Job Discussion Forums

littlec · Joined: 15 Dec 2010 Posts: 16

I've been offered a position at this uni in NE China starting March 2011. Has anyone been there, know anything about it. Have heard the weather in Shenyang is bitterly cold - has anyone lived there? what is it like.

MisterButtkins · Joined: 03 Oct 2009 Posts: 1221

Liaoning University is a large, somewhat high-end public university. A lot of the kids are very rich, ie, they get more allowance than you will make each month. But they seem nice enough. For whatever reason there seem to be loads of threads on Shenyang recently, you can probably find them pretty easily. It is rather cold here right now but not ridiculous I would say. Then again, I lived even further north last year. Certainly winter is quite a dreary time of year but it is nice in the fall and summer. The smog is not bad, except in the winter when they turn all the coal-powered heating on.

Liaoning University has two campuses and you should figure out which one you will work at. One of them is closer to the city center in a more interesting part of town. The other is in a suburb in the far north of the city where all the other universities are. If you work at the one in the far north of the city, be prepared for a 30 minute cab ride at the least if you want to go anywhere interesting. It can be well over 1 hour to get downtown during rush hour.

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

I've known former employees. They were satisfied with their employment with none but the standard complaints. They paid in full and on time.

littlec · Joined: 15 Dec 2010 Posts: 16

Thankyou Mr Buttkins - very useful info, I didn't realise there is more than one campus so will ask about that. What I am most worried about is the climate in Shenyang - from the web I can see it gets very cold. My job starts in March so am wondering if someone who lives there or has lived there can tell me really how cold it is and whether accommodation and classrooms have heating? Do you need to wear coat, hat and gloves all the time? I've lived in the tropics for the last 7 years and not sure I am going to be able to handle the cold in Shenyang.

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

If cold is your fear than I would suggest finding a school in the south of China. Shenyang is fine for people like me who can appreciate skiing, skating, and wearing toques, but if like you said worked in the tropics for 7 years, you will b in for a very rude awakening.

You will have to wear a coat all the time in the winters unless the school itself is properly heated and the students keep the windows closed. Students are notorious for opening windows to shout out at friends down below and then leaving them open.