Teaching at Harbin Institute of Technology

[Brantavius]

I'm not sure if it's proper etiquette to post questions in a thread begun by someone else, but I have questions similar to those of free_radical, so I am hoping I could get some help with some of them in this thread. Hope no one minds.

1. I may teach English at HIT for a year beginning in Feb. 2006, so I am wondering if anyone here has information regarding HIT's dealings with foreign teachers. I've heard lots of horror stories about unscrupulous treatment of foreign teachers, though most of these stories pertained to private schools. I'm trying to determine -- inasmuch as I can from an apartment in the middle of the US -- the honesty level of the people with whom I'll interact. The type of stuff I'm afraid of: If I'm promised return airfare, will HIT find some minor fault for which they can fire me just before my contract expires in order to avoid paying for my return airfare? Based on living expenses (e.g., electricity bill) about which I won't be informed until it's too late, will they deduct from my salary or return airfare? There are others, but you probably already get the point. Has anyone heard of occurrences like this at HIT?

2. Can anyone offer me a comparative assessment of the air pollution level in Harbin, particularly in the vicinity of HIT, relative to US cities or other Chinese cities? I've found information on just about every other Chinese city, but I can't find straightforward information on Harbin.

3. Where does the area surrounding HIT fall on the rural-to-urban scale? Is there a popular US location that it feels similar to?

4. Also, on an unrelated note, I will study Mandarin via WorldLink Education in Beijing from early Sept. to late Jan. while doing a homestay set up by the Lotus Educational Foundation. Does anyone have any useful commentary regarding these programs, particularly regarding their honesty?

I would definitely appreciate any firsthand knowledge readers may have about these issues. Thank you.

[roddy]

I'm not sure if it's proper etiquette to post questions in a thread begun by someone else

Moving your post to the practicalities forum, as it's not mainly about studying Chinese. If you want to start a new post in Universities and Schools for your 4th question go ahead, but please search first.

Bearing in mind this info is all a few years old - hopefully someone will come up with something more up to date

1) Last I heard foreign teachers at HIT were treated well.

2) Can't compare it to anything in the US, but tended to be dirty / dusty more than polluted.

3) When I was there they only had a city center campus. However, there's now a new 'University Town' about 30 minutes out of the city, where HIT may well have a campus.

[wushijiao]

2) Here is a link to a pollution level chart that skylee linked a long time ago:

http://www.zhb.gov.cn/english/air-list.php3?offset=0

If you track it for a while I think you'll find that Harbin is polluted, but not as bad as some other cities.

To put it in perspective:

http://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=airnow.national

http://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=static.aqi

[waxwing]

Maybe too late, but I guess you haven't left yet. You certainly like to plan well in advance!

1. Agree with Roddy about the school's reputation, but the golden rule is to ask for the email address of one or more current foreign teachers. That's the best reassurance you can reasonably hope for.

3. About rural-urban think urban. Harbin is a big city, estimates vary from 4-9 million (yeah, I know, but nobody seems to have a good figure). HIT is very close to the town center. It's a good location and the University is high ranking. One thing's for sure, your students will be bright. Motivation depends however.

The pollution is worse in the winter because of coal dust. You won't smell that (you may smell the penicillin factory, however), but you'll see it on the roads and on the windowsills. If you have a tendency to respiratory problems, think carefully about dealing with this at -30C temperatures.

[eddy]

hi guy , i heard you will come to harbin, and had some puzzles.i have been to beijing for several times.comparatively speaking, the air in harbin is cleaner than beijing's! all my American friends told me they love harbin's summer! when you come ,we will have the Spring Festival, wellcome! you can get some suggestion from my American friend who is working in Harbin now.later i will tell you her Email, this is my phone:13936324944 and Email: zhinanwang@hotmail.com

[phbriggs]

Also try and get HIT to use a SAFEA contract. This contract nominates the minimum requirements set out by the State and also ensures that the institution you are working at provides you with at least the minimum entitlements.

[phbriggs]

SAFEA Contract

[venture160]

hey, I am in Harbin right now studying at HIT (although not directly through HIT) so I can tell you what the conditions are like up here. The weather lately has been really nice, and I would say the pollution here is comparatively nonexistent when compared to Beijing etc. On some days its so clear outside that I forget I am in China. But, Harbin is a grimy city because for most of the year it is freezing cold and covered in snow, that said, the winter will have more pollution due to everyone's coal fired heating. HIT is DEFF in a urban area, it is a 2 minute bus ride from the center of town, and a 5 minute taxi ride from the famous "Zhongyang Dajie" (think lots of russian architechture) As for nightlife, its kind of dull here, there are a number of Chinese disco's, but unless you go with alot of friends that speak or are Chinese themselves, it is not fun. Also, plan on spending alot of your time out hanging around drunk russians, and there have been lots of instances in the past with foreigners getting the living daylight beaten out of them by drunk russians late at night. NEVER go out alone, its just not a good idea. If you like to go out, you will most likely find yourself at Blue's a weird conglomeration of russian, chinese and western culture, that I dont think you will be able to find anywhere else. That said, I like Harbin, but I am here to study Chinese and have Chinese friends, so I can't tell you much about the foreign teacher population here, but they seem to have fun, (if hardcore drugs is your thing)

[eddy]

yes venture160 , I agree with you! maybe we can drink together, this is my msn:zhinanwang@hotmail.com , phone:13936324944