Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

My friend is thinking about taking a job w/Mastercard, but they want to send him to their Beijing office. I heard it's wicked crowded, super-polluted, and just as expensive as any big city back in the states. Any upsides? He asked me for advice. Also, he's Chinese American. I wonder if he'd be treated similarly to the way Kyopos are treated here.

I'm too lazy to read the Chinese discussion forum...

[Swiss James]

Shawner88 lives there now, he seems to like it so you could do worse than read a bit of his new blog

http://chinalife.typepad.com

[periwinkle]

Thanks!~ Sorry- I thought I posted this in the off-topic forum. Mods- please move!

[tzechuk]

Beijing is loads bigger than Seoul - my husband said at least double if not triple. Granted, there are more people, but even when it is crowded, it doesn't feel as bad as Seoul - just simply because it is so much bigger.

As for pollution, don't they say that Seoul is the most polluted city in Asia? Beijing doesn't fare better... and with yellow sand storm, it really is quite bad, but if you can get used to Seoul, you can get used to Beijing.

Living standard wise, I think in general Beijing is much cheaper than Seoul. You can get a VERY decent meal (chinese, 3 dishes, a bowl of rice and tea) for 10 bucks US or less, depending on where you go.

The average salary in Beijing is still relatively low - something like 3-500 USD per month, so things can't be that expensive. The beauty of China, and Beijing is that you can almost haggle with the seller on everything you buy!!

Chinese American will be treated just like any Chinese in China. They don't consider *kyopo* chinese to be any different, they embrace these people with open arms and welcome them like long lost son, providing he is not obnoxious!!

[Tiger Beer]

Seoul is one of the larger cities in the world.. Chinese cities are huge.. but 2-3 times larger than Seoul would be enormous. Isn't Seoul around 20 million people? and even the largest cities in the world - would that be Mexico City now?.. its only around 25 million.

That being said.. Beijing doesn't feel anywhere near as crowded as Seoul.. I found it eerie to be walking around on streets where I hardly saw people around - as opposed to Seoul where every back alley has people walking around all hours of the day and night. Seoul definetely has enormous more energy and bustle to it.

[JacktheCat]

Speaking metropolitan areas, Seoul is much bigger than Beijing, 20+million plus versus 12 million or so for Beijing.

Pollution wise, Beijing is far more polluted than Seoul, but is rapidly improving for the 2008 Olympics.

There are more cheap eating options in Beijing than in Seoul, but if you want to live like a Westerner, you'll end up paying more in Beijing than Seoul.

Western style apartments especially are ridiculously expensive in Beijing; almost twice what they are in Seoul.

[tzechuk]

Not trying to argue, but I've just done a quick search on the area of Beijing and Seoul.

Seoul: 605.52 sq km

Beijing: 16808 sq km

That's about a 1:2.8 ratio...

Population wise, Seoul has, precisely, as of the end of 2003, 10,276,968 people(http://english.seoul.go.kr/today/about/about_01quick.htm); whereas Beijing had around 14.6m (http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/60784.htm) for the same time.

So, 3 times as big but only 50% more people. I'd say Beijing is definitely much less crowded.

[JongnoGuru]

Looking at population...

On http://www.citymayors.com/features/largest_cities1.html, Seoul is ranked the biggest city in the world by population (10.23 mil.) while little old Beijing squeaks in at 13th (7.36 mil.). Why, it's even smaller than New York, Bangkok, Karachi and Istanbul. (Istanbul!!!) What a pokey little city it is.

Yet another "authoritative" website would have us believe Beijing has a population of 15 million. ( http://www.wcities.com/en/guide/fun_facts/78/guide.html ) The webmaster has clearly been "bought".

[trevorcollins]

[Zed]

You'll be able to find population statistics about the largest cities in the world that completely contradict each other and allow someone to back up any claim they make about such things. Just look for a source that tells you want you want to hear about that and you'll find one.

[JacktheCat]

[tzechuk]