Job Discussion Forums

[Stepho]

Hello all,
Do you know how much normally a PhD associate professor gets at XJTLU?

thanks

[Anda]

You could be in the big money; say 5,000 RMB a month! Don't spend it all at once.
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http://www.edu.cn/jiangsu_109/20080310/t20080310_284022.shtml

Two Research Assistant Positions are available: an opportunity to work on an exciting project at Xi�an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China

　　We are seeking to appoint two Research Assistants with master degrees to work on a National Key Technology R&D Program project �Development of an Ancient-Building Protection Techniques Information System� The objective of the project is to develop an information system for ancient building protection techniques in China. Currently, two main technical directions and developments at Xi�an-Jiaotong-Liverpool University are planned: (a) multimedia information retrieval and (b) distributed knowledge base management.

　　Applicants are expected to have experience in the following areas: multimedia information retrieval, knowledge base system development and management. The ability to work effectively with colleagues from a variety of institutions is essential. Applicants are also expected to have master degrees in Computer Science, Mathematics or related subjects. Excellent programming skills in Java or in Microsoft .NET environment is also a requirement.

　　Both appointments are full time and for a one-year fixed-term contract in the first instance, with opportunities to renew or register as PhD students at XJTLU. The positions are available to start as soon as possible. The salaries for both these posts will be in the range of RMB3,300 � RMB4,600 per month, depending on qualification and experiences.

[Stepho]

Dear Anda,
Thanks for the reply.

I wouldn't move from here for under 30,000RMB/m. That's what I make now.

How about the tax? Is it tax free for foreigners-professors?

[Lorean]

I could not imagine the pain of doing research at a Chinese university.

Rampant plagiarism, corrupt administration, peanuts salary.

[Anda]

It's tax free at this type of wage but after this amount it goes to about 20%. I've lived the last two years on 4,500 plus airfares and free apartment. It's doable without much problem but you need about 8,000 to live comfortable outside the big cities and about 12,000 minimum in the big cities that is with free accommodation.

The job you are looking at is a love job or an ego job that is if you are mad in the head.

Everything is money in this country; you either have it or you don�t. For instance Chinese English teachers at the leading universities get more per month then what the above position is offering. Honesty you won�t find at a management level as a rule. You drag the money in and they will look after you full stop. Government or private position makes no difference.

[11:59]

Anda, the advertisement you post is in no way relevant. If you had bothered to read it before posting it after your PhD keyword search then you would have encountered the words "Both appointments are full time and for a one-year fixed-term contract in the first instance, with opportunities to renew or register as PhD students at XJTLU". Thus, this is for potential PhD candidates, not PhD holders. RMB 4,600 a month to do a PhD is good, for China. Many FTs have to teach 80-odd hours a week to earn that sum each month.

To the OP, I do not know about foreigners, but Chinese PhD holders at universities in mainland China pretty much earn exactly the same as their counterparts here in HK, which is why so few of them come here, despite the extremely lucrative offers often made to entice Mainland professors of maths and computer science. (It is also the reason why they typically have a daughter � or daughters � studying at university in Canada or Australia; try doing that on what many people say Chinese professors earn!) Indeed, their real, actual income can be anywhere between RMB 50,000 and RMB 80,000 a month, though their 'official', 'paper' (i.e., taxable) income can often be as low as RMB 9,000 a month. You also have to factor in a whole array of benefits, some tangible, others less so. These often include free housing � for life � a daily food allowance for the whole family, a travel allowance, 100% employer contribution pension (with a private, western insurance company) and an education allowance for offspring.

[Wonderful Yunqi!!]

I agree with Anda's comments about the usual university deal in a smaller city. You can get by on 4 to 6k with housing. But, considering the fact that Anda stated that he/she has lived for 2 years on 4.5k, how can he/she claim that 12k + housing is needed in a big city? I assume he lived in BJ, SH, GZ or HK before.

I earn about 13k per month when you factor in my 1 hour a week job teaching a 3 year old boy. After taxes, 12k. After rent, utilities and transportation, 8k. After blowing a few kuai, 6k.

Life in Shanghai is nice.

Of course, I could earn more; I could also work more as well.

[Anda]

You need to factor in a trip home every so often plus a job change etc. In a big city food is more expensive along with transport. Entertainment / a social life is much more expensive in a big city. I tend to spend a fair bit on teaching material and it doesn't come cheap. I want to work up stuff to operate from laptop to a TV screen. Where I have worked for two year I have had a black board and access to photocopying only.

If I go back to Oz for a short holiday I need about 1,200 RMB a day just to get by. This wasn't a problem when I worked in South Korea but here!

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Prices of everything are skyrocketing in China.

Pork is cheaper in Canada and America than in China now, for example.

Prices are going up, wages are stagnant.

I just "LOL" when I see jobs asking for a masters at 8k a month, when I earn 12k+ a month.

Anyone with a real honest degree would be better back at home, or at least in Taiwan, Korea, or Japan, full-stop.

I am actually thinking of making a change soon myself.

[lf_aristotle69]

[Surfdude18]

The cost of living is still nob-all compared with the west. Sure meat may be a bit more (but it's still about half the price of the UK) but everything else is basically nob-all.

We've just bought a one bed flat in a very convenient central location. The mortgage repayment is 1600 RMB a month. That's how much we're charging for the rent.

Try renting a one bedroom flat anywhere in a western country's city centre, in a brand new flat, for just over 100 quid a month. I dare you.

[Surfdude18]

That said, the cost of imported stuff is, often, absolutely outrageous.

Still, chinese food is absolutely nothing. When I was back in the UK I went for a bog-standard 'szechuan beef' (just beef with sweet and sour sauce poured on, really mediocre compared to what I've had in the PRC) and a bottle of the qingdao beer that sells for 3.3 RMB here, total cost - the equivalent of 200 RMB!

[lf_aristotle69]

[fat_chris]

Plus, something not mentioned here, but I'll state the obvious: if you supplement your income by hustling for private tutees and other odd "opportunities", I'm sure you could make some bigger money in the PRC than the standard 3,500/4,000/4,500.

That's what I intend to do if I go back. That's what a lot of these professors do, of course, as has been mentioned, without reporting the "under the table" extra income.

Surfdude is right. The general cost of living can be peanuts. Drink the local beer, stay out of the five star hotels and bars where foreigners congregate, and limit your intake of Western food and you'll be straight.

Regards,
fat_c
Sichuan province, 2000-2003

[Beyond1984]

"We've just bought a one bed flat in a very convenient central location." -Surfdude18

Surfdude ... LFA ... I've also realized that owning an apartment in China is the way to go. The cost of maintenance (monthly maintenance fee) is usually about 2 yuan/month per m2 - on a 70 m2 apartment you're paying about $20 US/month, while in the US the fee would be 10x that.

Dude, my cute Chinese gf wants to know if you bought a new or second-hand apartment. She only wants to buy new, because what if someone died in there and the ghost hasn't left yet?

The problem with a new apartment is that you have to buy your own floor, toilet, sink, cabinet-work ... etc. Personally, I would take my chances on the ghost ...

What city are you in? How many m2 is your apartment? Did you try/succeed in getting the asking price reduced? What was your downpayment and what principal did you finance?

I feel justified in asking these things, for I have shared information about my first home elsewhere. Perhaps you have come across another thread in which I mention that the materials to build my lakeplace, excepting the timber, stones, and sand, which I claimed by squatter's rights, came to $28.12.

GWoW, do I wrongly assume that the price of pork in China is not the real reason for your strategic retreat to Canada? Here in Dalian, when the price of pork is up, we economize by eating more abalone, crab, oysters and shrimp

-HDT

"How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it."
-Henry David Thoreau, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," 1849