Job Discussion Forums

[greenfox]

Here's the deal:

My salary is 5500RMB. I have two choices for my apartment: accept theirs and share with another teacher for free or get a 1000RMB bonus every month to offset an apartment on my own.

The other major factor is that regardless of the decision I make on the apartment, I have 2000RMB in US debt to pay every month.

My question is, will 3500RMB be enough to live on if I take their apartment? And/or, if I get my own, will 4500RMB be enough to live on including rent (I already subtracted the 2000RMB in debt that I owe)?

Any advice from current Wuhan residents?

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

i'm not a wuhan resident but i'll offer some advice anyway.

do you have any employment options other than esl in china?

if you have loans to pay back home and you're only looking at these run of the mill university jobs in china, you'll really be living on a shoestring. if something goes really wrong (illness for one), things can go from bad to worse easily. of course you can add to your regular income with part time work but that's not guaranteed money in the bank every month.

my advice is to find work elsewhere and build up some savings/pay off your loans, then you can come to China and enjoy the place more without having to worry too much about finances.

[RonHex]

1000rmb a month in Wuhan will get you an oldschool apartment with crap furniture, chinese toilet, no lift, may or maynot have AC... really depends what u can live with tho.. I have a buddy that pays 300rmb a month and is pretty happy overall(no furniture, no hot water, the shower is just a hose running off the toilet, no bed)
I pay 1800 now for a nice building in a good part of town, 2bedrooms, dinning room, big livingroom with a couple nice leather sofas, big kitchen, proper toilet/shower, lift, 20th floor with a nice view,AC in everyroom.. It would be hard for me to accept less now, altho in the past I have had some pretty rough places.
As for cost of living in Wuhan... it really depends what type of lifestyle u expect to live.. if you wanna eat 2rmb noodles/simple chinese meals, drink beer on the street, little to no travel, take the bus everywhere, sit at home and watch dvds, ect. u will do fine.. even have enough to treat urself to something nice a couple times a month..
however if you want to go to the club once or twice a week, drink imported beer, eat cheese , take a girl out for a nice meal and go to the movies, travel, ect... u will be a hurting unit.
That said you can always get PT work and double ur income..
then again if any major costs come up.. eg. new phone, clothes, trip back home, medical, new computer, ect... u will be in some deep water

[nickpellatt]

Ive never been to Wuhan, but I have just returned to the UK from Yangshuo (which everyone says is expensive as its touristy) and I can tell you 3500 is more than enough to live on there! I even managed to bring home almost 8000 after a short 5 month stint.

That stint included 3 weeks at only one class a day, and two weeks unpaid during Spring Festival. I didnt miss out on meals, or taking my GF out etc.

Point to remember though, I only did a short term gig, and didnt have additional expenditures that can arise during a long term stay. Oh, I dont eat cheese or drink imported beer either Each to their own but its a no-brainer for me to choose between a 25 rmb 330ml Bud, and a 8 rmb 600 ml local beer. Ditto with food ... Western food is often twice the cost for half the flavour IMO

[kev7161]

Here we go, round and round again. There's "existing" and there's "living a more Chinese-style lifestyle", and then there's "doing whatever the hell you want to and not worry so much about the money angle". Me? I choose the latter. Each poster that advises you is going to have their own opinion based on either a) the current job they have and they tell themselves their doing "alright" or b) some past experience where they thought their income was GREAT! and CHINA IS SO COOL AND CHEAP TO LIVE! . . . until they found out it wasn't.

5500 isn't miserable - - there are some jobs out there that offer less. But there are better paying ones out there as well. I suggest you take a couple of weeks and really shop around on the internet before accepting anything.

[rogerwilco]

My lifestyle is also a "doing whatever the hell you want to and not worry so much about the money angle".
I cannot live like a Chinese and eat 5RMB meals most of the time.
I believe in the saying "you are what you eat", and I do not want to eat crap.
Plus, medical emergencies can be very expensive, and I do not want to be forced to have to accept the cheapest medical care.

I have met many that tell me " I am not here for the money", but after a few months they start to complain about being being able to afford "luxuries" such as cheese

I also advise you to seek out a better paying job.

[nickpellatt]

The OP is asking can he live on 3500 a month..which is around 115 RMB per day. If he was living Chinese and eating 5 RMB meals thrice daily...he would still have around 100 RMB left each day!

I have worked in two places in China now ... Hainan and Yangshuo, and I cant believe anyone single and not a long termer cannot live a very comfortable lifestyle on the disposable income mentioned. Medical costs CAN be high...but this is perhaps less of a concern on a short term visit?

I also belong to the group of people that want to enjoy China life and not worry about the pennies...in my experience, and with my tastes, I would suggest that yes, 3500 is enough disposable income to enjoy life.

Sure there may well be jobs that pay higher salaries...and if you can get them good luck to you. I have always chosen location before salary, and sometimes location does dictate typical salaries. I have been offered 3 times my last salary to work in BJ, but frankly...I would only consider BJ if the salary was in excess of 25k per month.

I dont know salaries in Wuhan, but if the OP is very keen on working in that location, for whatever reason, then I think it is fair to say that yes, one can live on the income mentioned, and enjoy life quite a lot at the same time. 3500 is hardly 'breadline' in China, and doesnt mean eating nothing but noodles in backstreets

[Voldermort]

Of the three categories mentioned I would place myself between the last two. While I refuse to eat 5 RMB noodles I hardly splurge on Cheeses and steaks. I like to treat myself to a good 'western' meal once a week and tend to eat common chinese food on most other days. Also I no longer spend the nights on the town though I do sometimes spend a night out eating BBQ and drinking local beers with friends.

To be perfectly honest, 70% of my money is spent on bottles of fizzy pop, munchies and tobacco.

My wife and I live comfortably on 4000 RMB a month, including my 1000 RMB rent, utlities and whatnot. Though my city is not large, it is not exactly small.

So, OP, 3500 RMB a month is certainly doable in an average city provided you don't get into the mindset that China is cheap and you can afford it. My advice would be to live a frugal life for the first two months. Stay away from places like Bars and McDonalds, try to figure out the local bus system and/or invest in a bike and try not to go sight-seeing. After you have worked out your minimum spending then you will be in a position to treat yourself.

[MisterButtkins]

Threads about proper salary tend to attract a lot of controversy. Consider these two foreign teachers who live in China:

Foreigner A: Foreigner A doesn't really like Chinese food. He greatly enjoys Western food however, and eating it reminds him of home and comforts him. He lives in Beijing and eats at a Western restaurant almost every night. He may spend 40-50 yuan on his entree and 20 yuan for a Budweiser to go with his meal. On the weekends, he enjoys going to foreigner bars and will buy perhaps 4-5 drinks here, for around 25 yuan each. If he is at the store and sees a product he likes, he will not hesitate to buy it, since it is much cheaper than it would be at home and seems very useful. He doesn't see these habits as unreasonable or expensive, since this is pretty much exactly how he lived in his home country. He makes 4000 RMB a month and often finds himself short of funds. He decides that his salary is insufficient.

Foreign B: Foreigner B enjoys Chinese food and doesn't drink a lot. He enjoys reading, chatting online, and watching movies. He doesn't go to bars very often, though he will occasionally go and have a few drinks at a foreign bar to socialize with other foreigners. He usually eats dinner at a small Chinese restaurant near his apartment because it is conveniently located and he finds the food delicious. He rarely spends more than 20 yuan on dinner, and lunch is a 5RMB plate of fried rice at the school cafeteria. He reads posts online about how people cannot live on less than 4000 RMB a month and doesn't understand how this is possible, since he rarely spends more than 200 RMB each week.

The thing is, both of these people have reasonable lifestyles, but in China, they spend very different amounts of money. Foreigner A may bash foreigner B for living like a peasant, lowering his standard of living, or not knowing how to have a good time. Foreigner B may bash foreigner A because he lives in an expat bubble, is trying to live like an American in China, spends money on silly things, etc...

Just know which camp you are in.

[roadwalker]

I agree with almost all of the opinions so far, even though they may contradict each other. I only want to reinforce the advice given that you could easily live, on a monthly basis, on 3500 RMB, especially in free accommodation. But whatever job you take, make sure before you come that you have a few thousand dollars/pounds/euros just in case:

1) The job is crap and the boss is cheating you and you really need to get out of town or even start over. Really bad situations aren't that common, but if you read these pages, you will certainly run across some of them (and the worst tales are of teachers without savings- at the mercy of thieves or worse);

2) You have a serious medical problem while in China. Medical treatment varies in quality considerably and more expensive isn't necessarily better, but you will at a minimum want the foreigner quality insurance and extra savings just in case you have to go outside of the coverage;

3) You have an emergency in the family or some other reason you have to rush home.

My first time in China, I managed to make higher student loan payments than you are paying and lived on a smaller amount. I finally decided that it wasn't worth it, not because I couldn't live on a few thousand RMB, but because the loan would never be paid back fast enough for me. I returned home, found a decent paying job, paid down the loan with every spare penny and then returned to China with a new sense of freedom. If you can find a decent job at home and do that for a while, you will feel less pressure from the loan. Good luck whichever you do.

[YAMARI]

I lived near wuhan 5 years ago in a cheaper town and had 4500 a month to spend and spent it all every month. Wuhan is more expensive than that town and prices have really gone up in 5 years. If you dont want to eat western than you could live on 3500 but you wont be drinking much more than cheap beers and eating cheap chinese food in chinese joints. Wuhan has horrible air as well.

[struelle]

Please send me a private message, or else email me if you don't have the post count needed ... just add 'hotmail.com' to my name. I can offer two nice possible apartments at 1400 RMB or 1600 RMB per month starting in July if you want to come down and have a look.

I'm in Wuchang south of the university area near Guanshan. I'll be upfront with you on this, it's a bit further away from the downtown areas and it can take time to get back and forth on the bus. But the apartments I live in are *really good* and you'll get good value for money.

This all depends of course, on where your work is. As I'm sure you're aware of, the traffic in Wuhan is terrible and you really need to factor this in when getting around.

As for your salary mentioned, you should have no problem living on it, and Wuhan is cheap, you'll do fine and even enjoy life as long as you are careful with the spending

[ScreamingCube]

[struelle]

[nickpellatt]

It is an individual thing I guess ... in terms of what we think is living well, and good value. I always think I lived very well, but perhaps my needs are simple. Im certainly not the kind of person who wants to always buy things for my apartment, but my housemate was forever coming home with a new drape to throw over the table, decorative fans to brighten up the walls etc.

My days would always start with breakfast picked up on the way to school, mantou most days, sometimes a pot of Guilin noodles. Maximum of 3 RMB. I also had lunch at my school which was not only quite nice but also cheap at 3.5 RMB, plus I liked the social aspect to it...thats the advantage of adult students maybe. Add my smoking habit, tea drinking habit, and fondness of Oishi crisps late at night and my spending was up to 20 RMB a day.

This excludes my evening meal, and EVERY night without exception I went out with my GF, and we chose pretty much any place we fancied and ordered what we wanted. I probably paid 2/3rds of the cost over the course of our time together...and a nice meal in a touristy restaurant (not a hole in the wall) of Sichuan food (yue xiang rou si / Gong bou ji ding / Tie ban nu rou etc and one veg dish with rice and tea) would run out at about 45 RMB for the two of us. With me paying 2/3rds...this runs my daily living cost at 50 RMB a day. Less than half of the 115 a day that 3500 a month equates too.

That alone is living quite nicely in my book, esp considering the low working hours....when the weekend rolled around I would then have a pocket full of money to do any tourist trip we both fancied doing...and Yangshuo has a lot of those. If the weather wasnt so bright, I would buy DVDs, play pool and drink beer in a Western bar.... and I never had to be careful and make sure I could cover my bar tab.

Its all about taste I guess. I dont like steak, not into cocktails or spirits.....I guess I would always prefer a good Chinese meal with a beautiful girl to a block of cheese bought from a Western supermarket. I guess they both cost about the same