Every answer below is built from real posts by teachers in China, hand-read and linked to its source. Where we do not know, we say so.
Our hand-checked records cover 17 teachers and offers, with a median of about ¥20,000 per month and a range of ¥10,000 to ¥46,000. Half of the records sit between ¥15,000 and ¥28,000. These come from public posts by teachers themselves, not an official survey, and people with unusual pay are more likely to post. Each figure links to its source post.
On our figures, the middle half of records runs from ¥15,000 to ¥28,000 a month. Below ¥15,000 usually means a training centre or a tier-3 city; ¥26,000+ generally means an international school or a bilingual K-12 in a major city with a qualified, experienced teacher. The top record we verified is ¥46,000/month for a subject teacher at an international school.
This is one of the biggest gaps in the market: of our 17 records, most did not state it clearly. Where teachers did specify, the difference matters — one Shanghai teacher earning ¥46,000/month took home ¥37,000 after tax. Assume any figure you are quoted is before tax unless it says otherwise, and ask in writing.
We can only answer this weakly. Our records include Shenzhen (3), Shanghai (2), Suzhou (1), Jinan (1), Beijing (1). That is far too few to publish city averages, and we would rather say so than publish a number built on one or two posts. What teachers report consistently is that cost of living matters less than the type of school.
Looking only at records where the school type is known: kindergarten offers appear from around ¥10,000 at the low end to ¥26,000 for a non-native teacher in Shenzhen; international and bilingual school roles appear from ¥19,000 to ¥46,000. Training institutes cluster at the low end. Sample is small — treat this as the shape of things, not a table.
Often not. Several teachers report that the headline monthly rate applies only to teaching months, while winter and summer breaks are paid at half, a flat low rate, or nothing. One 2025 Beijing kindergarten offer stated ¥33,000/month during working months but only ¥4,000/month during breaks. Always ask for the annual figure and what is paid in July, August, January and February.
Some contracts state that the originals you submit for the work permit become the employer's property and will not be returned. That is a serious escalation, because replacing an apostilled degree and police check can take months. Check the contract for wording about originals before you sign.
It happens. One documented offer of ¥16,000/month was assembled from a ¥4,000 official salary plus a ¥6,000 'non-compete fee' plus a separate offshore service agreement with a Singapore company. Only the on-paper figure counts as your legal salary, which affects social insurance, severance and tax.
Many contracts name a penalty for early departure, commonly one month's salary or more, and some are written in US dollars. Teachers report these being enforced simply by withholding the final month's pay. Some also report the employer refusing to cancel the work permit as leverage.
Employers sometimes tell foreign staff it is optional. Teachers in Shanghai reported being told this directly, and discovered months of missing contributions. Asking for written proof of monthly contribution is the practical check.
Teachers report it happening: the role is agreed and the permit filed, then the position changes — with the salary unchanged. One teacher was moved from a kindergarten homeroom role to teaching IB primary across two grades after their passport was already at the consulate. Getting the exact position, grade level and curriculum attached to the contract as a written annex is the defence.
It is reported. One teacher signed from abroad, moved to China on a Z visa, and was given a new 'in person contract' on arrival with changes to pay structure, duties and hours. Keep every version of the contract, and treat verbal assurances as worth nothing.
It is the approval your employer files before you apply for the Z visa. One teacher who pulled out before travelling reported that the school refused to cancel the application, leaving a record attached to their passport number. Ask, before you agree to anything, who can cancel it and what happens if the relationship ends first.
Chinese law limits probation length, and probation pay must be a defined proportion of the agreed salary. Teachers report probation being extended far beyond the agreed two months while the low rate continued — one account describes six teachers working around six months at ¥4,000/month.
It happens, and it is a hard stop. One documented account describes teachers being brought into Chengdu on business visas, which do not permit working in a school. Working before a Z visa and work permit are issued leaves you without labour protections, and it is the teacher who carries the risk.
In our records, one-year contracts are the most common, with two-year contracts at international schools and at least one three-year contract at a training institute in a tier-3 city. A three-year term at a low salary is worth pausing over, because the exit penalty applies for the whole period.
Schools commonly either provide an apartment or pay an allowance on top of salary. In our records, allowances range from ¥2,000 to ¥5,000 a month, and one Shenzhen offer included accommodation with a ¥2,300 refundable deposit. Check whether an allowance is included in the quoted salary or paid separately — it changes the real number.
For legal work-permit roles, yes — a bachelor's degree plus a TEFL-type certificate is the normal baseline, and native-English-speaker nationality is a formal requirement for most legal roles. Teachers describe the nationality rule being applied strictly by the education ministry. Non-native speakers do work, usually at lower pay or through guanxi.
Labour arbitration is the route, and it does work: one teacher in our records won their case against a Shenyang international school that had stopped paying staff. The practical difficulty is that arbitration takes time, and meanwhile your work permit is tied to that employer. Keep records — several teachers describe having audio recordings of what their employer said.
Red flags teachers report most: being asked to enter on a business or tourist visa; paying a fee to the employer or agency; original documents not returned; a salary that keeps changing during negotiation; a contract with no school named; and a penalty written in US dollars. Any single one is worth stopping over — our interactive checklist walks through all sixteen.
Two things. Free: it reads the wording of your own contract and points out clauses worth questioning. Paid, and more useful: everything above — the salary records, the documented traps, the real cases, and a checklist you can take to your employer. The data is the part we care about; every figure links to the post it came from.