A few questions:
1) What would a simple, furnished apartment cost per month living outside of the city centre?

2) Hypothetically, if airfare, rent, medical, etc. were covered by the school, what is a decent salary expectation if you wanted to save some money?

3) Is the metro really as bad as I'm reading? What exactly is wrong with it? Do you actually need a car?

The replies have been incredibly helpful. And some are really quite funny....Psyguy: I appreciate your open mindedness about my sexuality! I just wish you could be as open minded about my gender! I would actually find myself more inclined to forego the shopping and do some local travel. I do agree with you---there is a line between being frugal and being downright boring....

I'm curious to know how common Choirguy's school's fa piao situation is. Can anyone else confirm that their school also provides these "flexible benefits"?

Choirguy (and anyone else who would like to weigh in), if you are essentially making roughly 30,000 RMB per month, and if I like to cook at home during the week, I don't go crazy with clothes shopping, and I don't have a serious tech addiction, what do you think a single with no dependents could save in a year?

Some schools have asked for a personal statement and others have asked for teachers to outline their "philosophy". What are the similarities and differences?

ChoirGuy, can you expand on what you meant by the "fa piao" culture and what you claim receipts for, and how?

Thanks everyone for their replies! Not only for entertainment value (Psyguy), but it's helpful to hear how people are fairing who are living in China right now, and also how much they're able to save. I'd love to hear from anyone else...

Oh yes, I forgot to post about my situation: I'm a single, with a little debt at home (nothing major)....

On that salary, could you travel during the holidays and save anything? If any possibility of savings, how much if you're willing to live fairly frugally throughout most of your time there (ie. not eat out every night)?

Thanks wrldtrvlr123! I tried the link but it says the page is not available. But I did the conversion on the 25K RMB. I guess that means that one should shoot for $40,000 USD salary per year if they want to teach in China...

Most schools that I have researched and applied to provide furnished housing, round-trip airfare, medical insurance, etc. What I'm wondering from those of you who have recent experience teaching in China is what is considered a "good" salary after considering those benefits?

No one?

Has anyone heard anything about them?

Hi All,

I am sending my CV and cover letter as a multi-page PDF document directly to schools (please let me know if this should be done differently). I am unclear, however, as to where to put the photo requested.... Any thoughts?

Thanks for all of your feedback. I realize now that I could have been more clear. When I constructed the question I was thinking of international schools who use IB/AP curriculum that would hire a teacher and train them to teach it. Thanks for the tip on the school in Quito. Are there any others? I'm particularly interested in Asia...

Is it worth it to take workshops? I get the impression that it really doesn't do much for your resume. What counts is the teaching experience.... Am I understanding this correctly?

I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any schools out there that would offer training to someone who would be willing to learn IB, AP, etc.