Teaching EFL in China: Pros and Cons

What are the Pros and Cons of living and working in China as an EFL teacher?

I know the terrible air pollution is a Con.

I worked in South Korea for two years and in China for five years and am in China currently, people have done a lot longer than me in both countries, so take that qualification for what it's worth.

Pros of Korea

More modern
Cleaner
Convenience of getting things done is a lot easier - such as sending money home
Internet
Nightlife

Pros of China

People
Food
Things to see
More foreigner friendly (but neither are foreigner friendly next to Singapore for example)
More jobs - with a lot more scale
Dating (if you are a man)
Making friends (Both sexes)


Same in both countries

Personal safety
Transport (Both really good)
Negative attitudes towards black people (Though China is less racist towards white people)


I prefer China, it isn't perfect but I am truly happy here. It's a great place but it takes time to adjust, it took me two years to get in balance with how things are here. Those first two years were spent getting angry a lot. With Korea, I couldn't deal with the nationalism, some people might argue that China has worse nationalistic tendencies than Korea but I disagree.

In either country, you are a foreigner with negligible rights - especially if you collide with a citizen regards a fight or a legal contest of some kind.

I know people still in Korea who love it, it does suit some people, China suits me but I bet Singapore would suit me even more. Or Penang in Malaysia... now we're talking. 

This really depends on where you want to live. If you go to a first tier city like Beijing or Shanghai you will have everything you could ever want but if its a second or third tier city you might want to run away after a week.

cons

depending on where you live, pollution can be a bother (further South the Bluer the Skies)

Pros

More areas to explore

Well as much as I LOVE and enjoyed my vacation to China, I was really happy to be back in Korea and if anything being in China made me apprecipate Korea more. 

The things I loved about China.

Lots to see and do.
-People generally mind their own business and tend to be friendly (but I'm going to let that one confrontation with a taxi driver slide)
-If you don't know the language they will do their best to help you even though they can't speak any English either (In my opinion, I think Korea has a slightly high advantage over China in the "random people you run into on the street who can speak English" department. 
- THE SUBWAY SYSTEM!  THANK THE LORD THAT WAS USER FRIENDLY LIKE KOREA'S SUBWAY SYSTEM.  If NOT, my vacation could have been a real headache.  Even though it was a pain to queue up for the subway in the morning (in a holding gated area so they can let one large group go at a time) and you had to be screened before you entered the subway gates. (Safety first I know  ) I was so glad that it was simple to navigate.  Japan's subway system can learn a lot from China's.
- Restaurant workers/owners willing to let you be surprised.  No English menus, no pictures did not warrant any"NO NO YOU NO" hesitation from any restaurant staff in China.  I let them pick for me and I was pleasantly surprised.     Once again I think Japan could take some notes when it comes to letting a foreigner eat at a restaurant that has no English menus.  Sorry but not every foreigner that goes to Japan always come equipped with 500 useful Japanese phrases/vocabulary words.  Some of us are just tourist.  And in Korea though I have never been turned away for lack of English the staff always speaks enough to say "Is Okay?  Spicy Okay?"   


Things I didn't like about China.
-Queuing up EVERYWHERE.  Enter the subway.  Enter a queue.  What to buy a ticket for the subway. Enter a queue.  Want to just see a temple.  Enter a queue.   
Did I mention you also have to go through a security check point at many places.  It's like the TSA but EVERYWHERE.  Don't try and plan to get some where at say 1pm and expect to be there on time.  You need to plan well in advance to factor in queue waiting times and security pat downs. 
- The kids didn't seem very well behaved in my opinion.  Running up and down the aisles inside a plane.  Playing hide and seek on the train.  Scream crying.  It's like regular crying now with 50% more yelling at the top of the lungs and crying till exhaustion.  Had the pleasure of seeing plenty of what seems to be age 7 children acting like that.  I was thinking to myself, if this is how they act I'd hate to sign up for that in the classroom.    While Korean kids are just little darlings  I have never witnessed a Korean kid run around on an airplane during a flight or running around on the subway or on the KTX. 
Also....
-Unfortunately saw a lot of public spanking too. 
- SQUATY POTTIES EVERYWHERE.  Only the fancy places had sitting toilets.  I know Korea has those too, but here you are given the option to squat or not to squat.  China it's liiike  "You better be good at balancing."  Gosh, I feel bad for overweight travelers to China that had to encounter that 
-Speaking of bathrooms.  Lots of places like cafes won't just let you go in unless you pay or lots of places don't have them at all.  Almost lost my sh*t trying to locate a bathroom.  It seems like for every 3 blocks there is one bathroom 
- oh and lack of English.  I'm not talking they only know a few words or speak broken English.  I'm talking ZERO.  But what the hey, I enjoyed having a little kick in the rear to show me guess what "English IS NOT A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE SO CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE AT THE DOOR MISSY."  But the Chinese handled my Zero Chinese with hospitality and grace  .  NEVER GOT THE "YOU NO" arms up in an X fashion.  LOOKING AT YOU JAPAN AND KOREA.   

So that's my opinion.  But honestly, I'm comfortable here.  But I understand Korea can be a hellhole.  Especially if you work with difficult/stupid people.   Been there and so done with that.   

I lived in China for a while and I have to say the biggest con for me was THE INTERNET

I'm pretty good at computers so i could always get what I wanted but it's just not the easy internet we're used to.

You can get around the firewalls using VPNs but it's still super slow at times. You can barely stream Youtube, or run a standard google search. Things are throttled beyond usefulness. I remember just trying to make some flash cards at school and a google search "bus" yielded 0 results. A pretty standard thing to happen... torture.

I lived in China for a while and I have to say the biggest con for me was THE INTERNET

I'm pretty good at computers so i could always get what I wanted but it's just not the easy internet we're used to.

You can get around the firewalls using VPNs but it's still super slow at times. You can barely stream Youtube, or run a standard google search. Things are throttled beyond usefulness. I remember just trying to make some flash cards at school and a google search "bus" yielded 0 results. A pretty standard thing to happen... torture.

Omg I forgot about that too.  Yeah no Google maps, no facebook, no youtube.  Thankfully I signed up for a roaming package with my phone company before I left.  I was able to enjoy Facebook/youtube even though the service was slow.  Plus google maps was a life saver when I was walking around China. 

Yeah ease of internet access if def a big one, lol

China is better if you are black or over the hill. There is less discrimination  in the workplace. I assume this is fueled by greater
demand. Getting a job in a good location is way easier. Chinese architecture  is way more impressive. On the other hand there are
parts of China that are filthy and full of dilapidated  falling down buildings. There is also communist propaganda  and old Solviet flags
everywhere. Jobs are not as good. You will never get a full twelve month contract with a bonus at the end. They only pay half your airline ticket. At the end of your contract. There is no pension.There are way more crazy motorbikes on the sidewalks. There are tons on toddlers
pooing on the streets. You have a first month probation  in which they
can legally fire for anything. You also make less during probation month. It takes at least two months to break even. People say it is really
cheap however if you like to hang out  in nice pubs and eat western food you can easily blow all your salary. They also micromanage way expect regular open lessons that are evaluated by peers.

China is better if you are black or over the hill. There is less discrimination  in the workplace. I assume this is fueled by greater
demand. Getting a job in a good location is way easier. Chinese architecture  is way more impressive. On the other hand there are
parts of China that are filthy and full of dilapidated  falling down buildings. There is also communist propaganda  and old Solviet flags
everywhere. Jobs are not as good. You will never get a full twelve month contract with a bonus at the end. They only pay half your airline ticket. At the end of your contract. There is no pension.There are way more crazy motorbikes on the sidewalks. There are tons on toddlers
pooing on the streets. You have a first month probation  in which they
can legally fire for anything. You also make less during probation month. It takes at least two months to break even. People say it is really
cheap however if you like to hang out  in nice pubs and eat western food you can easily blow all your salary. They also micromanage way expect regular open lessons that are evaluated by peers.

Moral of the story, don't work in private language schools. They pay more, but you get more shite.

 You can break it into different catagories
Universities pros
You usually get lots of time off great
for private tutoring on the side.
Teaching is easy because student
are well behaved.
You can save lots of money by eating in school
Canteen.
You get free housing
Cons
Low monthly pay between 6000 9000 RMB

International schools
Pros
High monthly salary low cost of
living. Great for saving money
Long vacations  usually paid
Great for certified teachers
Great opportunity to teach mon ESL
classes like literature  physics and math.
Cons
These school  charge high tuition
to students helicopter  parent
very fussy complain alot.
Lots of spoiled brats behavoral problems.
Lots of paperwork Scope and Sequence
Report cards Rubrics.
If you get a bad homeroom class
life is hell.
Public schools
Pros
Little to no paperwork.
Freedom to make your own curriculum
Borderline impossible to get fired.
Cons
Large unruly classes
Few resources.
Many students dont have the required textbook.
Low salary.
Training schools (hogwans)
High salaries.
Small classes.
Good resources
Cons
Many of these work with bad agencies
That will screw you.
Lots of open lessons.
Some engage in gender age
and race discrimination.
Boarding schools
Pros
These jobs usually have nice housing.
These jobs are way easier than International schools.
You wont be assigned as a homeroom teacher.
Good vacation schedules.
Pay is good. If they like you they will
Renew you and offer a raise.
Cons
Classes are big students level is mixed.
Some spoiled brats that misbehave
However not as bad as International  schools

They micromanage you.

When people say cheap cost of living take it with a grain of salt.

That cheap roadside food isn't necessarily good for you.

I'm in Beijing for Chuseok and let's just say it's made me appreciate Korea a lot more. Korea is crowded but stuff still works. Here it's impossible or at least really annoying to do anything because of the holiday crowds.  You couldn't pay me to live and work here.

I'm in Beijing for Chuseok and let's just say it's made me appreciate Korea a lot more. Korea is crowded but stuff still works. Here it's impossible or at least really annoying to do anything because of the holiday crowds.  You couldn't pay me to live and work here.

I bet it's annoying and crowded, but remember you're travelling during the mid-autumn festival weekend, to the capital city , of a country with 1.6 billion people!

There are a lot of positive things about China. I've been here 3 years now and I'm finally over it.

I loved most of the first 2 and half years... it's an adventure and I'd highly recommend it for a year or two because the students are great, the people are mostly great and parts of the country are amazing.

My issues right now:

Internet... a VPN won't solve the internet issue because the internet speeds are so poor that you'll struggle to load YT or FB.

Electricity, if you're even remotely rural (City of 1 million is still rural) expect power cuts. At my university we have probably 20 a year from March - October and they can last hours / all night. Not ideal because of the heat and humidity during those months!

People, everywhere. Queues everywhere. I remember on a trip to BJ I had to queue to cross the street and by time I got to the front of the queue it was back on the red man.

Red tape to do everything and anything. I remember moaning that it takes about 20 minutes to wire money home from S.Korea.... I look back at those times fondly, now.

I'm just tired, I guess. Burned out. My work life is great. Short working hours, long holidays, great students and I can save most of my pay each month. But the little things that I used to be happy to be without are beginning to nag me.

Being close to Hong Kong really helps. But for all the great things about this country... life can be difficult. I don't think I could settle here and that's something that's become important for me, now i'm 30. I'd like to be in my next job for the next 10 years. I can't see that being in China.

I'm in Beijing for Chuseok and let's just say it's made me appreciate Korea a lot more. Korea is crowded but stuff still works. Here it's impossible or at least really annoying to do anything because of the holiday crowds.  You couldn't pay me to live and work here.

Had the same thought on a recent trip to China. I was almost giddy once I landed in Korea.

In China recruiters are much worse. Many of them are unlicenced
and will try to get you to come over on a tourist visa. Which makes you
vulnerable.
In China contracts are terrible. Often having huge fines for leaving a contract early an obvious red flag.

Has anyone done their work visa in Korea?

China feels like a low security prison, there is check points and bag checks everywhere. I didn't like having to wait in line for the subway either. The lines to famous places were horrible too felt like I was being watched everywhere.

Korea is way better compared to China. The street food in china is made with gutter oil and I seen vendors collect old Half eaten food and reboil and sell it. I couldn't eat anything after that I was glad to leave China.

China however does have a size advantage and many places to explore a d the Great Wall was good but the pollution killed the pictures.

Transitioning from Korea isn't for everyone. YMMV depending on your province and the type of person you are. I'm in a small city just outside of Xiamen. 6 hour work week, 6,000RMB a month (reflective by actual hours). I do a few privates a week @ 200RMB an hour and live off of that while banking my salary.

I teach 2 days a week. Go in, teach, and leave. I have 5 days to goof off around the city on my motorcycle and/or prepare for my doctorate.


Culture clashes mentioned above is evident wherever you go.


Just like anything else, you get what you put in.