Taught simple English to kids 6-8 years old. About 40 kids in a class. They paid 30RMB for a class and I was paid 250RMB. Taught the same material for 8 class a day (sat and Sun). The school got about 19,000 per weekend and I got 8,000. And, yes I did get paid all of it. In Changping near Beijing.
Taught at a private school in Beijing, Students paid 80,000 a year plus living, plus food, plus books, plus, plus. Subject teachers, not English teachers, were paid 10,000 a month, foreign and Chinese both for 12 hours max. Most taught 8 hours for Math, Chemistry, Physics, Accounting, Statistics, etc. all A level courses with UK books. Silly owners fired the headmaster who took 80% of the students to his own new school. This school folded I think.
Private schools usually get the tuition and boarding fees upfront. They tend to run out of money toward the end of the year which makes return air ticket money iffy.
Breakeven depends on rent and the number of non teaching staff, you know the guys that hang around all day reading newspapers and plying cards. One private school I worked at had 65 Chinese and foreign teachers with over 200 total staff most of which did little or nothing.
Rent is a mystery. One school paid annual rent of 25% of tuition collected - this school folded. Other schools had cost reduction programs, firing teachers or abusive fines. Fines for failing to report to a class when the time and day had been changed but kept a secret from the teachers. Class schedules and notices are sometimes posted in Chinese in areas the foreign teachers don't frequent.
I don't usually teach English and usually get to pick the text with the requirement the text be less than 3 years old.
Private schools hire foreign teachers for marketing reasons. My face has appeared all over the place and my resume greatly enhanced (in Chinese).
If foreign teachers get paid more at a private school, tough, the smiling white faces bring in the revenue and job opportunities for Chinese teachers.
I have also worked at two government universities. At both schools, Chinese professors taught less hours and earned more money. I gather the Chinese get a basic salary, around 1200 at my uni, then get paid for hours times a factor (prep or difficulty) and also extra money for extra assignments. One Prof said his 1200 was upped to more than 4500 based on the pay scheme. Me? I get 3700 for 9 class hours contact time but that is 11 paid hours if I was paid according to the Chinese scheme.
In interview, Yunnan Party chief stresses ending poverty
Posted by34 years ago, when entered China, China was a poor country with most people living under the $1.00 per day poverty line. The 100's of millions of people raised out of poverty in China reflect improvement to above that line. I leave it to you as to how realistic $1 per day is.
Since 2008, $1.25 has been used as the global line. As of October 2015, the global poverty line was updated to $1.90. It seems China is holding the long outdated $1 which is a lower hurdle.
I cringe when I hear of relocation schemes that move poor uneducated unskilled people, living at a centuries old subsistence level, being uprooted and forced into a cash economy. Incomes may rise a few yuan per day so fewer are "counted as poor" while the now "not poor" work at low wages. Real poverty exists in urban areas too.
Forgotten Flying Tigers headquarters and barracks found in Kunming
Posted by@bilingualexpat Thanks. There is a memorial to the lady on the Beijing Normal University campus. General Chennault was 30 years her senior.
Ancient terraforming: Yunnan's 1,000 year-old Hani Rice Terraces
Posted byYuanyang needs more than one day for sure.
Best time of year is around Spring Festival after the terraces are flooded and before they are planted. You also need a car/van and driver.
Best times of day is dawn and sunset to get light reflecting off the paddies. You only have about 15 minutes with the best light. My experience was mixed. At sunset there was a lot of haze and smoke from farmers burning whatever they had cleaned out of the terraces. The driver showed up late in the morning then insisted on breakfast.
I got my best shots at Dou Yi Cun and Bada at sunrise and the morning.
I was there in 2010 as the lookout platforms were being built. It does get crowded with Chinese tourists who tend to bump and push. I was using two cameras on tripods. People had no problems touching, looking through and moving the camera I wasn't looking through. I was disappointed with my terrace photos.
I spent the daytime hours wandering in markets, streets and alleys. Got many great shot of minzu ladies in their finest 'go to market' dress, kids and some cool old faces. I was pretty much ignored taking people photos. I took over 2500 photos in three days.
@nnoble is right to get off the photo platforms and into the villages and markets. There many minorities, Yi, Hani, Eastern Dai, and others I could not recognize at Sheng Cun.Xiang,
Visa-less elephant flaunts Yunnan's international border protocols
Posted byCustoms didn't even look at his trunk.
Counting down Kunming's Top Ten Smells
Posted byThe trick in enjoying hotpot and not smelling like boiled mutton is to change your clothes within a day or two. Me, I would never go much longer than a week wearing the same clothes. Showering at least once a month will also help the stinky foreigner problem.