Job Discussion Forums

milkweedma · Joined: 19 Nov 2006 Posts: 151

Can anybody already teaching in China tell me in which provinces or part of provinces or cities are air-pollution free or close to it?
I'm looking to teach in Gansu (Qingyang) or Xingjing (Korla) as I suspect Korla at least does have clean air. After experiencing Taiwans filthy west coast and getting extremely sick becasue of it, I'm being careful before I leep this time.
All constructive comments are highly valued. Cheers, ad.

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Not pollution free, but Yunnan Province has nice blue skies. Might be worth a look although competition for teaching work there is pretty fierce for this very reason.

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

The air in Dalian isn't bad. Mind you, it depends upon the day. One day it can feel terrible, but then you will get 4-5 days of uninterrupted blue skies.

It's certainly vastly better than WUhan though

milkweedma · Joined: 19 Nov 2006 Posts: 151

Clarkey, Kunming is listed as having plenty of jobs on www.anesl.com which must be the provincial capital but usually the capital of any province in China has polluted air to some degree. Which other cities in Yunnan have clean air?

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

I visited Kunming in the summer of last year. The air is pretty decent. It's a good city too, with a bit more in the way of (affordable) bars than what most other cities have, more of a genuine local bar scene (as opposed to expat /rich chines orientated). And a first rate, cheap pizzeria... A very nice park too.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

MrBeijingles · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 67 Location: Shanghai

I don't know how accurate it is but this is the page for daily measurements of the air quality in China's cities:

http://www.sepa.gov.cn/quality/air.php3

Mpho · Joined: 30 Aug 2004 Posts: 58

You will find almost all of Xinjiang relatively pollution free, except Urumqi which is very polluted. Korla has a good reputation for clean air, but a not so good reputation for foreign teachers. Recently several have been sent home early, if I remember my postings correctly.

I have been to Gansu and I remember Lanzhou being very polluted. But I do not know about the city you are mentioning.

If you are serious about teaching in Xinjiang other than Korla please let me know. I am not a recruiter, but do have a few contacts depending on your resume and what you would like to teach.

Steppenwolf · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 1769

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

Then again, Kunming is a bit cheaper than other cities. For instance, in most cities, in a bar you're looking at 20 RMB for a small beer, whereas there in some really good bars you can get a large, strong beer for around 8 RMB. And the pizzeria I mentioned does first rate pizzas for 15-25 RMB, whereas in a lot of other places you'll be stuck with Fascist Hut for 8 million RMB a go.

vikdk · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 1676

Lhorde · Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Posts: 30 Location: Shenzhen

Man, do I ever miss Kunming...and that pizza, jammish, sure is good.

Yunnan is actually the only place that I've been to in China where the visibility was steadily over one km. And it's a pretty swell place too. The east coast is filthy, man.

So if your not worried about saving money, just migrate to the west. But as mentioned in a previous thread, working illegally could earn you some big bucks if you speak Chinese and western languages other than English.

I used to know a Canadian guy who was living and working in Kunming for 5 years on a 30-day L visa! He seemed to be pretty content, but was looking for a way home.

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

prof · Joined: 25 Jun 2004 Posts: 741 Location: Boston/China

Funny and true observations in this thread. Far from bitterness!

In most cases, if you want the dough you gotta breath smog.

But that's true in most economies.

Shan-Shan · Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1074 Location: electric pastures

If you guys are really into cheap pizza, I'd suggest you try teaching ESL in Vancouver. The going rate for a good slice is around 15RMB (just over 2 CDN), though they can come as cheap as 7RMB if you're not too particular.

The beer, however, is not piss beer. That might disappoint a few. If you choose Vancouver, you'll have to settle for what the micro-brewery pubs have to offer. The range in tastes blasts Qingdao far out of Shandong (so don't say no one warned you).