Job Discussion Forums

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

A lecturer was recently offered the choice of two positons - with very similar conditions and salaries.

One offer at a Telecommunications University in Congqing, and the other at a Medical University in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, not too far from Shanghai.

From a location perspective - I think Wenzhou is far better than Congqing- which is very far from the Eastern China more developed areas.

I also read that Congqing is one of the ten most polluted cities in the world...not sure when that report came out. I have lived in other polluted places but that might be a concern.

Any feedback on Congqing would be appreciated, included flights in and out, and connections to Hong Kong and other ways to fly out, in addition to the rail network there.

Ghost in the Philippines

The bear · Joined: 16 Aug 2015 Posts: 483

Mixal · Joined: 08 Apr 2015 Posts: 80

Wenzhou Medical University is about half an hour from the city center by car. It's in the Higher Education Area where pretty much all other colleges and universities in Wenzhou are located. There are some good hiking opportunities nearby. Regarding the city itself, it is big, but quite unremarkable IMO. I think there are many nicer cities in China. Still, I think most foreigners would consider it an okay place to live. Not too big, not too small... They have a very unique dialect which is completely different from Putonghua if that matters.

Regarding the pollution... CQ is certainly not even in top 10 most polluted cities in China. I've been sporadically checking aqicn over the years and I believe WZ is cleaner.

Is the person applying for ESL positions or...?

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

http://aqicn.org/city/chongqing/

This is one of the latest readings. Around 85, PM2.5.

Anything under 100 seems pretty decent, and this was the case in Chongqing. Seems like some Chinese cities have taken positive steps to reduce air pollutants.

Ghost in the Philippines

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

http://aqicn.org/city/manila/

Low of 32 to high of 88.

Surprisingly moderate pollution for a city with a bad rap for pollutants.

For anyone wishing to re-locate here, please send pm for the latest skinny.

Caveat - no jobs here,unless you can work remotely teaching English with a computer.

Ghost in the Philippines

Blistering Zanazilz · Joined: 06 Jan 2018 Posts: 180

Chongqing isn't classified as a province, it's a municipality on the same level as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. I spent a year in a place nearby and visited CQ a few times. It's big, but decent enough for living and the food is pretty good. It's also very hilly and very hot in summer.

The bear · Joined: 16 Aug 2015 Posts: 483

rioux · Joined: 26 Apr 2012 Posts: 880

I'd pick Wenzhou.

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

rogerwilco · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 1549

"engineers"

What does that really mean ?

Years ago I taught at a college in Nanjing that had hotel maintenance majors and gardening majors.

"toilet engineer" "tree engineer"

What does it really mean when quoted in China ?

The bear · Joined: 16 Aug 2015 Posts: 483

Modernist · Joined: 03 Jan 2016 Posts: 72 Location: Routing

Yeah, the job in Chongqing will likely suck. The climate there is awful. Summer will make you want to kill yourself. And yes, it's a provincial-level 'city' which means it's the size of a province. It's actually rather larger than several formal provinces, both in population and land area. It's got a whole swath of very rural areas and then lots of 'satellite cities' which are technically in the 'city' of Chongqing but are separated from anything that a normal person would consider a city. Obviously most of the universities (especially marginal ones like a Telecommunications University) are located in places like this because the city government wants to disperse them to increase the development of the various areas and campuses are seen to be one of the best ways to do this. So you'd be in the middle of nowhere, likely without a Metro connection either. It will require buses, if you're lucky only one, and they might be quite a substantial ride time, to get away from the immediate area of the campus.

Also, teaching low-level engineers will be awful. I did that last year. They can be quite smart but most of them hate English and they especially hate oral English. There will be too many boys in every class and they will be extremely unmotivated. They are being forced to take it and rarely if ever see reason to do anything. Their confidence is low, their ability is low, and their interest is low. You can expect a lot of looking down at the notebook or phone. Sometimes the schools will frame it as a test prep class, such as for IELTS, and that's even worse because they have absolutely no ability to even prepare for such a test, let alone actually take it.

Wenzhou is not particularly near Shanghai, either. It's more than 3 hours by train and you have to go through Hangzhou. It's a generally rich city, which is useful, but very isolated. It's surrounded by mountains, which is why their dialect is so distinct. The people there tend to resent the other parts of Zhejiang, especially Hangzhou and Ningbo, which are more cultured and have many more things to help the foreigner living in China, like food. Wenzhou is not cosmopolitan at all.

The weather is probably better, being on the coast, and teaching at a medical university is probably better also. Personally, I wouldn't take either of these jobs, though.

Blistering Zanazilz · Joined: 06 Jan 2018 Posts: 180

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia