The International Schools Review Forum

Making a move to China to teach in an International School! I'm very excited but would need the advice of some of you here!

Salary is RMB 25,500 per month after tax. Housing provided. Utilities and everything else on my own.

Will I do OK in Shanghai with this package? Is it decent? To what extent can I expect to save with this salary?

This will be my first move out of my home country to teach. Any advice will be so appreciated!!!

Yes, you'll do fine. It is a reasonable salary and you'll be able to travel and save. How much you'll save will depend upon how much you travel. You will not be poverty stricken by any means.

With housing covered (which is the biggest expense) and after tax then that's a pretty good salary. Shanghai nightlife is really good, but also really pricey so if you indulge too much then saving can be an issue. In general, however, travelling and saving is very possible.

Thank you so much for your replies!

Well, I am not into nightlife so I should be fine.

Could you give me a rough idea of what the basic living expenses are like over there?

Utilities (I will be living alone in a one bedroom apartment).
Groceries + maybe eating out on weekends.
Internet.
VPN.
Phone Plans.
... What else?

I think I will be fine. I just want to know to what extent will i be OK since a chunk of my salary will be going towards student loans.

Utilities will probably run around 5-700 rmb/month depending on the weather, a phone plan can vary but I would expect 100-200 per month, a VPN/internet connect will be about 3000 per year, eating out again varies but you can eat well from 40 rmb up, groceries can run anywhere from 1500 upwards/month. The metro runs at about 4 rmb/trip and taxis aren't horribly expensive. Air travel out of Shanghai is not cheap, due mostly to the taxes placed on your ticket, but you can find deals.

Groceries depend a lot on if you're trying to buy foreign goods or eating local. So for instance, a can of refried beans at the places that sell imports go for about 20 RMB, a pack of 6 tortillas is about 20 RMB, a small bloc of cheddar (half of a paperback book sized) is about 30 RMB. Cereal can be quite expensive (70 - 90 RMB) unless it's the locally produced corn flakes (30 RMB). A liter of milk goes for about 15 RMB. Sliced bread (8 pieces) is about 12 RMB. A small container of locally produced peanut butter is about 30 RMB. Vegetables and fruits at wet markets and fruit stands can be quite inexpensive unless they are imported or something especially exotic. A bundle of green beans probably goes for 6 - 10 RMB. A bag of 6 apples might be 15 RMB.

Eating out can be as cheap as 20 RMB for a good bowl/plate of 'la mian' (Qinghai pulled noodles that are found just about everywhere), but expect to pay 70 - 90 RMB for a burger and fries combo at a Western place. McDonald's combo meal is about 30 RMB. You can get very expensive, very high quality food that costs similar prices to what you'd find in Western countries. Expect to pay 40 - 60 RMB per glass/bottle of beer in bars. In a convenience or a grocery store a 750 ml bottle of local beer might run you 3 RMB, but imports might be 15 - 25 RMB per bottle.

You'll need to buy a VPN before you arrive in China. They go from free to a few hundred US dollars a year depending on your needs.

Mobile phone plans vary mostly by the data you need. A lot of restaurants, bars, and cafes have free wifi almost as a default unless they're really hole in the wall places, so you may not need as much data. Streaming is terrible and if you need a VPN to use the website it's worse. But I might estimate a phone plan is 120 RMB per month for 1 GB of data. Some people end up using pre-paid phones if you don't use data much and those can be very inexpensive. People don't text message much these days. Most people use WeChat for messaging, which means you need data or a wifi connection.

I pay about 500 RMB a month for my utilities. I don't use air conditioning too much, but if you do that can drive up your utilities a lot. Does your housing include service fees for the guards and workers in your complex? That may be an extra amount.

Transportation costs can be very low if you use the subway and/or buses frequently (less than 100 RMB per month). While taxis are a lot less expensive that Western countries, you can add a lot to your expenses if you use them a lot. I think the starting rate of taxis in Shanghai is 12 or 14 RMB depending on the size. Down here in the city I'm in it's 10 RMB to start and 2.6 RMB/km. I'd expect it's more like 3 RMB/km in Shanghai.

If you hire an ayi (maid/nanny) you could spend a lot or a little there. I have an ayi who cleans and does laundry a few times a week. I pay her 1000 RMB/month. It can be more if you need someone weekdays for child care. Some of my colleagues have ayi's who cook or prepare ingredients for them to cook or go to buy things at the store.

If you keep your holidays to inexpensive countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam (visa for Americans is rather pricey now), Taiwan, then you can avoid spending too much during your breaks. Of course travel in China can be inexpensive too.

A membership at gyms can be quite expensive and you're lucky if they don't close and keep your membership deposit. If your school has nice facilities this can be a way to save on an expense.

If you enjoy reading in English, you can find yourself buying a lot of ebooks as local options are few and expensive. Some of the schools have good library collections that teachers can check out books. I also suggest getting yourself a library card form your home country if they allow ebook checkout. You can save a huge amount by not buying online books.

If you're going to take individual Mandarin lessons, you can probably find teachers (grad students) for as little as 150 RMB/hour, but I don't think it's worth paying more than 250 RMB/hour. Group lessons should be less than 100 RMB/hour.

If you get into going for massages, which is a nice way to deal with stress, it can range in price a lot. Depending on the type of place you can probably find it for 125 to 300 RMB for a 45 min to 1 1/2 hour massage.

That's all I can think of as typical expenses that I or my colleagues have in China. A lot will depend on your lifestyle and choices you make on how you want to spend your money. If you're not saving at least a USD 1,000 a month, I'd be surprised. I'd be surprised if you can save up more than USD 2,500 per month on that salary though, especially during the first year when there are more initial start up costs.

25k RMB/month is towards the bottom of what international school teachers make in Shanghai. It's typical of what people teaching Chinese kids in schools with international curriculum make. If you want to pull in more money you could look into tutoring students. I have some colleagues who do that with kids from other schools. You can make $150 to USD$300 an hour depending on what you're tutoring. Experts in literacy working with younger kids or IB math/science folks do especially well.

eion_padraig wrote:
> 25k RMB/month is towards the bottom of what international school teachers make in
> Shanghai.

I agree with everything above except for this. In the great gamut of international schools in Shanghai 25k is at least average, if not a bit above average. International schools start at 18k. It's not a salary you would earn in the top 5 schools, but there are way more schools below you than above you.

I would suggest waiting to figure out your VPN until you get to Shanghai and can ask your coworkers and new friends which one works the best. We have been through a number of them over the years and there is always a new flavor of the month.

Gosh! Thank you all os much for your input! The information shared is very helpful and it is so appreciated!

This is my first international teaching position. I am not too fussy about the salary at the moment (though I do have a mountain of student loan to pay off! (will be sending USD 1500 home each month for that. thank God I am not into nightlife activities.) I do believe I need to gather experience in one before I can get into what people would call “the top tier”. How true is that by the way? : )

I heard even with VPN… the speed is still crazy slow. Can you actually use gmail and youtube there without feel like smashing your computer?

Which VPN is the best, at the moment?

ONE MORE THING: How bad is the pollution? I read that it is definitely getting better compared to years ago. True? Do you “feel” it everyday?

And… how safe is Shanghai for a young single woman. I do look Asian but I certainly don’t look Chinese.

Shanghai is absolutely safe, apart from the electric scooters on the sidewalks and drivers ignoring pedestrians you have very little to worry about.

Astrill works well as a VPN.

We stream Hulu and Netflix without any problem and use Google and Facebook as well so I wouldn't say our connection is slow.

Pollution is an ongoing issue, one that won't be solved within my time in China. It comes in many forms: water, air, soil etc. Air pollution is the most obvious and it has been improving (at least in Shanghai) and the Chinese government is taking it very seriously. There will be days when you will wonder what you are doing to your lungs but buy a mask (current rage are the Vogmasks, but we use 3M masks we bought at Lowes). Just make sure they are N rated (n90 or N95). We also have a filter running in our apt but you can use a makeshift one made from a box fan and Hepa filter and they work just as well for a fraction of the cost

Here is an example https://smartairfilters.com/cn/en/

Shanghai is a fantastic city with lots of opportunities. We went to see the UK version of Wicked last night and there are many other similar opportunities out there.

Good luck in your preparations.

Thats not a great salary. The bottom of the IS market in lower third tier is about RMB20K. Second tier is around RMB30K and first tier is around RMB40K. Your salary of RMB25K is in the middle of the third tier which is on the low side for Shanghai. In addition without utilities your housing is also on the low side. AirCon can be some heavy coin in the hot months.
How much you can save depends a lot on you. The Shanghai night life can be very excessive on coin, so can shopping, so can a lot of things. What are your food and dining requirement? You can eat out very cheaply, cheaper than you can cook at home, which is why most people do. However, Shanghai has options at every level, and you could easily spend a lot eating out. Going out for a good steak will come at a high price. Probably the biggest expense will be having a girlfriend. Shanghai girls expect a lot. You could save RMB20K, you could just as easily save nothing.

As for costs:
Restaurants:
Conbini/Stall Meal: 20RMB
Basic set meal: 35RMB
Combo meal at MCDs: 30RMB
Sit Down Dinner (3 courses): 100RMB
Domestic Beer (Pearl): 12RMB
Imported Beer (Guinness): 25RMB (Minimum)
500G Chicken Breast: 22RMB
Bottle of Coke: 3RMB
Cafe Drink (Starbucks): 23RMB

Market:
500G Chicken Breast: 22RMB
1L Milk: 20RMB
Dozen Eggs: 24RMB
1Kg Tomato: 16RMB
100G Cheese: 10RMB
1Kg Potatoes: 13RMB
1Kg Apples: 26RMB
500Ml Domestic Beer: 7RMB
Bottle Wine: 140RMB
Loaf Bread: 8RMB

Housing:
Utilities (Electric, Gas, Water, Trash, Sewer): 290RMB*
(A lot of this depends on your AirCon use. This is average meaning you turn it off when you leave and on when you arrive home, and you dont have it set at cold).
Security: 600RMB*
(Your building will likely have a security guard and maintenance for the outside building and access to common areas (such as a pool, athletic room. This fee can vary widely, and may or may not be included in your housing fees, it probably isnt).
Internet: 140RMB*
(Unlimited, 10MBps. Just enough to stream video. This assumes your building is wired and using a common line. Its possible to get much higher speed as high as 100MBps, and some buildings which are at a premium now have dedicated fiber).
Mobile: .52RMB/min*
(This is an average for pre-paid rate and is one minute of voice/SMS/1 packet of data).
Domestic Help: 30RMB/hr*
(Its ridiculously inexpensive to hire locals to do domestic labor.)

Transportation:
Single Ticket: 3RMB
Metro Pass: 214RMB/month
Taxi: 14RMB start and then 4.60RMB/mile
Intra City Bus: 99RMB

Clothing:
Jeans (Levi): 611RMB
Dress (H&M): 360RMB
Sports Shoes (Nike): 720RMB
Dress Shoes: 940RMB

Entertainment:
Movie Ticket: 73RMB
Live Theater: 382RMB
Fitness Club: 576RMB/month
Night Club (Entry): 140RMB
Haircut (Basic, Expat area): 88RMB

Personal:
40 flat screen: 3858RMB
iPod Nano: 1141RMB
Cold Medicine (1 week): 32RMB
Antibiotics: 40RMB
Short Doctor Visit: 629RMB
Deodorant: 35RMB
Shampoo/Conditioner: 40RMB
Laundry Detergent (3L): 53RMB
Toothpaste: 19RMB
Bathroom Tissue (4 rolls): 11RMB

A VPN will cost you about 2000RMB/year for a good one that will allow you to stream video, more if you need encryption.

As far as mobile goes, either bring a GSM unlocked phone or expect to pay the full retail price for one there. Phone service as far as basic voice and text is cheap, and if thats what you do a cheap feature phone can be had for very little. Cost increases quickly as you add data. In a lot of places the 4G isnt very fast about 3G speeds, though you will have a strong signal just about everywhere, the congestion really slows everything done. Data is what costs a lot on mobile, though you can access data everywhere for free from WiFi and many people use WeChat in place of text and voice. You will spend about 14RMB per bucket of 100MB of data, you pay less the more you buy.

Food really varies depending on what you want, you will pay what you consider a lot for particular ceral or things like pop tarts. Basics like bread, vegetables, fruit, meat are very inexpensive. Things like Oreo cookies tend to be high priced. Most Chinese just eat out, you can get some insanely good deals on stall food, and your IS may have a subsidized or free lunch. Dont be shy about asking them if they will coke you meals to take home, these are usually a couple RMB (my favorite is eggs and tomatoes).

Night life and a Gym membership are the priciest. Most gyms by chinese standards are not a Golds Gym like you are thinking. They are more a street gym, where your fee gets you locker room and shower privileges and access to things like jump ropes and free weights. A modern fitness center with Natlius, Universal, and bike/step machines will be very pricey. Though it will mostly be house wives around lunch and business men at the end of business day. Id look at your IS and see if you can use their facilities.

Avoid buying eBooks and most local book stores will only carry the NYT top 10/20 in English. Hotels are a good place to find them but not the cheapest. For eBooks look into your local public library and see what they have available to borrow as far as eBook, etc. The best option is checking your IS library if it caters to a large or significant expat population.

I wouldnt bother with paying for Mandarin lessons, you can do free language exchanges that cost nothing. I got some of my hottest dates that way.

Spa services vary widely, my only advice is that for guys go to a professional spa if you want a real massage and that an hour is only a little more than 30 minutes. Also Shanghai has a very active compensated dating scene.

I would contact your lender and tell them you are a volunteer teacher, and then make your payments of $0. This way you pay nothing.

The general IT career allows an IT to either move laterally (from a hardship to a more desirable location) or up a tier every contact cycle (usually 2 years), though the third tier is basically becoming a dual tier in itself.

You can stream US video if you pay for premium VPN service. I like Golden Frog for VPN, there standard service is fast. Astrill is fine too, but everyone seems to use it which adds to congestion.

The pollution is not as bad as Beijing, but you will still need air filters in your apartment.

Its pretty safe, some harassment on the metro and some cat calling will be about it. Having your wallet lifted from your bag is probably going to be the worst of it. Most locals will treat you as Chinese if you look Asian. They will just think your a Ziyi girl.

Air filters can be done effectively and on the cheap
https://smartairfilters.com/cn/en/

I am so glad I found ISR! What would I do without all of you!

I'm a female so I don't have to worry about spending money on dating Shanghainese women in Shanghai. ;)

But wow... I'm surprised how the salary can differ so greatly from school to school.

A few questions regarding that:

1. Does IS generally prefer to recruit teachers with IS teaching experience?
2. How easy is it for me to move to an IS that pays better at the end of my contract? Will my experience in another IS in Shanghai give me an advantage? Will I still be considered an overseas hire if I do the switch?

Regarding the air pollution:

1. On average, in a month, how many days do you find yourself having to wear a mask to go out?

Regarding food safety:

1. How safe is it to eat cheap?
2. Is it safe to get groceries from local market?
3. Any advice regarding food?

Regarding water pollution:

1. I was told by a friend that I should be prepared to use bottled water for EVERYTHING (from brushing my teeth to washing my face...). Is it THAT extreme?

We use bottled water to drink and cook with but not to wash our face or brush our teeth. We spend 32 rmb every 2 weeks on bottled water so its not a huge expense.

You can safely eat out every night of the week in different restaurants for year and never eat in the same restaurant twice.

There are western grocery stores that sell the same products you buy at home. If you use the wet market then you will have to be a little more careful in your cleaning and preparation.

Wearing your mask will depend on your tolerance level. We should probably wear our's more but don't which is true of the vast majority of people.

I wouldn't worry about your salary, as I believe it will be enough to sent a chunk home to service your loan as well as to live and travel on. Whether your school is a mythical Tier 1,2 or 3 doesn't matter if you are happy and can live with the salary. Psyguy's numbers are pretty close but not completely and simply presenting a list of prices doesn't account for the choices you will be able to make, not all milk cost 20 rmb/litre for example.

Teachers do move from one school to another and policies in some schools have changed recently regarding whether teachers already living in Shanghai would be considered local hires or oversea hires.

@cheerysunshine

Air filters are basically a fan blowing onto a filter. You can buy cheap furnace filters and a box fan and clean an apartment of air very quickly, but the concept works with any fan and filter.

Yes, ISs recruit ITs with experience, the bar to IE itself is generally 2 years post certification, but as you move up tiers you find that the average IT experience is greater and greater.

It depends really, you could move up to another tier at the end of your contract, but your opportunities diminish the more restrictive you are. Your probably not going to go from where you are to Shanghai AS at the end of this contract.

If you move into a second tier IS in Shanghai from where you are you will very likely be considered an OSH, the problem would be if you stayed in the third tier, than a competing IS in Shanghai may consider you an LH.

I didnt wear a mask at all, but this was several years ago.

Food safety:
1) Just go where everyone else goes, and make sure your food is hot. People get in problems when they go to the street buffets and foods been sitting out a while.

2) Chinese are very concerned about food safety and as a result they want everything fresh. While there seems to be a scandal every year, in general make sure your containers are unopened are fresh and your fine.

3) Really, understand that no food safety system is perfect, make sure your food is served hot, use disposable chopsticks that are new, and that your food is fresh.

4) Your apartment will have a vacuum flask (the large water bottles you find in a business office). You can not drink the tap water. You use this flask for drinking water and cooking. I also used it for brushing my teeth. Make sure you close your mouth in the shower. This water is very cheap about 30RMB per flask, but this is for local branded drinking water. You can buy spring water, and imported water thats much more coin.