TEFL / TESOL Certification in Northern China

Will-Excel TESOL:
Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang province, China's most North-easterly province. The province has a population of 39 million and Harbin's population is officially 10 million with about 4 million living in the city proper, making Harbin China's 8th largest city. As the Province's largest city and capital, Harbin's economy is largely white collar, servicing the primarily agricultural and heavy industry bases of the rest of the province.

Harbin is a more traditional city than the major cities of southern China since it has not been westernized as much. However, Harbin is a more developed city than most westerners expect of China. Anything that you would expect to find in stores, in the West, can usually be found here. In general the only exceptions are some particular spices or certain brand names.

Harbin has most forms of entertainment and sporting locations. However western activities such as squash, swimming, or bowling are expensive by local standards. Most Chinese parties or celebrations are held in restaurants, which often have private rooms with karaoke. Some western-style bars/clubs are available but they also tend to come with western prices. There is no shortage of movies to watch. All of the latest movies are available by buying or renting DVDs or VCDs. They are very cheap.

As a northern city, Harbin has similar weather to the Canadian Prairies or American Midwest. The summer is usually 20 to 35 C and the winter -10 to -30 C. During the winter, Harbin has an ice festival which is the city's most well-known tourist attraction.

Westerners are not common in Harbin. There are usually about 300-400 westerners here with about half being students. There are also usually several hundred Russians in town on shopping trips. Therefore, non-Chinese tend to stand out in a crowd. If you are shy to be noticed, Harbin is not the place for you.

Cost of Living

The average income in Harbin is about 700 RMB and the cost of living is lower than other cities. Therefore most people earning 1,000 consider it to be a good income. For food and basic shopping, a person can live comfortably on 1,000. However, most foreigners spend more than that because they tend to buy more imported goods and eat more frequently in restaurants including McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC. Therefore, if you want to save money for travel or to send back home, you should be able to save a good portion of your salary, depending on how native you want to live.

A sample of costs, in RMB: average restaurant meal 10-20/person, bottle of beer 2 in shops or restaurants 20 in bars, bus fare 1-2, taxi 7-8 first 3 km (10 or less to most places), sleeper train to Beijing 300 one-way (board at 8:00pm and arrive at 6:00am). Clothes are much cheaper than in the west and there are great tailors too.