Life in China

Ni hao!

I am a 29 year old bloke from England thinking about moving to and trying to find a job in China.

I am sure you may have heard this story before but please bear with me!

I visited China for a business conference recently, and I have met my girlfriend there. Now I am seriously thinking that I would like to build my life there. I am currently studying for my MBA (part-time, outside my full-time work as a Business Intelligence Analyst) and I have been thinking about leaving the UK a lot for my long-term future and am sure that better opportunities lie in other countries, but I am not really that excited by the 'normal' destinations for British expats - Australia and Dubai, for instance, would be too hot and I don't like the culture as much as China.

Now I am sure I know what you're thinking - just another romance-struck lao wai who thinks the grass is greener on this side of the world. And I'm sure you'll relieve me of that idea! (and you are right to) But it is something I have given serious consideration to, and now I am embarking on a journey that will hopefully get me there.

My main reason for posting here is just to get any advice I can get on moving to China and finding a decent job.

My girlfriend lives in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, so realistically I would be looking at jobs in Nanjing, Wuxi and Shanghai, and other cities around that reason. I love the area and know the climate is very tolerable for most of the year (although I know Nanjing is one of the three furnaces in the summer).

I have a bachelors degree, a master's degree (Computer Science/Information Systems) and pending an MBA (finishing next March, and I have distinctions in all modules studied so far). I have studied at prestige institutions such as Warwick and Liverpool and am now studying at Chester Business School (not amazing, but convenient when I have to combine study with a full-time job).

I am currently a Business Intelligence Analyst, with a remit that includes consultancy work and project management of large-scale Data Warehouse projects.

I also study Mandarin as much as time and cost (private tuition in this area only unfortunately) allows.

Hopefully this background will allow you to give me some good advice.

Thanks so much if anyone can tell me anything - about job hunting, about the expat experience in China, about the kind of jobs I could realistically expect to get, about anything to do with the culture and the area I am looking to relocate to... If you have an opportunity that is a good fit and would like my cv, even better!

Feichang gan xie!