RE: (job) Xiamen or Qingdao ?

[liwei ting]

Hello all!

Has anybody worked in Xiamen or Qingdao before?

How did you like these two places?

How much does a two-bedroom flat cost there?

How about the weather?

Regards,
Daisy

[cai eng]

Daisy inquired about XiaMen and QingDao.  She seeks info about weather:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/CHXX0110?lswe=qingdao&from=searchbox_localwx

and the costs of apartments.



John has previously written many details about the excellence of Xiamen, I will add that QingDao is a lovely city, adjacent to the mountains, directly on the ocean.  It is cold in the winter, with snow, but sunshine.



Compared with other cities in China, I would add that QingDao has cleaner air.  It is not terribly expensive, compared with other large urban centers, seven years ago, a newly constructed two bedroom flat could be rented for 1000 RMB/month.  Such flats were located however, in the ordinary section of town, if one wished to reside in the gated, foreigner only residences, I am sure that the costs would be much higher.



There are a dozen colleges and universities in QingDao, some quite good, some mediocre.  Several of them employ foreigners to teach English.  I think it is quite easy for a foreigner to obtain work in QingDao, simply by showing up.  There are also some private schools, and some secondary schools which employ foreigners.



In my opinion, probably not shared by many people, ShangHai is a much better choice, than QingDao, for a foreigner.  The weather is better in QingDao, and the air is cleaner, but the European/Western influence is much stronger in ShangHai.  QingDao offers one advantage, compared with other cities: it has many, many Japanese and Korean business people, with their families, thus, an opportunity to provide individual instruction to their children.  It is also, accordingly, a great place to study both Mandarin, and (Japanese or Korean), for those inclined to study both languages while earning a living.  Unlike ShangHai or XiaMen, the townspeople of QingDao speak Mandarin (with their own accent,) but, understand and can use standard Mandarin when speaking to foreigners.



Rumor only, no first hand experience, DaLian is the best city to work and live in China.  I thought TianJin was first class, when I visited there; it is the city that most interests me, if I were ever to return to ZG...



regards, CAI ENG

[M. Davis]

Taxi start up in Xiamen is 9 rmb; one way bus is 1.6 rmb. Teachers' wages don't seem to correspond to this high cost of living.  Dalian is similar, and is rated as one of the most expensive cities to live in in China.  I found these prohibitive. Qingdao: there is wind, and some places are polluted, some are fine. A local teacher can tell you. Best check the ratings for cost of living, on the Net; forget the address now I'm settled.
 
Mary Ann Davis

--- On Wed, 7/8/09, cai eng <caieng@...> wrote:


From: cai eng <caieng@...>
Subject: RE: (job) Xiamen or Qingdao ?
To: teflchinajob@...
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 6:40 AM








Daisy inquired about XiaMen and QingDao. She seeks info about weather:

http://www.weather. com/outlook/ travel/businesst raveler/local/ CHXX0110? lswe=qingdao& from=searchbox_ localwx

and the costs of apartments.

John has previously written many details about the excellence of Xiamen, I will add that QingDao is a lovely city, adjacent to the mountains, directly on the ocean. It is cold in the winter, with snow, but sunshine.

Compared with other cities in China, I would add that QingDao has cleaner air. It is not terribly expensive, compared with other large urban centers, seven years ago, a newly constructed two bedroom flat could be rented for 1000 RMB/month. Such flats were located however, in the ordinary section of town, if one wished to reside in the gated, foreigner only residences, I am sure that the costs would be much higher.

There are a dozen colleges and universities in QingDao, some quite good, some mediocre. Several of them employ foreigners to teach English. I think it is quite easy for a foreigner to obtain work in QingDao, simply by showing up. There are also some private schools, and some secondary schools which employ foreigners.

In my opinion, probably not shared by many people, ShangHai is a much better choice, than QingDao, for a foreigner. The weather is better in QingDao, and the air is cleaner, but the European/Western influence is much stronger in ShangHai. QingDao offers one advantage, compared with other cities: it has many, many Japanese and Korean business people, with their families, thus, an opportunity to provide individual instruction to their children. It is also, accordingly, a great place to study both Mandarin, and (Japanese or Korean), for those inclined to study both languages while earning a living. Unlike ShangHai or XiaMen, the townspeople of QingDao speak Mandarin (with their own accent,) but, understand and can use standard Mandarin when speaking to foreigners.

Rumor only, no first hand experience, DaLian is the best city to work and live in China. I thought TianJin was first class, when I visited there; it is the city that most interests me, if I were ever to return to ZG...

regards, CAI ENG
















     

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