Job Discussion Forums

[leretif9]

How would those who know from first hand experience compare Shenzhen vs. Shanghai, as far as the ESL work situation, pay level and working conditions, weather, urban atmosphere, arts and culture scene, friendliness of long-term resident local people, general livability...

Thanks.

[Simon in Suzhou]

I would say Shenzhen and Shanghai are about the same financially for your average ESL teacher. The salaries are higher than most other places in China. For well qualified teachers with advanced degrees and higher qualifications, Shanghai has more opportunites and a higher top-end pay scale.

Culturally, Shanghai is hands-down better than Shenzhen on every level, BUT Hong Kong is easily accessible from Shenzhen, which might balance that out for many people.

The weather is Shenzhen is warmer and milder in the winter, but Shenzhen is plagued by VERY BAD pollution on most days. Shanghai generally has better air quality.

Shenzhen is a mix of people from all over China and is pretty warm and friendly as most people are away from family ties and often looking to compensate for these lack of connections. Shanghai is famous for being cold to outsiders and it can be a bit more difficult to make friends.

Most people would choose Shanghai, methinks, but it depends on what you're looking for.

[The bear]

[kev20]

The air quality in Shenzhen is excellent compared to most Chinese cities. Shanghai and the surrounding Jiangsu Province is grey skies for 300 days a year. It's not the worst according to AQI but it always seemed to be in the 150 range when I lived there. Even Beijing has more blue skies in my experience.

However Shanghai is still a wonderful city. Shenzhen is not really a tier 1 city in my opinion. Full of posers, cheaters and philistines. Everyone here loves being next to HK for some reason. Personally I don't see the attraction. The best thing about Shenzhen is the weather and fewer classes for more money in public schools.

[claka77]

I prefer Shenzhen to Shanghai myself however my opinion maybe clouded; I had a great job in Shenzhen (public school job that paid great money relative to hours worked). I also loved being able to go to HK and other places such as Macau, Zhuhai and Guangzhou. The people also seemed friendly to me. Compared to Guangzhou, I also felt that my Chinese skills were useful (when I lived in Guangzhou no-one understood me, maybe due to Cantonese or my Mandarin getting worse).

I visited Shanghai twice while working in Suzhou (I had a miserable time there and didn't last long, the job I had was terrible). Compared to Shenzhen the subway lines to me looked confusing (in Shenzhen there were only 5 subway lines at the time, I think there are more now). However I will say that Shanghai because of its history appears to be more interesting if you're into art, architecture, Chinese culture, etc. There are also more foreigners in Shanghai (compared to Shenzhen which is mostly like one poster said full of Chinese immigrants from rural provinces and other cities).

My guess is that Shanghai is potentially more expensive and winter will be cold compared to Shenzhen (winter in the latter is mild, 7-8 months of the year are warm and humid). If you're planning on traveling I guess Shenzhen is better if you wish to visit places in South-East Asia (HK International Airport can be reached by bus, van, train, etc. there's also Shenzhen Airport) while if you choose Shanghai then of course you're closer to Japan, Korea and more parts of China. I prefer Shenzhen however I've got friends who have lived in both cities (they've all lived in Shanghai longer but their jobs over there were more in line with their qualifications, Shenzhen was like an introduction to life in China).

[getbehindthemule]

[kev20]

[getbehindthemule]

[leretif9]

Which city has more days of sunshine per year? Which one has more days of gray weather?

[Blistering Zanazilz]