Impressions on North Chengdu?

[Emillerer55]

So I’m considering accepting a teaching job in North Chengdu, specifically Baoli which is a little south of Xindu. My question is has anyone lived or visited this area? If so what was it like?  Is there any Parks, Restaurants, Bars or Nightlife in the area? I don’t need to be downtown and actually prefer not to be but I would like some activities to do. Is there any expat population in the area?  Also the company that is offering me the contract is Golden Apple if anyone has worked with them before I would appreciate any reviews.
Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and reply to my post.

Regards,
Eric

[Rick in China]

@Eric

North of Chengdu is typically seen as the poorer area of Chengdu, especially in areas around the train station – north of that the city gets kinda run down in a big way…however, there are new developments cropping up all over that are nice by themselves – but still pretty much nothing around it that an expat would enjoy aside from perhaps ‘getting the rustic China experience’. Directly north in Chengdu along 3rd ring has Happy Valley which is fun, but to live up there….. I personally wouldn’t. That’s also the direction of the Chengdu Zoo and a bit further, the Panda habitat. I have, however, driven around the area a few times in the last few months – namely for Panda/Zoo/etc outings, and it still reflects out as the busted up area that it used to from what I saw.

I’ve heard good things long ago about Golden Apple but surely you’ll find some teachers who work there or have worked there who can give more up to date information, seems to be one of the better regarded kindergartens though.

[Kim Duistermaat]

In the north there are also the botanical gardens and the Poly 198 park, both very nice green spaces to spend some time. Actually, is Baoli not the posh neighborhood bordering on the Poly198 park (in chinese called Baoli gongyuan)? That would fit with the Golden Apple kindergarten which is among the more expensive ones here. Don’t worry, if you want to go to downtown for some fun it will take you about 40 mins.

[Kim Duistermaat]

Perhaps you should start a new thread asking for opinions of (former) Golden Apple staff, because they will not know you’re asking with this post title?

[Emillerer55]

Thanks Rick and Kim for the reply. I just don’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere being bored out of my mind 🙂

[muell]

Golden Apple sounds familiar, do they have branches elsewhere in Chengdu?

I live out in the suburbs now (not my choise) and personally I wouldn’t do it. You’ll be a bit isolated out there, at least if you wanna speak English and meet other expats. If you wanna improve your Chinese and really immerse yourself in the local culture on the other hand, being out there might help, because you will be forced to speak Chinese.

It’s common that schools hire fresh-off-the-boat expats to work in those kind of places. I’d insist they give me something in town if I was you. They’ll probably agree if they think you are serious and wouldn’t take the job otherwise. Or just get a job with some other Kindergarten – those are the easiest jobs to get in China.

[Kim Duistermaat]

Golden apple has many branches, and they are known as a good kindergarten. There are only one or two branches accepting foreign kids, one is the branch close to the Masters appartment building along Renmin South road. Perhaps you should look on the Chengdufamilyliving group (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/chengdufamilyliving/info) and look for a person called gina c (blonde_cdn). I think she is an American Golden Apple teacher and she may be willing to help you out with more info on the school and on how to negotiate with them. One thing I’d want to know is whether there are any other foreign teachers at the Baoli branch. I’d also ask if there is a sports club or other social club on the Poly grounds or in the neighborhood, and whether you’d be entitled to membership there. If there is any foreigners living in that area that’s where you’d meet them. I’d personally not have a problem to work/live in a suburb. In that area there are relatively many green parks and since you’re on the outskirts of the city I guess it would be not too difficult to take a bicycle and make some nice trips to the north of town. Also since you’re close to the third ring it means you will be out of town in notime if you like to go to places further out. If you like a vibrant night-life and want to go clubbing several times a week, I guess you would prefer other areas in town.

[Kim Duistermaat]

And I guess that at least some of the people who can afford a house in Poly198 will be able to speak some English, even if they’re Chinese.

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