Job Discussion Forums

Clutch Cargo · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Posts: 14

Hi guys,
Has anyone lived/worked/visited this city in Liaoning prov.?
I've had a job offer from a uni but am a bit put off by it's seeming remoteness from the capital and don't want to get stuck in the boonies again.

windsorman1972

Lee_Odden · Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Posts: 172

Clutch Cargo:

I was in Shenyang some 3 years ago for six months. I came in August and left in February. I had lived in Buffalo, New York for several years and thought that I would be well-prepared for the frigid winter, but I wasn't. You absolutely will need to bundle up with long underwear and multiple layers, including hat, scarf and gloves. Even with long underwear, there were some nights that my legs turned numb.

The cost of living there is dirt-cheap and that is probably the only good thing about living in Shenyang on a EFL teaching salary. It is a very polluted and otherwise dirty city and there were many mornings that I could taste the burning coal fumes in my mouth as I left the apartment. Not good. Also, and this could either be a plus or a minus for you depending on your perspective, Shenyang is the prostitution capital of China - there are more prostitutes per capita in Shenyang than in any other city (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/319.html).

In retrospect, if you are making a phenomenal salary (which I doubt because you mentioned university), I might consider it for six months during the Spring, Summer and Fall months. But I would avoid Shenyang from November through February. And, if you are only being offered 3,500 RMB or so (standard Laioning province university salary), I would pass completely. Consider Dalian if you want to be in northeast China.

Cheers.

stavrogin2001 · Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 92 Location: Liaoning

I have to disagree with some of the things I have been reading on here. I have visited the city about ten times since I have lived in China since 2001 and I think the city has a lot to offer. I guess it depends on what your point of view is and where you are from.

First I want to address the person that wrote it was the prostitution capital of China. That is a little silly I think. I have yet to see a Chinese city without a ton of prositution. Even the fabled Mecca of China, Dalian, is chalked full. Furthermore, I usually avoid reading articles from foreign press that tag along on a government crackdowns. They seem to be very tabloid journalist in nature. I would say Shenyang has prostitution, but show me a city in China that doesn't have it. I think you would be hard pressed to find it.

As for the cold, yes it is a little cold, but if you have grown up in Canada or the Nothern half of the US I think it would not be too much different. I don't think it compares to Harbin or Jilin at all. You want to freeze, go north a little further. I have been in Calgary, Toronto, New York and even Colorado in the winter and it is not much different.

As to the pollution and coal. What city in northern China doesn't have these problems? The Chinese use coal for everything from heat to making food. In Tianjin they still use it to heat their houses with little stoves in their apartments, so I think it is everywhere. maybe the south doesnt have it, but one must remember the south is void of government heating all together so I think that the NE would maybe be a little more comfortable.

My opinion is that Shenyang is really just a large, non-tourist, Chinese city. It does not have the draw of Dalian, Shanghai, or even Beijing. But when I look at a place like Beijing I sometimes wonder why people want to go there. I think it has the worst climate in all of China. Hot, non-breezy summers with sand storms and extreme draught followed by cold, dry winters that are equally bad as far as pollution are concerned. I think we are all hard pressed to find a "developing" Northern Chinese city that is clean and pristine.

Things that Shenyang does have to offer are:

1. Korean culture. The city is a vacation stop for tons of Koreans that go shopping and do business in China. This means that there is a whole district that has wonderful Korean food and shopping that you are hard pressed to find in other places.

2. Manchurian culture: It has a little history of its own. The Manchu dynasty was started just down the road in Fushun and Shenyang was the second capital of the Manchurian people before they invaded the mainland. It has imperial tombs, a forbidden city, and many other great places to visit.

3. It is also still very Chinese. I think that if you want to experience some of the real China people talk about, Shenyang and the Northeast is a great place to do it. For language study the accent is pretty good, and the people are really friendly. I think it would be much different in Shanghai or some other cities where commercialism and development have talen their toll.

I think that in the end everyone has to make their own choice where to go in China. I wish you good luck and read everything on here with a grain of salt.

pandasteak · Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 166

Shenyang: the armpit of China

Talkdoc · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 696

Clutch Cargo · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Posts: 14

Interesting range of experiences. Thanks. My offer was for 40 conversation classes p/w @ 6500RMB. My main issue is that I'll need to get to Beijing fairly regularly (maybe twice a month) and it's sooo far away. And I thought I was isolated (away from the 2 biggest cities) where I was in Korea!
Still thinking....

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

40 classes a week or a month? And 5 or 6 days? Seriously my jobs have been not much more than 40 a month...The salary is certainly fine. You will have a load of cash. I am thinking of going up there for a visit before end of term..And now I hear is prostitution central that clinches it.. Wink

Stavrogin that was a good post although some seem to disagree with you.I think I should visit this city...I almost took a job there at the Normal school but they were unresponsive to my questions and I went elsewhere.

Teacher Lindsay · Joined: 31 Mar 2004 Posts: 393 Location: Luxian, Sichuan

Talkdoc · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 696

Lee_Odden · Joined: 22 Apr 2004 Posts: 172

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

About The Author · Posted: Sun May 30, 2004 8:15 am Post subject: Re: Shenyang isn't that bad

stavrogin2001 · Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 92 Location: Liaoning

A few points that might make my position more clear.

Statistics: Call me cynical, but I have a hard time with any form of statistics in this country. Stats on Aids, SARS, illegal religions, infant mortality, among other things are really hard to count in this country. I think it would be hard to be able with this kind of government to tally up this kind of thing. I think that Shenyang, along with the Dongbei in general, gets a bad rap for being more mafia than other places. I would not doubt the presence of any of the above things, but would question the method of calculation. I think that Tianjin is the hooker capital of China. I have never seen so many hookers <massage parlors, all night hair washing parlors, foreigner bars, and just the girl on the street asking if you are look for a good time> are everywhere. I think one thing that we could all agree on is that China is the hooker capital of the world.

As for the cold, I guess that one mans pleasure is another mans pain. Some of us have a much better time dealing with the cold, just as some of us can live in Guangdong and be very happy with the level of heat and humidity. For me that would be much worse than any winter in Harbin. I have lived in Russia and I can say that I was never as cold as the day I spent on the Songhua River in Harbin one winter. But I can cope, I don't get frustrated with the cold, so I guess we all have different tolerances.

As for pollution, again I think that Tianjin and some Northern cities have more pollution. If you look at the amount of industry in the NE it is a mere fraction of that in other areas like Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang just to name a few. The pollution in Tianjin from the chemical companies that turn the air yellow and brown are much more horrible than other places I have been. The main problem I had in the NE was the coal, but it could be worse. It could be mixed with unregulated petrochemical pollution and other nasties of Chinese industry.

The main point of my post was only to show an alternate point of view. I do not think that this warrants any little he said she said sections. I only want to give a guy that is thinking of working there a positive view of the city. Do I think that Shenyang is the jewel of China, of course not, but it is what it is, a big, developing, northern city and there are many others like it. Personly I think all the people flooding into Shanghai and Beijing their first year in China is a waste. They simply do not have all the dingy, hookery, all night greasy chuar restaurants feel that some cities like Shenyang have. That to me is the "real" China. Dirty, polluted, but on the rise and has its own charm.

shenyanggerry · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 619 Location: Canada

I'm in Shenyang for the second time. I plan to sign another contract before I go home. I really like it here. I must admit that I arrive in February and go home in July.

What university do you plan to teach at? Some of them are central, some out in the boonies. It makes a difference as to how convenient life will be. A forty hour week does sound brutal, even for 6500 Kwai.

Yes it is polluted here. I found other nearby cities worse. Each year it gets better. This winter didn't seem as polluted as the 2003 one. Hopefully, 2005 will be better still.

PM me if you want more specific information.