Job Discussion Forums

[lifewithoutlimits]

What are your experinces like living and teaching in Wuhan? I will be moving there on the 25th of August. I will be teaching Oral English courses.

[randyj]

Wuhan amounts to three cities in one, Hanyang for manufacturing, Hankou for business, and Wuchang for universities. Wuhan has a large area, quite spread out, and transportation is a problem. A subway is under construction, but Wuhan is behind the curve. The climate stinks. Wuhan has some virtues, but the overall impression the city gives me is in general a little crude.

[dean_a_jones]

I like living in Wuhan, am based in Wuchang. There is a big enough expat community if that's your thing, but it is also easy to do your own thing. Lots of foreign students, as there are so many universities. Very few people speak English, especially those in shops, restaurants, taxis etc. so having some rudimentary Chinese helps, but is easy to pick up the basics.

The pollution is not great, and the whole city is under construction which doesn't help either. Very dusty, so expect to get sick, especially during the cold winters. Some, particularly first timers, get sick in October/November and recover again in March/April. The fact that we are in 'the south' and there is pretty much no central heating or insulation in buildings doesn't help in this regard.

I suppose you could say the city is a little crude, especially if you are looking at Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou etc. in comparison, but that is the reason many (including myself) quite like it. I think it depends quite a lot on who you are.

I have a long intro, with some useful links if you PM me and remind me to send them, am away from my computer for a few days at the moment.

[Timer]

I lived here for a year and I'm back again. It was my first experience with China, though I haven't really lived anywhere else for an extended period of time. It's a decent city, though that can depend on where you live. Hankou seems to be the more modern, glitzy part of the city, while Wuchang is older and a bit more decrepit. I don't know if I ever ventured into Hanyang so I can't say anything about it.

Like dean_a_jones said, there are a lot of expats here (check out http://www.wuhantime.com/ if you want to meet up with other foreigners or find out where things are) so you can usually find someone to do something with if you are a bit lost.

The city is pretty dirty but you get used to it. There's lots of nice food and the people in general are friendly. randyj is right about the climate, it's really hot in summer and the summers are long. It's another thing you'll get used to though.

There are lots of different bars and music clubs and stuff like that, and also some nice cultural places to visit so there's plenty to do.

Getting around can be a pain though, and there seems to be constant construction going on that makes traffic even worse.

Where will you be living/teaching, lifewithoutlimits?

Edit: never mind that last question, I just noticed your other post.

[dharma86]

[GeminiTiger]