It's good that your being optimistic about it, really it is.

But I know of an american guy in Zhuhai with an engineering background, very smart,fluent in Chinese, and all he got was odd jobs installing a lift somewhere, but mostly he ended up teaching kindergarten and working on his own restaurant (which he ended up leasing out to chinese,because it was too much hassle) and running his own small training centre. Not meaning to burst your bubble but English teaching is what most laowais do over in China, with some exceptions like if you have been sent over by your company from the US/EU, then that is totally different.

What I am saying is...don't rock up and just expect to land a great gig because you look smart and got engineering background/qualifications, it doesn't work that way and I don't want you to be disappointed. As me and the OP said, most chinese engineers work on contracts O/S.

Still, good luck with it all man. Hope it all pans out.

Cheers and colds,
Al

JP: You really need to think through what the heck you are doing. China graduates hundreds of thousands of engineers every year and many of THEM are already finding it difficult to get a decent job here. I'm also a rather, uh, "large" guy myself and from the way you describe yourself you are even larger. You are going to be pointed and stared at everywhere you go and most Chinese will assume you are stupid because, well, fat people just are. (I've had more than one Chinese teacher tell me it is widely assumed that fat kids are stupid. ) This is a very tough place to be a fat guy, especially in the South because folks down here tend to be thin bordering on skinny. It seems even the lowest-level English speaker knows the word "fat" and it is tossed about quite freely. I've had tiny little kids ask me right to my face, "Why are you so fat?" Adults will do it as well. You eventually get "used to it" but it is never nice. The heat and humidity are also relentless and "winter" might be a month long if you're lucky. Most schools are NOT air conditioned even if your apartment is. I sweat right through 3, 4 shirts a day at times. If you come, bring deodorant. LOTS of it. The stuff here is awful if you can find it at all. Frankly, you are going to be a target of ridicule walking around in your suits sweating like a horse. Contrary to what you seem to believe it will not earn you respect. If you insist on coming here do yourself a favor and head to the Northeast. It's much, much cooler most of the year and the people are bigger so you won't stand out as much. Try Harbin, for example. When I was there I saw quite few guys who were at least close to my size. (I wear 40 waist pants and at least an XL shirt and usually XXL. I'm 5'9" and about 220 on a good day.)

Just trying to be frank here. Don't hold it against me.