Woo, these are really good questions :) Answers below -- any edits are to clean up formatting. This still ended up long, but I hope it is helpful!
The salary range I’m looking at is about 20-23000 rmb/month depending upon local COL
That is definitely enough to live a very comfortable life. For context, I made 15k/month and still had enough to pay rent (did both roommate and solo living comfortably), pay student loans, save, travel extensively, and go out several nights a week. That was all in Beijing, which is still quite expensive even if it isn't THE most expensive. It really comes down to how you budget.
One quick note about the quirks of housing (and this may not be applicable if your company is taking care of your housing): Rent is paid 3-6 months at a time. So when you first move into a place, you'll actually need 5 month's rent up front -- 1 month key money, "last month", + first 3 month rent payment. Broker fees may or may not be added depending on how exactly you found the apartment.
I don't know what kind of company you'll be working for -- some multinationals will take care of all the details I listed above to ensure you have a smooth transition living wise. Local companies vary in how they will help you with this. Most education companies (in case you're gonna be a teacher) leave you to figure all this out on your own. Definitely make sure you get as much information as possible into how much help they're giving you and research/save $$ accordingly.
What’s the air quality like?
This REALLY depends on where you're living. Are you going to be in Beijing? You're fucked. Sorry. But since you said there are plenty of outdoor activities available, I'm guessing it might not be Beijing, in which case you're slightly less fucked, but it still won't be great. You can probably expect most days to be around 100 AQI no matter where you live. You'll want to download an AQI tracking app when you get there and treat it like a weather forecast. You'll definitely want to invest in a heavy duty air purifier or 2 for your living space, and actual N95s for going outside on the bad days.
The pollution is either something you get used to, or something that becomes a deal breaker. I'll be completely frank and say it is at least part of why I left. I was sick with lung and upper respiratory infections about 60% of the time, lost my voice for several months out of the year, broke out in hives on the 750+ days -- HUGE caveat to this is that I also smoked, which obviously just exacerbated the problem. So if you smoke, do yourself a favor and quit now. I don't mean to be overly negative, there are plenty of people who adjust well, it just wasn't my experience and wasn't something I was able do deal with very well over the long term.
As far as the expat community goes - what’re they like? Libs? Comrades? Cringe?
90% cringe. This is obviously a huge generalization but the expat community can basically be broken up into the following categories:
Students: Cringe. We've all been there. I've been there. But it is still cringe. There are a few that are ok, who don't take things too seriously, who don't think they're going to "save China" or "save US China relations", who are willing to sit back, shut up, and actually listen to Chinese people. If you can find those kinds of students, then hang out with them. The rest are there to party somewhere exotic for a semester.
Travellers: Cringe. Especially the ones who are "there to experience like, the REAL China, man". Hippy libs. You pretty much hit the nail on the head in your initial comment with the superficial and repetitive conversations you'll have with this group.
Business People at large multinational firms/NGOs: Some are lib, most are your run of the mill soulless business people.
Sexpats: Self explanatory
English teachers: Mostly alcoholics. Mostly libs. A few okay ones here and there.
I spent most of my time actively avoiding the expat crowd, but that was largely due to my language skills and the fact that my goal was to become as proficient in Chinese as I could. These are thus pretty "armchair" observations. It is also possible that the expat landscape has changed since I left, especially as there have been reforms in visa laws. I think it is mostly the same as any group of (mostly) white people -- most are bad, a few might be ok, but it is going to take a while of putting out feelers until you find your 'people' so to speak.
Opportunities for political education and praxis while in China?
Praxis and or agitation? NONE. As a foreigner, you cannot be politically active in China in any meaningful capacity. There will be a clause in your contract either explicitly prohibiting you from participating in any political activity, or a "morality clause" saying if your company finds out you're doing anything they don't directly agree with, they will fire you (this is a catchall clause and political activity will fall under it). Political activity is also grounds for deportation/revocation of your visa outside of any action by your company, if discovered by the relevant authorities. Source: I worked in HR at my company, handling our foreigners. I translated employment contracts and had to be up to date on Chinese labor law and Visa law. Caveat is that it has been 5 years since I left, so this may have changed, but I really can't imagine that it has.
This is important, and I'd kind of like you to sit back for a second and think about what it means from a Chinese perspective to have a foreigner actively participating in local politics (to clarify, since text can be hard to parse -- I don't mean this in a disparaging way at all, I just want to encourage a moment of reflection and stepping out of your own experience).
The long and short of it is that it really isn't a good look. This is also a country that prohibits labor unions that aren't Party approved (so no spontaneous worker organizing).
I don't even think that local community organizations would be very receptive to having a foreigner participate, and may in fact outright not allow it. For a couple of reasons, ranging from "outside agitator" (probably an unconscious belief rather than a direct accusation) to "he's not Chinese, what could he possibly contribute".
The only things I can think of that would afford any kind of meaningful community action would be volunteer organizations like animal rescues. There may be expat run volunteer orgs, which I'd encourage you to check out once you're on the ground (you can find these through whatever the local expat publication is), but these are probably going to run very lib tbh.
To switch gears to educational opportunities....I hate to quash your dreams but most Chinese (in my personal experience) are either actually politically apathetic or pretend apathy until they get a good feeling re: where you stand. Harmony is a very important social norm, so by and large, people are not very willing to engage in challenging discussions that could come off as participating in conflict. If you get on their good side, most will be open about hating the USA, which is always fun :) I wouldn't expect much more than that for the most part. Again, people are individuals, and there are always exceptions to the rule, but it will be hard to find -- and you may not always know when you have found it until the relationship has been fostered for a while, if that makes sense.
Now, the exception to this is older people, but the language barrier is going to be a big stop gap for you here. They're much more willing to talk about their opinions and the world as they see it, but they're also very much less likely to speak English.
I don’t know ANY mandarin. Making a basic effort to learn a bit is a gimme, but how limiting is the language barrier generally speaking?
If you're going to be in Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen, you're gonna be fine. Learn the basics: where you live -- e.g. closest subway stop or closest street intersection, your allergies (food and medication in case there's a medical emergency), general pleasantries, how to order food, "Sorry, I can't speak Chinese, are you ok if I use my phone to translate". Phrases like "Where is x [restaurant, landmark, park, etc". Definitely learn your numbers. Directions are most often given as NSEW, so learn things like "street", "turn" "keep walking straight", and the cardinal directions.
If you're going to be in a T2 city, you'll have a little bit of a harder time, but it definitely isn't impossible.
The only situation I can see this being a significant issue is if you're in a sub T3 village somewhere, but it doesn't seem like that'll be the case.
It'll definitely be disorienting. But you will pick things up. Don't worry about trying to get things perfect when you try to speak to people. Most will appreciate you even trying -- the effort will override the mistakes and people will generally be a lot more accommodating when you're really trying.
True story that may make you feel better, we had a guy who refused to even try to learn any Chinese at all who rented a single room from an older aunty (landlord) who couldn't speak any English. He communicated with her entirely through google translate. They had like dinners and movie nights and went shopping and stuff together. Obviously it isn't perfect, but especially if you're communicating with the same person over and over again, you kind of start to build a rapport that can bridge the issues with google translate, if that makes sense.
Great response. Again, thank you so much for your time and contribution.
Good to know about the air quality problems. That gives me some reference for which cities to choose if I'm given the option (Exclusively T1 and T2 cities). I'd probably prefer greater language barriers than air quality problems, so I'll have to do some more digging on that if/when I get the offer.
I was able to clear up elsewhere that I didn't necessarily see myself as either wanting nor being capable of directly contributing to political causes (in retrospect for what are obvious reasons), but was hopeful for the ability to find politically educated people to converse with. It sounds like from your response that this is unlikely at best, and that I might just need to put that aspect of my personality on hold for a while. I'm kind of deciding between this contract and trying to start a career in political education/organizing here in the US, so it's a real fork in the road for me. Via VPN I could probably still shitpost on Chapo, though, so at least I've got that going for me.
I guess when it comes to language that's a challenge I'm willing to take on. I have a pretty good ear for languages and am an extremely fast learner, so I'm sure I'll manage fine no matter where I end up eventually. It'll just be the beginning that's tricky as I get up to basic proficiency of navigating the environment.
I'll say that it seems you have the right kind of attitude, especially w/r/t language, so if you do go for it, I think you'll do fine :) Good luck in your endeavors comrade!
Really the same way you'd go about meeting them anywhere else. I met most of my closest friends either through school or bars. University adjacent areas usually have cultural exchange activities and stuff going on, so that might be a good place to start (depending on your age bracket...maybe not the best optics to do this if you are older for obvious reasons).
Woo, these are really good questions :) Answers below -- any edits are to clean up formatting. This still ended up long, but I hope it is helpful!
That is definitely enough to live a very comfortable life. For context, I made 15k/month and still had enough to pay rent (did both roommate and solo living comfortably), pay student loans, save, travel extensively, and go out several nights a week. That was all in Beijing, which is still quite expensive even if it isn't THE most expensive. It really comes down to how you budget.
One quick note about the quirks of housing (and this may not be applicable if your company is taking care of your housing): Rent is paid 3-6 months at a time. So when you first move into a place, you'll actually need 5 month's rent up front -- 1 month key money, "last month", + first 3 month rent payment. Broker fees may or may not be added depending on how exactly you found the apartment.
I don't know what kind of company you'll be working for -- some multinationals will take care of all the details I listed above to ensure you have a smooth transition living wise. Local companies vary in how they will help you with this. Most education companies (in case you're gonna be a teacher) leave you to figure all this out on your own. Definitely make sure you get as much information as possible into how much help they're giving you and research/save $$ accordingly.
This REALLY depends on where you're living. Are you going to be in Beijing? You're fucked. Sorry. But since you said there are plenty of outdoor activities available, I'm guessing it might not be Beijing, in which case you're slightly less fucked, but it still won't be great. You can probably expect most days to be around 100 AQI no matter where you live. You'll want to download an AQI tracking app when you get there and treat it like a weather forecast. You'll definitely want to invest in a heavy duty air purifier or 2 for your living space, and actual N95s for going outside on the bad days.
The pollution is either something you get used to, or something that becomes a deal breaker. I'll be completely frank and say it is at least part of why I left. I was sick with lung and upper respiratory infections about 60% of the time, lost my voice for several months out of the year, broke out in hives on the 750+ days -- HUGE caveat to this is that I also smoked, which obviously just exacerbated the problem. So if you smoke, do yourself a favor and quit now. I don't mean to be overly negative, there are plenty of people who adjust well, it just wasn't my experience and wasn't something I was able do deal with very well over the long term.
90% cringe. This is obviously a huge generalization but the expat community can basically be broken up into the following categories:
Students: Cringe. We've all been there. I've been there. But it is still cringe. There are a few that are ok, who don't take things too seriously, who don't think they're going to "save China" or "save US China relations", who are willing to sit back, shut up, and actually listen to Chinese people. If you can find those kinds of students, then hang out with them. The rest are there to party somewhere exotic for a semester.
Travellers: Cringe. Especially the ones who are "there to experience like, the REAL China, man". Hippy libs. You pretty much hit the nail on the head in your initial comment with the superficial and repetitive conversations you'll have with this group.
Business People at large multinational firms/NGOs: Some are lib, most are your run of the mill soulless business people.
Sexpats: Self explanatory
English teachers: Mostly alcoholics. Mostly libs. A few okay ones here and there.
I spent most of my time actively avoiding the expat crowd, but that was largely due to my language skills and the fact that my goal was to become as proficient in Chinese as I could. These are thus pretty "armchair" observations. It is also possible that the expat landscape has changed since I left, especially as there have been reforms in visa laws. I think it is mostly the same as any group of (mostly) white people -- most are bad, a few might be ok, but it is going to take a while of putting out feelers until you find your 'people' so to speak.
Praxis and or agitation? NONE. As a foreigner, you cannot be politically active in China in any meaningful capacity. There will be a clause in your contract either explicitly prohibiting you from participating in any political activity, or a "morality clause" saying if your company finds out you're doing anything they don't directly agree with, they will fire you (this is a catchall clause and political activity will fall under it). Political activity is also grounds for deportation/revocation of your visa outside of any action by your company, if discovered by the relevant authorities. Source: I worked in HR at my company, handling our foreigners. I translated employment contracts and had to be up to date on Chinese labor law and Visa law. Caveat is that it has been 5 years since I left, so this may have changed, but I really can't imagine that it has.
This is important, and I'd kind of like you to sit back for a second and think about what it means from a Chinese perspective to have a foreigner actively participating in local politics (to clarify, since text can be hard to parse -- I don't mean this in a disparaging way at all, I just want to encourage a moment of reflection and stepping out of your own experience).
The long and short of it is that it really isn't a good look. This is also a country that prohibits labor unions that aren't Party approved (so no spontaneous worker organizing).
I don't even think that local community organizations would be very receptive to having a foreigner participate, and may in fact outright not allow it. For a couple of reasons, ranging from "outside agitator" (probably an unconscious belief rather than a direct accusation) to "he's not Chinese, what could he possibly contribute".
The only things I can think of that would afford any kind of meaningful community action would be volunteer organizations like animal rescues. There may be expat run volunteer orgs, which I'd encourage you to check out once you're on the ground (you can find these through whatever the local expat publication is), but these are probably going to run very lib tbh.
To switch gears to educational opportunities....I hate to quash your dreams but most Chinese (in my personal experience) are either actually politically apathetic or pretend apathy until they get a good feeling re: where you stand. Harmony is a very important social norm, so by and large, people are not very willing to engage in challenging discussions that could come off as participating in conflict. If you get on their good side, most will be open about hating the USA, which is always fun :) I wouldn't expect much more than that for the most part. Again, people are individuals, and there are always exceptions to the rule, but it will be hard to find -- and you may not always know when you have found it until the relationship has been fostered for a while, if that makes sense.
Now, the exception to this is older people, but the language barrier is going to be a big stop gap for you here. They're much more willing to talk about their opinions and the world as they see it, but they're also very much less likely to speak English.
If you're going to be in Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen, you're gonna be fine. Learn the basics: where you live -- e.g. closest subway stop or closest street intersection, your allergies (food and medication in case there's a medical emergency), general pleasantries, how to order food, "Sorry, I can't speak Chinese, are you ok if I use my phone to translate". Phrases like "Where is x [restaurant, landmark, park, etc". Definitely learn your numbers. Directions are most often given as NSEW, so learn things like "street", "turn" "keep walking straight", and the cardinal directions.
If you're going to be in a T2 city, you'll have a little bit of a harder time, but it definitely isn't impossible.
The only situation I can see this being a significant issue is if you're in a sub T3 village somewhere, but it doesn't seem like that'll be the case.
It'll definitely be disorienting. But you will pick things up. Don't worry about trying to get things perfect when you try to speak to people. Most will appreciate you even trying -- the effort will override the mistakes and people will generally be a lot more accommodating when you're really trying.
True story that may make you feel better, we had a guy who refused to even try to learn any Chinese at all who rented a single room from an older aunty (landlord) who couldn't speak any English. He communicated with her entirely through google translate. They had like dinners and movie nights and went shopping and stuff together. Obviously it isn't perfect, but especially if you're communicating with the same person over and over again, you kind of start to build a rapport that can bridge the issues with google translate, if that makes sense.
Great response. Again, thank you so much for your time and contribution.
Good to know about the air quality problems. That gives me some reference for which cities to choose if I'm given the option (Exclusively T1 and T2 cities). I'd probably prefer greater language barriers than air quality problems, so I'll have to do some more digging on that if/when I get the offer.
I was able to clear up elsewhere that I didn't necessarily see myself as either wanting nor being capable of directly contributing to political causes (in retrospect for what are obvious reasons), but was hopeful for the ability to find politically educated people to converse with. It sounds like from your response that this is unlikely at best, and that I might just need to put that aspect of my personality on hold for a while. I'm kind of deciding between this contract and trying to start a career in political education/organizing here in the US, so it's a real fork in the road for me. Via VPN I could probably still shitpost on Chapo, though, so at least I've got that going for me.
I guess when it comes to language that's a challenge I'm willing to take on. I have a pretty good ear for languages and am an extremely fast learner, so I'm sure I'll manage fine no matter where I end up eventually. It'll just be the beginning that's tricky as I get up to basic proficiency of navigating the environment.
Glad I could help some!
I'll say that it seems you have the right kind of attitude, especially w/r/t language, so if you do go for it, I think you'll do fine :) Good luck in your endeavors comrade!
What are some good ways to meet Chinese people and make friends in a T1 or T2 city if you're semi-competent at the language?
Really the same way you'd go about meeting them anywhere else. I met most of my closest friends either through school or bars. University adjacent areas usually have cultural exchange activities and stuff going on, so that might be a good place to start (depending on your age bracket...maybe not the best optics to do this if you are older for obvious reasons).