Forums > Living in Kunming > Single Mom in Kunming @vegananne
First - sympathies on your new single-mom status. That sucks - regardless of single mom or single dad. It's possible - but you need to calculate your budget before coming.
Um...apologies to all - this actually turned into a long rambling post...but...no downvote button...gyahahahaha...
SALARIES
You can use google translate (it works in china also) to look at chinese job sites such as Zhaopin.com to understand ESL salaries in west china (yunnan, Sichuan, etc) and maybe even Ayi salaries. You can also negotiate those repeat trip benefits - just take the money instead - save it up...if you're not particularly tight with your family.
NANNIES AKA AYI's
You can usually get a "live-in" nanny starting at ¥2k-3k per month however just like anywhere else - you'll be churning nannies as you attempt to find someone responsible, compassionate, patient, and most importantly, not abusive. You'll need to establish unspoken criteria for observing your nannies/housekeepers/cooks and be quick, efficient, and totally ruthless when you churn. Basically bringing the new Ayi home and telling the now fired Ayi to return to the agency to seek her next assignment. Ayi's have a probationary period - so if you don't churn them before the probation expires - you have to pay the termination salary - usually 1-2 weeks - but the agency can give you the current laws.
More expensive doesn't necessarily equate to higher quality.
I HIGHLY recommend you equip your nanny with a stroller and bag of baby supplies (assuming this is a baby) and keep your baby close to you - in public. That makes it more difficult for nannies to abuse your child - not impossible - just more difficult.
Word of mouth works better than agencies who hurl bodies at you while jacking up the rates to "foreigner" levels (usually around 3x local rates if they think they can get away with it). Agencies are supposed to screen and train their nannies - but ... buyer beware.
Live-in's are fed and will consume things like toilet paper, soap etc - so beware of the rapid consumption of these day-to-day items.
Nannies/housekeepers also can be assigned grocery buying - this is a major source of embezzlement - taking say ¥100 to buy ¥5-10 of decrepit groceries and pocketing the change.
Ayi's or nannies/housekeepers/cooks (multi-role) tend to work 6 days a week with at least 1 day off plus national holidays, sick leave, health insurance (absolutely NOT expensive here). Best to use an agency to understand current labor rules and laws.
As you will absolutely be churning Ayi's unless you're lucky (and if you were lucky, you wouldn't be a single mom), best to use an agency - regretfully - I only know of one agency and can maybe introduce but NOT vouch for them - they don't speak English so that sucks if you can't speak chinese.
There are occasionally advertisers on this site who offer compensated concierge-like services - from driving to translation - so that will help you transition - at a cost.
TRAVELLING WITH A MINOR
Also - if you're a US citizen - you'll need the father's permission to leave the country and basically travel ANYWHERE unless you have a court order (which you'll need translated) giving you full custody.
ANY time you fly in China with your child - and especially internationally - you'll need to present this notarized and translated letter, so please consider this.
To get a work visa here - you'll need a small mountain of documents that need to be authenticated in your home country (to include criminal background check) - which then need to be counter-authenticated by the local chinese consulate or embassy in your home country - so take care of those things before you leave.
Your baby's birth certificate and your legal evidence of sole custodian for your baby will also need to be authenticated by your government, then counter-authenticated by your local chinese consulate or embassy.
Finally - you should seriously consider your local support group (aka "friends"). Teaching can consumer a lot of your time, then there's baby time, self time, etc - so please consider the potential for mental and social isolation issues.
Buddhist and other religious and philosophical groups can be helpful.
As you are multi-lingual - some multinationals may be interested in you depending on your business skills.
You'll need to learn to shop online and find baby stores that deliver (most deliver for a nominal fee - especially when buying formula and diapers in bulk).
I used Ayi's for several years across china. Most were nightmares, especially in Kunming. Sichuan Ayi's tend to be the best - but there's always exceptions to the rule.
Interview: Brian Eyler on Baihetan, China's second largest dam
发布者First - excellent and informative article. Although I absolutely must concur with some of the views of the expert - the facts are always not so obvious, when one chooses to micro-focus on subsystems as opposed to expanding one's view to a larger system. This is a popular management trend called decision-based data as opposed to data-driven decisions. So agreement, disagreement, or no opinion - depends on one's perspective.
Most westerners, especially those with hidden or obvious political agendas, look at China as they look at the west - a free market based economy.
China is a planned economy and certain infrastructures are built looking forwards decades.
China's energy consumption trajectory is not considered by the author, so let's take a look at that subjectively or qualitatively, since I'm too lazy to do the research numbers.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN KUNMING
Our hot water heaters used to be gas powered - but we had to replace the "damned" thing every two years because of the buildup of ash (aka toxins - seriously...green flecks in the ash - what is that? Chromium?) from the dirty gas. We switched to a combination of solar and electric (which do NOT work in tandem).
The prolific construction of new high-rises do not permit the effective use of solar in high density residential communities (e.g. most real estate development mega projects in Kunming are around the 2k residence level. So on demand electric systems make more sense.
COOKING
We haven't switched to electric because the power grid where we live simply won't handle the load (much less our ancient wiring). New high rise developments come with the option of gas or electric - with most choosing electric. It's fast, clean, and doesn't expose the stove components to cooking spillage. We've replaced our gas stove twice in the last 8 years - but to be fair - the last replacement was required because we switched to a new "cleaner" gas.
E-BIKES
Prolific.
MASS TRANSIT
The subway - electric powered. Buses moving towards electric power. And automobiles - e-powered vehicles are an emerging phenomenon with incredibly central government support and subsidies. Occasionally, you'll spot that rare BYD electric powered taxi (the SUV). China is migrating as much as its domestic infrastructure off fossil fuel dependence as possible.
So just from our own personal experiences and observations - consumer-based consumption of electric services is increasing at a steady pace.
ENVIRONMENTAL
There is no argument about the destruction of surrounding habitats and the migration of valley dwellers. This is a management issue for the government as they strive for poverty elimination. A large part of China's poverty elimination program is focused on attracting rural workers to cities, with jobs, education, and the ever upwardly mobile opportunities that education can provide - hence that insane construction pace. Kunming is planned to grow to a size of 10 million (but don't know the date on that plan).
Last time I checked - the city is at about 6.6 million, so we have another 3.4 million to go - so those 2000 unit mega developments (assume a family size of 4) housing up to 4 people, not including grandparents, in-laws, and others - 8k per development. That means ROUGHLY we'll need another 425 real estate development projects to house those 3.4 million additional residents.
That's another 850k families (3.4 mil/4,assuming a family unit of 4) consuming energy, services, infrastructure, e-bikes, cooking, water, toilet flushing, etc etc etc.
And that's JUST Kunming - there are 15 other prefectural level cities with supposed urban sprawl magnet program requirements as part of the nation's poverty elimination strategies.
So the author points out the displacement of a few thousand to a few hundred thousand people. Cast that against 3.4 million and things perhaps aren't quite as obvious - and again, that is ONLY based on Kunming plans. As we all noticed with the formerly famous and internationally maligned Chenggong ghost city (not so ghostly anymore), planned economies can be sustainably successful. And we didn't even discuss all the government (schools, 2 fly toilets, etc) and commercial infrastructures (restaurants, businesses, etc ad infinitum) that spawn from those residential communities. And we haven't even begun to address the energy sucking behavior of the internet and all its derivative industries - data centers, cloud computing centers, distributed corporate IT migration strategies.
Easy to criticize a microscopic spot than to manage the mega complicated system that is China.
However - that said - the author's points ARE valid and we do need alternate perspectives, so we understand the cost/benefit trade-off more responsibly.
And...I'll just get off that soapbox now...
Film Review: Paths of the Soul
发布者I'm thinking that's a pretty aerobic pilgrimage...
Editorial: Hydro expansion will fail without energy market reform
发布者um...yes - I actually meant central Asia - neighboring countries closer than say Shanghai, that would appreciate energy and be willing (maybe) to pay competitive rates for it (as opposed to just dumping the power potential).
Editorial: Hydro expansion will fail without energy market reform
发布者China is ramping up the use of e-vehhicles - which should take some of the capacity. I'm also wondering about whether we're exporting power to SE asia, which would seem to be an excellent market, and to the middle east where they DEFINITELY need power along the OBOR (one belt, one road).
1920s China through the lens of Joseph Rock: Simao
发布者I'm thinking his romanizations can be forgiven, given that putonghua was not standard and he's probably hearing a variety of dialectic Kunming hua and the incredibly diverse minority languages and dialects, when the locals or guides provide descriptions of various names and places, not to mention the various linguistic eccentricities of the various european missionaries.