Job Discussion Forums

[earl]

I am considering a position in Yakeshi, north eastern Inner Mongolia. Does anyone here work up that way? Does anyone know ANYTHING about the area or about life in remote northern Chinese cities? I am guessing that it could be a hard way to live for a year but may also be a HUGE adventure. Any takers? Would like to hear about any similar experiences...

[Roger]

Nah, haven't been there, but I happen to know Manzhouli, NE Inner Mongolia, a little bit.
While you may be right in saying that the adventure of living in such a place for one year may well be worth your time I advise you to take into account the climatic conditions.
It's right next to Siberia, and snow covers the place for months. In summer, it gets pretty hot (though it's the kind of heat I like). The air is full of dust. There is little rain.
It may be rather laid-back, but I reckon the natives there lead a relatively regimented life as in ethnic mixed areas the authorities are wary of potential trouble. Laid-back, no doubt, but also nota little backward and poor, so much so that people will be looking for an opportunity to migrate south!

[Ace]

I didn't find the people very friendly up there...of course in Manzhouli especially I was taken for a Russian...(at the same time, a Russian couple were the nicest people I met or could want to meet anywhere, even if we had to communicate in Chinese most of the time...). Most of the people in Inner Mongolia seemed to be (and they sure tell you!) Han Chinese...but they didn't understand me, maybe my Henan accent...(?) actually I just found them unfriendly...a taxi driver wouldn't even understand the city's one and only university...

Don't count on seeing much or making many friends in the long winter...actually my home was overheated, and the school was very warm, but yeah, going shopping? Pretty much impossible to walk more than two blocks without physical pain, and for that reason again, hard to meet people and try to make friends.

[NateM]

There's quite a few people on the TEFLChina.org Mentors List that serve as contacts for Inner Mongolia. You might want to contact some of them and see what they think. You can reach the Mentors List here: http://teflchina.org/jobs/mentors/list.html