Job Discussion Forums

[fabbrowneyegirl]

I've been offered a teaching job in Wuhan, China, beginning January 2005. I am a Canadian girl who can't wait to discover China. Just looking for some feedback from those of you living in Wuhan. I want to hear it all, the good, the bad and even the ugly!

[Roger]

I am not living in Wuhan, but I happen to have a rather favourable impression of this metropolis. It's not too far from Guangdong and Hong Kong - one over-night train ride. It's ale day. Shanghai is a bit less easy to get to.

It certainly is interesting for the seeker of the Chinese myths and mysteries, yet it also has plenty of signs of modernisation. In Wuchang, for instance, you find plenty of traditional China, whereas in Hankow you find the renovated side of it.

The river here is of vital importance; to Shanghai and to Chongqing it is your prime route of human and cargo transport. I personally prefer ships to planes and even trains.

As a big agglomeration consisting of three cities, it is the hub of central China, with lotertiary institutes of learning. Some have rambling campuses of old charm, as for instance in the East Lake area in Wuchang.

If there are any drawbacks, I would say it is the climate; the top temperature in July and August hovers around the 40 C mark, while in winter it is pretty near zero. The best way to keep warm in bed is by buying an electric blanket.

My favourable impression also is due to the fact that on several occasions I was invited in to a local's house and made to spend the night there. This is still somewhat special and a privilege. I ascribe it to the more mellow nature of Hubeier folk.

Quite, quite unlike Cantonese!

[ContemporaryDog]

Hi there

I live in Wuhan. I've been here over a year now (renewed my contract). Some people absolutely hate this place. One of the guys who I used to work with was going to stay a year but only signed six months because he couldn't stand the sight of the city as soon as he got here. I signed a year but was going to break my contract halfway through (more due to school rues than the city, although the city was a factor too) until I was fortunate enough to meet my wife, who was a good enough reason to stay.

First thing's first, and here is the bad, this is not an attractive city. I haven't seen enough of China to say whether its the norm, or above or below average, but a lot of people say its one of the worse places (although I saw a place that was substantially worse in Henan, where the skyline was made up of giant smokestacks, that was truly hideous). Air quality is not as bad as that Henanese place but still quite bad. Probably about the same as Bangkok.

Having said that, there are some pretty spots, especially around the East Lake area of Wuchang, around the University campuses etc.

Secondly, it IS a friendly city. For a metropolis of 8 million it is much more friendly than any other city I can think of.

Thirdly, the Chinese food can be really nice here. Because its slap bang in the middle, in various places you can get hot pots, you can get xiao kao, you can get first rate dumplings (jiao zi) and in some places you can get cantones-style food, its a real mixture. Often the food even from small cafes is very good, definitely nicer than what I tried down south in Yangshuo, where the Mrs and I agreed that the Chinese food wasn't a patch on what it is up here. And if you eat out at more upmarket places it is still amazingly cheap compared to what it would cost in the west.

Other food is more limited but it IS improving - such as the Indian restaurant that opened recently.

Nightlife - not fantastic, but there are a few good places. depends on what you're into really...

Any other questions, fire away.

[ContemporaryDog]

I must say about the weather - the winter is no worse than that of the UK (and its shorter), maybe slightly colder but not markedly. And April, May, June, July, September, October see some great weather. Personally I like hot weather, but I was away for most of AUgust when it was at its hottest.

[fabbrowneyegirl]

Thanks to all for your replies!
Have any of you heard of "The David Perry English Center"?
Again, the good, the bad and the ugly!

[ContemporaryDog]

[fabbrowneyegirl]

I'm hoping that's because there are many schools in Wuhan because this is the school I've been in contact with. How can you find out for sure if a school is legit?

[ContemporaryDog]

[millie]

I have been to Wuhan perhaps a dozen times and IMHO it’s a dirty disgusting hole.

When approaching by bus you can smell the pollution half an hour before you reach the city.
By the time you reach the city, you might well have a headache.
It has a terrible climate: as hot a hell in summer with high humidity and horrible pollution added in.
For example if you get onto the main bridge over the Yangtze and you can’t see one kilometre along the river.
Then in winter is snows; the snow melts and the place is a mess.

It is has planes, buses and overnight trains to Shanghai and from my memory it took about the same as to Guangzhou, certainly no longer.

While there are some worthwhile and interesting locations and a new fa�ade to parts of Wuhan, it is also a rather poor sprawling capital city of one of the middling to poor provinces.

People can be friendly but also rather provincial –even for China.
I found the food uninspiring.

I must agree, it’s a love it or hate it place.
Sorry that I am on the negative side here.


As Contemporary Dog suggests, do contact past/present teachers.
It is often better to phone people than mail them since they can be more forthcoming in this way.

M

[ContemporaryDog]

I must say fabbrowneye girl, I think millie is exaggerating - its certainly nowhere near as poor or dirty sa some other cities I've seen in asia (Calcutta, Bombay).

But there are much better places in China IMHO, and if you've got no specific reason to come to Wuhan, you'd probably be better off going somewhere else.

[fabbrowneyegirl]

It's going to take more than pollution to turn me away from coming to Wuhan. As far as I can see, China is pretty much polluted everywhere! My job opportunity in Wuhan meets all my needs and I can't wait to get going!

Thanks for all your replies!

[Roger]

Honestly, I am a little surprised but not upset, about the negative comments so far. True, Wuhan is not an idyll; but Chinese cities are all dirty, noisy, overcrowded. Very few offer a congenial cultural and environmental setting.
I work in Guangzhou, and I have to say it is one of the dirtiest big cities, yet one of the most interesting ones I happen to know. I wouldn't want to swap it for Peking. Personally, I like Kunming much better, yet Guangzhou is where I earn my dough.
And Wuhan is no worse than Guangzhou. Does it have any redeeming features? I thought I enumerated them in my first post; if you can put up with living in a small arsehole in Shaanxi or Shanxi, then you can no doubt do much better than surviving in Wuhan, I assure everybody.

[ContemporaryDog]

[quote="fabbrowneyegirl"]It's going to take more than pollution to turn me away from coming to Wuhan. As far as I can see, China is pretty much polluted everywhere! My job opportunity in Wuhan meets all my needs and I can't wait to get going!

Thanks for all your replies![/quote]

Believe me, its not as bad as some people make out. The pollution is the single biggest letdown. As Roger says below, compared to some places you could live in where there wouldn't be any bars or clubs at all, no Carrefour, not even PIzza Hut, it really isn't too bad.

If you've got a really good job opportunity here, go for it.

[ContemporaryDog]

[struelle]

Speaking of Guangzhou, I've visited there a few times now. My first impression was overwhelmingly negative - dirty and smell place, unfriendly people, and lots of thieves at the train station. The subsequent visits proved better though, once I got used to the place a bit.

As China is such a big and diverse place, the regional areas certainly have lots of differences and you can have mini 'culture-shock' while traveling around the place.

This was most evident on the train ride when I came to Shanghai where I am now. On the train I sat with three 'Bei Fang expats' who had lived and worked in Guangzhou for 7 years. There was also a couple from Anhui province and a single woman migrant who just got cheated by a tout at the Guangzhou railway station. She was then going to Shanghai to try to find work - unemployed, unfortunately.

This whole mix of people was within 2 hard seat carriages. We were brought together by the common hard seat train experience, though our the backgrounds couldn't have been more different.

Steve