Will Working Weekends Have a Large Impact?

[ian1989]

I don’t live in Chengdu yet.

I’ve been offered a position and I am really interested. The only downside is the working week is Wed-Sun. In my previous city this would have alienated me from both my local friends and expats as Saturday night and Sunday afternoon were when everything happened. Chengdu is much bigger though so:

Is it common for locals/expats to work on the weekend? Do a lot of ESL teachers have the same schedule so there would still be people to hang out with on Monday and Tuesday?

I’m not a big club person but I still like to go to a bar till 2/3am when I have the next day off, is there a decent nightlife on a Sunday/Monday night or is everything quiet/shut down?

Also on a slightly unrelated note how easy is it to make excursions into the countryside? I used to own a scooter but I was reading that they have been banned in Chengdu?

Thanks for your answers

[Charlie]

I would say it depends almost completely on which industry you work in: my understanding is that working on the weekend in English teaching jobs is not uncommon at all. Places like the Poly Center will probably have people there at various bars until 2am every day of the week, but bigger events are usually only on the weekend. If having weekends is important to you, I think you can probably figure out a job situation which gives you that, but it might require more looking.

Electric scooters are not banned in Chengdu but gas scooters are. Some people take the risk and get away with it, but you run the risk of being fined or worst-case having your scooter impounded.

[897934-884]

In fact, weekends are the best time to work in China. It’s not worth trying to go anywhere to see anything on weekends because the hordes show up 6am Saturday morning and don’t leave until Sunday at midnight. Weekends are also the time when defecation occurs most on the subways and the noise level clocks in consistently over 110dB. The weekdays however are relatively calm.

As for bars and such, weekends are a good party, but during weeknights you won’t have any problem running into some errant EFL teachers or random Chinese folk out having some drinks at a bar. If you’ve got a job, you’ll meet plenty of others who’ll be looking to drink on a weeknight. Lots of people here seem to have abnormal schedules. Besides, the local restaurants are hopping any night of the week.

E-bikes aren’t illegal. They just have to be registered (license plates).

[Rick in China]

I agree with 897934-884 about weekends sucking for getting out of town or even to places in China, we don’t like to take our baby out on weekends because there are always swarms of people and traffic is worse.

Defecation on subways? I don’t ride the subway much but, really, this happens here? That’s brutal.

[Charlie]

Rick in China wrote:

Defecation on subways? I don’t ride the subway much but, really, this happens here? That’s brutal.

I have taken the subway a few hundred times here, never seen that or heard of it. Never seen or heard of anyone urinating on the subway either. The subway is pretty immaculate actually, in my experience. The interior of the new stations is pretty beautiful (there’s a giant mural of doves in the station near my office).

[897934-884]

Sorry, the defecation thing is a bit of an exaggeration. I’ve seen pissing on the subway twice. Otherwise the subways are pretty clean. Noisy as hell though.

Also, getting out of town is very easy here. Especially on weekdays. There are numerous bus/train stations that will get you places very cool in an hour minimum.

[Deven]

The subway is the cleanest thing in Chengdu!

[Author]

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