Dear Janet


Yes, I have had another e-mail from a teacher in the UK, this time asking me about teaching in SHENZHEN! Hooray! This gives me an opportunity to include lots of my old photos of SZ and it certainly makes a pleasant change from yet another post about Dubai.

 Dear Janet,

No, I am sorry. I do not know anything about BASIS. I was at Green Oasis School in Futian. As I say, I cannot tell you anything specific, but maybe you could find what you are looking for on the ICS website. It is pretty good. 

A Room with A View 

Secondly, with regard to benefits and your overall package, I was paid 23,000RMB a month after tax and the school also paid the rent for our two-bedroomed apartment in the centre of Shenzhen, right next to Lianuacun Park. (Every day, I would have a twenty-minute walk through the park to get to school. It was a nice way to start my day.) I hope that BASIS will offer you something similar. 

My cheeky Year 5 students at Green Oasis
Generally speaking, salaries in Beijing and Shanghai can be a lot more than in Shenzhen. In fact, I had one lady colleague who was moving to a new job in Beijing. 
"Why are you going there?" I asked. "Everyone knows that the pollution is awful in Beijing." 
"Yes," she replied, "But they are going to pay me nearly three times what I am getting at Green Oasis."

On the whole, my wife and I really enjoyed our time in China. I am sending you a few photos and one or two other bits and pieces that you may perhaps find interesting.

Miaohui, a wonderful celebration of Chinese culture
I would say that Shenzhen is not as exciting as Hong Kong, but of course HK is not too far away from SZ and so you can get there fairly easily. Shenzhen is a very pleasant, user-friendly city and living there is really quite easy. The Shenzhen MTR is particularly good: clean, fast, easy to use and above all excellent value for money. Maybe the Chinese should come to London and run the Underground for us.

Best wishes,

Simon Hill
(aka the hippo)

Some yummy mummies do their thing


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