Salary expectancy and cost of living

[amy]

5000 rmb is pretty average for China. That is if you are only working 20hr/wk. Your pay is barely over 600US a month. Of that money only a percentage (check your contract) can be converted into a foreign currency. Saving money is not a good reason to go to China.

It's very easy to live off 1000-1500 rmb/month.

[Hypiereon]

Whatever a contract says is supposed to deal with your professional life, not your personal life. So, if you're really all that concerned about it, I'd make sure to add an addendum stating that your personal time is yours to do with as your please - including tutoring - so long as it does not interfere with your duties at the school or break any laws. A concern of theirs might even be the Personal Income Tax on amounts over 4,000 RMB per year.

I'm really not sure how the tax situation works out when you are working in multiple locations or doing tutoring on the side, but I DO KNOW THIS - every Chinese teacher I know tutors on the side and gets that money "tax free" (better read "under the table"). I go back to what a friend once told me about China - "Yes, doesn't always mean Yes; and No doesn't always mean No." If you really want to tutor on the side, just do it and don't wave a flag or make a big deal about it.

In my experience, when you are not on school time, the school really can't tell you what to do anyway. That's what laws are for. If they don't like it? They can fire you of course, but again, in my experience, schools will do more to keep you than fire you, and overlooking some extra tutoring on the side that does not interfere with your duties at the school would be very easy for them to do.

Another thing - to address something the fellow wrote just before me - according to the Chinese website, up to 70% of your income from the school may be converted into foreign currency. That's the limit - here's the source --> http://english.gov.cn/2005-08/31/content_27701.htm

[Margy]

Just be sure your private students were not stolen by you from your school. Some schools also wont like you teaching privates where the school is in a small town. Reason being is that the private would have signed up with the school had they not studied with you.

So as hypiereon said, don't wave any flags announcing you have privates.

[lovely]

Originally Posted by gfell

If teaching English in Hong Kong, a good rule of thumb would be:

• Salary HK$14000+ per month
• HK$2000 housing allowance or shared / own apartment
• Working hours from 9am til 5pm Monday thru Friday.
• Air ticket subsidy or fully paid.

Hong Kong has some of the highest paid English teaching jobs in Asia.

Freelance Teachers can earn: HK$200-$600 per hour.

and would be almost the highest in the WORLD in government schools

[duprie]

For Shanghai:

A comfortable apartment will cost you RMB3000 - 5000 a month. 1500 for accommodation is really low. It should be organized and provided for you for free.

Cost of living in Shanghai: living like a local, ie avoiding anything and everything "Western", about RMB 2000 - 3000 a month. To enjoy life's little luxuries and Western entertainment & products, RMB7000 - 10000

Quick guide:

Taxi fare (6-7 kms) RMB25
Subway fare RMB2 - 5
Pair of thin, crappy Jeans (supermarket) RMB60 -100
Pair of quality Jeans (Wesetern brand outlet) RMB500
Cinema ticket RMB50
DVD RMB7-9
Cheap restaurant meal for one RMB10 -15
Medium restaurant meal for one RMB30
Expensive restaurant meal for one RMB60 - 80
China Daily RMB1
Litre of fresh milk RMB 5 - 7
Bottle of soy sauce RMB3.50
650ml Bottle of beer RMB3.50
Toothpaste RMB3 -10
Gillette razors (MAch 3) RMB60
Bottle of shampoo RMB25
12 slices processed cheese RMB14
Cheap DVD player RMB250 - 350
Schooner of Guiness at Irish pub RMB65
Drink in a nightclub RMB30 - 70

Shanghai can be cheap; it can also be really expensive. Don't be misled by statements like "the average wage is 1000RMB in China"; because in Shanghai that's the average wage for an unskilled migrant (countryside) worker. 4500 is average for a white-collar professional. And it's just not true that you can "live like a king" on 4000 a month. Claims like these are highly misleading.
Also, your employer will be making a massive profit out of you, the teacher.

If you're working at a private school, you should be looking at 12000RMB lower end of the scale.

[gfell]

Thanks for sharing duprie!

[Raoul]

I found Duprie's assessment to be very accurate!

I did find very nice housing in Shanghai in the 2500-3000 range but it was further out in the more remote districts.

Your 8-9K per month would be decent but not great; it'd be rather difficult for you to send much home on that salary unless you're willing to live very frugally...and miss a lot of the things that Shanghai has to offer. Duprie's figure of 12K (or maybe 10K and an apartment) sounds more realistic for you.

5K in Harbin is so-so if an apartment is provided. Not great but then it's hard to find high salaries in a city like Harbin.

HK and Taiwan pay a lot higher than mainland China, but then the costs of living just can't be compared...especially HK. There are indeed great jobs to be had in HK if you're well-qualified, but a lot of what I see advertised there would probably offer a standard of living that would in some ways be lower than what you'd have on the mainland.

It's important to remember that most of us don't come here just for a job...we come here to travel and enjoy a bit of adventure and have some fun. It takes money to do this, so please make sure you're getting a salary that will allow it!

[gallahad]

Hi Daniel

I made my way to Shanghai via the same route - Saxoncourt - who are recruiters for Shane English Schools.

Not to dampen your spirits, but I and 10 out of the 15 teaching staff left during the same week. Most of the Shane schools are franchises. Treatment of staff was appalling, the contract was for 17 hours a week teaching, but we were also woken at the crack of dawn and carted across the whole of Shanghai for up to 3 hours a day, crammed in an unroadworthy minibus.

The good news, however, is that once you're in Shanghai, there is absolutely tons of teaching work available, both through more established schools and privately.

You can live reasonably well on 7000 RMB a month, but other schools pay much more. If you are interested in Business English, I would suggest that you get some experience teaching general English to adults first. One suggestion is to get a full-time contract with a decent school here to smooth your passage. Once you're here, you will find plenty of ads in the local press for part-time work, such as evening classes in corporate offices.

I've recently moved to English First - EF English First - and think they are the best company I've worked with. Wall Street English are okay too, although rely too heavily on computer assisted language learning, but are one of the best payers at 14000 RMB a month with 30 contact hours - Wall Street English

EF pay 9500 for 20 contact hours. You have to be present 40 hours a week in total, but its quite laid back and far from demanding. Work is just afternoons & evenings, so you have the mornings free to moonlight (you can get 250 RMB an hour teaching privately to corporate clients no problem). They are very, very good in terms of staff welfare. You'll be offered a loan of 8000 upon arrival to help secure accommodation & 50% of your flight reimbursed after 3 months.

Apart from that, get to Shanghai and you'll soon find what you're looking for. There is a large community of teachers here, so you'll make contacts and get inside info quite easily.

Oh yes, check out EnjoyClassifieds - Shanghai for an idea of other possibilities. Apart from that, I've been in Shanghai for just over a year and would seriously recommend spending some time here. Far superior to Hong Kong and Beijing, whatever you're in to, you'll find it here.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions about Shanghai etc.

Good luck
Richard

[englishaffairs]

Hey, just found this board and I think it's great.

learned some things already. Anyway, I came to Shenyang 3 years ago and still here. The only other place I have been in China was a city called LinYi in Shandong Province. That was for summer camp at the teachers Uni.

Anyway, in Shenyang you can do alright money wise, but I am not good at saving and it's more of a personal thing. Granted it's not the most scenic city in China, but the cost of living is low and from what I've been reading, the pay is about the same as some of the more modern cities.
Full time contracts range from around 6,000 to 10,000 per month depending on the school, and many just pay the flat rate of 100 per class which is usually 50 minutes or less.

I prefer not to live in school provided housing as I don't like all my eggs in one basket. If the company falls or I want to walk, I don't want to have the burden of having to move. It's quite common a better opportunity arises and you want to take the better job. As you meet more people and get more experience, you begin to find out where the better schools are to work. I can't think of one person I know that is still working at the first school they signed up with that has been here a while.

My apartment costs me 1000 per month and I pay my own utilities. The owner does take care of the heating cost in winter though.

It is really cheap to live here, and if you get really lazy, you can afford to live well working around 10 hours a week. I work 12 classes a week for a public high school - from 1 until 4 in the afternoon, four days a week.

I get paid a 100 for each 40 minute class.
I like having a low hour contract that covers my base money and leaves me time to work on other things.

I came here on a whim and brought about 1000 US and had a 30 day tourist visa. I didn't plan to stay so long.

You can check out EA for some photos.
Cheers, romas