Job Discussion Forums

[Banner41]

My first year I lived in a third tier city and it was an ok experience for one year. It did teach me that I will never ever live in a third tier city again. Besides the daily gawking and landmine dodging on the streets, travelling anywhere was a pain in the butt. The ex-pats seem to be a tighter group there because there are so few. Having nice restaurants and entertainment options mean more to me now. You could live in a tier 1 city and just exile yourself to the outskirts and that would be like living in a tier three city. You would still have the option of travelling into town when you want. Just up to you what you are looking for.

[wangdaning]

Is there an official link to what the tier system is? Only place I have heard about it is dave's. Are there 10th tier cities?

I am guessing the OP means a city not over run with unneeded "development" and people that come along with it.

[Banner41]

China’s first-tier cities usually refer to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen which make “The Big 4.” Second-tier cities include capital cities of each province or coastal cities like Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xiamen. Third-tier cities are usually medium-sized cities of each province.....but yea, the criteria for them is ever changing. I think most of us have a pretty good idea of the "concept" of a third tier city.

[Aristede]

[Non Sequitur]

[Son of Bud Powell]

[Non Sequitur]

[Son of Bud Powell]

[lionheartuk]

I am in a so called third tier city and have been for 8 yrs. It is clean,green and a pleasant place to live. The people are on the whole polite and friendly.
There is a university here and a few other further education colleges and, apart from the foreign teachers where I work, a fair number of foreigners although I generally only see them in the supermarkets.

I would rather be in this small place than working in a big tier one or two city. The pace and cost of living just woiuld not suit me there.

This is one link to definition of tier cities but there are others.

http://rightsite.asia/en/article/defining-chinas-second-and-third-tier-cities

[Markness]

I recommend visiting a tier 3 city before living in one. The differences are drastic. I've traveled through quite a few and done my time trying to get something going on there, but, to me it seemed like a bit of a struggle that I didn't want to deal with on a regular basis. You probably want to live in a city that is in a richer province if you want to not deal with shenanigans on a regular basis, sure the countryside is amazing for the scenery and fresh air, but it can be painful in other ways.

The people definitely are friendly, propositions from locals as to whether one wants to marry their off-spring is not out of the ordinary. However, you can also get some folk who think that such a thing is an abomination, and as a result may get evil stares from the locals. I am a young guy so I didn't have to deal with this so much, but, my older friend on the other hand.. completely different story.

The people have poor education in the countryside. Traditional beliefs are well.. traditional. You can't drink cold water at X time. You can't believe things from books, your elders know better. The WC is available anywhere you please, etc. The money is not there as well usually. There certainly is less foreigners in the smaller cities, however, you also have much more clientele that live in poverty and can't afford to send their kid to spend time to be tutored by the local foreigner.

Anywho, good luck with your search, pick a place that suits your needs with climate and then look into whether it has money or not.

[hdeth]

[cedarstreetcowboy]

I spent my first two years here in Ordos, Inner Mongolia province, which officially received third tier status last year. The old section of the city where I lived was a complete dump, and the new section, the so-called "ghost city" was just that.

I had a better than average salary for the region and I saved like crazy. Having said that, I would advise against living in anything but a first or second tier city.

The ridiculous gawking, "lao wai" nonsense, and just generally idiotic behavior in the presence of foreigners will grind your gears before long and you'll be counting the days until the end of your contract. In the first and second tiers this kind of stupidity occurs but it's at manageable levels.

If you're working in a high school, your students will be rock-bottom in terms of quality. Most of the local English "teachers" at my school didn't speak the language. A large portion of my students couldn't spell "China" correctly...they had the word "chain" down-pat though.

I'm not a clubber by any stretch of the imagination and I can take or leave bars, but it is nice to have the option. You can pretty much forget it in most third tiers. As far as building a circle of friends, you can actually meet foreigners who aren't FTs in the first and second tiers, so it's a mixed
bag if FT-avoidance is your thing.

The start up costs are going to be higher in the better locations, but the potential for saving is going to be the same or better if you take it easy on the expat haunts and cook at home.

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

Thanks for the great replies everyone! There is some very interesting information here.

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

So I have another question for people with experience in third-tier cities. Do you find that the schools there tend to be a bit more desperate and have a harder time attracting foreigners?

I ask this because I will have no teaching experience (aside from 6 months of volunteering in an ESL classroom) when I start applying for jobs, and I know that you technically need 2 years of post-grad work experience for a Z-visa.

However, I have heard that this is more strictly enforced in the huge cities, so I am hoping it won't be a big deal in a smaller city.

Does anybody have experience with this? Will my lack of experience be a huge issue in securing a position in a small city?

I should add that I am a white American male with a BA and I plan to get a TEFL certificate before I start applying for jobs.

[Deats]

It's a recommendation that you have 2 years experience. Most teachers in China go there with no experience at all. You could secure a job in any city/any tier if you are lucky.