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caleypatrick
Joined: 20 Mar 2010
Posts: 63
Location: Sichuan
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 Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:44 am Post subject: |
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| RonHex wrote: |
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 |
This guy has hit the nail on the head. I lived in Wuhan a couple of years ago and I can echo these thoughts. You will not have a problem living on 3,500 RMB but you liftstyle will be diluted. That being said, I'd take their apartment and eat the street vendor food (quite good and the gan mien (meat noodles) is the best in China. One point: Make sure the school apartment includes them picking up all the incidentals such as gas, water and electricity. Enjoy Wuhan. I did, especially the Hankou district. |
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jpvanderwerf2001
Joined: 02 Oct 2003
Posts: 1117
Location: New York
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| Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:11 am Post subject: |
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| MisterButtkins wrote: |
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. |
This is one of the best posts I've ever read on Dave's. This should be a sticky, as it's true not only for China, but for nearly every country people teach EFL/ESL in.
Know which camp you're in: Priceless advice. |
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