Magister
- 2012-08-16
5500rmb in Beijing would be difficult to live on comfortably. This is the standard wage for public schools in china and along with a free apartment can afford you a comfortable life style outside of the major cities.
9000rmb and a free apartment is ok but again for a city like Beijing it's not what I would consider a top wage. As the dragonized poster mentioned you might also find yourself working very hard for that money both in terms of the number of hours a week you have to work as well the fact that it is teaching pre-school students which requires a lot of energy and is likely to be quite different from the experience and qualifications you both already have.
If it's an option then I would suggest living in a smaller city that has good transport connections. The new high speed train lines mean that it's very easy to travel around and see china's major cities without actually having to live in one.
As far as the general cost of living is concerned china generally offers the opportunity for either extreme. You can live on as little as 1000rmb a month or you splash out all your cash in a matter of hours. Most expats live somewhere in between. Things like going clubbing will certainly be at the upper end of the spectrum. Drinks inside a club in Beijing are just as expensive as in the west and at some clubs you will have to pay a cover charge or buy a certain amount of drinks to allowed to sit down at a table. Seeing as beer from a supermarket can be as cheap as 2rmb a can then the best thing to do is get pissed at home then go to the club just like you probably did back in your uni days.
Take your time. Interview with a few more places and don't be rushed into accepting a position you're not sure about.
Dragonized
- 2012-08-16
Hi Clare, how do you do?
After reading your post, I am going to have to tell you that any one of the jobs you take in Beijing will only allow you to live on a budget even if you don't really plan on saving too much money. You see the cost of food and daily items in China is so high now that even affording yourself a small luxury like a small pack of imported steak on regular trips to a bigger supermarket can run you an extra $10 U.S. dollars. You may also need to set money aside for clothes, cooking utensils, and a few electronics. Depending on the living conditions you might need to buy extra equipment for heating in the winter.
Let me just start by telling you that any "school" which has branches all over the city is not a public school. You may be advised that you will be teaching kindergardeners but you may be given a bait and switch. Earning 9000 rmb a month while busting your butt just as hard as you did back home working in a supermarket or a pastry shop isn't exactly a long vacation. You may not have a life working at this job.
As for the other gig, I wouldn't hedge on eating at the free cafeteria 3 times a day. I'll bet you'll get sick of it after 1 or 2 months and you will be dying to even get some KFC or Mickey D's. 5500rmb for that job with Jianhua will ensure that you will be eating at the street stands a lot more often, including on your birthday and holidays as a meager form of celebration.
Here's an example of a recent bill I had racked up while living in a city near Shanghai in 1 day.
Breakfast: 20 yuan (this was just eating at the food stands that are cheapest)
Lunch: 25 yuan (eating at a local Muslim Noodle shop with a couple of cheap dishes)
Dinner: Cooked myself and was over 30 yuan. I bought half a duck for 10 yuan, some grain bread for 2 yuan, shop dishes which ran to over 10 yuan, and some small beverages like milk and yogurt (just a cup or two). Also a small pack of sweet dessert.
If you're not careful, you can spend close to 100 yuan just on food eating outside every day! I wasn't even eating at any medium priced restaurants.
My advice to you would be too KEEP LOOKING. Beijing can always be reached via train or long distance buses and if you're really desperate you can save up a couple months worth of change and fly there. You don't need to live there to enjoy it. Most expats I speak to eventually get sick of the place and even end up hating China in general because of the experience. I would say try to find a job at a public sector (middle or high school with no more than 20 students per class) but you can try the International High Schools if you're willing to risk it, as long as you have the teaching certifications. Training centers are never a good bet and you shouldn't go to any university that's not a Top 50 school in China. Please tread carefully and make sure you get that Z Visa before landing in China. Good luck!
Hi,
I am looking for some advice on teaching in Beijing. I am a 25 year old English graduate. I have some experience teaching one to one English to a lady from Pakistan in my home town I have also completed some literacy projects with disadvantaged children in my community. My partner john is a fully qualified maths teacher and has been teaching in public and private schools in the UK for the last two years.
We are finding the whole job market baffling and would appreciate some help.
We have been offered a job at a kindergarten, with a 2 bed flat and 9000 RMB per month each pay, by meg bilingual international kindergarten. On deeper conversation with the lady who interviewed us, due to my expression of worry we would be the only two English teachers in the centre, she proceeded to offer us jobs in three other of the same branded centres. This leads me to worry that this is an “English language mill” and we may be unhappy here. Plus it is the district of Feng Tai, which looks quite far out.
We have also been offered a job at Beijing Jianhua experimental school. This is only for 5500 RMB a month each. It included free and flat with utilities
and apparently three meals a day. We have been told tis is a public school although on further investigation I am not sure this is true. However the lady who interviewed us said they are very flexible with how long we want to work there and we can basically sign for one term, which would be to Christmas I believe?? Then decide what we want to do.
I am wondering if the second option may be best . I want to get to Beijing as soon as possible but think we can do a lot better in terms of pay and location seeing as we are both quite experienced and also have TEFL certificates.
Does anyone have any opinions on the schools, pay we have been offered, or how easy it is to find another better school once you’re out here? Also is 5500rmb enough to live on each?? We will only eat Chinese food as I am not too bothered about western food anyway. Our only vice is we do like to go clubbing and drinking on the weekend. Which I imagine we would do on a Friday and Saturday night. I would also like to travel round Beijing looking at all the sights possible.
Sorry it is such a long post, but this is such a big step and I don’t want to get to Beijing and be miserable.
Thanks☺
Clare