Living in China -Moving to China for Postdoc, Jobs & Careers

Are you moving to China? If you do, then you are reading the right post. Let me share with you my personal views about living in China! I will share suggestions mainly focused on the foreign nationals who aspire to experience living in China.

BEST part about moving to China

Well, China is a big country. Living in China can be fascinating for foreigners. However, as a foreigner, by all means our understanding about the Chinese culture is very limited. Maybe the language barriers are preventing a good fusion of cultures.

The best thing about living in China is that the Chinese people are generally very friendly and outgoing. You will be welcomed in China. The locals would usually be curious to know about your culture. Personally, I find relocating to China super exciting as I love the Chinese culture.

Find a job for living in China

China is growing economy, and obviously there are a good number of jobs. If you have a Computer Science degree (or IT background), you may have an upper hand in securing a high paying job. The Chinese government is bringing special initiatives to attract talented foreigners to further stimulate nation’s socio-economic growth. However, you must complete all the legal formalities before you land in China. You may refer to my posts about finding jobs, writing job seeking emails, etc.

moving to China with Jobs in academia

If you are looking for jobs in academia, you can contact the professors. If a professor finds your resume interesting; there is a higher chance of you being called for an on-site interview. So be ready to go to China for a job interview if you are applying for jobs in China. Do prepare a PowerPoint presentation, and read some of the recent papers of the related professors.

There seem to be so many reasons for calling for an on-site interview, for example

1. May be Google Hangouts (Skype) doesn’t work smoothly
2. Your employer wants to know if you can really manage living in China, where language can be a huge cultural barrier.

Chinese postdoctoral fellowship website

When you contact a professor for a postdoctoral position in China, you may be asked to apply online to secure your position. The application process would require you to submit the necessary documents online. Here is the site of the Chinese postdoctoral fellowship application. Do note that the China postdoctoral site only has a Chinese version. If you have any problem in the process of applying, you can email the professor (or the Postdoctoral Management Office) of the relevant university. Since there is no English version of the site, the university staff would be assigned the task of helping you with the postdoctoral application process.

A Common Question – Why moving to China?

I have been consistently asked this question during interviews (and informal chats) –why China? Well, my answers focused on explaining my interest in Chinese culture. I even mentioned to a Prof. (in the email) that I could sing a few Chinese songs and my experiences about Chinese food. When we met, he literally (and casually) asked me about the songs, and names of food.

Once, I even sent out one of my photos taken in Xian to a professor.  Since I have been exploring Chinese culture for quite a few years now, it was never a problem for me to convince the professors about my love for Chinese culture.

Get your Chinese visa

You may be required to obtain a Chinese visa for attending an on-site job interview. You’d be asked to provide an invitation letter, make sure your interview date is clearly written on the invitation. You also need to obtain an official seal of the organisation on the letter. I have written three detailed posts about the Chinese visa application, please go through them-

1. Chinese Tourist Visa application (L category)
2. Chinese Work Visa application (Z category)
3. Authentication of academic diploma and degrees (PhD, Master’s, Bachelors)
4. China Work Permit & Z Visa China

Document authentication

You may be required to authenticate your academic degree certificates. The above post should give you a detailed idea about certificate authentication (or consular legalization).

Physical examination

You will be asked to provide a medical report. You can find the examination form in the Chinese Work Visa application (Z category). The medical examination is compulsory for relocating to China (more than 3 months of stay for jobs). The form seems to be common across China.

Varying SALARIES

If you are moving to China, you should spend some time doing research about salaries in your area of work. In general, salaries would obviously vary from city to city.

Related post – Postdoc Average Salary in China | Jobs & China Income Tax Calculator

To me it seems to be the case that as you move from north to south in China, your salary would be higher for the same job (say postdoc). Generally, salary in south china (such as in Guangzhou, Shenzhen) is higher than in Beijing. In fact, Guangdong is one of the richest provinces in China.

Age limits for postdoctoral fellowships in China

Well, China has a very strict age limit policy for the postdoc jobs. You must be under 35 years of age. During my job search in China, most of the professors asked my age, directly or indirectly (e.g. asking for a copy of passport), before initiating the recruitment process.

However, if you are already 35, you don’t have to worry – you’d own it! It’s not a crime to be 35 (or whatever age).

Remember- where there is a will, there is a way!

A postdoctoral fellowship is obviously a research position, but not all research positions are postdoctoral fellowships. So, you can also try to find research jobs that are not officially labelled as a postdoc job. Here are some of the examples-

1. Research assistant
2. Senior researcher
3. Faculty positions
4. Research staff
5. Technician

Once I contacted a Professor in Shanghai for a postdoc position, and here is what he replied to me-

“Thanks for your interest in my lab. 

I do have one opening, but it is a research assistant/technician level job. I would love if you want to join, but the pay would not be too much. Before tax it will be around 1000 dollars, and after tax maybe 800 dollars. So I am not sure if you are still interested.

And this is my institutional email account. Sorry to reply late, these two days are quite chaotic for me for all the grant application. ”

Learn a few Chinese slangs

Well, Chinese language has a good number of slangs that are used quite often. I will list a few here – if you have Chinese friends, maybe you can ask them about it. I am sure they will smile on you. 🙂

1. Single Dog ( 单身狗 -dānshēnɡǒu) – those who don’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend. It’s mostly used to describe oneself.
2. Someone who is good in studies/learning/academics (学霸 – Xué bà)
3. Tall, rich and handsome (高富帅, Gāofù shuài) – It’s a joke in China that many girls wanna date a Gāofù shuài.
4. White, rich and beautiful girl (白富美- Bái fùměi ) – describes a girl.

Air quality in China

There are so many causes of pollution in China and you may want to keep yourself updated. You can download the Air Quality China mobile App. It’s quite popular in China, and you will get the updates on air quality.

That’s all for this post! Happy relocating to China.

For regular updates, like us on Facebook!

If you find the write-ups useful, buy me a beer! 🙂

Got queries? Cool. Feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. Let’s build a healthy community. 🙂

You may also want to refer to the Xiamen Review – Part 1, Part 2, other posts about China, or the other countries.  Here is the YouTube playlist of the videos that I have taken in China.

You can also find my other articles on PhD/Postdoc, or the complete navigation list. You can also find more about me.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Wish you a great experience with living in China. 🙂

 Last updated: Tuesday, October 31, 2017