Job Discussion Forums

[danshengou]

Paid time off is adequate, but not great. That said, you can try your luck at getting a couple extra weeks off unpaid. And your experience will vary depending on the group you teach in, whether there are materials, how demanding your coordinator is, etc. The pay is decent, but in most cases you work for it.

As for Suzhou, it's just ok. There isn't a lot to do, and getting to the other parts of town is basically a hassle. Winters are cold, so you should find yourself an apartment with floor heating and good insulation. Figure about 5500 rmb per month for a decent 2-bedroom (housing allowance is 3300). Other teachers are extremely frugal and freeze in the winter (4 months really). So unless you're a masochist, spend the extra kuai. If you like your independence, I recommend living within 5km of campus and getting a 2-wheeled vehicle. But then you must brave the Chinese roads

The air is an issue. It is bad by China standards, and horrible by western standards. That said, it suffers fewer extremely unhealthy days like Beijing, but it also has fewer clean air days. So you either get used to the constant haze or leave.

Finally, Shanghai is the only saving grace really. But it's not just down the road. You have to hump it to the train station, and you should book your round-trip tickets in advance. The train ride itself isn't bad. If you leave the office at 5:00 for a 6:00 train, you arrive in downtown SH at 6:30 roughly, but then you have to catch a cab to the expat locations in French Concession/Jing'An/Changning/Huangpu/the Bund. You could also take the train from SIP to Hongqiao and metro it from there to the aforementioned areas. So total is about 2 hours one-way. My guess is you'd be lucky to get there once a month. The SIP station is 10km from campus.

In my experience, the expats who last are earning top pay or they have a Chinese spouse. It is worth pointing out that Chinese EAP teachers tend to live more comfortably as they are Chinese and much better networked (some own apartments and cars, etc.) For the laowei, China definitely takes some getting used to, and there is a big language barrier as well. Overall, EAP at XJTLU is doable long-term, but it is not for the faint of heart.

[The_Penguin]

Thanks for the information, it's really useful to get as many perspectives as possible.

[Aprilshowers]

What is the accommodation offered by XJTLU like?

They have offered the MBA apartments, Scholar's Garden, R&D, and Parfait International. I have read that R&D had power issues (back in 2010!, it's very hard to find current information)

Which apartments are the better ones? What kind of conditions can I expect? (Should I pack some candles?!)

[bagua8]

Hi April,

I lived in R and D for 1 month. Was OK, but not great. Being able to walk to work was a definite plus. I ended up living in an apartment bloc called ' the living bank', and was happy there. PM me if you have specific questions.

B8

[danshengou]

The places you have mentioned will be hit and miss. Don't expect anything but a very basic 1-bedroom (with no heating) for 3000 kuai. But they are cheap, near work, and you can pay monthly.

[Aprilshowers]

As long as they are "liveble" and clean, it will have to do until I can find another place to move to