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Different Chinese Schools
Dennis • January 23, 2020
Schools in China - photo below is my old high school
- Number 2 High School Yinchuan
I have worked at every kind of school in China in one form or another. There are four main kinds of schools here:
- Kindergartens - If a kindergarten can hire a foreigner - it is a privately owned school. These have students from age 2-7. Kids arrive around 8am and stay until 6pm. Most classes will have 20-30 students with 4 teachers. These are year round schools, so don't expect a summer vacation. I currently work for the largest kindergarten in Ningxia - XYX Boys and Girls International Kindergarten.
- International Schools - these are elementary to high schools, that have an outside company contract foreign teachers to the school. You technically work for the private company, not the school directly. This are the most desired kind of schools for foreigners, as they are more of what we have in mind as being a traditional school. You work 7am to 6pm. Summers are usually off, with a longer winter holiday as well. However, more and more of these private companies are reducing the summer and winter holidays and having the foreign teachers help with recruiting or teaching extra classes during these times. I think that in the next 5-10 years, summer vacation for foreigners will be a thing of the past. I worked for the International Department of Number 2 High School for my first two years in China. I also taught at Hongsipu Number 1 High School. And I also work part time for International Department of Number 9 High School in Yinchuan currently.
- Training Schools - most foreigners are not familiar with these kinds of schools. But they are the most common in China. Competition is fierce for students here. So parents will enroll kids as young as 3 years old in extra after school classes for English and other subjects. Training schools are usually open from the afternoons to evenings during the week, and all day on the weekends. If you work at one of these schools your schedule will be something like this - Wednesday to Friday - 4pm to 10pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 8pm. Off on Monday and Tuesday. I have worked for Aston English Training School and several other smaller schools in Yinchuan and Guangdong.
- Universities - These seem like a great pick. But are the lowest paying option for you in China. If you earn $1300 a month you are in the high pay bracket. Because they are government funded, they cannot afford to pay their teachers as much as the other three kinds of private schools. However the plus side is that you will have summers and winter holidays off, and usually only work 15-25 hours per week. I have done a few lecture classes at Ningxia University.
Regardless of which school you choose, you need to make sure you have a good contract. Make sure your hours and responsibilities are clearly written down. Otherwise you could find yourself dancing in a costume on stage in front of thousands of people.
Welcome back guys. Sandy and I have been busy over the last year in Shenzhen. Things are opening up and it looks like 2023 will be very exciting in China. Keep checking here for updates.
We were interviewed by ABC News last week. Check out the article. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/coronavirus-cases-rise-pats-china-hunker/story?id=69199847
We left China on January 25th for Istanbul and spent a week there, we got back to China on February 3rd. While in Istanbul we decided to buy some N95 and 3M masks to bring back. When we messaged a friend, who is the director of the largest hospital in Yinchuan, they begged us to bring masks back. So we ended up carrying 830 masks back. We bought two large duffel bags and filled them with all the masks. It was a long trip back, as we had a long layover in Kazakhstan, and finally got back last Monday afternoon. We were checked at the airport, a checkpoint on the highway and the gate of our community for fever. Luckily I am a prepper and have plenty of food stored in the house. We had to buy a few fresh vegetables, but otherwise we are set to stay in the apartment for the next two weeks. Overall the situation in Yinchuan is good in regards to the virus. People are able to go out during the day, but are required to wear masks. I have to say that everything here is being handled well. Hopefully, this will start to ease up and end soon.
Let's say you get a 20,000 yuan a month contract at a school in a tier 3 city, plus a free apartment. This means you will be earning 8-10 times the average salary of most Chinese people. I know some of the teachers at my school earn 1500-2500 yuan per month. If you eat at the western restaurants often and go out and party at KTV each night, you will burn through your income in no time. Sandy and I go out about twice a month. Usually we spend about 150 yuan on dinner. That is splurging for us. You can go out to a noodle or dumpling shop and eat very cheaply though. My point is that you will be in the upper 1% of people here. Make sure you understand this and do your best to save while you are here.
We highly recommend getting a TEFL or TESOL certificate. These are teaching courses that can be done in a classroom environment or online. We recommend doing a 120 hour course at least. The more the better. With these certificates you can negotiate a highly salary. We have found that teachers get 1000-1500 yuan more a month with a TEFL/TESOL certificate. The online classes can be finished in a couple weeks. We recommend ITT International TEFL and TESOL. https://internationaltefltesol.com/
I try to be as honest as possible in everything I do. So I wanted to post something about this topic. Hiring practices. Working in China is very different from working in the USA or other western countries. Because China is a very homogeneous society, they rarely get to mix with other races. So there will be a definite difference in how some races will be treated and viewed here. The darker the skin, the less money you will be paid - regardless of your education and experience. This is a fact of life in China. If you see a post for native English speakers at a school that pays 20,000 to 25,000 yuan a month, and you are not white, you will not get the high end of the salary range. There is nothing that can be done about this. If this is something that truly bothers you, maybe working in China isn't for you.
I travel a lot for work and pleasure. But I only book using https://www.trip.com/ . I have found them to be the cheapest travel website out there. I have booked a round trip flight from Yinchuan, China to Seattle, USA for $397 through them. If you need a flight, hotel, train or other travel services, I highly recommend using them.
Your passport is absolutely the most important thing you have. It will have your Chinese visa and residence permit inside. So you cannot lose this while you are in China. I have spoken with a few teachers that have said their schools hold onto their passport. Do not do this. You should always have your passport with you, or locked away in your apartment. Also, make at least 2 color copies and keep those separate. And email yourself a copy of your passport photo page, as well as your visa and residence permit pages. This is very important. The only time you would not have your passport is if you renew your visa for a second year and they submit it to the Chinese government for processing. They will give you a receipt that you need to keep in order to pick up your passport. This process usually takes about 2 weeks. So, make sure you hold onto your passport!
I get this question all the time. So I wanted to post about it and clear some things up. If you are from one of the blue colored countries on the map above you meet the first requirement to teach English in China. USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Many people have argued this point with me, but I will say this. I have not see a single Chinese government post anywhere that states non natives can teach English in China. So, I cannot accept any non native applicants for any schools that we work with. In the future I hope to have more schools in other countries such as: Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. Once this happens, we can work with non native applicants.
One of the best parts about living in China is the cost of living. Nearly everything is much cheaper than in the West. Unless you are buying a foreign product of course. The first thing you no longer have to worry about is rent. A nice apartment in my city runs about $350 a month. That includes rent, utilities and building fees. This is a huge burden off your shoulders. After that you biggest expense is food. And of course if you cook and eat at home you will save a lot more. Check out this shopping video for more information - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G0ceGoiaQE Eating out in restaurants can be fun and actually cheap as well, if you find the right places. Here is a video of a a meal at a Chinese barbecue place - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_4-h0XKa0k And here is another Chinese breakfast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf-W1lpyrkE As you can see it is possible to really eat on the cheap here. I always tell people that you can spend as little or as much as you want. Many expats here will go out to a foreign restaurant or bar nearly every night and spend $75 to $100, eating and drinking. You will end up with nothing at the end of the month if you do this. Be smart and live like a local. Save you money as much as possible.
