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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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 Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:42 am Post subject: |
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| shifter2009 wrote: |
| I don't think Shanghai or Bejing would be for me. Are their any good mid sized cities that are foreign friendly? I hear the south part of the country is the place to be. |
Chengdu in Sichuan was a great time, but I only stayed a week. All of the foreigners I met spoke highly of their time in the city though. Kunming in Yunnan seemed alright too, but a bit grittier. Being that they're both in China, they're already a bit gritty to begin with. I love China, but could only live there under the right circumstances. I'm afraid most EFL gigs there would not fall into that category. |
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WadRUG'naDoo
Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:31 am Post subject: |
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| rabidcake wrote: |
I find it really amusing to see all of you discussing the idea of teaching English in China. Honestly, China is not a great place to live for many reasons. As someone living and working in China, I�d much rather live in Korea by far.
For those who only want to discuss the monetary gains of living in China. China is not necessarily a cheap country. Of course, it really depends on where you live, but travelling and buying imported goods are expensive. Rent in Shanghai is brutal and not cheap, the wages really suck for the costs you bear. Not to mention the quality of the rooms that you get for the price you pay.
You also have to take into consideration the high taxes that are implemented here in Mainland China. The government is also in the process of implementing even greater taxes that are aimed exclusively at foreigners at the 12,000RMB a month wage. If you want more details on this I�d be happy to provide resources simply ask otherwise take my word for it.
Also, the medical care in China is terrible. I go to Chinese hospitals and they get the job done, but they don�t match the sophistication of Korean hospitals, not even close. China doesn�t have a night life either, just a bunch of clubs that mostly foreigners go to. For the most part Shanghai (the largest night life city in Mainland China) shuts down at about 9:00 PM.
There is one redeeming factor for most of you though, and that�s that Chinese people don�t judge foreigners (western foreigners because they will judge Africans and other Asians) if you do not learn Chinese. They don�t care much if you can�t speak Chinese, and in some cases speaking Chinese or not makes no difference to them. Chinese often tell each other that their language is too hard for Westerners to learn anyways, so it helps justify the excuses people give when they live in China for years and still don�t know how to say rudimentary sentences.
Lastly, since dating girls seems to be an important deciding factor for most of you, there will be two types of girls you will mostly encounter in China.
Type 1) These girls mostly or exclusively date only Chinese men. They will occasionally date a foreigner who is able to speak Chinese extremely well.
Type 2) These girls only want to date men that are 백 인, (hanja白人).
You will be able to meet a lot of Chinese girls that will want to exclusively only speak English to you and nothing else. These are the girls I stay away from the most for a myriad of reasons, but they are more than available to any English teacher that is interested. |
I pay 2,500 rmb/month for a pretty big place in Shanghai. I don't, however, live in the city center, but I'm connected to subway (station is less than a 5-minute walk). One transfer and 13 stops total gets me to People's Square. If you live near/in the more central are, you're going to pay more. I know some people that pay 3,500 to 4,000 and their places are smaller. Oh yeah, forgot. I'm one subway stop from work or a 20-minute wal or a maybe 5-minute taxi ride that costs 12 or 14 rmb.
Here's how taxes work:
1) 0-500 rmb = 5% (1st 500 of your taxable salary = max of 25 rmb)
2) 500-2,000 = 10% (next 1,500 of your taxable salary = max of 150)
3) 2,000-5,000 = 15% (next 3,000 of your taxable salary = max of 450)
4) 5,000-20,000 = 20% (and so on)
4,800 is the basic personal amount for foreigners. Take that out of your gross salary and start doing the taxes from there.
Let's say you make 12,000 rmb/month. 7,200 of that is taxable. Add cases 1, 2 and 3 above and you get 625 rmb in taxes on your first 5,000. The remaining 2,200 rmb is taxed at 20% which equals 440 rmb, making your total taxes 625 + 440 = 1,065. You taxes go up 100 rmb every 500 more you make a month or vice versa. So if you make 12,500, your taxes should be 1,165, 13,000 is 1,265, and so on.
Some companies will tax you a flat rate, but it's not the proper way to do it. You can't do a tax return (I think) in China, so all your taxes are taken care of each pay and that's the end of it.
One more thing. You can claim up to 5,000 a month as a housing allowance. I claim 5,000, but my rent is only 2,500. It costs me 250 rmb a month for tax receipts from the tax office. So let's look at it again:
If you make 12,000, deduct 4,800 + 5,000. You're left with 12,000 - 9,800 which gives you a total of 2,200 of taxable income. Up to 2,000 is a total of 175 rmb in taxes. The remaining 200 rmb is tax of 40 rmb, making your total taxes a grand total of 215 rmb. Taxes on 12,000 magically turns into less than 1.8%. Of course the more you make, the higher the percentage goes. For the 12,000 example, you should add in the 250 that you have to pay for the tax receipts, so actually your total taxes are 465 rmb. My bad. So the percentage is actually 3.875. Your net would be 11,535. Take out rent at 2,500 and you get 9,035. Overestimate what you'll spend per month; I'd say 4,500 (you don't need to spend that much); gives you 4,500 rmb in savings.
Imported goods (sports shoes and accessories, polo, food, etc.) ARE more expensive in China. Bottled and draft beer are on the pricey side. You're going to spend about 200 to 300 to eat and watch a game at the pub. Do that once a week and you're eating into your savings. Maybe 1,000 a month. Live frugally enough and you can support that habit. It's all up to you. Drink Starbucks coffee everyday and you're looking at another dent in your take-in.
Anyway, I make about twice as much as my example with smallish performance bonuses added in and I teach at one place, 25 hours/wk, 5 days a week. I teach on weekends and Saturdays and Sundays are my busiest days. I don't have a Master's degree or any kind of teaching certificate. I do, however, have nearly 9 years' experience in Asia. Some schools don't pay for experience like EF, Web, and maybe Disney (they might). I call these schools "foreign" companies. Any school that is not as "popular" and smaller (Chinese-owned), you should do your research. I think Disney might tax you at 5%. I think Web tax you the correct way and 4,000 of their salary is a housing allowance. Not sure about EF.
Oh yeah. Starbucks Americano coffee:
grande: 24 rmb
venti: 27 rmb
Sorry, can't remember what the small costs. Regular coffee there is of course cheaper than Americano. |
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nukeday
Joined: 13 May 2010
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:26 am Post subject: |
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yep, 2500 rmb/month is what i pay for rent, and tiannamen square is 9 stops away. my work, unfortunately, is 16 stops. however, the "foreign company"  has a lot of branches and eventually i'll be able to transfer. i have seen some seriously tiny, crappy apartments for 4000+ in the center of beijing.
i do agree with the above posters that the nightlife is generally pretty crappy as far as decent bars and clubs go. completely packed mega-clubs with $6 Tsingtaos (and they're the 3.3% alcohol version..mmmmmm) are not my thing. Most other bars are completely empty. If they're not, it's basically they have Tsingtaos for 90 cents and the place will be packed with nothing but foreign students and a few skeezy old German guys checking out the young ladies.
however, if you like underground music, beijing beats seoul hands down. D-22 is a great bar. |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm kind of curious, who makes the salaries that are more than $700 US? Looking at the job boards I don't see anything about China that would make me want to go there. |
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joelove
Joined: 12 May 2011
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| $700 US ? About 4500 RMB ? That's uni, part -time work. |
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One Shot
Joined: 23 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:57 am Post subject: |
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| creeper1 wrote: |
| Yaya wrote: |
| The pollution alone is reason enough for me not to live in China. |
BUt that is exactly what I am talking about. Parts of China are a lot less polluted than Korea. It is a big country. |
I'm sure there are some places in the western part of China that are pretty clean, but the eastern part where the vast majority of the people live has terrible pollution.
China is looking like it's the place to be, but I suppose it just depends on how much you value your health. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Do apartments in these cities also have the key money requirement in them or just straight rent? Also when explaining about taxes, it was mentioned that Disney will take 5 %. So, is that a flat rate then or can you do your own deducations like rent, etc? Also, how many give some kind of rent subsidy, if any? I certaintly wouldn't expect free rent like Korea, but some kind of help on both renting and getting a decent place might be nice. I suspect in the future, you'd be looking at 4000 to 5000 RMB rents in these cities. Unless salaries go up to 20,000 RMB, prob would take a bite out, with taxes too?? |
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metalhead
Joined: 18 May 2010
Location: Toilet
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| Do apartments in these cities also have the key money requirement in them or just straight rent? |
In general you sign a one-year contract, with one month's rent as deposit (returned at the end of the contract, as long as the place isn't wrecked and your bills are paid), plus three month's rent (both of the places I lived in in China were like that, paying rent every three months). Rent was 1700RMB a month, for two bedrooms, relatively spacious, separate kitchen, balcony, fully furnished etc. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| One Shot wrote: |
| creeper1 wrote: |
| Yaya wrote: |
| The pollution alone is reason enough for me not to live in China. |
BUt that is exactly what I am talking about. Parts of China are a lot less polluted than Korea. It is a big country. |
I'm sure there are some places in the western part of China that are pretty clean, but the eastern part where the vast majority of the people live has terrible pollution.
China is looking like it's the place to be, but I suppose it just depends on how much you value your health. |
Add to the mix chemicals poured into places that provide drinking water and... |
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s10czar
Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| What about internet connectivity? I have an online business so I need solid connectivity. |
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joelove
Joined: 12 May 2011
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Solid Connectivity is not a problem. Slowness and blocked sites can be. Some get around this by purchasing a VPN. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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| What about crime? Can foriegners get assulted in larger cities or anywhere for that matter? Chinese, other foriegners (south Asians, Africans), etc? Safe as Korea? |
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The Floating World
Joined: 01 Oct 2011
Location: Here
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| What about crime? Can foriegners get assulted in larger cities or anywhere for that matter? Chinese, other foriegners (south Asians, Africans), etc? Safe as Korea? |
Foriegners can be assaulted in any city in any part of the world. Wierd question.
And Korea is no safer. Both myself and friends of mine have been assaulted by Koreans in Seoul, sustained cuts and bruises and then we had to pay money to our assaulters whim started the attack and had zero cuts or bruises. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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| The Floating World wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| What about crime? Can foriegners get assulted in larger cities or anywhere for that matter? Chinese, other foriegners (south Asians, Africans), etc? Safe as Korea? |
Foriegners can be assaulted in any city in any part of the world. Wierd question.
And Korea is no safer. Both myself and friends of mine have been assaulted by Koreans in Seoul, sustained cuts and bruises and then we had to pay money to our assaulters whim started the attack and had zero cuts or bruises. |
What? Really?? I always thought Seoul was pretty safe. I've never had any problems. How long ago was this? Was this years ago or very recently? The west and some third world cities can be dangerous at night. But, in Korea and in Tokyo, I've walked around and never had any problems at all. (Though I admit, I've largely stayed away from Itaewon late at night.) I had heard there was some issue of Korean guys trying to mess up foriegners with Korean girls several years back in Hongdae? But, I haven't seen it. (Though I know racist BS can happen.)
Anyways, can Chinese stack the deck against you? Will the cops act racist if you defend yourself? Also, how safe or unsafe is it there? Can you walk around at night by yourself? I guess that's what I'd like to know. |
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The Floating World
Joined: 01 Oct 2011
Location: Here
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| The Floating World wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| What about crime? Can foriegners get assulted in larger cities or anywhere for that matter? Chinese, other foriegners (south Asians, Africans), etc? Safe as Korea? |
Foriegners can be assaulted in any city in any part of the world. Wierd question.
And Korea is no safer. Both myself and friends of mine have been assaulted by Koreans in Seoul, sustained cuts and bruises and then we had to pay money to our assaulters whim started the attack and had zero cuts or bruises. |
What? Really?? I always thought Seoul was pretty safe. I've never had any problems. How long ago was this? Was this years ago or very recently? The west and some third world cities can be dangerous at night. But, in Korea and in Tokyo, I've walked around and never had any problems at all. (Though I admit, I've largely stayed away from Itaewon late at night.) I had heard there was some issue of Korean guys trying to mess up foriegners with Korean girls several years back in Hongdae? But, I haven't seen it. (Though I know racist BS can happen.)
Anyways, can Chinese stack the deck against you? Will the cops act racist if you defend yourself? Also, how safe or unsafe is it there? Can you walk around at night by yourself? I guess that's what I'd like to know. |
The incident was 2 yrs ago in Seoul. You can do a search for much worse incidents against western females with littel protection or co-operation from the police.
Of course that can happen in China, look at how they treat their own population. It happens here too, maybe better for you to do an online search or post on a China baord rather than this one though. |
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