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Tom Smykowski posted:Good, I figured if you saw the plan now, you could pack your bags up and catch the next passing caravan into the city. If you leave now you might make 3rd Ring Road by sunset tomorrow. If'n my coolie don't get lame crossin yonder crick. If he does I might be late on account a havin to shoot him. 
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Oct 18, 2013 05:00
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| # ? May 14, 2024 06:58 |
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Gentlemen and Ladies, I come to you seeking the advice as per the purpose of this thread. Depending on visa issues of my lovely girlyfriend, once her student visa expires and we can't get a renewal, I'll follow her back to Chengdu, China. I've been twice already and love it but this would be living, which is obviously a little different from week long holidays. It looks like a Z1 visa would be best for me as would want to get some part time employment, but the main problem with that is that I've not been offered a job and ideally I'm going over their to live and then look for a job. My ideal set up would be my girlfriend and I live in one of her 'rent's apartments whilst she gets a job doing her thing in the country she feels more comfortable in and I get a part-time job and work on my portfolio/skills in the mean time to take advantage of the gaming boom in China, with the part time job acting as a place holder until the real job comes around. What would be the best way to do something like this? (I'm in the uk if that helps) [EDIT: adjusted the bad grammar] Facepalm Ranger fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 19, 2013 15:31
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Facepalm Ranger posted:Depending on visa issues of my lovely girlyfriend, once her student one expires and we can't get a renewal, follow her back to Chengdu, China. Been twice already and love it but this would be living, which is obviously a little different. This is a terrible idea. All of it, really. No one's going to hire you on a tourist visa, best case you'd have to fly back to the UK and do all the paperwork and applications there. Anywhere that would hire part-time in Chengdu is gonna be poo poo pay so get ready to starve or live off sewer oil food. On top of that you're going to try to maintain what seems like a relatively short-term relationship while dealing with the stress of living in a new environment, culture shock, and job hunting (and possible food poisoning/malnutrition). If this comes across as harsh, it's because I've been there done that. Nothing I've said will change your mind, though, so I'll just go ahead and say I told you so.
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Oct 19, 2013 17:12
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Just get a job first. Assuming you're white and have a pulse you should be able to get something that will offer you a visa. English training schools aren't glamorous but they have a high turnover and thus you're likely to find someone willing to hand you a visa for a part-time job. Chengdu is an inexpensive city. Not going to comment on the wisdom of this arrangement because obviously I don't know you, but do come legally. Your first year in China is going to be hard enough without all the extra stress and difficulty of living here illegally. Plus you can hang out with us and consume yak & yak products and mysterious powder.
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Oct 19, 2013 17:53
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His girlfriend a) studies in the UK and b) has parents that own multiple apartments in one of China's larger cities. Because he is planning to mooch off them and live rent free then it's safe to say that this dude won't starve.
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Oct 19, 2013 17:58
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tacoman165 posted:This is a terrible idea. All of it, really. No one's going to hire you on a tourist visa, best case you'd have to fly back to the UK and do all the paperwork and applications there. Anywhere that would hire part-time in Chengdu is gonna be poo poo pay so get ready to starve or live off sewer oil food. On top of that you're going to try to maintain what seems like a relatively short-term relationship while dealing with the stress of living in a new environment, culture shock, and job hunting (and possible food poisoning/malnutrition). If this comes across as harsh, it's because I've been there done that. So I shouldn't go for the Z1 visa? Which Visa should I go for then? Arglebargle III posted:Just get a job first. Assuming you're white and have a pulse you should be able to get something that will offer you a visa. English training schools aren't glamorous but they have a high turnover and thus you're likely to find someone willing to hand you a visa for a part-time job. Chengdu is an inexpensive city. Not going to comment on the wisdom of this arrangement because obviously I don't know you, but do come legally. Your first year in China is going to be hard enough without all the extra stress and difficulty of living here illegally. So I should find an English school online and apply for a job to get a visa? Any recommendations or should I just google "English Schools Chengdu"? Rabelais D posted:His girlfriend a) studies in the UK and b) has parents that own multiple apartments in one of China's larger cities. Yeah, that's pretty much the plan whilst I work part-time and work on my portfolio. A kind of fresh start if you will.
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Oct 19, 2013 18:48
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Facepalm Ranger posted:So I shouldn't go for the Z1 visa? Which Visa should I go for then? To work here legally, you'll need the Z visa. That said, you definitely wouldn't be the first person to work in China on an F business visa. I don't recommend that, though. Do NOT work on a tourist visa (L). That's just begging for trouble. A legitimate employer will be able to get you a Z. If they can't get you a Z, they're not legit and probably not worth your time. Look online for work, yeah. Dave's ESL Cafe always has listings. As has been said, you won't find anything glamorous there (or elsewhere on the net, really; the best jobs don't get really get posted), but if you're just looking for some gainful employment for a while, you'll do okay provided you have a college degree. If you have any kind of official ESL credentials, that's helpful too, like a TESOl or CELTA certificate.
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Oct 19, 2013 19:40
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blinkyzero posted:To work here legally, you'll need the Z visa. That said, you definitely wouldn't be the first person to work in China on an F business visa. I don't recommend that, though. Do NOT work on a tourist visa (L). That's just begging for trouble. A legitimate employer will be able to get you a Z. If they can't get you a Z, they're not legit and probably not worth your time. This is great advice, thanks man. I've got a college and a university degree (not in English though, will that pose a slight problem?). I shall have a check and come back with more questions tomorrow as I'm off out with girlyfriend and normal friends tonight. Thanks again! Facepalm Ranger fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 19, 2013 20:06
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Facepalm Ranger posted:This is great advice, thanks man. I've got a college and a university degree (not in English though, will that pose a slight problem?). Some employers will want an English or linguistics degree, but most (the vast majority) really don't care. They're just looking for a certain level of education. If you can get a quick-and-dirty TESOL certificate (easy via online courses), that would help you a lot. A true TESOL/CELTA/etc. course would be even better, as that will give you valuable classroom management experience and other stuff bound to make your life here much easier. Teaching English abroad can be a pretty brutal trial by fire if you're totally new to standing in front of a class.
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Oct 19, 2013 20:13
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blinkyzero posted:Some employers will want an English or linguistics degree, but most (the vast majority) really don't care. They're just looking for a certain level of education. If you can get a quick-and-dirty TESOL certificate (easy via online courses), that would help you a lot. A true TESOL/CELTA/etc. course would be even better, as that will give you valuable classroom management experience and other stuff bound to make your life here much easier. Teaching English abroad can be a pretty brutal trial by fire if you're totally new to standing in front of a class. Teaching sounds pretty scary for a first timer, but if it's for like 3 days a week and the rest of my time is my own it's sounds pretty good and if a TESOL is easy enough to get, I t's worth putting the effort in. I'm relatively cool with most things in Chengdu and when I talk what little of the language I know I seem to speak in that dialect of mandarin. Street side BBQ is the best and the night clubs are pretty baller. [EDIT: Stupid iPad and it's auto correct, making me fettle things] Facepalm Ranger fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 19, 2013 20:29
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tacoman165 posted:This is a terrible idea. All of it, really. No one's going to hire you on a tourist visa, best case you'd have to fly back to the UK and do all the paperwork and applications there. Anywhere that would hire part-time in Chengdu is gonna be poo poo pay so get ready to starve or live off sewer oil food. Eh, I've heard of people getting Z and F visas in HK even after the reforms this summer. One guy my company hired did, anyway (I have no idea what his exact visa situation was, but he interviewed in person before getting hired and then went to HK for a few days with Z visa in tow). As far as the quality of the job he can find, it might actually be better to come here on an L and look around then get a Z in HK. blinkyzero posted:Some employers will want an English or linguistics degree, but most (the vast majority) really don't care. They're just looking for a certain level of education. If you can get a quick-and-dirty TESOL certificate (easy via online courses), that would help you a lot. A true TESOL/CELTA/etc. course would be even better, as that will give you valuable classroom management experience and other stuff bound to make your life here much easier. Teaching English abroad can be a pretty brutal trial by fire if you're totally new to standing in front of a class. Maybe in big cities people care, but no one in Chengdu outside of international schools or maybe a big university will care about anything but the piece of paper they need for the visa and a Facepalm Ranger posted:Teaching sounds pretty scary but if it's for like 3 days a week and the rest of my time is my own it's sounds pretty good and if a TESOL is easy enough to get, it's worth putting the effort in, as I'm relatively cool with most things in Chengdu at least and seem to when I talk the language have a natural back for that dialect of mandarin. That said it doesn't seem like you want to work much if at all or don't plan on staying in Chengdu for a lengthy enough period of time to bother finding more than a part-time job, so why not just come on a tourist visa and hang out? Assuming you're living basically for free on your gf's family's dime, any savings you have will go a long, long way here. The only sort of part-time work you'll find will be English teaching, so if you want a legit visa and an RP, ESL is the easiest route. You could also come on an L and tutor random people for like 300+ rmb an hour which more than a few people in Chengdu do if all you want is some liquor money. I can understand not wanting to teach if that doesn't really appeal to you, though, so why not look for other work? You mention games and building your skills, so I'll assume you have some history in programming or IT in some capacity. If that's the case Chengdu is probably the best city to look for work now since there's a ton of companies here that are looking for western talent. Microsoft, Ubisoft, Cisco and IBM to name a few, all have offices here. One big issue with these places is the barrier for entry is way higher for non-ESL work than ESL work as far as visas go, you generally need 5 years of work experience instead of "2" that ESL jobs demand. A big workaround is that these companies hire a lot of western interns who are totally legal on F visas. I do think there's some limit on what they can pay you and a bunch of other weird terms (you won't get an RP and your visa will probably only have one entry, you may have to be associated with a university somehow, etc...), but I know a handful of recent college grads from the US, UK and elsewhere who have intern positions at companies like these out here. They will require you to work a pretty standard 9-5, Monday to Friday workweek, though. To find this kind of work you'll have to contact them directly. You can probably google up a list of what companies have offices here, see if they have openings (many do) and then contact the branch directly. English will probably be fine for this but if you do speak decent Chinese they'll be even happier.
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Oct 19, 2013 22:08
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I really think he might be better off coming on an L and doing some random tuition cash in hand if he needs some pocket money (not advocating working illegally, but a few hundred RMB here and there is a bit of a grey area, right?). His actual expenses will be minimal. Also, might I say that Chengdu accented mandarin is basically my favourite. I am visiting Chengdu next month to present at a conference, anyone know the Southwest University for Nationalities 西南民族大学? Google says it is a couple of hundred metres from the airport - like I could literally get off the plane and walk to my conference? Rabelais D fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 02:22
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Facepalm Ranger posted:Gentlemen and Ladies, I come to you seeking the advice as per the purpose of this thread. Get a job at a college there. They usually pay decently, close to 10K in the nicer cities like Chengdu and end up being a part time job. You'll work at most 15 hours, won't have to do office hours, and the lesson planning is minimal. The expectations on you are also pretty nonexistent too.
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Oct 20, 2013 02:27
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Teaching is just the standard recommendation because the turnover is high and any generic white person can get a job. If you have other skills by all means look for something else.
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Oct 20, 2013 03:06
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Rabelais D posted:not advocating working illegally, but a few hundred RMB here and there is a bit of a grey area, right? Not really, it's definitely illegal. He just probably won't get caught.
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Oct 20, 2013 03:06
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I'll advocate working illegally. You will never get caught, nor will anyone give a poo poo, if you just find students to tutor on your own. I'm sure your GF's family can help you with this. The people who run into problems are those working illegally at actual schools, schools that have not paid a sufficient amount of money to bribe the police.
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Oct 20, 2013 03:13
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So, how safe is Taobao? My camera isn't working and it doesn't look repairable. A new camera here would be annoyingly expensive - the one I was looking at would be 7400 ¥ vs $850 back in Canada, plus I'm sure once I take it back with me the warranty will be basically useless. There are some great deals on Taobao, but I'm anxious about making a big purchase there. How big a risk would I be taking (assuming the seller rating looks solid).
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Oct 20, 2013 03:30
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tacoman165 posted:it's because I've been there done that. As long as he doesn't turn into an alcoholic he should be surviving. Short hours per week may sound great but beware of teaching mostly at night and weekends. That really sucks out the quality of your free time. I rather opt for salary man hours. That way you can still provision time to do stuff with other people. If none of your evenings are free then you can't really go out with your girlfriend or gooooonz for dinner. Which to me means a disaster for your relationship
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Oct 20, 2013 03:35
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Rabelais D posted:Also, might I say that Chengdu accented mandarin is basically my favourite. I am visiting Chengdu next month to present at a conference, anyone know the Southwest University for Nationalities 西南民族大学? Google says it is a couple of hundred metres from the airport - like I could literally get off the plane and walk to my conference? Knowing air travel in China, you will get off the plane and have to run to the conference because you are now several hours late to present. Never count on a Chinese plane getting you anywhere on time.
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Oct 20, 2013 04:15
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New Coke posted:So, how safe is Taobao? Taobao is in a lot of ways safer than anywhere else since even a few pieces of negative feedback will destroy a seller's reputation. I've bought multiple big ticket items on Taobao and never been burned. A friend of mine bought a 6k RMB camera just recently. Just make sure you check their ratings and if they sell things regularly. Rabelais D posted:Also, might I say that Chengdu accented mandarin is basically my favourite. I am visiting Chengdu next month to present at a conference, anyone know the Southwest University for Nationalities 西南民族大学? Google says it is a couple of hundred metres from the airport - like I could literally get off the plane and walk to my conference? They may have another campus down south but the one I know of is within the first ring road. That said, the Chengdu Airport is pretty close to the city and it's probably a 30-40rmb, 25 minute cab ride from the airport to the university.
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Oct 20, 2013 04:33
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blinkyzero posted:To work here legally, you'll need the Z visa. That said, you definitely wouldn't be the first person to work in China on an F business visa. I don't recommend that, though. Do NOT work on a tourist visa (L). That's just begging for trouble. When people were joking about TWM being deported, they were only half-joking. (DID he get deported?) That DOES happen, even with F visas. A few F visas at my previous employer were deported. Visa/immigration stuff is probably going to be pretty unpredictable for a while, particularly if you're not following the rules. That reminds me, I should probably register my new residence. New Coke posted:So, how safe is Taobao? Some manufacturer warranties are global. Check the manufacturer's website. Alipay is loads better than Paypal (built-in escrow!), and Taobao's feedback system is night and day better than Ebay. AFAIK (it's been 4 or 5 years since I used Ebay) the whole system is safer for buyers and sellers. The only down side is that sellers are frickin' desperate for ratings and may hound you about it. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 05:38
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I was once deported for working on an F visa.
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Oct 20, 2013 05:47
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MeramJert posted:I was once deported for working on an F visa. How long ago, and did you manage to get a legal visa afterward? I'd heard that having a history of illegal visas could damage your chances of getting a legit visa later.
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Oct 20, 2013 05:49
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MeramJert posted:I was once deported for working on an F visa. Maybe it's the curse of caberham. There's a 5050 chance that you can't make it back
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Oct 20, 2013 05:54
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quote:Some manufacturer warranties are global. Check the manufacturer's website. Eh, maybe, but I'm still not wild about paying 1.5 X the price. I'll probably find something on Taobao, since most people I've asked seem fairly confident about it. I'll probably need a Chinese friend to help me get set up; I've used their accounts to buy things before, but that seems inappropriate for a major purchase like this. Thanks for the advice Magna Kaser and Videotapir.
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Oct 20, 2013 05:57
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Facepalm Ranger posted:Gentlemen and Ladies, I come to you seeking the advice as per the purpose of this thread. If you're serious about her and all of this, I'll throw in my hat for the studying method of coming over. You don't sound like you are interested in teaching and any "SKILLS" you may have will be accented even more with two years of studying Chinese at a University. You can communicated with her family well, you can start to understand the culture and live here legally, it isn't that expensive, she can help you, and you can find little things here and there part time on the weekends to make some cash. If you have no interest in education and are doing this to just be with her, I would not recommend teaching, nor would I recommend just coming over and doing nothing on a tourist visa for three months. You can better yourself by studying Chinese and preparing for the Chinese world take over by getting a few years in, then in a few years when you have HSK level 4 or 5 you can get a good paying job in China or in the UK once you have figured out what's up with you and the girl. And if everything goes to poo poo with the girl you can always leave school in the middle of the night, while burning a legal employer is usually a poo poo thing to do. Just my humble opinion.
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Oct 20, 2013 07:19
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There is a very good chance (scientifically floating in the 80-90% range) that your girlfriend's family fortune was stolen. Either literally through embezzlement or figuratively through exploitation, no-bid contracts and that kind of shady stuff. So don't feel bad about mooching. Don't feel like you need to earn a meager salary and buy a meal or two here and there. Just take as much as you can and inject it back into the economy so the money doesn't just sit in empty apartments keeping the bubble inflated. Get 'em to pay your tuition for some ridiculous master's program plus Chinese lessons or something.
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Oct 20, 2013 08:54
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VideoTapir posted:When people were joking about TWM being deported, they were only half-joking. (DID he get deported?) That DOES happen, even with F visas. A few F visas at my previous employer were deported. Visa/immigration stuff is probably going to be pretty unpredictable for a while, particularly if you're not following the rules. Pro-PRC said he suspected that TWM couldn't renew his visa and went back home. Does anyone know for sure?
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Oct 20, 2013 09:00
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VideoTapir posted:How long ago, and did you manage to get a legal visa afterward? I'd heard that having a history of illegal visas could damage your chances of getting a legit visa later. Sorry, I remembered it wrong. I was almost deported for working on an F visa. I was actually deported for overstaying on an F visa by 20 days, during which I was illegally working but they didn't actually catch me for that. It was in late 2010 and I couldn't get a new visa. I got a new passport number and everything magically worked out after that.
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Oct 20, 2013 10:15
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Bloodnose posted:There is a very good chance (scientifically floating in the 80-90% range) that your girlfriend's family fortune was stolen Do you have a source on this? I find it completely believable but I've never seen any stats on this sort of thing.
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Oct 20, 2013 10:23
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I don't think there are any stats, I just assuming anyone that has any kind of excessive money has gotten it via drugs, exploitation, and embezzlement. That, or working with someone who is paying a lot because of that. I don't think anyone has stats on Chinese embezzlement and exploitation lol
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Oct 20, 2013 11:03
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I hear they do some manufacturing too. 
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Oct 20, 2013 11:19
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goldboilermark posted:I don't think anyone has stats on Chinese embezzlement and exploitation lol Sure they do. Just google "china gdp"
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Oct 20, 2013 11:33
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goldboilermark posted:I don't think there are any stats, I just assuming anyone that has any kind of excessive money has gotten it via drugs, exploitation, and embezzlement. That, or working with someone who is paying a lot because of that. I don't think anyone has stats on Chinese embezzlement and exploitation lol I hope there are.
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Oct 20, 2013 11:44
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Arglebargle III posted:I hear they do some manufacturing too. Manufacturing is literally 100% owned by Hong Kongers, Taiwanese and overseas Chinese. The only source of mainlander wealth is literal theft.
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Oct 20, 2013 12:31
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Just at work at the moment and was checking up on the thread to see the responses. Very confused by the speculation going on in this thread when all I asked for was advice but no matter. Also my girlfriend's dad is an architect, not a drug lord. (This is all a big joke I'm not getting, right?) Facepalm Ranger fucked around with this message at 12:42 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 12:40
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Yes it's completely normal for architects to own multiple homes in a tier-2 city Sounds like a guy who gets a lot of kickbacks and no-bid contracts to me.
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Oct 20, 2013 12:43
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Bloodnose posted:Yes it's completely normal for architects to own multiple homes in a tier-2 city My wife's father is a glorified trash-picker (he collects cardboard and such from supermarkets, and sorts it to sell on to recyclers; does cleaning and display setup sometimes, too...has a few employees under him and presses his kids into it whenever he's shorthanded) and he owns an apartment in Beijing, and could afford to buy a couple more if he wanted. He doesn't want to, he wants to go back to bumfuck Anhui and lord it over his neighbors. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 12:50 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 12:48
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Sounds like he got a pretty sweet deal from the supermarkets. Wonder how that came around.
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Oct 20, 2013 12:53
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Alright guys, got a visa question. I'm currently in bangkok, and my current idea is to go from Saigon to hong Kong overland. This looks like it's going to be hard to arramge , as preliminary research suggests the visa situation at most SE Asian embassies/consulates are a bit difficult. A quick check on thorntree makes me believe I'll need things that I don't own (travel insurance) or have no idea about (invitation letters). It also seems like they require a lot of planning (hotel bookings, transit itineraries). Should I not even bother? Are the people on thorntree overcomplicating the situstion ? Is there a consulate in SE Asia (ideally in Thailand or vietnam- Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore are out of the question) that's relatively easygoing?
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Oct 20, 2013 12:53
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