Job Discussion Forums

PETERKM · Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 20 Location: LONDON

I am comming over in a month and really need to know what do people think nowadays.

Where to start?

TAIWAN OR CHINA - lifestyle, money, job opportunities

Any imput greatly appreciated.

troy_westpoint · Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:36 pm Post subject:

iam in a similar situation except i wont be going till october or november. one of the things i wan to know is how much money you make and save. i know its more than money, its about the experience. at the same time when i think about only making about $700cdn a month in china, or $2000 in taiwan, iam drawn more to taiwan. i want to save money for the future, and so thats why i want to know more of the financial side. after all it doesnt sound like these schools have any kind of rrsp or pension plans.
so my question is how much do people make a month after expenses? i know everyone will have different lifestyle habits with regards to spending money. this is before all the partying and drinking or traveling. i just want to know the basics like food phone etc.
also how much do people make. i see the ads for jobs, but it doesnt factor in how much is made by side income like tutoring or jobs that arent posted.
iam not trying to be nosey into peoples income, an exact figure is not what iam after. iam not the tax department, so rough figures would be appreciated, thanks.

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

PLEEASE don't ask about pay in China..Some recent threads like Pay In China went on for pages and pages and never reached a conclusion. I have met people here earning as little as 3000 RMB and some making as much as 20 000.

Expenses also vary wildly. Last night I spent 5Y on dinner at a Muslim place. I might have went around the corner and had a surf n turf for 200.

If you want numbers I will offer these (and will be told I am wrong!) On 500 a week you should be comfortable. On this amount I smoke , go out a lot and buy dvd's etc. What does in my savings is travel. You get a LOT of time off here. If you are looking at 3 weeks off what are you going to do? I would say don't even think of saving much unless you are over 7000 a month. And even then...Don't come to China unless you want to be here...

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

If you come here "needing" the job, you are going to be at an extreme disadvantage at every turn. Your employers only value you in terms of the profits you represent to them. The less they give to you, the more they keep for themselves.

If you can not DEMAND things from your employers with the plain understanding that you will leave if your demands are not met, you are going to get "screwed." Needing the job is going to take the wind out of your sail in a big way.

This is my perspective from a provincial city of China

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

docgary · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Guangzhou China

Well i think china is better if u want to learn chinese.
in Taiwan, the younger generation are also crazy about english
but have good skills and you will hardly use chinese as the place
is small and mostly taiwanese is spoken by the local merchants.

for lifestyle, taiwan is better and you aren't told where to live
by the PSB.
so u will have to weigh it up.
gp

globalguru · Joined: 28 Nov 2004 Posts: 6 Location: China

I might be half-crazed, but I chose China because I truly wanted to experience life in a closed, authoritarian society. That consideration alone tilted me in this direction, despite offers in Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan.

Having been here for three months now, I can say that I don't regret making my choice at all. China can be very frustrating, but I've gained tremendous insight just by virtue of living and working here.

The frustrations do not detract from the generosity and warmth of the people. I think you'd be happy in either place, but living in Communist China does provide a unique opportunity to glimpse into a completely different system than what you're used to (I assume you're from a major Western country).

troy_westpoint · Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 8:22 pm Post subject:

thanks for the info so far, it has been pretty useful. i find it so hard to look up info on the various websites and forums since there is so much out there to read. so basically if i go to china i wont be able to save much at all. a bit of my background, my major is economics so thats one reason why iam concerned with money. another is i have a very good job now where i make alot of money working with a mining contractor, so i wont be going there because i need a job.
i do want to experience something different than here, and of course china seems alot different. reading all the negative things about it is kind of a turn off. is it because alot of people on the sites dont like it there, or is it because alot of people in general dont like it there?

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

"The frustrations do not detract from the generosity and warmth of the people. "

GG, Are you serious when you say this? I have not found this to be the case at all. I continually marvel at how almost everyone I meet has an angle to rip me off in one way or another. I did meet and associate with a group of lovely ladies with whom I shared a mutual interest. One of their husbands, however, I believe, pressured his wife into trying to involve me in some activity that was certainly of dubious value.

The women can be very friendly, but they are usually married and their sense of social boundaries is quite different from mine. They are very flirtatious at times. When a married woman invites me to her home for a private meal with her, it frightens me. I don't consider this warmth, but it may be life- threatening. A jealous, drunken husband with whom I can't communicate is someone I prefer avoiding. I wonder what these women are thinking.

I often feel like a black in Mississippi several decades ago. The way lao wai is used by some is not much different than "*beep*." To hear young men or even older ones giggling like little girls and snickering lao wai is very disappointing, to say the least. The look in the eyes of others when they spit out lao wai reminds me that Westerners were slaughtered in parts of China during the Boxer Rebellion.

The Chinese may need us, but many of them, deep down inside, still hate us.

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

Forums seem to be negative for every country...I don't know why..It may be the theory that people will post a negative experience to "vent" but not post I had a nice day! When I meet other foreigners the conversation is nothing like what you see here...It's not like we sit around complaining about spitting and how bad China Daily is...I don't know where a lot of it comes from anyway. Look at the above post..No offence Tofuman but why would you worry about a drunk husband acting crazy. This is not a drinking culture. (One of my complaints actually.) They roll up the sidewalks here early. Go to Korea and see the public drunkenness that carries on until sun-up. THAT is a drinking culture. The Chinese make a show out of Gambei but then go home at 9 o'clock.

To the OP if you make good money -and will again- why worry about saving a bit in a year in Asia? Unless you plan this a s a career change...

A friend of mine once summed it up---it's like there's a saving money gene that some have and some dont. Some will make minimum wage and save---others will make big bucks and always be in debt...I think a key is sticking to a job. Changing jobs tends to make saving tough,,,