Hi All,

I'm wondering what is the general consensus with respect to the quality of life living in Kunming and working as an English teacher.

A little bit background about myself. I was born in Kunming but immigrated to Canada at a later age. Since my parents are still in Kunming, I'm just thinking ahead and considering my options to move back to Kunming temporarily and working as an English teacher.

So any insights? Also, is there a WeChat group or social group I can join to meet more foreign nationals working as English Teachers in Kunming?

I don't know about working since I'm retired, but one thing I found to be better than Canada (I'm from Toronto) was ACCESS to health care, and that's definitely a quality of life issue.
There is no need for long wait times to see a doctor or even a specialist. I waited only days for surgery which they said here was non-emergency. I had the same problem in Toronto where they declared it an emergency and I waited 3 months.

Other things that are different would include crime and safety.

Petty theft occurs a lot, but in 8 years I haven't had a problem because I keep my eyes open. I feel safe walking down a street at midnight. I would not do that in Toronto.

One thing I like to do is travel. Kunming is right in the heart of south-east asia. It's only a short trip to so many countries and cultures. Your vacation periods would have lots of options.

agree with allpage on all points. However, quality of life is an ambiguous term.

Life is what YOU make it. I have friends enjoying working in countries/cities I

know that I would hate to work in.

The OP has asked two questions. Quality of life? Working as an English teacher?

Firstly, quality of life is a wide term. It also depends on your priorities and where you live in the city. Some suburbs are isolated, but quiet, other are in the center of things, but noisy. Both areas are good for some, but not for others, depending on preferences.

Health care is easy and cheap, as already mentioned. Eating and drinking out is cheaper here. Weather is moderately good most of the year. The general pace of life is slower than places like Shanghai. Kunming has also gentrified and westernized a lot in the last few years. Traffic sucks, but ebikes and pushbikes are ubiquitous. Petty theft is common, but not as bad as a few years ago, and crimes against the person (violence etc.) especially aimed at strangers, are rare.

Secondly, teaching. Temporary gigs are unusual, but some exist. How good is the work? This has a lot to do with the employer. There are good ones and bad ones, just don't expect the employment rights that people get in Canada. Some teaching gigs are easy. The English language training mills can be easy as you teach from a book, and there is minimal class prep, you also get to teach the same unit several times and it becomes familiar.
Teaching in the public sector is harder, as you can spend many hours on class prep, especially if they are using an unsuitable book, chosen by someone else years ago and the school/uni won't buy new ones. You then need to create classes from scratch, not easy for a newbie.

If you are a Canadian citizen, you will need to check the requirements for being a foreign English teacher (bachelors degree, 2 years experience, a recognized TEFL/TESOL/CELTA certificate, and criminal background certificate).

I do not know the requirements for a Chinese national English teacher in a training center. However I think the public sector would be closed to you without a relevant teaching degree from a Chinese university.

Another thing is that even though you

migrated to Canada and well be fluent in English. How you look plays a factor for some schools. If you have an Asian face they might not hire you. Keep that in mind. If you are young you might get bored but for older folks it a great place to chill out.

Liumingke makes an important point. You were born in Kunming and your parents are in Kunming. Therefore you will be considered 昆明人 and get paid less than real foreigners do. That being said, if your Chinese and English are both excellent and you can accept the lower standards that come with a developing country, I think you will be comfortable and happy here.

Many make a career of English teaching - as evidenced by the prolific English academies that pop-up all over the place. Teaching English can be a high-churn business, so in that respect it can be both interesting and challenging in the short-term.

However, if you're young, mobile, and don't require luxury - moving around the province and teaching can be an incredible experience for any returnee - depends on one's perspective on life and new things, new experiences.

Think about your long-term goals - leading to retirement and how teaching English in Kunming and or Yunnan can lead you to that goal and you'll be able to make your own business case and personal life goal decision.

If English teaching isn't your life-long passion - then how would you use this experience to leverage yourself into a startup company, start your own company, or join SME's (Small to Medium Enterprises) or large national and multinational corporations.

Most young people I meet these days are rudderless - they float through life as though it were a river, not an ocean...and there's nothing wrong with that - if that's your "thing".

long-term goals, retirement, business case, personal life goal decision, leverage into a startup company, join SMEs or large corporations... fine, but all that can add up to a pretty small ocean. Perhaps there's nothing wrong with that.
Also good to be a good teacher for its own sake, at least while you're doing it, which can also improve your quality of life, perhaps that of others as well, although there are, of course, obstacles.

I'd also pay attention to the wording "temporarily" in OP.

A career in multi-national, or a start-up of your own, are not usually associated with anything temporary (at least by choice).

You should contact schools or reply to ads on this website and see what you find in terms of English teaching.

Most importantly, if you do decide to make it more permanent, as ethnic Chinese with family in China you can probably solve most work permit and residence issues easily if you choose.

Also if you have some unmentioned motivation to come back here, such as taking care of your parents, then that should count too.

Between the lines I read that you'd be coming alone without spouse or kids, but if that's incorrect then their situation is probably more challenging than you own.

Though, knowing Chinese mentality with that, if you do come back as single, do you expect some pressure to change that?