Guangxi

Art'noon all!

I'm currently sitting typing this in Bangkok, where I'm staying with my wife's family, and where I taught at a couple of unis.

Heartily enjoying the (not too) warm weather, having been freezing my nuts off up in Changchun.

Having taught for a semester in China I realise that it's preferable to teaching in the so-called 'Land Of Smiles' in many of the important ways e.g. salary, holiday granted (in the govt. uni system), not having to keep office hours.

But a move south is DEFINITELY in order for my wife, baby and I after this current contract is up.

With that in mind, I was wondering if any of you fine people have taught in Guangxi Province? In all of my trawling of China-related teaching forums I haven't seen cities such as Nanning and Guilin mentioned as much as I perhaps would expect to. Weather and scenery-wise these seem (on paper at least) to be quite attractive destinations.

For me the main draws of this region would be it's proximity to Thailand and the weather which I like to think wouldn't be as stifling as in Bangkok (where, in my last job, I taught in rooms sans air-conditioning ; one of several reasons that this is an ex-job!!!!!).

I can imagine that the region might lack some of the night-life and western comforts (e.g. availability of certain foods in supermarkets) that say Beijing , Shenzen or Shanghai have, but that wouldn't bother me unduly.

I think we need to live somewhere in the south of China so that my little boy can spend time in the great outdoors as he does here in Bangkok. His mother in particular has been unhappy about the way he's been cooped up in our appartment in Changchun. Summer there may be delightful, but it's too damn short.

Thanks in advance for any pointers (by which I don't mean breasts!) 

(by which I don't mean breasts!)

But...what else is  there?

Anyway.
My understanding is that Guilin suffers the same problems as other cities that attract huge herds of foreigners- too many foreigners for too few jobs. It's also not a terribly big city. You have to be a bit lucky to find an opening, competition is higher than usual, and pay scales are lower than in cities where expats are scarcer. The area is also home to weasel outfits like Buckland, whom you absolutely do not want to deal with. However, if you have the time to shop carefully, you might eventually luck into a decent gig there. Because Guilin is awash with foreigners, you might be surprised at the Western goodies you can find there.

Nanning is by all accounts a delightful place to live (if you can stand the steam heat)...but it's also relatively small and poor. I DO see jobs listed there, but again salaries are often not all that great. If you have good quals and can tolerate the 4000-RMB-a-month-and-campus-housing splendor of a university job, that might be a good route to look for.

If you're looking for warm, expand your search to take in Guangdong Province. Cities like Zhuhai seem to be quite nice, although there are reports of cannibalism in Dongguan.
Xiamen in Fujian Province also has warm weather, and seems to be one of the best cities in China to live in. Or, if you can do with a poorer, less developed area, consider Nanchang and other cities in Jiangxi Province. Can't really vouch for quality of life there, though.

Thanks for the illuminating answer Raoul 

I was thinking along the lines of what you wrote, but it's helpful to hear (read) you confirm my suspicions. Having looked at some uni positions in the area, they're not amazingly well paid (understatement!) and I figured that this might play a part. And there's always someone with an income from back home / a plan to only stay a year or two and dip into the savings who'll take the low salary.

That said I do, for some reason, have a bee in my bonnet about trying Nanning or maybe somewhere near by. I guess due to the scenery and nice weather (got sick of the oppressive Bangkok heat and humidity, but on balance prefer to be too warm than too cold). Also, while teaching in BKK I had three lovely Chinese students, the most polite and able of whom was fro Nanning and so maybe subconsciously I'm hoping that all people there are polite and studious. I'm sure that a week working there would swiftly disabuse me of this notion 

I've lived on pretty whack salaries here in Bangkok, and can live reasonaly cheaply (not really a drinker, and spend a lot of my free time watching downloads / playing with my kid) so I may give Guangxi a try, as I'm swayed by the supposedly quite clean environment, and the hope that my lad can enjoy an outdoor life all year (though it prolly pisses it down with rain a lot there).

Will also keep other southern provinces in mind, e.g. Fujian, Yunnan, and the places that you mentioned , Raoul. Who knows, maybe I can even get back into cannibalism? 

I was going to suggest Xiamen actually. I have a friend there who absolutely loves it, reporting clean, pretty tree-lined streets, good weather, coastal, and good salaries.

Nanning is really poor. Even among second-tier cities it is pretty second rate. It might be great for foreigners living there, but I think Chinese people look down on it a bit. My husband lived there for a short while and has a relatively low opinion of it, but then, what Chinese people look for in a city and what we look for are often not the same.

Like I mentioned in the other thread, Yunnan also suffers from the same problem as Guilin (perhaps even moreso). It gets loads and loads of backpackers as is, and every year a certain number of them just decide to stay, the trustafarians who can afford to work for nothing because they have no responsibilities in the first place. Then there are the retirees who just want a nice place to chill out and a decent respectable teaching job, and don't care much about the pay. Also, there's a lot of part time/under the table work, but the number of schools that are actually authorized to issue work visas are relatively limited. But the main issue is the pay. You would absolutely laugh if I told you how much I made working at a university in Kunming my first year there (back in 2003). An embarassingly small amount, I'm ashamed to even mention it!

Despite all this, we're planning on moving back to Kunming at some point in 2009, but that's mostly because my husband is a local and we have our own interests back there, that and the quality of life there beats Beijing any day. So there if money isn't really a prime consideration, definitely look into Yunnan, or Guangxi.

But check out Xiamen too, like I said, I have heard amazing things.

Thanks for the heads up, LD.

Was gonna thank you on the other semi-related thread I started, but in case I'm too lazy to, consider yourself thanked here! 

Will definitely consider Xiamen strongly.

Agree on salaries - I've seen salaries of about 2,5K mentioned for Guangxi jobs. More than many locals earn fo sho, but still.....

I might switch to high school / middle  school teaching as I'm growing tired of surly uni students, so this may influence my decision if salaries are better than uni ones.

Lots of thinking to do!   

I went on a government sponsored junket through Guangxi about 18 months ago and nearly fell in love with the place.

Some parts (not the main cities so far mentioned) are desperate for development and with the current move away from the PRD by local manufacturers, there may be a lot of new factories opening and increasing demand for English learning in some of Guangxi's developing regional areas - nothing definite, but doing some homework could pay off.

Have a look around the Baishe area. There's a new international shipping port being opened near Tianyang city and lots of development happening there. A pretty simple lifestyle probably, but the cost of living is very low and the area is just magnificent.

Good luck!

I might switch to high school / middle  school teaching as I'm growing tired of surly uni students

I'm hoping that all people there are polite and studious.

Oh my....oh dear...you're pretty new at this, aren't you?

Agree on salaries - I've seen salaries of about 2,5K mentioned for Guangxi jobs. More than many locals earn fo sho, but still.....

I might switch to high school / middle  school teaching as I'm growing tired of surly uni students, so this may influence my decision if salaries are better than uni ones.

Lots of thinking to do!   

Yeah, a person just can't live on those kinds of salaries. I was paid just a touch more than that at my first job in Kunming, but I came over with a decent amount in savings, which I blew right through thanks to my crappily paid job. I mean, I can save and be frugal and whatnot, but trying to live on less than 3000RMB a month would be masochistic. I can't believe there are still schools trying to push those kinds of salaries. If it helps, last I heard some Kunming unis were offering salaries in the 4000ish range. So not quite as bad as Guangxi, but still pretty low.

Middle/high school students ... well, keep in mind, they're teenagers, who are practcally known for their surly-ness. So don't go in with very high expectations on that front!

Yangshuo is a little more than an hour from Guilin . I have only been there as a tourist a little more than a year ago for 4 days. The town itself is quite westernised, with a street dedicated to western bars and restaurants. But a short bicycle ride and you and into beautiful countryside. Moon Hill is well worth a visit. There is usually a Li River Cruise from Guilin but when I was there in January the water levels were too low.
Although only there a few days I was offered a teaching job albeit at a private school.
Yangshuo, Guangxi is close to the top of my favourite places I have visited thus far in China