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Hi,
I posted this elsewhere and I think it belongs here too.

Some one once posted the actual price of an item for sale here on this site. I'm glad, because it saved be a boo-boo. He/She (don't recall) called it leveling the playing field. I thought I'd be the Samaritan and do the same here.

I exaggerate not when I say that I have looked at thousands of ESL jobs on the Internet and posted my vita on several sites. I get about 3 offers a day: No, I'm not bragging, the situation is more like there are 7,000 plus English teacher jobs that go unfilled each year. That is a conservative guess.

Public universities usually pay in the 4,000 to 8,000 range depending on experience, the quality of the school and the applicants degree level. The general expectation is 12-18 50 minute class room hours (some are 45 minutes). Often, the person hiring cannot fiddle with the paycheck at a public school, but they can with the hours worked and they can also compact them into two consecutive days so you have a 5 day week end to travel. This is what I had this year, 5,000/mo tax free and two days of work.

Teaching business courses should pay between 10,000 and 15,000 a month. I know one fellow who got 25,000, but that is rare.

Private schools commonly *demand* 25 hours and just a little more pay. Often they do not provide a proper Foreign Experts Visa (a Z visa),but rather bring people in under a shadow business license. I personally would not work for a private school, maybe Canadian excepted from that rule....maybe.

Teaching little children pays well, but I can't stand it so I've not looked into it much There is quite a bit of that out there, it appears that the Chinese folks understand that little children can pick up a language quickly without much study if they have a role model. We discovered this to be true in California where many dual working parents had a Mexican day house/children sitter. The kids picked up fluent Spanish without even trying.

Housing: This can vary widely and if you ask for pictures to be sent, they will be just like the pictures of the school on the Internet---taken when everything was brand new. I have free furnished housing, two bedroom, bath, small kitchen, western plumbing, about 1200 square feet; it is big for a place in China. It was top of the line 25 years ago when new and still isn't too bad, but shows the wear. I also have free utilities, Internet, TV w/cable. Oh, and a maid comes in once a week, cleans and puts on clean sheets. This is on campus housing with only steps to my classes. Very secure too. A housing allowance offered by any kind of school is rarely enough to get decent housing--period.

Once final word, I would not work inland China for US100,000 a year. The air is so thick with industrial coal smoke that I can spoon it into a jar. Coastal only for me and the smaller the town, the better.

As to the sales pitch for the glories of working in China--all true in my opinion, my wife and I think the people are nice and the students are wonderful; we are coming back and looking very hard at retirement here.

I am available by PM if you need some web links for a job.

g

I've been in China for 2 years now and have worked in several different cities. The pay thing you got right on the button. Uni's will pay between 3000 (Dalian and other middle of road big cities) and 10000 (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou). The first city I lived in paid about 6000 for 20 to 25 hours.

As for the Private schools, it varies. Well established schools will get you a Z visa, offer free housing, though generally not utilities. Contracts will be between 15 hours for part timers and 25 hours for full time. I've seen pay ranges from 3500 to 7000.

So far the best places I've worked have all been inland. The people are far nicer, the food is fantastic (and cheap) and it's not nearly as dirty as people claim it to be. The first city lived have pretty good air quality, and was cleaner than even Dalian. There are quite a few places out there that defy the "China model" that so many foreigners get stuck in their heads.

Really what it boils down to is what you what out of China. If you want culture and history, medium and small sized cities inland is the way to go. There are a couple coastal cities that are decent but overall the coast is choked with foreigners. if you're looking to be in China and be able to speak English regularly, major cities are your ticket to happiness.

As for pollution, every city in the world is polluted, major Chinese cities are just more so than Western ones. Many of the medium sized (750,000 to about 2 million) I've been to are relatively clean, though don't have many of the luxuries you find in the west (like toilet paper in the stalls). Dalian is cleaner than most of the major cities, but still isn't quite as nice as the smaller ones. Xi'an is probably one of the worst as far as pollution goes...can't say much for Beijing, as I haven't spent any extended period of time there.

Working environment in most schools will be pretty enjoyable. Lots of people to meet and see, and as I said it really just depends on what you are looking for in a job and a place to live.

wow gwolford, 1200 is not shabby at all, even for californian standards!

any notes on qualifications to teach english or business at a public school in Dalian?

Getting a picture of the living conditions is a must. I've yet to meet a person whose "housing expenses" were covered by a school. Most decent size studios are going from 1800-2400 RMB a month. Let's not forget the (you're not from China so that'll be a) 3 months rent in advance and a one month deposit. Almost everyone I've spoken with talks about apartment owners who give then broken furniture/electronics. They'll use anything as an excuse pertaining to why they can't fix it for a month or so. "Real Estate Agents" are a joke. They don't work for you - they work for the property owners. They don't care if you're over charged and lied to by the property owner.
So far, in my experience and the experience of those I've spoken with around me, the after schools/private schools are the worst to work for. They promise all kinds of things - but when it comes down to it they give nothing but an apartment that smells like a sewer that's surrounded by garbage and a freak of a roommate.
I'm lucky - I switched to working for a college. They're much more honest and on the up and up.
Private Schools / After Schools also lie about the visa situation. You do need a Z visa to work in China.
About the smog - inland cities are the worst I've ever seen. LA looks like a National Park compared to cities in China.
This would be some of the 'stuff' they don't tell you.

chinamustard wrote:

any notes on qualifications to teach english or business at a public school in Dalian?[/quote]


Yeah, I think they need a native speaker with experience at least, then if you have some kind of EFL certificate. You are most welcome to teach in a Public University.