New in Chengdu

[Sandra Mair]

Hello together,

in august this year I will come to Chengdu with my boyfriend. He is going to work as an expat in Chengdu and i have decided to come with him. Now I’m interested in finding new friends and talk to other persons, learn chinese and find a job or an internship in Chengdu. First some informations about my person. I was studying business administration in Munich and now I’m working in the finance department of a huge international dairy since one year. Before that all I was working in a bank for three years.

I have now some questions and hope someone of you can help me:

Is it difficult to find a job or an intership in Chengdu and do someone know a homepage for job offers?

Can you suggest a language school to learn Chinese and come in contact with other expatriates or Chinese people?

Where do I have to go after my arrival in Chengdu? I heard I have to register myself at a police station? Is that right?

It would be great to get some answers and find nice talking people.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Sandra

[Steeevyo]

Hello,

First of all congratulations you are at the right place.

Lots of helpful advice from nice people also a decent database of interesting articles about life in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Police Registration:

-Depends on your type of accomodation. Initially Hotel will do that for you.

Once you find your own accomodation the real estate agent or the management office can be of assistance. Not too many english speakers though.

I assume your boyfriend will come with an expat package?

In that case things should be much easier as usually somebody will be there to help you with the first steps on everything.

Other expats:

You will find them at the usual hangouts of which there are plenty and in a pretty wide range from ‘Paulaner Biergarten’ to ‘Hemp House’ (just to randomly name the two opposite ends of the spectrum).

Language Schools: I have to plead ignorance on this but the forum should have a lot of threads discussing this topic. I was offered language classes by individuals on the street. Not sure if that is the proper way forward though.

Working in Chengdu:

Also here it depends what your boyfriend is doing. If youre in the same field his new employer might be able to provide you with helpful tips or contacts.

Also the German Chamber of Commerce has an office here I guess. Maybe try to get in touch with them.

http://china.ahk.de

What type of Visa do you have? How long are you planning to stay?

P.S.: I am German and you can PM me for more specific questions.

[Brave Chengdu]

hey Sandra, I think I’ve been in your position and also know many that have.

if you plan to return to the west to re assume your professional career, you might consider studying Chinese language full time at one of the (reasonably priced) universities that offer it.

out of out group of expats, some girlfriends did this, others tried to find jobs/study part time. in the end we were unanimous that the ones that studied full time got the most out of their time here, and had the most to take away too – resumé wise

but I know everyone’s different just sharing my experience.

Again: PM me if you want some details.

[Charlie]

Quote:

if you plan to return to the west to re assume your professional career, you might consider studying Chinese language full time at one of the (reasonably priced) universities that offer it.

This is great advice – to me, speaking Chinese is essential for all foreigners in China. You can get by without it in major cities, but all the doors will open as your Chinese improves. We have a bunch of posts about learning Chinese as well, check them out on the Series page under Learning Chinese.

For Chinese learning schools, I recommend Mandarin Club or you can register as a full or part time student at a university in Chengdu. Sichuan University and the Minorities University will probably be the first choices. If you search on the forum you can find a lot of comparisons between the two to see what will suit your needs.

Good luck!

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