Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mand. This makes Beijing a fertile and exciting ground for employment and profit. It does
come with pitfalls, however, which can swallow up foreigners whole.
For those expecting to walk into a candy land of opportunities, take care and be prepared
to lower your expectations. The vast majority of business here is still done in Chinese,
and sometimes it feels like the only available jobs are for English teaching. Not only are
Chinese companies beginning to prioritize local hires over expensive demanding foreign-
ers, but there are more than 100,000 other expats that you'll also be competing with.
Setting up a business in Beijing can be a bureaucratic nightmare, and stories of expats
being taken for a spin by dodgy companies are plentiful. Salaries and the packages that go
with them are also extremely inconsistent. You'll no doubt have one friend who has hit the
jackpot with a salary of RMB30,000 or more a month, housing, and international health
care, and then another who scrapes by each month on a salary of RMB8,000 that is half
eaten up by the RMB3,000 they pay for their share of the rent on a mediocre apartment, and
who hopes they don't develop any serious medical issues.
Beijing is like a green, spirited horse. It's going to buck and jump and even try to throw
you off, but if you can grip on tight enough long enough that you come to understand it,
you'll have the ride of your life.
