Shanghai versus Beijing for non-teaching jobs

Which city is the best to find a non-teaching job in China?

I am American, 31 years old. I have no experience other than teaching and writing business materials.

I currently have an F Visa valid until November.

To be honest, you’re not going to get far with that. China is crawling with foreign experts with PhDs coming out their ears.

I was reading in the local [strike]propaganda[/strike] newspaper that there’s a booming business in ‘foreign faces’. Basically, some tinpot Chinese company hires a foreigner or two to sit in on meetings with foreign companies - they don’t actually have to do anything, just sit there and look foreign. Their rationale is that the foreign company will be impressed that the local (Chinese) company has enough cash and cachet to hire a foreigner. Obviously, it’s a complete waste of time - the foreign reps probably go back to their hotel and laugh themselves silly about this hicks-from-the-sticks tactic - but the pay can be high, $100-200 for a half-day’s “work”. You might be a little on the young side though; apparently the preferred age range is 40s-50s so that you look like a “manager”.

Another option would be modelling, if you’ve got the looks for it. For similar reasons to the above, foreign faces seem to be in demand on promotional materials etc. Find an agency.

Have you considered NGO work? I understand the Chinese government is now permitting some limited interference by foreigners in certain areas.

Also … why head for a big city? You might find some of the brand-new ‘frontier towns’ more interesting, and you probably have less chance of developing a respiratory disease or a taxi-driver-induced broken leg.

Actually I am not looking for a job doing nothing. What would the point of that be?

I would really love to learn another Chinese dialect.

Ohok … well … in that case the point would be to leave enough time for your studies while getting the bills paid :smiley:

If you can get people to willingly give you money while you add to your CV, why not? I hear the Chinese are very keen on this ‘capitalism’ thing these days.

Otherwise … what kind of work are you interested in? I know a few people who have worked in the Big Smoke(s), and it seems like they’re very much centred on engineering and suchlike.

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Just back from a week in Beijing. I’d certainly pick Beijing over Shanghai. They’ve both got their annoyances, but for the Chocolate bar alone, Beijing wins by a golden mile. Nothing quite says, “Fark me! What’s on here?” more than a midget doorman in a tuxedo, sporting a Mohican.
thebeijinger.com/directory/Chocolate

[quote]Only in Beijing would you find a Russian bar dedicated to Napoleon. Clad in imperial robes, the invader of Moscow gazes from the wall as you glide down the escalator to Chocolate, a nightclub/restaurant near Yabao Lu . . .
[/quote].
New dialect? Of Chinese? Well the northern accent does throw me, I got to admit, but i wouldn’t call it a new dialect, and why would you possibly want to learn Shainghainese? That stumps me. Maybe i missed the point, but there are at least three Chinese language dialects in Taiwan, and then there’s the abos. More than enough to shake a stick at.

Apologies. I know nothing about teaching opportunities, but I would hazard a guess that there’'s enough “trustafarians” - youngsters backed by the family trust, or simply rich parents - in both Beijing and Shanghai that you’re going to have to start thinking 2nd or 3rd tier China cities for unskilled English teaching.

HG

Edit: I just saw that you said non-English teaching job. You can replace “for unskilled English teaching” with any entry level job.

If the job will help me develop skills the pay is irrelevant. I have money and can also teach at a language school on the weekend if I need to earn more.

Maybe I should look for a job in Guangdong. Then I can learn Cantonese.

i worked in Hong Kong for a couple years. I had a friend who worked in sales there and she said that sales is a good business for foreigners because they are trustworthy and and cool. I would suggest real estate though. Hong Kong real estate is a good living if you can find a job, that is though.

I saw some real estate jobs advertised. Too bad I don’t have any experience in real estate.

I think I would try to start out as an account manager.

That’s certainly not a bad plan. Guangzhou is dirty and interesting. it’s also cheaper, and I’d say there’s many opportunities to gain experience and in something that could eventually pay off. I wouldn’t bet the ranch against it, but it’s a plan. Mind you Dongguan is a shithole full of the worst Taiwanese on the planet. As is Zhuhai. Guangdong is largely poor, dumb, brutal and horrid.

You should also perhaps talk with Baas in Xiamen. Fujian is interesting, especially coming out of Taiwan.

As for dialects. I’m reluctantly coming back to the idea Chinese speakers should have a proper grounding in “Beijing hua” before moving on. I spent twenty years saying it doesn’t matter. but now I think it does, and can see why my early language teachers were incredulous I didn’t at east spend some time studying Chinese in Beijing.

HG

I have already studied Mandarin in Taiwan for three years.

So now your plan of escape from Taiwan is to…Mainland China? So that way, you’ll have all of the same cultural features that have caused you numerous frustrations in Taiwan, plus more pollution and burdensome government? :ponder: And all because you want to study another Chinese dialect, even though you could easily study Southern Min or Hakka in Taiwan? :eh:

:astonished: I don’t think that any of my post said anything about cultural features that frustrate me in Taiwan. Simply I don’t want to teach English and I hope to try something else.

Maybe I did not make it clear but I would not go to the Mainland just to study another dialect. I am considering going there to see if I can get a job and experience outside of teaching.

Learning another dialect is just a hobby I might pursue on the weekend. If I don’t leave Taiwan I might start learning Southern Min.

Here’s one…‘Western Appearance’ noted as first requirement, of course not being blonde, female and blue eyed you could be facing heavy competition :slight_smile:

thebeijinger.com/classifieds … ambassador

From looking at jobs listed on there, it’s easy to get a job in China, but it may be hard to get a well paid job.

Steelersman, have a look at this:

viewtopic.php?f=117&t=98865

I thought at first it was a degree mill, but it does check out - it’s a genuine accredited university.

I realise it’s not specifically what you were looking for … but it sounds like you’re looking for a career change, so possibly worth considering getting another degree. And you can always work (officially or unofficially) during vacations.

Thank you for the information.

[quote]Guangzhou is dirty and interesting. it’s also cheaper, and I’d say there’s many opportunities to gain experience and in something that could eventually pay off. I wouldn’t bet the ranch against it, but it’s a plan. Mind you Dongguan is a shithole full of the worst Taiwanese on the planet. As is Zhuhai. Guangdong is largely poor, dumb, brutal and horrid.

You should also perhaps talk with Baas in Xiamen. Fujian is interesting, especially coming out of Taiwan. [/quote]

You couldn’t pay me in luxury cars, gold bars and tankers of oil to live in the big cities of Mainland China. Taipei, Taiwan yes, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen etc - NO!

And I’ve heard Dongguan is hell on earth. But I though Zhuhai was a’ight, no? Maybe I’ll pop in there when I go down to Honkers next…

Xiamen is okay, becoming over-touristed and traffic is getting very bad. But on the upside the people are fairly (pinch of salt) polite, semi-civil and I have a good gig - uni + IELTS examining.

I’m meant to be moving back to the Wan end-summer, but not if it means teaching kids. I’d rather push out another 6-12 months in Xiamen and wait for the right work to come up in Taiwan.

There is a Temple University program in Beijing. Maybe I can get a Master’s while living in Beijing through some American university.

I can’t really tell which of the two cities has most of the non teaching jobs. Having gotten this free job App for mobile, I have seen lots of non teaching jobs in Shanghai. I will recommend this App which is easy to find jobs with. www.web.chinajobsapp.com. You can as well have your judgement from there.
Good Luck!