Are apartments individual or shared? If the latter, how are
Generally apartments are shared with other Aston teachers. We ask applicants their preference (smoking/non; male/female; old/young) and assign from there unless you specifically request a person you know....
Are the teacher apartments clustered?
With few exceptions, apartments are located in residential neighborhoods and very much integrated with the Chinese community. Specific circumstances of the city you will be in contribute to where the school is able to rent or buy apartments...
Money – What are RMB and Yuan? What is the exchange rate?
RMB stands for Ren Min Bi and it is the same thing as “Yuan”. These are the Chinese names for the currency in use. At the time of writing 6.51 (March 28, 2016) Chinese RMB (Yuan) is worth about 1 US dollar....
Do schools act as an intermediary in all matters?
Yes, Aston completely handles the renting of the apartment, repairs, and all utility procedures. However, if you throw a late night party and make your downstairs neighbors angry, well have a hard time preventing them from yelling at you (o...
What is the apartment size?
They are all different depending on the city. They are typical Chinese apartments slightly above the norm. Some are more spacious than others and some are more modern. It all depends, so you would have to be talking to a specific City Manag...
What is the average monthly cost for food?
You will likely eat out much more often while in China than you do in your home country. The food culture is one of the great things about living here. Even better, the costs of doing so are extremely low. Chinese food is extremely diverse,...
What is needed to open a local bank account?
Opening a local bank account is simple, safe, and all you need is your passport. Chinas major cities all have Western Union offices making money transfer simple. Citibank is making inroads in China as well, making a direct transfer into a C...