Job Discussion Forums

[unclealex]

Rural locations are dreary and too undeveloped. Nobody speaks any English, and there is nowhere to go or anything to do. My advice to you is to ignore them and focus on the large developed cities along the east coast or in southern China. There you'll be able to have a normal and pleasant life.

[mw182006]

[MisterButtkins]

I live in a town with 300k people and it's pretty rural. I realize this is not an American's idea of rural, but it's actually fairly remote and the economy is based on farming. No pollution, fairly clean, lots of fresh produce in the summer and fall, everyone is friendly. Internet is fine and things are generally cleaner than larger cities. Can still see horse carts go through town every once in a awhile.

Unfortunately, like, someone else said, there's nothing to do. Literally 2 bars in the entire town. No museum, no good parks, no foreign movies, nothing. Also, it's hard to meet women because most of them move to bigger cities after they finish high school, and the ones that stay want to get married as soon as possible. Oh, and most of the locals aren't actually that interesting after you talk to them for more than 5 minutes. Definitely a brain-drain going on here, the same as you would find in a small town anywhere.

Oh, and I've been to actual 'rural' China, small mountain towns with only a few thousand people. You don't want to work in those places. They are desperately poor and there's nothing at all to do. The restaurants all sell the exact same dishes, but you might have one Korean or Muslim restaurant if you're lucky. There are open sewers, the buildings are poorly constructed and cold, and in really far-out places, there's no running water. You have to use a hand-pump to get it out of the ground. The locals are friendly, but realistically, they are all farmers who work long days scraping a living out of the dirt and live hand-to-mouth, and they will never be able to relate to someone who moved from a western country to live in such a place. Not to mention that, in most parts of the China, the local farmers will not be intelligible to you even if you speak fluent Standard Mandarin. The scenery can be pretty, but after awhile, you will feel strange walking around gawking at a place where people do manual labor every day of their life and only have enough money to eat meat once a month.

Yeah -- so don't go to those places.

[Omniscientfool]

With some exceptions, it sounds like most experience is with smaller cities rather than rural areas. If the OP is someone w/ a romantic idea of walking onto and working in a period piece film set or Maoist village, certain to be disappointed. As someone who grew up rural, "nothing to do" means friendly people and unadulterated Chinese culture. Living longterm in a couple of sub-third-tier cities gives you an appreciation for the simpler things and includes a far greater celebrity factor (which can be a + or -). With so many college campuses being built or moved to the outskirts, the "rural" experience can really be had within easy striking distance of most cities. Absolutely try traveling in the countryside before deciding to live in it. And for all the city slickers in the forum, take a bus or a local train out for a day trip some time!

[fat_chris]

[SH_Panda]

[Stephe]

Think your money requirement kind of kills it. If you are willing to volunteer than their are positions available. I currently work for an NGO that places volunteers into rural schools, many of which probably fit the picture you have in your mind (many don't, like the industrial wasteland I live in). But as others have said those villages/schools are really rough for many reasons, pollution (in small manufacturing towns), hygiene, lack of things to do, no heat, regional dialects, constant attention, no privacy, etc. Great example is I am currently scanning the forums while waiting for my stomach to decide which way it wants to violently expel my lunch