Texan moving to Beijing

I'm no expert, but I think that the options for 'western' plays and theater gigs is going to be pretty limited. The Beijing playhouse is the only thing I know of.

You should keep your bank account in the states. Most things operate on cash here, so you probably won't need a Chinese bank account at first. Once you find employment it's probably best to open a bank account with whichever one your employer uses.

ChaoYang district is the place to live if you're looking to connect with young professional type foreigners. If you're looking for connections with families and kids then Shunyi is the place to be (out towards the airport). That being said, ChaoYang district is big, and there are some areas that are more expat friendly than others.

Do you have any idea where your fiance's office will be? That might be helpful in determining which area to live? Also do you have any idea about what your budget might be?

My wife and I write a blog about life in Beijing, and we have a bunch of additional resources there regarding moving to Beijing and transitioning into life here: www.themiddlekingdom.org.

Beijing Playhouse is a Community Theatre ie (to the best of my knowledge) there are no paid staff - maybe with one or two  exceptions. I know them and if you pm me your email address I can Chris V he is looking for someone but I very much doubt it.

You also might wish to try they guys at the Penghao Theatre (they are professional (ie paid) and also have English productions. Happy to ask Dan C if they have a need.

Have you attempted to approach the various International Schools and see if the their Drama Departments can use your talents? Worthwhile contacting all of them but I would start with the newest International School (Beijing Rego British School) because they only open this coming Academic Year (ie August 2011) and may well be recruiting.

Thank you all for responding.

Manlin,
PM sent.

Matt,

Her office is in xicheng on financial street. Although we will have a car and driver, we would like to stay at least as close as between third and fourth ring but i think we would also entertain other ideas. Our budget is about $3000 US per month for rent. Neither of us speak chinese, yet, so somewhere with a larger concentration of expats would be preferrable.
I actuall found your website before i had stumbled upon this one. You provide lots of great information.


Thanks again,

Alex

Alex,
With a budget of $3000 for housing you shouldn't have too much trouble finding something in your neighborhood of choice. Xicheng is on the west side of the city, and there tend to be fewer expats over there, so if a high expat concentration is something you really want then I would recommend looking for a place near the Central Business District, or Dawanglu which is sort of directly east of Xicheng, so it would be a straight shot over to his office. Another area to look at would be DongZhiMen/DongSiShiTiao, near 2nd Ring road and the Line 2 Subway.