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United International College in Zhuhai anyone...?

 
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PathToChina



Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 17
Location: California U.S.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:02 pm    Post subject: United International College in Zhuhai anyone...? Reply with quote

I was wondering if anyone had any information about this college in Guangdong. Any feedback would be appreciated!
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mitchm



Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Posts: 25

PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's on the same campus as Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai (separate building) but other than that it is entirely it's own thing.

All classes taught in English. Supposedly a Western/liberal arts style curriculum. They do use Western textbooks you would find at U.S. universities. Really high tuition for the students. Mix of Hong Kong students who didn't get into good colleges @ home and really rich mainlanders. Doesn't necessarily mean they are stupid though. Lots of Western teachers on staff teaching many subjects including EFL. They also staff a decent sized group of recent-college-grad TAs mostly from Minnesota. Pretty confident there is no funny business as far as contracts/pay.

Zhuhai is nice, as is the campus (restaurants, small supermarkets, lots of trees/lakes)...but the campus is a good ways (45 minutes to an hr on the bus depending on where exactly you want to go) from the city center. Smaller town about 15 minutes from campus has a few small-ish expat bars/restaurants where everyone congregates. Campus is also 10 minutes from high-speed rail-station that will get you to Guangzhou in about an hour. Direct buses from campus to Shenzhen and Guangzhou as well.
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PathToChina



Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 17
Location: California U.S.

PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 2:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the response. I have been searching around in Zhuhai for something more stable and long term. I don't really live the expat lifestyle but am rather looking for a place to grow.

Zhuhai, from what I have been hearing, is truly a great place to live for numerous reasons. I believe it's only getting better as well...? If you have any other information about schools down in Zhuhai, particularly high school/uni level respectable schools, I would love to hear it!

Again, the response is appreciated. =)
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sui jin



Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 184
Location: near the yangtze

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think Zhuhai is a great place to live - the city is very spread out and you really need a car to get around ; UIC and some other colleges are on a dead end road and the hour's bus ride downtown is not pleasant (especially if you have to stand; sometimes the buses are very crowded).
I was there for six months and the city struck me as soul-less, and geared towards Macao and Hong Kong residents who buy apartments there - lots of shopping malls with international brands.
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doogsville



Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 924
Location: China

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sui jin wrote:
I don't think Zhuhai is a great place to live - the city is very spread out and you really need a car to get around ; UIC and some other colleges are on a dead end road and the hour's bus ride downtown is not pleasant (especially if you have to stand; sometimes the buses are very crowded).
I was there for six months and the city struck me as soul-less, and geared towards Macao and Hong Kong residents who buy apartments there - lots of shopping malls with international brands.


I've been here for a lot longer than six months and I think it's a great place to live. I guess it depends on what you want from a city. You really don't need a car to get around. There are a ton of buses, and cycling is an option which lots of us take. You can get around Zhuhai quite easily and safely by bike. There are lots of shopping malls, what city doesn't have those, but there aren't that many international brands on offer. The HK and Macau residents who buy apartments here are just that, HK and Macau residents. They don't come here often. Why would they? Most of the traffic is Zhuhai residents going to Macau and HK to shop. They buy apartments for investments. Or at least, they used to. They changed the law here so you have to have lived in Zhuhai and paid taxes for two years before you can buy an apartment.

Yes, most of the universities are a long way from the parts of the city where most of the entertainment is. The area they are located in has it's own entertainment though, so you're not missing a lot in my opinion. There are a couple of other uni's though. JiNan is very central, but not hiring at the moment, and there are a couple of others I can't remember the names of, but they are as far out in the other direction.

Most of the jobs in central Zhuhai are in private language schools. The quality varies, but there are a few with good reputations, at least as far as honesty goes. Zhuhai has a big expat population, but not everyone is a teacher. There are a lot of foreign companies here who bring employees to Zhuhai to work.
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louislouis



Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sui jin wrote:
I don't think Zhuhai is a great place to live - the city is very spread out and you really need a car to get around ; UIC and some other colleges are on a dead end road and the hour's bus ride downtown is not pleasant (especially if you have to stand; sometimes the buses are very crowded).
I was there for six months and the city struck me as soul-less, and geared towards Macao and Hong Kong residents who buy apartments there - lots of shopping malls with international brands.


I was there for somewhat longer than a year, and I would entirely concur with the above. A non-entity of a city, (though it isn't really a cohesive 'city' as it's three old villages connected together by roads), between Shenzhen and Macau, with HK over the water. Very little of interest in the place itself.

UIC is one of the better options as a place to teach. Much more professional and better paid than its neighboring universities (BIT and BNU). Fairly stable faculty, most of whom are decent enough (though of course there are exceptions). The job is demanding, and you will work at lot of hours; however, the compensation is better than most, holidays are paid, and contracts are for two years. Most instructors live in a nearby gated community, which is very affordable and pleasant, and also has a shuttle bus service to the campus (which is about 10 minutes away).

As sui jin notes, the location of the campus is problematic as it's literally in the middle of nowhere. There are two small towns about 10-15 minutes away from the campus, but they are nothing special. The high speed rail link from Zhuhai --> Guangzhou has yet to be completed, but when it is it will undoubtedly make a difference; when I lived in Zhuhai, my weekends revolved around leaving to somewhere more interesting.

In summary, UIC is a good option, Zhuhai is unremarkable.


Last edited by louislouis on Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:48 am; edited 1 time in total
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louislouis



Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PathToChina wrote:
Thanks for the response. I have been searching around in Zhuhai for something more stable and long term. I don't really live the expat lifestyle but am rather looking for a place to grow.

Zhuhai, from what I have been hearing, is truly a great place to live for numerous reasons. I believe it's only getting better as well...? If you have any other information about schools down in Zhuhai, particularly high school/uni level respectable schools, I would love to hear it!

Again, the response is appreciated. =)


Zhuhai is very expat orientated, and not in a good way. It's virtually impossible to go for a drink without some appalling live music drowning out any potential for a pleasant evening.
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doogsville



Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 924
Location: China

PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

louislouis wrote:
The high speed rail link from Zhuhai --> Guangzhou has yet to be completed, but when it is it will undoubtedly make a difference; when I lived in Zhuhai, my weekends revolved around leaving to somewhere more interesting.


The Line from Zhuhai North to Gangzhou, which is about ten minutes from all the above mentioned campuses opened nearly two years ago. The station directly opposite the BNU and BIT campuses is now also opened.
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canrun30



Joined: 03 Oct 2012
Posts: 116

PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 2:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any idea as to what the salary range is? I have an MA TESOL and am interested in positions at Xi'an Liverpool (Suzhou) and Nottingham-Ningbo, but lived in Zhuhai for many years and would love to return. However, the salary would have to be on par with those other two universities, which I would doubt it is. Cheers.
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