eggcluck
Member
From: Suzhou, China
Registered: 2010-06-28
Posts: 40
Just a question of curiosity really.
Are any of you actually living/working in China?
eggcluck
Member
From: Suzhou, China
Registered: 2010-06-28
Posts: 40
Curiosity is just as good as reason as any. If you do not like the question you need not answer.
Would you prefer another whiny how do I get to x....my country is the pits...its my dream .... type thread?
N.B still, some info may be usefull as China is sometimes a second choice for those that did not get to go to Japan.
Last edited by eggcluck (2011 November 29, 5:45 am)
eggcluck
Member
From: Suzhou, China
Registered: 2010-06-28
Posts: 40
I had dim sum.
N.B Though I fail to see why oatmeal would be a second choice to eggs, would not something like Bacon or sausage be more likely? consdering the nature of egg.
Last edited by eggcluck (2011 November 29, 6:00 am)
aphasiac
Member
From: 台湾
Registered: 2009-03-16
Posts: 1036
Advantages of Taiwan over China:
- Taiwan is a 1st world country, has been for for at least 30 years. Very little poverty here. People aren't totally obsessed with money.
- Excellent national healthcare system (cheap and convenient), good public transport.
- Higher wages for teaching English. As a new teacher I get $600NT per hour (£12.70). I work around 60-100 hours a month, living cost is dirt cheap ($20,000NT pcm) so potential for saving up money is huge.
- We have proper internet. Access to Facebook, youtube, bittorrent etc. I can't imagine studying a language without the the latter two..
- Freedom of media. TV shows Western films, soaps, news etc. Newspapers report on actual world news, domestic scandals, corruption etc
- Tastier food.
- Hotter girls.
- Friendly open minded people. Everyone loves us Westerners here!
That said, if you were moving to Asia to study Chinese, the lower living costs and more standard Chinese might make China a better proposition. Also I hear it's hard to get a full-time job here now, so might not be an option if you need to find a job fast.
Last edited by aphasiac (2011 November 29, 9:45 pm)
Taiwanese girls are SO hot. I walk around drooling most of the time. Don't tell my wife. 
Hey, look but don't touch, right? But I would believe that Shanghai girls (and 蘇杭 girls, from what I've heard) could stack up favorably against Taiwan girls.
I don't know what part of China you mean when you say "more standard Chinese", but the vast majority of China's population don't speak standard putonghua. In fact, I'd argue that if you study in Taipei and don't succumb too much to the local accent (mainly not distinguishing z/zh, c/ch, s/sh), you'll end up with a very clear, neutral accent that anyone will be able to understand. Not to mention your tones will likely be very clear (Taiwanese Mandarin uses very few neutral tones).
Let's also not forget that in Taiwan (at least in the north) you're not treated as some strange object from a distant land to be gawked at. Sure you get some stares from some people sometimes, but the vast majority of people just don't think it's all that weird that you're there. Not at all like the time I spent in Shanghai, when I felt like an intruder any time I was outside.
But I do disagree that "no one in their right mind would immigrate to China". I almost did, and I may yet end up there next school year. I follow the grant money.
Last edited by bflatnine (2011 November 30, 2:50 am)
Not to mention that "can speak" and "actually speaks in daily life" are two different things. Most of my friends here (foreigners, but it demonstrates a point) have two accents: classroom and street. If you don't 捲舌 in class you get scolded, but if you do on the street you get told you "have a weird Beijing/mainland accent" or asked if you studied in Beijing before coming to Taiwan. Similarly, if you're taking a putonghua evaluation, you're more likely to put on your best retroflex and erhua whether you use them in daily life or not. And let's not even talk about the fact that 53% of the country getting up to 40% wrong on said eval is pretty dismal.
I can't speak for rural China, but even on freaking Nanjing Road in Shanghai, I was the subject of intense interest. And I'm not even unusual looking, just a pretty average white guy. I get some looks in Taipei but they're as often followed with smiles as not. And I have no problem striking up conversations with anyone: store owners, random people on the street, old people, young people, whoever. Everyone is really friendly. In Shanghai I felt like anyone who was willing to talk was also willing to try to scam me.
Last edited by bflatnine (2011 November 30, 3:18 am)
