Job Discussion Forums

[Egas]

I'm thinking of making the big move south after rejecting a glorious offer to teach in Yizhen (never heard of it? - neither has anyone else). I just want to know what is a good salary in Shangahi? I have been offered some that seem way too low to me - around Y6000, but with housing. I have a partner to feed and clothe, so I can't live on nothin'.

I would have thought jobs that pay Y10 000 and above would be reasonably common in Shanghai. One of my mates is on Y12 000 (with housing and medical) and he has no teaching qualifications and limited experience. That's a 16 hour a week job with no prep or marking.
I've heard housing is really expensive in Shanghai - at least around Y3000. Is that correct? Any help would be appreciated.

[AKA]

I should begin by recommending that your kept partner, unless heavily pregnant, should get off her lazy butt and work for a change. Is this the same one you complained about here before? Mine, a local, gets 5000 a month teaching and tutoring: more than most FT's.
Housing........if you want to live next door to the subway at Xu Jia Hui, you can get a nice if small 2BR place for 3000, but get your GF to do the renting; it'll go up if they see you. Further out, but on the light rail, maybe 2000. Of course, you can pay lots more. Living costs? Steiner could do it on 1K. My family does it on 3. American next door gets through 11K a month, but he supports quite a few hairdresser girls.

[Egas]

Thanks for that AKA. Except the part where you beat up my girlfiend. I'm the only one allowed to beat her up around here, got it?

Seriously, I am surprised those figures are so low. Do you have to live on rice and noodles to get by o Y3000 or less? I spend heaps more than that in Beijing.

And what about salaries? Is Y6000 a decent wage in Shanghai? I would have thought it would be on the low side.

[AKA]

And a bit of dofu.
4 courses plus beer costs us 30 yuan. A kilo of fresh prawns is 20. Just hit the western restaurants, bars etc. once a fortnight for a 500 night out, and you'll do it for 4000, unless GF is a shopoholic..........big problems then. 6000 job; what are the hours? I work Saturdays at 250 an hour. THAT'S where the $ is.

[Atlas]

Come to Shanghai, it's a great place! Do yourself a favor and
find several part time jobs, control your own schedule and play the losers off the winners. Get an apartment within short walking distance to the subway station. The train is the best way to get around; cabs are ubiquitous but the drivers often take advantage if you don't tell them exactly
where to go, and even then, sometimes can't seem to understand their own language, and pass your stop, make wrong turns, take you as far as possible out of your way regardless of what you say or do. Also, the morning commute is a surreal experience
and if you rely on taxis you will not have enough control of your time. You can get a bicycle cheap, but listen, you dont want to try it for a while until you get the rhythm of the traffic here. It's a freaking nightmare. For example: the light turns red, forty people pour into the crosswalk, are actually blocking the whole road, and a bus is coming, and what the hell, the bus just keeps going and runs the light and everyone scatters or else. I watch this happen every day. (You know it's not a litigous society!) The subway is the way to go here, they are clean, safe and run like clockwork. You can get a
Metro card that you can use for the subway, taxis and buses, it's very
convenient. Subways--otherwise, you will end up spending all day in the city and coming home
only at night, exhausted.

But that's where the rent prices go up, near any station. I have a friend
who lives across the street from one, he pays about 2500 yuan in the French Concession, for a newly furnished one bedroom. But that is a good deal. More likely you will pay 3000-3500 for something like that. You never know until u try. Expect to pay 3 months rent plus half a month for an agent fee.

A cab ride across the city may cost you 40 yuan (a good price but it can add up twice a day!). An ice coffee at Starbucks is 18. A meal at Pizza Hut may be 90 yuan. Demand a salary of at least 130-150 an hour. Dont commute too far. There are lots of schools in the city! You needn't go outside the city limits.

Learn from my experience! I currently live in the BF Egypt section of Shanghai, and my rent is lower than a snake belly but I give it all to the taxis! I will be looking for a new place during the holiday. Xu Jia Hui is a great mix of cosmopolitan Shanghai, Western and Chinese style streets, retaurants and houses.

Once you settle in here, you can support yourself well enough. Work a lot or not as much, you can still keep reasonably afloat. Just dont lose your cab fare! Good luck!

[fat_chris]

Or...

save your 90 yuan by avoiding Pizza Hut and get several dishes of local food with the brewskis for much cheaper.

[Minhang Oz]

I agree with most of what Atlas says about this city. Like fat chris though, who needs a Pizza Hut? I make my own with all the ingredients bought locally. Taxis are OK, just a few minor problems, but there's a good hot line system in place. "Expensive" myths come from visitors, or people who are determined to live a 100% western lifestyle. And it's possible to do that here! Great city, but you've got to like BIG cities.