Does anyone here have experiences teaching in BOTH China and Taiwan? How is it different? What are the pros/cons of both? Which would you recommend?
I know that the money is better in Taiwan, but if there are good sides to China I would be more than happy to take a much smaller salary and teach there. OTOH, if they are pretty much the same then I might as well go somewhere where I can save up some cash for traveling.
I haven’t taught in China. However, I’ve been told salaries are much better in Taiwan. Not to mention much better Western amenities.
You might look at the links to articles, forums, and websites over here:
I have taught in both. Maybe bigger cities in China are OK, but I taught at a university in Sichuan. There were no other foreigners there, the pay was extremely low, and the living conditions were terrible. Culture shock was a problem, both in China and later when I returned home. I was paid about 200 dollars (US) a month. However, in that region that was a fortune - I was paid more than the university president, for example. The area was heavily polluted, much worse than Taipei. Rats and cockroaches were a problem - and this was an area where bubonic plague has been reported. There was also a serious cholera outbreak while I was there. In general, health care was very poor. The hospital at our school had dirt floors, for example. In the surrounding region many houses did not have running water, electricity or heat. No one I met had ever even experienced air conditioning. The temperature got up to 43C in the summer and hovered at about 0C in the winter. My apartment was OK by local standards, but would have been condemned in a Western country.
There were good points: it was a far more interesting experience than living in Taipei. The work load was light and I really enjoyed teaching.