Introductions

We had teachers who were not married live in the same apartment with no problem in Dalian.   

The opposite here in Linan. The university was very strict about it. If the teachers were not married, they could not get one apartment, they give the nice big ones to married couples. As it turned out, this was good as the relationship went south and they needed both apartments. Different places have different rules, so there is really no way of giving you a 100% right answer, you will just have to check with each school/uni you get in contact with.

One more thing. As has been pointed out today in the greasy spoon, many Unis have no-shows in September, so it may be worth sending applications at the end of August again letting Unis and schools know that you're ready and willing to come. I would imagine that some no-shows are couples.

On the subject of married couples, would it be a viable alternative to just say that you are married? I doubt they're going to check your marriage certificate, and people sometimes keep their maiden names. Saying they're married would make a couple seem more stable. I suspect this happens a lot, as all the foreign teacher couples seem to be married, which is weird because hardly any young couples in the UK are married nowadays.

Welcome aboard Dannyboy!   To your questions:

1. Shanghai is far more progressive than, say, Eric's small town.  Not only should staying together be okay, the fact that you are a couple will play to your advantage: you'll be seen as more stable and reliable.

2. What Mr. Benn said.  There are fewer jobs available, but far fewer applicants.  Those places that will be looking come August will be desperate. 

Hey Britton, I have accepted a teaching position at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology! I look forward to meeting you and your brother since I assume you will choose Nanjing over Zhengzhou! 

Hey, Todd, sorry I´ve been away from the thread for awhile.  We did accept the NUIST contract, but there have been some issues with the z-visa.  However, assuming we work it all very soon, I look forward to meeting you, bud! I´m on the Hello!Nanjing social network, so if you are too shoot me a friend request.

Hey everyone,
  Thank you for you responses! I appreciate all/any advice I get, since this is a big move for us.  I have been reading reviews of schools and researching universities in Jing'an since my first post.  Unfortunately, I have not read about many solid schools to work for. I realize that most people that write reviews are the ones that have had bad experiences. Something I read on the forums here that stated that all/most schools will have bad reviews and to look for the ones that have fewer, I think is a good way to approach it.  Having said that, we have had offers from Pacican Academy, Kids Castle Shanghai and Meten English along with several others in Beijing. The only one of the three that I read a FEW good things about was Pacican but again those were limited. 
   So to be honest, we find ourselves a bit frustrated at this point.  The university positions that are recommended as solid jobs, and the ones we would prefer,  claim that they want 1-2 years of experience, which both of us are lacking.  We applied to Wall Street English, but they also require 2 years experience and replied to our applications saying that they are not allowed to acquire working visas for teachers without 2 years experience because they are a private business. Grrrrrr  I know that people are hesitant to give recommendations to strangers, but if any fellow saloonies could throw us a bone that would be appreciated.
~Thanks again

Look outside ShangHai and BeiJing. There are 100s of other big noisy Chinese cities apart from the big two, and there are 1000s of smaller places too. A wider search is bound to lead to more opportunities.

To some degree, you are quite lucky because you are going together. 2 salaries are going to go a lot further than a single guys single salary would. Taking a lower salary, in a second, third of fourth choice location would be quite doable in your first job IMO, because its a lot easier when you have someone to share the experience with.

Hello all! I am typing this from Huanchaco in northern Peru. I came to South America for a week last fall, but ended up not wanting to go back to the States. I am planning on coming to China next fall, that is if I can find a position in Hainan. I have learned to surf here in Peru, and it is everything I always thought it would be. There seems to be some good surf and a fledgling surf scene in Hainan, and I love the heat too. I have the little matter of finishing up my degree next Spring, as I left for South America during my last semester at university. Whoops! I look forward to talking with you all, and I am sure that I will get some good advice when I am ready to start the job hunt. This round's on me! 

Assuming you have Facebook, you might want to like the 'Surfing Hainan' page. If you get in touch with them they might be able to advise you on some jobs going in Hainan. Also get in contact with the Banana Hostel in Haikou. The ex-pat community is so small in Hainan that making a few contacts there is likely to get you some job opps via word of mouth.

Hello, Jedi Smurf

Hola Jedi Smurf 

Welcome Jedi Smurf  Look forward to hearing more about you.

Welcome Jedi Smurf, let me know if I can help you out with anything around Nanjing! 

Thank you all for the warm welcome. Look forward to getting to know all of you better. 

Nicenightforawalk, thanks for the tip about liking Surfing Hainan. I had checked out their website extensively, but did not think about looking for them on Facebook.