has free wireless which you can use to access the internet from your iphone/droid. Most of the saunas will also have a few computer terminals that are meant for customers to use while surfing the internet.

12 hours? Can't re-enter? Overall staying at a Sauna sounds like a big hassle with no privacy. 300-400 MOP a day for 30 days is like 10k+ and shouldn't I be able to get a 1 month room somewhere for that price? I even don't mind paying a bit more for my own room, toilet and proper bed.

Some places let you have a private room, in HM (Hung Moon sp?) it was only 100hkd extra for private bed and room.

I think it's perfect for a one week stay when you first arrive and want to figure out stuff like where to live, etc. But yeah, it sucks if to be staying there beyond a couple of weeks.

Also, not sure if you already know by now, but Macau saunas are actually brothels too. If you wish, you can avail the services of the working ladies there. Even if you don't, the general rest areas are not sleazy at all. But they allow smoking in there, it doesn't get smoky or anythign, but if you're sensitive to cigarette smoke, then it's something to be mindful about.

What documentation do you need to cross the border? A Netherlands Photo ID will suffice?

I am partial to German electronics. I was thinking of making a trip there in the 2nd half of next year to purchase some goods.

The electronics are quite a niche, so it is difficult to find around the Greater China Region if not impossible.

I will start contacting places in 6 months for prices, but I may call upon you one day to find me a price if you happen to be roaming around Germany.

Chances are low like TPTK versus set low that this will happen, but good to know you are not far from Germany.

We don't need documenation to cross the border (by car/train/bus, bicycle etc. that is), to all EU countries. If we travel by plane we need to have ID.
If i'm still around here in 6 months you can call me, hell even if I'm in abroad (Macau) I can give them a call for you. I speak German so should be no problem

^

Nice, nice, nice. No borders, what a concept.

I will PM the link of a potential retailer and the product that interest I just to give you an idea.

They also deliver to Macau via DHL so that maybe an option.

might be venturing into the jungle (i.e. south china) for a couple months.

Anybody in zhejiang?

Consideing moving to Macau and will be visiting with my gf this week Dec. 17th to 21st if anyone there wants to go out, meet up for a beer, or play live, etc.

How much money is enough to live off of by foreigner standards?

I have some job offers. One that is 10,500 RMB without any bills/benefits in Beijing and other that are 4,000 RMB with everything aside from phone paid for in Wuhan, including a fully furnished apartment with all living necessities. First job has me work 20-25 hours teaching (6 day weeks during peak season) the other has 14-16 hours of teaching (always 5 days/week).

You would have to know more about the apartment on the 2nd offer (fully furnished is crap info and std). You would need to know size and situation in the city, maybe it is near the college/university on the outskirts, chinese standards, old building and 40sqm cost ~1000-1500rmb. Prices of these can vary ALOT

The 1st offer sounds better, it is enough to live and eat out etc, but not party 3-4 days a week and travel. Will also depend how much you want to spend on apartment, if you want to share etc

Apartment information:

70 sq meter nonshared 2 bedroom apartment

Included:
Western toilet
Shower
Sitting room
Kitchen

Amenities:
Western bedding
Color TV
DVD player
Cooking utilities (pots, pans, plates etc)
Computer with internet access
Complete set of furniture (tables, chairs)

Utilities paid by school:

Water
Gas
Electricity
Internet

Really, I only have to pay for cable TV and a cell phone. The former I didn't even get when I was in Korea. I can just buy a used pay-as-you-go cell phone to keep me going in China.

I saw pictures of it. Kind of a tacky taste when it comes to interior design, but it's clean which is not something that could be said of my apartment in Korea.

The position in Wuhan has only 14-16 hours of teaching. This means I can fill in time with part-time work or private tutoring as I wish. The Beijing position is 20-25 hours and your two days off rotate. During the peak business periods (vacations), I have to work 6 days a week without any OT pay. The Beijing position has me teaching students from nursery school (yes parents do put their 3 year old kids into English academies) up to adults. It's nice to gain the experience and versatility to teach that many kids, but it's still a lot of work. The stress could certainly accumulate. The position in Wuhan is adult education.

dont live in wuhan.

Also you need more specifics on the shower.

A lot of the places dont have showers that are disconnected from the toilet, meaning there is no gated off part where u shower.

U literally piss and stand to shower on the exact same floor with nothing separating it. its pretty gross.

but seriously, wuhan is a bad place to live. even by central china standards.

Also its hot as crap

Like Rosie said Wuhan is suxie suxie (what i've heard, never been there). But being in cities of similair sizes, I have an impression. Furthermore 4k a month that's nothing + the appartment probably cost 2k max in rent and is in the outskirts of Wuhan .

I'm quite sure that if you look around you can get much better offers then this one, the Beijing one seems fine (however location, location, location). Beijing is a big place. You need to make sure that work is close to your appt. An American friend of mine who went to teach in Guangzhou had an appartment 1hour away from his work, fastest way of travel was the bus. I do not recommend Chinese public buses to anyway!!!
Another friend of mine teaches in Guangzhou (in the most central part), 5hours a day, 5 days a week. Makes around 11-12k. Does a lot of teaching in his free time aswell, easily makes 20K+ a month.

Living as Western life style with 5k a month should be no problem.

I would definitly try to teach and life in a big city; Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen

Did something similar to this in Korea. Was much larger meaning I showered in one part of the bathroom and pissed in the other although there was no separation between the two.

Not 100% sure I'm coming to China. Really, I only have 1-2 options left for Korean academies. After that, it's either Korean public school or China.

Thanks for the advice on Wuhan.

Yeah peters right, beijing is big. Knew a girl who lived in the outskirts and had to travel 4 hours a day by bus. She was a manicurist and probably made like 3000 RMB a month if that.

Make sure you are living within the 4th ring. Then basically anything you want to go to is just a subway ride away. The subways pack you like sardines, but its significantly faster than taking any sort of road transportation.

I have a motorcycle/scooter thing (they are extremely cheap here btw) and i still take the subway most of the time.

Since ur teaching, you will most likely be in the haidian district.

Try and find a place at wudaokou or something. Not terribly expensive.