Like Tonyaod said, without a doubt- Thanks tigertiger! Very objective. I certainly would appreciate any subjective ("If it were me I would...") comments if anyone has any.

I'm a pretty independent person, but I understand the value of camaraderie, especially among ex-pats in China (from the POV of the locals) so I definitely honed in on tigertiger's comments about location. Hmmm.

Thanks again all.

One more thing I forgot.

There are lots of horror stories, but most employers are good.

You can try to check individual employers on Google, Daveseslcafe.com China pages, or ask on here (best kept to PMs if negative comments).

All I can say is wow tigertiger. This thread is a web resource itself now.

Damn straight - tigertiger you are now nominated for poster of the month! I have bookmarked this for future reference!

Subjective

Most Chinese employers operate a different set of standards to what we like. But tough TIC.

Language schools are private enterprise. They won't give you 10c for a new pen, and then brag about their new Mercedes. Every penny spent is their penny, you are stealing from them if you waste money.
They will forget to pay your overtime and find any excuse not to pay you.
The goal posts are constantly shifting.
The contract is there to tie you down, but it does not apply to them. Most contracts are about the employees obligations only.

K12 and public schools. They don't have much money to start with. But they won't bilk you. Anyway, they don't see it as their money.

The goal posts don't move.
The contracts are written by a government department and are met by both sides.

cynical! me?

So on a last point (and I apologize as perhaps I made the thread title a bit misleading), do the salary figures thrown out above (~ 6,000-7,000 RMB for high schools and universities and ~ 8,000-10,000 RMB for language schools) make sense in the Kunming area? Yunnan province?

No need to give specific numbers if you feel hesitant to do so. If you could however, indicate if either number seems high, low, or about right, I would appreciate it. I know the actual number will depend on background and experience so I expect there would be multiple possibilities for answering this question.

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to the experience no matter who is employing me next spring.

Yes the figures make sense.
Unis expect more towards 6000 + flights + accom.

High schools - the figures look about right. Expect accommodation or accom allowance.

NB Subject teachers, esp Maths/Science can earn much more than English Teachers in high schools.

Though I think TigerTiger's post is quite near to be accurate, I have to say it is not all that certain as he points out. In my experience it is all up to how you negotiate and what is offered to you.

I had College students more motivated than language school ones and Language schools trying to get away with mega-low wages as well as skimming money wherever they could. The same goes for material and such things. It really depends on the school.

In general TigerTiger is right about the pay range of those institutions but everything else is really up to the school itself, the management etc. and in the end up to you what you ask for and what your base requirements are.

College and University are usually less well paid while private schools are more welcoming to higher pay demands. But what they offer and what you can get from them is really up to your negotiation skills and what you can offer to them.

College & Uni. is more the range from 4000-8000Yuan for fulltime also that is depending on what you teach (Economics courses are extremely well paid).
Plus that you can (or not) get allowances for things housing, return flights, work Visa (Z), etc but that doesn't mean they always offer it. Some only offer Z-Visa sponsorship (means they do the paper work but you still have to pay for it yourself).

Private schools from Grade K-12 are usually starting from 8k up to 20000 even 35000 Yuan but that depends on qualification and position. As well if it's an international school, quality standards, testing system, image ets.... I think for a starter in the Business with your background and depending on how good you are at your job if you get a FT-job over 10000 Yuan/month you got a pretty nice deal and if the company sucks, save a bit money and wait for better offers.

Besides some have Foreign Staff Management and some don't but that is really not depending on the type of learning center.

Also be aware that some Colleges/ Universities or other schools are not what they seem to be at least, not on paper. Its sometimes good to know when walking into the interview and HR person tells you how much this state-owned joint is suffering and then you hear reports that the School made multi-millions of profit the previous year.

I recommend get your CV's out get interviews, before you go to one research the school, about the things you need to know and if you are a good teacher walk in there, be confident, knowing what you want, don't settle for less you are worth, get the job....and show them how good you are on a day to day base....that opens a lot of doors to a great career. As it did for me and a lot of other great teachers.

My advise negotiate well, learn as much as you can about the backdoors, gray areas and tricks in the business. Be prepared but not scared and you will have a great time teaching in KMG.

Hi ainbro.

It is up to your negotiating skills....it's really hard to say also depending on what you want.

My last job working at a language training center got me more than 25k per month (after tax) about 20k was paid wages put together with some perks and insurance (international) and the rest was allowances and vouchers.

I also had jobs that paid 20k on paper and I ended up with 12k net.

If you looking for good pay (cash) in general it's safe to say stay in the private sector.

I think around 10k or up is a good deal.

If you want more perks and better credits teach in Unicersity or College you might get less in cash but more allowances, insurance and other stuff. In KMG i got offers from 4k up to 10k (that was Art related) excluding the perks.

Tigertiger is right about checking the net about schools and wages in KMG...it's so hard to generalize where salaries start and end.

Keep in mind that KMG is still quite cheap when it comes to living expenses.

Plus there is an official catalogue about what foreign teachers schould get paid depending on their working hours.
They also mention the obligations of the employer, Visa, holidays, insurance, benefits, tax, pensions...etc. But that is what the law says and in those many years teaching in China, those requiremtns mere met only once.