Thinking of moving

[Scotty]

Hey Everybody,

I have been thinking for the last couple of months about moving to China to learn Mandarin. Harbin has stood out to me as a good place to go due to many reasons including cost of living, standard accent, slightly less "Westernised" so good for practicing outside of class.

I would be coming all the way from kiwi-land (New Zealand) - somewhere on the otherside of the world basically.

I have a few questions/concerns/queries which I am hoping that someone can help me answer. At the moment my level of Mandarin is "poor", I could potentially introduce myself and ask what/cost of an item - That would be about it. I am looking at one of university programs for example Harbin Institute of Technology.

What is the real cost of living like over there? How much would I need to live (based on cost of getting around, food etc). I would be looking at staying on the campus so that side doesn't matter.

What is the work load like for a course like the HIT one? I am considering doing some Extramural (Distance) papers at a university at home while I am over there, I'm not too worried if the workload is "high" as long as it's not unbearable. At present I am working full time and going to uni full time, so anything less than that would be great.

What are the student dorms like? I read there was a curfew of 11pm is that right? Is that every night including weekends? What happens if you are not back by then? are you refused entrance or do they just look at you with disapproving looks?

I have never been in a "Shared" room before so i'm not sure what to make of that, any experiences with that would be great.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Scott.

[kdavid]

Hi Scott,

I've been here for just about six years now. Harbin is a great place to live, work and study.

What is the real cost of living like over there?

This depends on how you live. Are you living like a Westerner (i.e. eating out frequently, enjoying an active nightlife, taking taxis everywhere, etc.) or a Chinese (i.e. cooking at home and eating a largely plant-based diet, seldom going out to bars and clubs, taking the bus when you go out)?

I have a few single colleagues who make over 6000 RMB/month and don't save anything. These people live a typical western lifestyle. On the flip side, I live like a Chinese, and, supporting a family of three, I only spend about 3000 RMB/month.

What is the work load like for a course like the HIT one?

If you're coming here to study, then the workload should be as much as you can handle. In other words, once you've finished your homework, you should keep studying.

I've known a few people who have done BAs at HIT. It keeps them busy, but not so busy that they have no time for other things. You should have plenty of time for distance education.

I can't provide any first hand experience with the dorms, but there are several posts about HIT dorms here. Take a look around and you'll find some good information.

[WestTexas]

This depends on how you live. Are you living like a Westerner (i.e. eating out frequently, enjoying an active nightlife, taking taxis everywhere, etc.) or a Chinese (i.e. cooking at home and eating a largely plant-based diet, seldom going out to bars and clubs, taking the bus when you go out)?

I have a few single colleagues who make over 6000 RMB/month and don't save anything. These people live a typical western lifestyle. On the flip side, I live like a Chinese, and, supporting a family of three, I only spend about 3000 RMB/month.

IMO this is the right answer as far as cost of living is concerned. You can get by on 1500 RMB/month if you have to, but plenty of foreigners spend 5x that and then complain that their salary is too low. One of my friends lives in Suihua, near Harbin, and spends his entire 5.5k salary each month. Actually, I have another friend who lives in Guangdong and makes 28k/month and spends most of it. I don't really know how. Personally I spend around 1-2k per month. Harbin is more expensive than where I live though.

[icebear]

IMO this is the right answer as far as cost of living is concerned. You can get by on 1500 RMB/month if you have to, but plenty of foreigners spend 5x that and then complain that their salary is too low. One of my friends lives in Suihua, near Harbin, and spends his entire 5.5k salary each month. Actually, I have another friend who lives in Guangdong and makes 28k/month and spends most of it. I don't really know how. Personally I spend around 1-2k per month. Harbin is more expensive than where I live though.

Off topic, but this is true most places in China. I had a lot of Chinese friends in Beijing doing almost the exact same sort of stuff I was day-to-day, living on salaries of around 4000 RMB per month. Probably not saving anything, mind you, but most Chinese

cities are quite livable at low cost if you're willing to stick to mostly Chinese food and activities.

[Ludens]

Quick question for the "I spend X per month" posters: is this including rent and everything, or only daily expenses?

[icebear]

I always found about 1000 RMB a week to be more than enough in Beijing, including a night or two of drinking and a few nights eating out; mind you, my friends and I are not too posh. That's after rent.

I imagine the number is much lower for Harbin.

[Scotty]

I don't have a problem eating like the locals. I pretty much eat asian style food everyday here anyway, which actually gets quite expensive. I'll probably feel like a Steak or a Burger every now and then, but most of the time I'm happy to survive on local cuisine. Also another side question, what is the deal surrounding working part time tutoring english (Native Speaker)? I'm not after a big side job, just a little extra income to keep me going (Maybe 4-8 hours a week max)? Not worried either way really just interested.

[amandagmu]

My problem in Beijing was always the rent.* Ridiculous housing bubble there. Based on what I'm reading here, if you're including rent in your budgets... wow, Harbin is a bargain.

*I need a working toilet and shower in my bathroom.

[kdavid]

is this including rent and everything, or only daily expenses?

My apartment is a bit more expensive than the school housing allowance, so I pay a bit extra, but 80% is still covered.

With that said, apartment prices are getting pretty ridiculous here. When I arrived in 2006, 1000/month would get you a great place. Now, that gets you jack squat. Most nice places are in the 1500 - 2000/month range.

Also another side question, what is the deal surrounding working part time tutoring english (Native Speaker)?

It's very possible in Harbin. There are plenty of schools which can't fill their full time positions, and so hire students to do part-time work.

I applied to an MA program at HIT last spring. My first day in the office filling out paperwork they were trying to hire me to do part-time work there.

[WestTexas]

I get a free apartment for my job, so that doesn't include rent. I don't really know where HIT is, but if it is not in the center of Harbin I'd imagine you could get a good flat for 1500/month.

[anonymoose]

If you think 2000/month is expensive, just be grateful you're not living in Shanghai.

[imron]

I'm grateful of that anyway

[Scotty]

How many students stay in Harbin over the Winter break (December - Feb/March)? Do the uni's generally allow students to stay over that period?

[L-F-J]

If you think 2000/month is expensive, just be grateful you're not living in Shanghai.

Half my rent...

My one bedroom apt here costs more than the monthly mortgage I was paying on a 3.5 bedroom house in the states.

I know I can find cheaper (slightly), but it's nice and convenient.

[WestTexas]

How many students stay in Harbin over the Winter break (December - Feb/March)? Do the uni's generally allow students to stay over that period?

I live in an area with a similar climate to Harbin and you might want to consider not staying. I had to stay here during January of this year after my school had closed. It was abysmal. Entire campus was pretty much deserted. -20 or below every night. Some nights, -30. We had one week where the highest temperature recorded for the entire week was -15. Also gets dark at like 4pm. And many of the shops and restaurants around the school closed, so I had to walk a long way to buy stuff.

Then during Spring Festival (actually, about 3-4 days before Spring Festival) everything closed. There was one restaurant open about 3 blocks away from my school. A convenience store was open about 4 blocks away. There were so few people out that when I went to the store I would only pass 1 or 2 people during the entire time. I also realized around this time that my friends in this town are all either students or teachers, so they had all left. Not a good time. Ended up mostly sitting in my apartment, playing video games, eating instant noodles, and drinking beer, which I had to carry from 4 blocks away.

[kdavid]

Harbin is different than what WestTexas is describing. Many Chinese students at local universities are locals, meaning they don't leave the city for their breaks.

However, many shops do close down during the "golden week." With that said, Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Fu-Mart, are all still open, so you have shopping options. Many restaurants only close for 3 - 4 days.

As for foreign teachers, many work at private schools, which, sadly, don't get the same great holidays public school and university teachers do. Many foreign teachers do travel during this week, but many others stick around and veg.

[Scotty]

Okay. That doesn't sound too horrible then, more than happy to go for a trip away for a week or two over the break, I have some friends in Taiwan so could head there for a while. Any experiences with cost of renting a room in an apartment rather than an apartment itself? I'm not 100% sure on the idea of living in Uni dorm's (Anyone with good experiences in this department welcome to comment!) but don't really want to be by myself totally either.

[Scotty]

So, Finally made the call. Arranging visa with Bincai, and should be heading over in October - just in time to start freezing

[abcdefg]

Congratulations! Hope you have a great time and learn a whole lot. I was in Harbin in the summer (2008) and enjoyed the place and the people very much. Am not much of a cold weather guy, however. Keep thinking I might still go see the ice festival one year, but never seem to get it done.

[Lauria]

In Harbin, in October,the person can not wear half sleeves,a little cold, now wear large windbreaker. By the way, you are welcome to choose Bincai, ha ha ha!