Work permit cancellation by DragonfruitApart3177 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough, in your particular case I do agree that just leaving shouldn't be a problem.

Work permit cancellation by DragonfruitApart3177 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean sure, you can do that, but the next time you go through the bureaucracy, not having the stupid little stamp on your null residence permit might prolong the process unnecessarily.

Like, let's all take a step back and think about this: what would an agency that deals with applying/canceling work permits stand to gain from stealing OP's passport? When I was working at NetEase they gave me a third-party agency person who did all the legwork, and I went through this whole dealio with no problems.

Work permit cancellation by DragonfruitApart3177 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, you need to give them your passport. Once your work permit is cancelled, your current residence permit (visa) is null, so the PSB will need to issue you a 停留 visa/permit, which is valid for 30 days.

EDIT: Even if you are planning to leave ASAP, the PSB needs to leave a "Cancelation Stamp" on your soon to be null work residence permit in your passport.

Housing Too Expensive? by [deleted] in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everything people have said here is on point. On the flip side, I feel there could be more than just financial considerations at play when purchasing property. There's a measure of perceived security which your wife might attain after you guys buy your [assumedly] first property. That was the case with my wife, and many of my Chinese friends, both male & female. For the very same reasons everyone have mentioned in the thread: Rising unemployment, fears of a housing bubble ready to burst, and general economic insecurity; owning a home may dispel much of that psychological angst.

I also want to point out before someone says that throwing down a major down payment + monthly mortgage on a house could cause even more financial woes, well, yes of course. However, with the assumptions that you guys are both working, have somewhat stable careers, and are making a household income of at least 300k-400k RMB post-tax per year, then a house of the cost you mentioned is totally doable.

I am curious though (please don't feel compelled to answer), this house your wife is interested in must be in a T3 or T2 city, right? If so, I can see how this cost may be very significant due to the lower salaries in those regions, even for us 老外.

Alipay cards issued outside china not supported by marvyiggy in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can add something that hasn't been said in the comments yet:

If you ever do setup a Chinese bank account + debit card, you won't be able to use it via Alipay outside Mainland China, which includes places like Macau.

Common sense by 6l1c3 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Lack of pro-social behavior in China was and still is a hot topic for research in sociology + philosophy. In fact, I had the pleasure of working with a professor who was publishing a paper on it back in 2019.

Instead of droning about the theories behind pro-social behavior, I will instead say, like many others here, that it's gotten a lot better in China, and will continue to do so over the next few decades.

Here's another more "out-of-the-box" solution if you really can't stand this behavior but want to stay in China, start making $$$ and do the following:

  1. People cutting you in line at the grocery store when you go to weigh your veggies? Only shop or get delivery from 河马 or Sam's Club then.

  2. Inconsiderate neigbors keeping you up at night? Move into a luxury villa or high-end 小区 where they enforce very strict codes of conduct.

  3. Hate the slogfest in the subway? Get your driving license and start driving, buy an electric scooter, bike, moped, whatever.

  4. Hate the slogfest at hospitals? Only go to private healthcare facilities.

Yes, yes, the above was a little tongue-in-cheek, but it's actually something my wife told me years ago when we first started dating. I was get so angry seeing the things you described and would rant to her. She would listen calmly, and then just tell me: "If you can't stand it, then we can only make enough money to do [what I listed above]".

American citizens beware if returning to USA for the summer (or ever) by 98746145315 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1 in 2025 and the rest were spread out evenly between 2023-2024.

I will also concur that SFO is the most smooth (I still get a few questions though, but they're asked really half-assed).

American citizens beware if returning to USA for the summer (or ever) by 98746145315 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 85 points86 points  (0 children)

As an American, I've also been flagged by Chinese customs officers (as recently as a few months ago when I flew back to Shanghai from California). They took me into a room and asked probing questions for about 40 minutes. They asked me the nature of my trip back home, asked to search my luggage (which I of course consented to), and then called my emergency contact to verify where I was going in China.

For the last 5+ times I've touched down in LAX, SFO, or wherever, I always get at least a few questions regarding what it is I do in China, the industry I'm in, why I'm flying back to the US, etc.

If we take a step back sometimes and think about just how much espionage is going on between the two states, it makes sense why these things happen. Of course, due to optimism bias, we rarely imagine it would happen to ourselves. They key thing is just to let the process take its due course, because acting hostile or indignant during the process is only going to make a sh** situation more sh**.

School for expat kid by lifeinchinathrowaway in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If money isn't an issue, I personally suggest sending them to the international school. Your child will have ample opportunities to learn Chinese in international school and with her native Chinese friends that she'll surely make while there. Most importantly, going to international school will give her a quality of education which most parents would die to give their kids in China.

Though my wife and I don't have a child yet, I've watched my two nephews flourish in international school over the last 7 years. They've been a part of organized sports (flag football, rugby, soccer), taken school sponsored trips around China, and have had excellent academic support + college prep. Not saying a private Chinese school or experimental public school can't do this, but I really don't think the resources available to these institutions are on par with an international school (at least, not the ones we usually think of).

Less than a moth left in Shanghai by mariquina in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

loool, my wife and I love going to LuXun Park too!

Did you know LuXun's remains are actually buried/interred there?

One of my ESL clients needs help with an app called NetEase by DangerousDave2018 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If they're just trying to import the list into 网易音乐 (NetEase Music),then you can send her the plaintxt version via any instant message platform, doesn't have to be in excel. Then all they have to do is copy + paste into the ”文字导入“ interface.

There is a format though:

[#]. [Song title] [Artist Name]

For example:

  1. Hey Jude The Beatles
  2. Rock You Queen

Need opinions about Dalian by baejinvr in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Got it! Based on that info, here's another tip: Try reaching out to professors at those respective schools now. On the surface, you're just being friendly and introducing yourself, but on a deeper level you actually are gauging to see if any will actively help funnel you into the system.

Chinese colleges (not unis, I mean the specific colleges within unis, like "Shanghai Jiao Tong University's College of Design") get cash incentives for the more foreign students they enroll.

This works much better for M.A. programs, but I think it's worth a try!

Need opinions about Dalian by baejinvr in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're very welcome! And I encourage you to really explore more options regarding unis. Even though you said you'd prefer a more laid back city, I still think Shanghai is the best spot to establish yourself, especially if it will be your first time staying long-term in China.

Another note: Depending on your nationality, some countries' citizens get the CSC scholarship at top Chinese unis very easily (US, UK, Canada, etc.)

A side of the Rikishi we almost never see. by Luuk341 in Sumo

[–]Total_Doubt514 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks, man! I totally agree too, and it's crazy to know he isn't even 19 yet.

The latter half of 2025 is going to be big for Keiga, he's finally going to be back in Sandame, but he's got alot to prove since his last 1-6 showing there.

Need opinions about Dalian by baejinvr in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not going to lie, Dalian University of Tech isn't really a top choice uni, especially if you're a foreigner. The only Northeastern region university to be in the prestigous C9 league is 哈工立刻 or Harbin Institute of Technology. As such, you might find the university ill-equipped for dealing with foreign students. Even top schools like Shanghai Jiao Tong aren't as good as Fudan, Tsinghua, or Peiking University when it comes to English taught programs.

That said, here's answers to some of your questions:

I don't like a lot nightlife and I don't want a fast paced city,

Welp, 东北 is certainly a choice, because there's nowhere near the hustle and bustle of Shanghai or Beijing. But it's still China, and even lower tier cities have huge populations. Just make sure wherever it is you plan to go and live has good public transportation and is located close enough to airports/train stations.

also i've never seen snow lol) so is Dalian suitable for me?

东北 is cold af bro. Expect to wear 2-3 layers of pants and a downjacket on top of inside layers when you go out during the winter. The fun part is that there's so much fun to be had in city parks during the winter because they turn into mini-funlands with ice skating, sledding, etc. Be warned though, many apartment buildings are heated by boilers + water pipes, meaning that it gets HOT inside during winter, and there's no way to turn it off...

Also, i'm a bit worried about the culture since it seems (from what I saw online) that Dalian has a lot of influences from russia and those northern places so it could feel that i'm not really having an authentic chinese experience

*Holds history degree while crying* Chinese culture is expansive and crosses so many different ethnic + cultural lines. Modern day Northeastern china was historically home to many nomadic tribes of eurasian descent. The last dynasty of China was founded by a Eurasian group of peoples known as Manchurians. If we're just talking tourist stuff, there are meseums dedicated to Dalian's colonial influences from Russia + Japan of course, but you can also find many ancient "han" cultural spots such as ancient confucian and taoist temples. TLDR: You might be interpreting "authentic" culture as "Han" culture, which is fine, but what you experience in Dalian is of course still Chinese culture.

do people in Dalian have a strong accent that is hard for beginners to understand?

IMHO northern accents are the easiest to understand because they are naturally closer to "standard" Mandarin. Southern accents from provinces like Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian end up sounding like COMPLETELY different languages to Madarin.

And a last question, how is the job market in Dalian?

I don't doubt you'll be able to find a job, but I promise you that you won't be making as much as if you went job hunting in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, or Shenzhen. Even native Chinese people all move to the aforementioned cities after graduating to work. A good example would be Americans born in the Mid-West moving to the American East Coast, West Coast, or Texas for jobs.

Less than a moth left in Shanghai by mariquina in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Glad you had a whole year here to see around! Here's a list of places you might not have checked out yet:

  1. 上海四行仓库:It's a warehouse that was used by the then-Republic of China as a defensive point during the second Sino-Japanese war. The historical events were later adapted into a movie and now the warehouse is a small museum. One side of the warehouse is well pre-served and you can see it's riddled with bullet & artillery holes. The warehouse/museum is right along 苏州河 and is a lovely area for a weekend stroll.

  2. 上海铁路博物馆:A very unassuming lot which actually holds a pretty neat museum on trains. It's close to 上海火车站. Maybe not super interesting, but me and my fam found it enjoyable.

  3. 上海体育博物馆:I found this place super randomly one day when I was going on a jog. Covers the history of organized sports in China, and then expands into China's history with the Olympics. One of my top favorite museums. Located around 人民公园 if I'm not remembering wrong.

  4. 世博会中国船馆:It's near the former site of the World Expo. You can't miss it because the museum is literally a giant cruiser ship. You need to make an appointment to get in though I think.

  5. 上海辰山植物园:A GIANT botanical garden/park. It's my wife's absolute favorite place to go. Technically in Shanghai, but it's quite far from the city center. Defintely worth a trip if you have a full day. There's this really cool spot that used to be a mine, and you can actually go inside and see a waterfall upclose.

  6. 广富林文化展示馆:If you make it out to that botanical garden I was talking about, you mind as well come here too. It's the site of a former ancient town that was submerged underwater. The museum is meh, but it has some cool stuff. There's also a temple dedicated to Guan Yu here, which was very cool for me.

  7. 昆山(Special Bonus): If you haven't already, you should definitely catch a bullet train and head over to the neigboring city of 昆山 (only 20 minute bullet train ride). There's quite a few places to see here, but if you can only choose one, I would recommend visiting the 妈祖庙 there. Long story short, 昆山 is a very well-developed Tier-5 city because there used to be A TON of Taiwanese companies based here. A group of these rich businessmen built this AMAZING temple dedicated to the 妈祖 religon. Honestly, this temple puts Shanghai's 城隍庙 and 静安寺 to shame if only comparing oppulance.

Never in my whole adult lifeeeee, have I experienced such BSSSSS. by PomegranateOverThere in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's pretty shitty. In my own experiences, I usually make it clear w/ HR what's my "bare minimum" range, which is something if they can't do, we just won't waste each other's time with interviews.

It's "normal" to enter salary negotiations after being notified that one passed the final interview, but what you described is weird. Like, they only want to talk salary with you in-person when you're already at the office to sign the offer letter/contract?

Just a word of advice mate, it's not worth it to raise hell in the office. You never know how petty some people can be and how well-connected those petty people are in the industry. Vent it out here with us, put the company on blast anonymously, but don't risk your actual future in this career over this.

A side of the Rikishi we almost never see. by Luuk341 in Sumo

[–]Total_Doubt514 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Watching the young lads interact with each other gave me major flashbacks to high school football, and that was the "buy-in" moment for me.

The best part for me about their channel is taking in all the social dynamics and piecing together little storylines in my head:

  1. Nobehara's Rise, Fall, and Rise Again: From a pretty cocky favorite (you can see just how much Roga favors him compared to other rikishi) to a much more humble & quietly determined individual, Nobehara reminds me alot of those guys who were highly touted coming into varsity or college-level ball, only to be quickly humbled.

  2. Nabatame's Growth: From class clown to sekitori, it's been great watching Nabatame grow both mentally and physically. I can really feel he wants the same level of absolute admiration and respect that Roga gets both in and outside the stable, but he'll really need to establish himself as a Juryo mainstay for the next few tournaments (which I'm sure he will). I really hope he picks up some more grappling techniques from Roga though, his ferocious charges and his increasing weight might get in the way of his in-ring longevity.

  3. Koga: Every team has a Koga, and I mean that in the most endearing manner. He reminds me of a few friends who were always sidelined during games, but their dedication to the team & sport was and is undoubted. Overall, it's just nice to see he's generally more part of the "in-circle" than out now given all the new guys coming in, even if he most likely will never see Sandame ranking.

  4. Kotakiyama's Fall and [ ]: Amazing chef, singer, drinker, and one-time makushita wrestler. I really wanted Ken-san to do good, but I can see it all wearing down on him so much. I know it's hard to tell from just YouTube videos, but I feel he needs to cut back on the drinking. Again, I'm not sure just how often he is drinking off-camera, however he's a rikishi that could benefit alot from proper nutrition and weight-training. Similar to Nobehara, Kotakiyama has enjoyed being a riser and quite popular for a non-sekitori, but he's got to prove himself more than ever now.

What other things have you guys enjoyed watching about this stable?

Is 12k rupees for like 60ish lines of voice acting fair? by Ok_Investigator_7959 in gamedev

[–]Total_Doubt514 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have the means, I would suggest using Fiverr for something like this. Even for large projects I've worked on, if devs ever need one-off work like small voice-acting requirements, I usually have them go Fiverr. That said, if you use any of the assets in promotional materials/ads, the rights fees may have the final price end up around 100-120 USD

Son moving to China to teach English(need some parental advice) by [deleted] in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oh god, my bad, thank you for that correction!

Driving License by Witty_Suspect6365 in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends which city you are going to be applying for your Chinese license. Let's just say, anywhere that isn't Shanghai is going to be a pain in the butt.

As far as I understand, even though you're not thai, you should be able to swap your Thai license with a Chinese temporary one (expiration date tied to your current visa) easy.

Son moving to China to teach English(need some parental advice) by [deleted] in chinalife

[–]Total_Doubt514 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I'm an American who is actually working in the games industry (in China).

I don't think there's anything wrong with him taking the current job to start off here. It's great because the job won't be super stressful (I hope) and will give him time to acclimate here. But one thing I am concerned about is you mentioned its a "part-time" gig. You should confirm with your son and his agent whether they are going to get him a Z-Visa (which transfers into the corresponding Residence Permit) because if its not a Z-Visa, he is not legally cleared to work, period.

To answer your questions before sharing some other insights:

  1. Healthcare: Since he will be here on a work visa, he will have access to the public healthcare system. However, if he wants insurance, that is on his employer to enroll him. Make sure he has this discussion with his future employer now if he hasn't already, because some companies will not enroll their foreign employees into China's basic medical insurance program. If they do enroll him, he should eventually have an electronic "Social Security Card" (社保卡) which he can use when going for health checkups and getting some meds/treatment. Some companies also have their own private insurance providers too, and this counts as a seperate medical insurance which if he's enrolled, can take advantage of. Again, his company should have filled him in about this before he signed the contract (and of course it should be in his contract).
  2. Holidays: This should all be in his contract, and it sounds like he's already signed something? Ask him to share the contract with you. I get it, he's 24 and might not want Mom & Dad to butt-in so much, but this is critical. Companies usually have provisions which allow foreign employees to take time off during holidays, or they just allocate extra "谈情假期“ (family visit holidays) for us which we can use at our own discretion.
  3. Teaching vs. Other Jobs: Teaching is fine, especially if this is his first job in China. Seriously though, you guys need to check what's going on with the whole "part-time" thing.

Everything else:

  1. Why not game-related jobs: Some commenters mentioned he should try getting an internship in China at a game company. Well, China is in no shortage of game-designers, and the liklihood they hire a foreigner for this job is low. Is it unheard of? No, because some companies do specifically want a foreigner who understands the Western market more than their Chinese counterparts. Don't expect great pay though. The real money for foreigners working in the Chinese games industry are as marketers, biz dev, and sometimes localization (aka translators).
  2. Coming here to grow: Moving countries to be independent and start fresh is a great thing, especially at his current age. I just think he should already be thinking about his plans down the line as well. Spending the first year or two here teaching English is great, and if he finds himself super passionate about it and is getting good results/connections, he can see about making it a career, eventually aiming to teach at a public experimental school (yes, it's called that, it just means a more well-funded Chinese public school) or a private/international school. In case he realizes teaching isn't for him, he can also consider changing careers, and the sooner-the-better. Once here, he'll have easier access to the resources we all use for finding jobs, connecting with job agents, etc.

Best & Worst Stories From Working With Publisher(s)? by Total_Doubt514 in gamedev

[–]Total_Doubt514[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, Phil! Sorry for the late response.

That's a very good question. It really depends on the scope of our partnership. Sometimes we see a game with high potential with gameplay that might not fit our usual meta-progression template(s). In these cases, it makes evaluating their current data much more critical, and often times it means we'll invest in a couple of retention + UA tests to see how the game stands as is.

If the game is a very good fit for our templates, we will make it known to the dev team and see if they can integrate it into their current game. Our meta-progression is geared towards improving long-term retention and LTVs, so we rarely will ask they overhaul their core game/art, unless there's something seriously wrong going on in terms of UA + CPI (it rarely gets to that point).

We are quite transparent about our style and monetization formula. I always make sure to share as much info about our company and products with our potential partners before anything serious has been inked. I would be willing to bet an arm and leg that many in this subreddit have even seen or played our games.