Job Discussion Forums

[senor boogie woogie]

Hola!

My wife got a job in Lanzhou, so we will be moving there soon. I wanted to know where I might be able to secure employment in the city? Is there a demand for language teachers out there?

Lanzhou looks like it is in the middle of nowhere. What is the city like? How many people live there? Would it be a place that i would enjoy if I had an open mind?

Any answers (especially job wise) would be helpful.

Senor
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2004 is the Year of the Monkey. Never accept a banana from a monkey. You never know where he had that thing.

[Roger]

It sure is going to be a different experience from Hangzhou and Shandong...
One of the worst polluted industrial centres of this country. And seriously cold winters. Summers bearable due to high altitude.
In the vicinity are Tibetan villages.
But "culture"? Get drunk on the local beer!
Not too many job opportunities - it's still heavily regulated.

[kittywow]

I was just in Lanzhou a few weeks ago and I had a great time, actually I myself am also looking for a job in Gansu province. But, after a lot of searching there doesn't seem to be too many options. There are some universities though, you should check those out. Sorry I don't have the url but it's easy enough to find in the ESL job sites.
The city itself has a great atmoshpere, including a strong Hui presence. The people seem to be a little more modern-thinking than I assumed, and there was only a couple "hello?'s the entire time I was there. You are treated like you have every right to be there(unlike other places I won't mention at this time). The food is the best I've had in China so far, more flavour than Dongbei's but not too spicy like Sichuan's. You must have heard about the country-wide famous Lanzhou beef noodles, makes a nice breakfast after a long night of hitting the town. And hitting the town is one of the best things about the city, places are generally close together and you can just walk from restaurant to ktv to disco/bar, or whatever kind of place you like. After you can hang out on the street eating the amazing food, and there are so many different kinds of things to eat (sheep's head being the only one I didn't try!).
If you do need a taxi they are cheap, and there's a pretty good bus system as well. There are mountains surrounding the city with temples in them, but I don't recommend going to the zoo in the 5 Spring Mountain though-it's pretty depressing.
It's true the air is polluted but what city in China isn't? You get used to it quickly.
I think it's safe to say that anybody would enjoy themselves in this underrated city.