jbray

I suspect much of it is related to previous teaching experience... I had none, and I think it made a big difference. I've been taking some masters courses in education this year, and would for sure do things differently.

Like GDBILL said, it depends on what you mean by "good". Personally, I preferred working for training companies. The students were there because they wanted to learn, so they paid attention, and were more interactive... I wasn't interested in a work visa, or paid vacations... If you want some sort of stability, Universities are probably the best. They don't pay the best, but the benefits are pretty good... To get a good job, you will need to look around. Often, jobs are posted in expat bars/restaurants.

Atlanta has a pretty big Chinese community. You mentioned a technology focused military base, Dobbins AFB in Marietta, has a fairly large Locheed-Martin facility... Many of the Chinese here are working at the CDC or Emory University in the Medical field... Atlanta doesn't exactly have a "china town", but there is an international area with plenty of Chinese stores and restaurants... BUT, that being said, many of the Chinese that I know (we go to a church that has a huge Chinese population) don't really like it here (my wife included). They don't like the fact that it's so spread out, and it's not a very good walking city.

Honestly, I thought that most places in China were pretty low cost... I recommend several places in Yunnan. I liked Lijiang. Just north of there, if you are in to hiking, Tiger Leaping Gorge was awesome (but take the high road, it's more interesting). Around Kunming was great... In Sichuan, Emei Shan and LeShan were nice. The bus ride to Kangding and LiTong were great. ZhouZaiGou (the place with all the blue water) was great too. In most of those places, you can easily find cheap hotels for less than 100 RMB.

I used to have this problem. it was because the DHCP was trying to assign my laptop an IP that wa already in use. Once I set the IP to static, it worked fine.

When my wife goes back to China (every year), she takes one carry-on sized rolling bag full of vitamins for her family. Seriously, it's hundreds of dollars worth. Anyway, she has never had any issue, and has never declared them. Myself, I've flown in to China many times and have never had any issues with customs on the PRC side (US side, yeah, lots of issues).

Use a management company (or family if that's an option)... I know in Chengdu, there are LOTS of management companies. It's pretty big business. Many people do that. They buy a few houses and rent them out, using a company.

My wife uses pingo. I think it's less than $0.02 a minute to call her mothers cell.

When I moved to China, I bought a fairly large DVD collection with me (about 100 DVD's). My Chinese friends wanted to watch movies with me, but they needed subtitles. I ended up buying most of the movies again in China (plus about 1000 more). If you ever go to China, you may want to load up.

Thanks for posting. I am glad to hear this... I went there 4 years ago, at the hight of SARS. My brother and I were the only ones on the trail. We took the high trail (a 2 day hike). I'm not in the greatest of shape and was tired at the end of a 35 mile hike, but when I got to the end, I wanted to turn around and do it again. It's so beautiful. I strongly recommend the hike.

We had the same problem... When she asked her family what they wanted her to bring, her younger cousin wanted an IBM Thinkpad ($2500). We ended up going for his second choice and got him 10 hershey bars... Yes, they can buy those in China, but they can also buy IBM Thinkpads... For most people, we bought them vitamins and dietary supliments.

My wife wears sun glasses all the time... Wear what you wear here. No matter what you wear, people will be staring, pointing, and laughing. So, if you wear shorts, what's the difference...

It took us a month to get our letter. We mailed it to Texas.

True or not, some of the conditions at the schools are terrible. Some of these brokers are very threatening. I had a terrible experience with one in Chengdu (I would LOVE to mention his name). This guy threatened the foreign English teachers. He made us sign contracts and then he would change the schools we were teaching. He would try to doc our pay for EVERYTHING. This guy was really bad. He faked Bank of China documents (he had the bank books and a bank printer), and he blackmailed a principal from one of the best schools in Chengdu to fake student records. Everyone feared him... He was Chinese, but a Canadian citizen. Anyway, I strongly recommend that people that want to teach get certified and make sure you are working at a reputable program. Do you homework!

Yeah, if you CAN DCF, do that, before you return to the US. It only took us 8.5 months... I am not sure what all has changed in 2.5 years, but you have to have a residence permit (just tourist visa's aren't enough). Others can tell you what else you need to DCF.