Job Discussion Forums

LSP · Joined: 09 May 2004 Posts: 56

So the job I may get is in Hefei. It's a bit further from Shanghai than I'd like to be, but I think I can manage. Of course I've learned from this site that I can't trust what certian web sites say about the life in the city, so has anyone here been there or currently teaching there?

Tao Burp · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 118 Location: CHINA

Yes, I've been there many times. Hefei is the Anhui provincial capitol, and has a very few foreigners. It isn't cosmopolitan in any sense, though they have McDonalds and a Pizza Hut. Lots of beggars--it seems everytime I go there, the beggars become more and more. There are a few sites of interest like Bao Gong Temple, but if you're expecting a randy night life there, forget it. However, if you want to teach in the Anhui Province, Hefei is the place to go, but Shanghai and Beijing are a ways off, so don't be expecting to make weekend excursions. Hefei is heavily industrialized, as so many cities here in the Chinese hinterland are. You will get stared at, hear the unrelenting Hellos, and the laughter of the people towards you. I have found most of people in Hefei to be friendly. It depends on what you're looking for.

LSP · Joined: 09 May 2004 Posts: 56

it looks and sounds survivable and as long as i can get out a couple times a month i should be fine. nightlife isn't that important to me, but i'm sure i can find something fun to get into. just how far is it from shanghai anyway?

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

This is not against LSP, but really advice for newbies coming over to China (and I've been here ONE WHOLE YEAR, so naturally I know what I'm talking about) - -

LSP said it sounds "survivable", but let me tell you - if you don't have some outside interests to keep you occupied, then it could become interminable (wherever you may end up in China). Do you like movies? Hope there is a good DVD shop nearby. Do you like to read? Where will you find english books and magazines? Are you a nightlifer? Are there plenty of pubs around for you to enjoy? How about beautiful scenery? Is your city all about road and building construction or are there scenic spots for you to enjoy? How far away from the city center is your school? What about shopping? Western foods and other luxuries?

The first couple of months in a strange and exotic place will seem fascinating, but once those first few weeks turn into months and months . . . and months, well, this is probably one reason why people up and quit their jobs in search of something better. Of course, if you are the type that is really not needing any of the above, then this school or any other school on your list may be okay for you.

Tao Burp · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 118 Location: CHINA

Shanghai is at least 7 to 8 hours away by train.

LSP · Joined: 09 May 2004 Posts: 56

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

Remember, you'll need a reentry visa every time you go to Hong Kong and want to come back into mainland China or have a multiple entry visa. (is that right? that's what I've been told here at my school)

Norman Bethune · Joined: 19 Apr 2004 Posts: 731

Hefei???

Avoid it like the plaque!

Horrid little place.

Uni's and colleges have low compensation for teachers. Flats provided to teachers border on Brixton or Harlem ghetto conditions.

Private schools aren't much better. Same disagreeable living conditions. Hourly rate for teachers is low since there exits an unofficial cartel of Private School owners which has effective control on pay rates. No school will go above a certain amount. Corruptuion is rampant in Hefei and Anhui. The education commissions are not complaining teachers friends. They always side with the school in any dispute about pay or contract.

The expat community is insular. Most foriegners stay on campus and never meet up. The nightlife consists of watching CCTV9. If you are an alcoholic, it's a great place to drink by yourself. Most foreigners in Hefei are treated like shite by the locals.

Great Place to be if you are CIA. I have suspicions about some of the americans I met there. Not to mention some of the Germans and Brits.

Been there....done that....won't ever do it again.

ilunga · Joined: 17 Oct 2003 Posts: 842 Location: China

There must be something good about the place Norman Shocked

Don't be giving the guy nightmares before he's even arrived.

What you have said kind of sums up what I've read about another city in Anhui (Huaibai) but I would have thought Hefei, being the capital, would be a little less backward.

Henan gets a lot of stick but from my experience here it's ten times better than Anhui (going by the accounts I've read from foreigners living there).

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

I've been there a couple times, as I know people studying at 'An Da'. The people are friendly I've found, and the city is remarkably different than Shanghai. Hefei has a distinct interior feel, and it is far enough away from the coast to be like this.

I've always enjoyed visiting there, but wouldn't want to live there. As many others have said, the salary compensation and accomodation just don't cut it.

Steve

Tao Burp · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 118 Location: CHINA

Well, I'm holding back, and I'm not doing you any favors by doing so.

Hefei is a place that draws unsuspecting foreign teachers, who are looking to go to China and have very little clue what they are going into. You can do worse than Hefei.

Yet after three months (or maybe less), the mundane, the repetitive, and the hours upon hours of loneliness will make you regret going there. It's the Anhui Province, not a Special Economic Zone or a large city like Shanghai or Beijing or Guangzhou.

As mentioned, watching VCDS will probably become your pasttime when
not teaching. You may have very little friends there, and any Chinese who associates with you is doing so--frankly--for public social reasons, i.e. banquets, school visits, improving his or her English,etc. You will be lonely, very isolated, and vulnerable--count on that.

There's something to be said about having foreigners around you--it keeps you sane.

If you can handle the loneliness and the stress of insincerity, then you can handle Hefei. But try to make every attempt to get out of the city to visit other places and people-- if the powers who are controlling at whichever school that will employ you will allow it beyond your normal holiday contractual time.

LSP · Joined: 09 May 2004 Posts: 56

Well everything that's been said has been duely noted. As for my decision, I still may go to the school IF I get the invitation letter they said they sent to me a while ago. But if it's not here by the 25th then I'm just going to fly over to Shanghai in early July and find something within a decent amount of distance from there.