Hi,

I am from the UK, living in Japan, moving to Shanghai in May and would be great to get some advice beforehand!

I have a part time job already, non-teaching, but am interested in doing some teaching. I dont have a TEFL/TESOL but i have 3 years teaching exp in Japan elementary/middle schools. China seems a lot tougher with its job specs than Japan, to what extent?

I will be staying, i think, near Zhongshanlu North station, in Putuo? i think. What kind of place is that regarded to be?

I want to mountain bike and will be sending my Giant soon from Japan, i take it (from reading expat) that if i leave it locked but unattended day after day it will get nicked??

I am hoping to take the HSK A test in November, and have been studying for a few months now, just characters, is there a recommendation of a place to study at?

I always watch football at the weekend, wherever, Chinese pro league football at a stadium, any tips?

Lots of questions, but any info welcomed greatly. Thanks in advance! Great site!

white skin...no problem for teaching

the place u gonna stay is a little far away from centre area

there is no mountain here for u

football? you must be joking

zerg wrote:white skin...no problem for teaching

Chinese people only STUDY English, they DO NOT LEARN it.

Football: If you mean soccer, you are at the wrong place. Watching Chinese males playing soccer is less interesting than watching disabled people playing soccer...
Seriously, they just don't get the game (kick and rush style like in England approx. 30 years ago, but faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar worse!!!!!!!!)

Deutscher wrote:Football: If you mean soccer...

Since the OP says he's from the UK, I'm guessing he means football.

If you move here, better just watch the games on the tellie (PL, Serie A, CL, etc)... because I can promise you that you don't want to waist your time watching any games live around here.

Good luck on your move!

Cheers

from Japan (where in Japan?) to Shanghai... hmmm... brave you are, Kirishima. Japan in heartbeat will go live... hrmmm.

Oh yeah. Wish I had an opportunity to go to Japan for a few years.

Great, thanks for the info. The standard of football wont bother me, trust me, i am sure i have seen worse!! Good to hear Putuo is a good place. Japan is good, but I went to Shanghai last year and i liked it a lot, lots of people doing interesting things, didnt stand out like I do here, and food was immense. Im swapping a city of 300,000 for Shanghai (20mso it will be very different no matter what.

One more question, i want to go to places like Xian, Dalian etc, is domestic travel steep?

I am in Kobe for a week every month. Love the food in Japan. Here in Shanghai it's utter crap in my opinion. One of the worst places for food in China. There's good food here, but either in Guangdong province, or places with nice fresh sea food, like Dalian.

Domestic train travel is dirt cheap, especially compared to Japan.
The sleeper trains are comfortable and clean, decent food on board- have a few beers in the dining carriage, hit the sack, and wake up somewhere new.

e.g.
478RMB (soft sleeper) return to Beijing
400RMB (hard sleeper) return to Shenzhen / Hong Kong.

Flights aren't bad- but the cost of fuel and aircraft is pretty global.

If you play football there's a big expat scene, and a good few of the locals like to kick a ball around too.

Watching games: Shanghai Shenhua play in Hongkou stadium. The league is a pretty poor standard apparently but Shanghai are one of the best in it so there is that. They threw the championship away on the last game of the season. Drama.

You can study Chinese at Tongji and Fudan Universities I think. Dunno, 我是笨蛋
My girl took the HSK though, and she studied at one of those.

Since you've already been to Shanghai you can safely discount all the whiners on here who are determined to be miserable!

Fair shout on the food. I think it was that it was different and spicy, which works anywhere for me! Japanese food is some of the best in the world, but its damned difficult to cook it.

The trains are certainly cheaper, and that is something I will be making great use of! Very exciting option.

I was thinking of Shanghai East Asia Utd in the lower division, as i like an underdog, being Scottish and all. Its more about the camaraderie than the quality for me. But I will certainly be going to Bulldog for EPLgames. I do play footie, well, i try to at least, so that is something aswell, i havent been able to do that here as im in the sticks.

I will check out those two Unis. Thanks again.

cdcyl said:

I think Putuo District is a perfect place to live, especially the Zhongshan Park area, which is very nice location -- nearby the park and metro line, and very affordable rental.

The OP said he would be staying near Zhongshan Rd North, which is on the North side of Putuo, and on Metro 1. Zhongshan Park is not in Putuo.

I have lived in deep dark Putuo for 3 years, and I like it, but if you want to see white faces around, you wont see them here. It is very much predominately a Chinese area.

Travel is real cheap here. If you were going to Dalian, you are better to fly, as it is on the other side of Bohai Sea. I think there is a train line to there, but a loooog way. I flew to Dalian for under 400 with budget Spring Airlines. Yes, as said fish are plentiful there and one place you can (probably) eat fish safely. Great place IMO.

monalisalee wrote:cdcyl said:

I think Putuo District is a perfect place to live, especially the Zhongshan Park area, which is very nice location -- nearby the park and metro line, and very affordable rental.

The OP said he would be staying near Zhongshan Rd North, which is on the North side of Putuo, and on Metro 1. Zhongshan Park is not in Putuo.

I have lived in deep dark Putuo for 3 years, and I like it, but if you want to see white faces around, you wont see them here. It is very much predominately a Chinese area.

Travel is real cheap here. If you were going to Dalian, you are better to fly, as it is on the other side of Bohai Sea. I think there is a train line to there, but a loooog way. I flew to Dalian for under 400 with budget Spring Airlines. Yes, as said fish are plentiful there and one place you can (probably) eat fish safely. Great place IMO.

You can go to Yantai and take the ferry. Very convenient.

Don't miss to visit Qingdao and Weihai. Just 16 hours by bus or little longer by train from Shanghai.

I want to mountain bike and will be sending my Giant soon from Japan, i take it (from reading expat) that if i leave it locked but unattended day after day it will get nicked??

And buy a really good lock for your bike.

Leave it unattended and unlocked, not day after day but for about 10 minutes. and it will be gone....

Good advice! Don't forget they steal everything here that two people can move. I still have the same mountain bike I bought 5 years ago, but hell yes, you need to lock it properly.

They'll pick it up and walk off with a locked bike, and no one bats an eyelid, or intervenes. They don't want to be threatened by the thieves.

Chain it to a pole or a tree when you're here ! & @ Markanis, yep. Buy the thickest chain you can buy.

Z.

Hmmm. I see. Well, i may as well keep it in my apartment and buy a bike for daily commute,use the mtb for weekends as there is no way I am letting it get stolen...unless im burgled, in which case, well.

In Japan its the same, though they just nick the cheap ones. 4 bikes stolen here, all cheapos, all unlocked, but my mountain bike is always safe as it stands out too much for anyone to nick it.

Any recommendations on best mtb shop for servicing?