Job Discussion Forums

[DaveW125]

There are a few threads going at the moment on a similar topic to this but as I�m a novice when it comes to China I am unaware of the places that people are talking about, aside from Beijing and Shanghai. China is a pretty vast place and I�m sure things vary greatly from city to city.

My fianc�e and I are in the process of securing a job at a university in Wuhan. The pay isn�t particularly good, only 4000 a month each for 16 hours a week, although housing and bills are taken care of. It�s only a 4 month contract (the only one we could find for two people anywhere), the reason being we are getting married in the summer before starting new teaching jobs in September (we already have the money saved for the wedding and this is why we don�t have a problem with not making a lot of money). However, it is reasonably important that we don�t lose any money whilst we are there. Does anyone know if we can at least break even for 4 months on that salary? We aren�t big drinkers or partiers, but we do enjoy eating out a few times a week.

Also if anyone could spare a few minutes to answer some more specific questions about Wuhan that would be great. Let me know and I will PM you.

Thanks.

[Chris_Crossley]

If, in Wuhan, you are earning 4,000 RMB/month each, then having 8,000 RMB/month disposable income between the two of you isn't too bad if you, as a couple, will be sharing facilities and eating food together, so it is theoretically possible to break even provided that you aren't drowning in debt and/or have other financial obligations back home that might otherwise create a veritable hole in your pockets.

When my wife and I first got married 7 1/2 years ago, we were earning about 9,500-10,000 RMB/month between us, although I was, unfortunately, deeply in debt to my creditors back home at that time through a combination of a student loan and credit card debts. Happily, the creditors were paid off eventually (it took me just over three years!), so now we can afford things like mortgages as we own one apartment outright (which my wife's parents live in!) in the centre of Wuhan and we own another one in the northern suburbs (which we can't move into as the building it is in has not yet been completed!).

As for Wuhan, I have been there for just over eight years and my wife is Wuhanese herself. Please PM me with your questions and I'll do my best to answer them, although I can't pretend that I'm an expert at all the hangouts and watering-holes for expats since we have two small children to take of and they take up practically all of our spare time! My baby son was born just three days ago for a start!

[RonHex]

you can do well with 8000 depending on ur lifestyle.. save the western meals for once a week or less and if u do wanna go drinking do it at a bbq or cheap place like vox(pretty famous joint in wuhan) My first year in wuhan i was earning 9000 a month and spending 10,000 now that im a married man i spend about 4000 a month together with my wife (that includes a 1000rmb rent)

chris congrats on the baby!

[Chris_Crossley]

[Mister Al]

OP, no problem

[YAMARI]

Wuhan has very low salaries and the city is not that cheap. I lived very well on 4500 in a small city near Wuhan, but the months I felt like western stuff and drinking I went into the negative.

[Ramblin' Man]

Op, one of the biggest factors that can take a major toll on your money, no matter where you are in China, is how often you give in to your desires to eat western food, which you will have.

Chinese food is excellent, taste wise anyway, so you shouldn't have any issues eating a ton of it, but from time to time you will want to eat western food.

When you said you will want to eat out a few times a week, did you mean western food, or just at all?

As far as Chinese food, I'd recommend eating out pretty much every meal. It's cheap and incredibly tasty. I've sampled a ton of different dishes in various Chinese cities and have yet to find anything I down right hated. In fact I have found the majority of Chinese food to be delicious.

If you eat in Chinese Chinese places, then you can eat out every meal, every day if you want and you will still be able to be break even or probably making some money even. When I say Chinese Chinese places I mean where the locals eat on a daily basis, instead of fancier places that have a lot of the same food, and often not much tastier (might sometimes be healthier,) for much higher prices. If you eat where the locals and every day Chinese citizens eat, you will be eating a lot of great food very cheaply.

I remember, and this was in Wuhan in fact, a place I used to go and eat and I would get 3 or 4 different things and pay 10 or 11 rmb( about $1.50) for all of it, and this was a full meals worth of food, I always felt full after eating.

If you ate out for every meal every day at these types of places you would likely spend at most 1000rmb per person a month. Even if you let western food seap in here and there, you might still be making money at the end of each month.

However, if you get to the point where you need KFC/Mcdonalds or healthier western food alternatives close to every other day then you may have problems even breaking even.

I lived and worked in Wuhan for about half a year back in 2007, I was back there for a few weeks earlier this year, and prices hadn't seemed to have gone up in that time.

When I was there, I was making 4500 a month ( a salary I downright wouldn't accept these days, except maybe if I was teaching University as you are,) and at the end of my time there (after working 5 months I believe,) I had about 17,000 rmb saved entirely from that monthly salary.

Now I didn't go wild when I was there, but I didn't spend all of my time shut up in my room eating instant noodles either, nor was I close to that.

If you can give us/me a more detailed idea of your monthly expenses, (drinks? clubs? dvds? western food? movies? etc.) then we can help you even more, but for now I'd say, having lived in Wuhan before on a pretty similar salary to yours, you will do just fine, and I wouldn't be surprised if you even walk away with a few bucks (while rmb I suppose,) at the end of it all.

But it sounds like you shouldn't worry about saving it, because if you do it won't be much, and one thing I've heard from everyone who has tried to save when in China. "It really isn't worth it because the money will go so much further in China then anywhere else/in the west."

Wuhan is a good city, I like it and, for the most part, have found memories of my time there. So I hope you and your fianc�e enjoy it, and I wish you both the best of luck there and in China.

Don't worry about the money, it'll go far enough, and if you guys really enjoy your time there, I would strongly suggest looking around for another job/seeing if you can extend your contract, when this one ends. China is a great country to live and spend time in. There's just so much going on, and everyday you see something new, it really is true. Four months is way to short of a time to spend in China imo, and if you can/if you want to I suggest you stay longer.