I spent 3 years in China before Covid. Happened to be out of the country during initial lockdown and that was that. My experiences are pre Covid so things may be different now, I don’t know.
Pros:
- very vibrant, never bored even though when I went I didn’t know anyone really
- I was paid a Silicon Valley salary so high income compared to the typical local. Can afford a very nice lifestyle
- due to demographics and being an “actual” expat, as opposed to English teacher, was respected
Cons:
- general quality of life. Traffic, pollution, food and water safety etc
- can be hard to make deep connection except with other expats. Just different cultures and values.
- lack of freedom and censorship. Vpn needed for everything, and even then doesn’t always work. Certain topics are avoided
- there is a surface level fakeness that I personally really dislike.
It’s a fun place to be for a while when you have the income and status. But for me at least not a place to be long term.
Not a Chinese employer, although you'd be surprised at the comp levels for some companies in the larger city in China. I was working for a US employer with an office in China.
EDIT: to provide more details. Total comp of 200k USD and up at some of the larger (e.g. BAT companies) isn't uncommon for the more senior folks.
It's not surprising for the reasons you stated. People from Western countries find living in China undesirable, hence they need to be paid a lot to go there and work.
That’s certainly true for people that are relocated to China from overseas. That was my case. But local Chinese citizens working at one of the BAT companies can also be very highly paid at the more senior levels (say L7 and up). My 200k USD reference was for local comp, not imported expat comp.
Pros:
- very vibrant, never bored even though when I went I didn’t know anyone really
- I was paid a Silicon Valley salary so high income compared to the typical local. Can afford a very nice lifestyle
- due to demographics and being an “actual” expat, as opposed to English teacher, was respected
Cons:
- general quality of life. Traffic, pollution, food and water safety etc
- can be hard to make deep connection except with other expats. Just different cultures and values.
- lack of freedom and censorship. Vpn needed for everything, and even then doesn’t always work. Certain topics are avoided
- there is a surface level fakeness that I personally really dislike.
It’s a fun place to be for a while when you have the income and status. But for me at least not a place to be long term.