Job Discussion Forums

[Sareva]

I have a potential offer from a school in Foshan, but I don't know anything about that city. My friend and I want to go to a fairly big, international city (like Shanghai). How big is Foshan? Is there a lot of stuff to do there? Do they speak Mandarin or Cantonese?

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

i suggest starting out by using the search function - type in "foshan" as your keyword and then select the job related forum, and a lot of foshan results come up. some of them are dated, but lots of the information will still be fairly useful since you're looking for general info more than specifics. one of the results, entitled "Foshan???" will probably tell you much of what you need to know. wikipedia also has a decent page on foshan.

[malu]

Horrible place. There is a huge aluminium smelter and a few chemical works that spew out vast amounts of pollution. It is dirty, grey and full of factory wage-slaves from other provinces.

[Sinobear]

I like Foshan (downtown). Close to GZ, people are friendlier than in GZ.

As for working there, it depends much more on just the city itself, but what kind of contract you're being offered.

Give us more details, please.

[Sareva]

Well, the contract seems pretty good: Housing provide on campus, healthcare split 50/50, 10,000RMB a month, paid holiday leave, round trip tickets at the end of contract, free full visa and residency permit and a desk with basic office equipment. In exchange I work about 33hrs per week and take part in special extra curricular activities. Contract can be broken by either party provided there is 60 days notice. To me at least, this seems like a decent offer, which is why I'm more concerned about the location. My friend and I are trying to go to the same place, and we're really hoping to go to a somewhat large, metropolitan, international city. I'm just trying to get a feel for the vibe of the city and how bored/not bored we would be there. What is there to do in our free time?

[Sinobear]

It all depends on what you like to do. Foshan is being assimilated with Guangzhou. The GZ subway will be extended to Foshan within the next two years.

As with any Chinese city, there's nightlife, culture, entertainment, etc. Foshan is a short bus ride to GZ proper and from there you can get anywhere you'd like to travel.

If I were given the choice between Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan or Huizhou to start in, I'd choose Foshan. I'd actually choose Shenzhen, however, the rental rates are too high in SZ.

[Sareva]

All very helpful. Thanks for the input