Leaving Taipei to Shanghai for work?

Is long distance completely out of the question though?

It seems like you can get over the “Damnit, I have to go to friggin’ China” aspect, however, you’re stuck on whether you can be away from the gf or if the gf will be ok in Shanghai.

Have you talked it over with her?

The average monthly wages in Shanghai is 9K RMB= 42K TWD.
But we all know the average number means little, since there’re always doctors, lawyers, high-tech engineers who get paid 3 times the salary average office workers can get. So, it really depends on which occupation you’re in.

If you’re simply comparing the wages of a local worker, then a wage that is higher than 9K RMB can be referred to as a fine salary.
But, I think you’re going there for the wage that is much higher than that in Taiwan, right?

The only reason she is in Taiwan is because of me. She isn’t a ROC national so her ARC runs out next year here unless she applies to school here or reapplies for work etc. So it’s not like she would stay in Taiwan if I left.

We have talked about moving from more casual to more seriously recently. But it doesn’t help that I’ve sold her on the evils of the communist party and the PRC nationals and more recently shown her the hard R accent that now annoys her haha telling her about moving to shanghai.

And shes bit of a princess, she flew to Singapore this week to check it out to see is she likes it there. I was more open to move before, but more recently the thought of moving away from Taiwan sucks. I don’t think I realized how much I like it here until I was more serious about moving away. And something about even the short time in the army made me more proud and happy to be here. But shes younger and I get she wants to move around and see as she can afford such luxuries. But I think she really just wants to stay with me. She isn’t hurting for money or a job.

Not her pops that’s the Italian ambassador to Taiwan? :laughing::laughing: She can’t stay based on her dad’s status here? Or is he not based here? Or am I making up Visas?

If your bond/relationship is strong and both of you can’t be tempted by outside factors, long distance isn’t the end of the world. It sucks, but in order for your career to move forward and for her to go to a school she’ll actually enjoy, maybe long distance is an option. The finish line is the same, but maybe the path is different. She’ll have breaks and you’ll have those bi-monthly times off from work to visit her.

You both are definitely due for a visit. The serious talk about your future together should follow.

Her dad’s not the Italian ambassador or whatever the official title is to taiwan. The actual guy is kind of weird. And ambassadors don’t make very much haha. He owns his own business here and in Italy and is also a lawyer.

But yeah, we are in different parts of our lives. It’s hard to do what’s best for my future without compromising hers and the other way around. She can apply to school almost anywhere and get a student visa but working visas are a completely different story for me. I can work in taiwan, US and I guess it’s not that hard to work in China as a ROC citizen unless they deny you for political reasons.

I think the best thing is for us to visit. I think I would have to see it for myself as well to go. I’ve seen and lived for a short time in places in china. And I haven’t been impressed. If anything I was really disappointed by china, I honestly thought it would be nicer with all the talk of how much it’s developed and how we’re brothers only to find out it’s still acceptable for them to just take a dump in the middle of the street.

A couple of years in Shanghai would go like that. If that’s where it is just take the opportunity. If it falls through I’m sure you can do something similar there anyway.
But yeah just check out the setup first!

Taipei is a lot friendlier than Shanghai.

Check out Shanghai, man.

The evil PRC sucks–but so does the evil USA. You can find you away around it, especially in a world city like Shanghai, where in fact there may be more opportunities for your partner anyways.

Good luck with everything!

Guy

Long term prospects for her would be better with a degree from Shanghai. Sorry to say, but Shanghai Whatever University would be more recognizable worldwide that anything in Taiwan, even NTU.

She would also make invaluable contacts, and I do not mean only in China. Alumni associations in Asia are really tight, and if she embarks in one of those international student programs, she’ll be connected to people from US, Latin America, Europe, all over Asia, etc. Here in Taiwan the programs offer that and they have links all over the world, so I guess Chinese universities wil be on the ball.

This is a list of the schools affiliated with NCCU’s IMBA in China:
Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
http://www.acem.sjtu.edu.cn/en/
Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
http://english.gu.cas.cn
Guanghua School of Management, Peking University
http://www.gsm.pku.edu.cn/index/en/index_en.html
Huazhong University of Science & Technology School of Management
http://english.hust.edu.cn
School of Business, Renmin University of China
http://www.ruc.edu.cn/en
School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University
http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/portalweb/appmanager/portal/sem
School of Management, Fudan University
http://www.fdsm.fudan.edu.cn/en/
School of Management, Zhejiang University
http://www.som.zju.edu.cn/en/
Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
http://www.saif.sjtu.edu.cn/en
Sun Yat-Sen Business School
http://bus.sysu.edu.cn/en/
Sun Yat-sen University, Lingnan College
http://www.lingnan.sysu.edu.cn/EN/

There is a tight Taiwanese community in Shanghai. That may help. Network!

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Thanks Icon for taking the time to list some schools. Although right now one of the main issues is that almost all English taught courses in asia is in the field of business which she does not want to study. And with this whole situation, things are coming into perspective about our future that we haven’t really thought of yet. Where will we live long term? what will we do for work?

Right now she is still figuring things out about that while shooting commercials ads and modeling. Which pays a lot. I’ve seen her walk out from one day of work with more than the average salary of a local uni graduate a month. She was smart and didn’t sign with any agencies and talent agents what take like 50-80% of the cut. She didn’t need the money urgently so she actually did lots of free stuff to build her portfolio and reputation to work solo. Which unfortunately most model/actors can’t do getting attracted by agents to do a shoot for 5k right off the bat vs wait find out own jobs and take most of the cut. That 5k would have been like 30k, the agents here take the 25k. It’s crazy. But I’m not saying she can’t do that in shanghai, but i’m guessing jobs like that are much harder there. But l don’t think it would be a huge deal as she’s not looking for that as a career, just something to do while she is not in school.

I told her I would move to Italy and sell gelatos…welll mostly eat it while I say it for her haha

Well, I know many people who work both sides of the Strait and beyond, especially in te field of modeling. might not be a gateway to fame and fortune but it pays the bills generously.

A proper agent would be nice for safety reasons, especially as a woman though, me thinks. A serious one.

She says she probably won’t work if she’s a full time student so that’s not a big deal. I think it’s more like something she did while she wasn’t going to school but you’re right. I would think a proper agent would be safer in shanghai.

Well, we both decided to go check it out. She will schedule some appointments to check out schools. I’m sitting down with them this week to talk more about going their with the gym. So we are both willing to check it out. And her parents(which for some reason loves me) will give her whatever she needs financially if she’s in school including a nice place so I’m lucky both of us are in a situation where we will live comfortably if we move. And her parents are happy to hear I’m getting a nice job offer along with mine. The only issue is if we want to live in China.

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All expenses paid, hard to go wrong.

Problem is still every English taught uni program seems to be business related. She wants to study media or journalism

There might be some mixed majors. Keep looking. Is this for a bachelor’s.or masters?

Bachelors. We are trying. Maybe online courses? I just want something that’s great for both of us. This is a great opportunity for me as I’m working more of the business side with lots of sports and entertainment industries vs being a trainer.

For some reason I don’t think the PRC is the best spot to study journalism. Unless you want some training on how to parrot the party line…

Guy

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I lived in Shanghai for 5 years after living in Taipei for 13 years. I returned to Taipei 5 years ago. Shanghai has changed a lot - for better and for worse - since I moved back to Taipei, but these are my two cents from experiencing both cities. I have only been back to Shanghai 3 times since, and every time I had a blast.

And I enjoyed living there a lot, despite it being obviously less comfortable, more personally dangerous, and ridiculously expensive compared to Taipei. I believe it’s because how you deal with your personal situation is completely subjective. I think I lived a pretty typical existence there -

  • I moved over for a job with a modest (Taiwan) package,
  • got a mortgage and bought an apartment in what will probably be the best single investment I have ever made,
  • switched from full-time to a consultant after 18 months, because I wanted to stay in China,
  • taught at a university for a semester (in fact, my alma mater, NYU),
  • had a long list of favorite restaurants - Western and Asian food from all over the globe, Chinese food from all over the middle kingdom,
  • got involved with different parts of the foreign community (church, alumni, ex-colleagues, other Taiwan “refugees”, angels/entrepreneurs).

I often stayed in my apartment throughout the weekend ordering in EVERYTHING from Sherpas and Taobao. While I cursed the bizarre way of thinking that I encountered all around me, I was impressed by the relentless desire to move forward by the same people and I was charmed by the history and self-image of the city.

I have often told friends in Taipei since I moved back that I feel guilty being away from the action - as if I retired way too early. Where Shanghai is the frontline, Taiwan is very much a homefront kind of feel. That shouldn’t surprise you - it seems like everybody in the world wants to “be” or be seen in Shanghai - I worked for the same Fortune 100 company in Taipei and Shanghai, and while no one in Taiwan gives a thought to the CEO visiting here, Shanghai was the first international visit of our then-new CEO; US Senators… Les Miserables… global rock concerts make their way to Shanghai. Major universities in the US and Europe have invested heavily in partnerships and even their own campuses. Heck, I had more visits from distant relatives in Shanghai than when I live Taipei (hmmm, another benefit in living in Taiwan ;)) Nobody there or outside China asks “why did you come to Shanghai?” - I still get asked why I came to Taipei to this day (and I think this is normal). Maybe even more than in Taiwan, if you want to really get the most out of your time in Shanghai, you have to make the effort to get into the thick of things. And there’s a lot of crap you need to deal with, so it is very easy to create a bubble within even the international community bubble and just sit around feeling miserable.

Have you been to www.shanghaiexpat.com and www.smartshanghai.com? These may not even be the most important web resources anymore, and while I ended up not really needing them while I lived there, they are a good way to start sizing up the situation and what you will do when you are there.

I am excited for you. And I hope to meet you there some day and listen to your (war) stories about life in Shanghai.

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I was wondering when Gus would pipe in :).

To be honest Shanghai sounds like crap compared to most European or North American cities but hey we are in Asia and thats where a lot of the opportunities are in Asia.
In China it’s definitely one of the best options.

I’m sure I would get more visits if based there as well.

I also deal with the 'why Taiwan ’ on a regular basis .

Off topic but in terms of my personal list of interesting and liveable major cities in Asia I would choose Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur , Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh before Shanghai.