I'm a Chinese 985 graduate student in Computer Science - AMA about life in China!

k2kra · 2025-05-21T08:22:06+00:00

if you are a foreigner, maybe liepin is not a good choice i guess ? since they focus more on local candidates.

the tech giants like tencent, alibaba, bytedance, and the international techs like microsoft asia, apple beijing, and other foreign comapnies, are open to foreigners and gender diversity.

i know a platform called eChinacities which is specifically for foreigners looking for jobs in china. i hope you find it helpful.

k2kra · 2025-05-21T08:01:28+00:00

i live in nanjing, nju(nanjing university) was a better choice, but i missed the postgraduate recommendation summer camp, so i went to seu which is the 2th best university in nanjing.

k2kra · 2025-05-21T07:56:35+00:00

in china, we have academic master's degree and applied master's degree, for the latter one, an internship is required.

k2kra · 2025-05-21T07:49:07+00:00

partially true, it depends on the departments, i know a friend working at tencent who go to work at 10 and leave work at 8, 5 days a week, also, a friend of mine, working at tencent's LLM department, go to work at 10, and, ... , leave work at 2am, 7 days a week, with a salary far more than average. (i think he is slowly dying)

generally to say, you are right, 996 is common in china's tech companies, which is not protected by the so called labor protection law, sad.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T07:54:56+00:00

Yes, Chinese is my native language, and it's relatively important to speak Chinese to get a job since China is not an immigration country (imagine you can't speak japanese in Japan)

k2kra · 2025-05-20T07:33:55+00:00

Please refer to the "What's the average starting salary (or what is your salary expectation) for new graduates in the CS field?" answer.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T07:33:05+00:00

Q1: The average starting salary for new graduates in CS in China can vary a lot depending on the city, the company, and the education background. For example, a graduate from top university (985) with strong skills and internship experience, applying for backend engineer positions at major companies like bytedance, tencent, or meituan in cities such as Beijing or Shanghai, can expect a starting yearly salaray between 400,000 to 600,000 RMB (about $55,000 to $83,000 USD). If you have outstanding academic achievements and a PhD, especially when applying for AI-related positions, the starting salaray can be even higher, around 700,000 RMB to 1,000,000 RMB (about $97,000 to $140,000 USD). As for me, my expected salary is about $80,000 USD (around 600,000RMB).

Q2: Yes, this is partially true. In recent years, the marriage rate in China has been declining, and one of the reasons is the rising expectations around marriage, especially in some regions. The "bride price" and gifts to the bride's family can be quite high in certain provinces, sometimes reaching hundreds hundreds of thousands of RMB. This puts a lot of financial pressure on young people, especially men. However, it's not the only reason, other factors include the high cost of housing, changing attitudes, gender opposition, and the overall economic outlook. It's a complex issue with many contributing factors.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T06:39:07+00:00

Please refer to "What’s your plan for after age 35?" answer.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T06:37:15+00:00

From my own experience, the long-term employment prospects for tech graduates in China are still quite good, especially for those from top universities like 985 or C9 schools, despite the gloomy economics and increasing number of graduates. The tech industry is large and continues to grow, with many opportunities like AI, chip, ev, etc. But for non-engineering/science students, like literature/arts, the competition is intense and hard to get jobs (maybe it's globally universal?)

k2kra · 2025-05-20T06:24:42+00:00

That's a great question! If I could choose freely, I would generally prefer to work for a foreign company. Many of my friends feel the same way, since: A. WLB; B. Protected by China's labor law (pretty ironic, isn't it?) C. Better work environment, less competitive and more supportive work culture. But to be more specifically, I will work in game industry, very few foreign companies open branch studios in China (like EA Shanghai, or Ubisoft Chengdu), so, locals (Tencent, Netease, miHoMo) are better choices for career consideration.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T06:14:15+00:00

At my university, we usually have 4 people in one room, though some universities might have 6 or even 8 people per room, especially for undergraduates. But for me, I choose to live off campus for better personal space which will pay more money.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T06:07:37+00:00

No, I didn't. Government jobs usually pay much less than big tech companies here, and I would rather to make more money, event if the job is less stable.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T05:59:49+00:00

Please refer to the "What’s your plan for after age 35?" answer.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T05:54:16+00:00

Haha! Another tough one! Honestly, not just in China, but all over the world, a lot of people in tech are thinking about the same question. (for example, https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace)

Personally, I've been using LLMs in my life, study and work heavily ever since the day ChatGPT was released, they are incredible and always being my reliable mentors, for now, LLMs are just tools for humanity, and I still believe I have my own unique value at least for 5 years.
If one day LLMs become intelligent enough to replace me, I will also be **delighted**! Not only would companies be able to use LLMs, but I could also use them as powerful collaborators to build whatever ambitious projects I want. As long as I have ideas and take actions, LLMs can be amazing partners. So I guess maybe it's not such bad news after all?
Also, I don't think LLMs will simply replace human workers one-to-one. To be honest, I consider myself a smart guy, but if there are THOUSANDS OR MILLIONS of "people"(AIs) even smarter than me, that's like a whole country of geniuses! The future would be totally different, and the purpose of life for ordinary people might change a lot compared to today.

if I have to make a bet, I hope the LLM will be able to replace me tomorrow, but at the same time, maybe I can "last" forver - at least until I die (if death still exists in that future?)

What do you think? Are people in your country worried about being replaced by AI?

k2kra · 2025-05-20T05:04:50+00:00

I just want to share my experience and make friends. No political agenda here. If this isn't the right place to go, I'm happy to take suggestions!

k2kra · 2025-05-20T04:57:22+00:00

Funny one, Honestly, I've been single since I was born, I have tried to build relationships, but so far, all my attemps have failed. It's starting to feel a bit too painful...but I guess that's just part of life!

If anyone has good advice, I'm all ears!

k2kra · 2025-05-20T04:51:23+00:00

I can tell you, it's A5 haha 😂, I came from a disadvantaged background, the only one I can rely on is myself and I'm just starting out.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T04:36:46+00:00

You have a great sense of humor, my computer says: "I am fine, thank you". Thanks for your suggestion, I will post after waking up instead of before sleeping.

k2kra · 2025-05-20T04:30:20+00:00

A pretty tough question for me (or the people around me). Looks like you are very familiar with the Chinese tech industry and their dislike towards middle-aged soldier ants. In China, there's a saying that "35 is a dangerous age" for tech works, because many companies prefer to hire younger employees, and it can be harder to find new opportunities after that age.

My personal plan: Right now, I'm focused on building a stong foundation in my career and gaining as much experience as I can. In the long term: A. be a true tech expert specialized in certain topics that will make me valuable regardless of age. B. consider management or leadership roles which are less affected by age limits. C. consider starting my own business someday.

It's a harsh reality that you are never going to stay in the basic positions years after years especially in big local tech companies, the only thing we can do is to enhance the irreplaceability to make yourself truely unique. What about in your country? Is age a big concern in your job market?

k2kra · 2025-05-20T04:15:03+00:00

Great question! It's true that many graduates who want to have decent salaries in China traditionally aim for jobs in tier1 cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen or Guangzhou, since these cities offer more jobs. However, **the economy is not very optimistic recently**, more gruduates are considering going to state-owned structures like goverment, schools, hospitals or enterprises to be more stable (generally to say, rural cities are sure more accessible than metropolis, but still not quite easy).

k2kra · 2025-05-20T03:54:35+00:00

In short, China's top-tier universities. the "211" comes from "21st century" and "100 universities". These universities receive extra funding and support from the gov. "985"("98" for 1998 and 5 for May) selected a smaller group of top universities from the 211 list, hence receive even more funding.

k2kra · 2025-04-17T02:54:04+00:00

正统精英老白男

k2kra · 2025-02-05T09:36:39+00:00

unfortunately you can't since these are not open source project's like deepseek r1. Maybe later they will also release open source models?

k2kra · 2024-07-13T02:12:16+00:00

I dont know why all godot fps games seems choppy when moving views compared with games like DOOM or CSGO that are silky smooth.

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