Quote: (09-01-2012 10:41 AM)BadWolf Wrote:
So I'm here in China, I thought I'd just give a heads up for anyone thinking of coming out here.
I work 7 days a week between about $23 to $28 CAD per hour as an English Teacher. Its a good job so I take as much overtime as I can handle. I've been doing this for about 10 years in different countries but so far China has been the most profitable... and the least relaxing.
In RMB it fluctuates between 150 to 180 rmb/hour depending on the class. My current living situation I pay 2500/month for the apartment and about 3000/month for food (split between my wife and I).
My wife is Chinese and is pretty excellent to me, so no complaints there. I dont like much Chinese food its not the same stuff we have at home. So mostly my diet consists of of a subway sandwhich at lunch (34 rmb/footlong) and a plate of lanzhou la mien/ban mien (noodles) or fried rice at night for about 7 rmb. We don't cook at home much.... I make in upwards of 15,000/month.. my wife takes in about 3000/month. I'm happy to eat out every night but we also have a fridge and cooking equipment... you can live here on about 500rmb/month if you had to. I sent my wife to cooking classes for a month for 1500 rmb... she knows how to cook lots of chinese dishes now (yuck) and feeds herself quite a bit.
Thursday night we went shopping and I bought a few shirts for 25 rmb each and my wife (a bargain hunter) found a couple her size for 3 rmb after a bit of haggling.
My day to day is spent working with 20-something young women who consistently throw themselves at me.. I believe in traditional marriage so Im happy with just the one. I'm 32, my wife is 23.
My wife and I are minimalists, she was born in abject poverty so she likes to save as much as she possibly can. She insisted that I spend less than 10 rmb on her while out for her birthday, so we went to our usual lanzhou place... she had something a bit more expensive for 15 rmb that night.
If you have years of teaching experience and are in a tier 1 city you can be making 200+ rmb per hour.
Clock in your normal hours at your school that you get your visa through and freelance at kindergardens, companies, and 1 on 1 classes if you want to increase your income.
I routinely charged 200+ rmb per hour and that was in a tier 2 city that was notorious for cheap people.
Teaching Koreans kids on the side is a profitable way to go as well, you go to there homes, their mom gives you food teach one or two of their kids pocket 200-250rmb per hour.
Just a suggestion, if you like they way you are set up no need to change.