Anybody want a mini-AMA? Worked with Chinese for bigger part of my career and did two long term on-site consulting contracts. I lived in both Shanghai and Shenzhen.
How hard would it be to find a position in China if I don't speak Chinese? Are there certain places I should look for information on this? Job websites?
This will limit you to 1 in 3 jobs open to foreigners. Which is still very good. See, the main value of a foreign specialist is that he is foreign and supposedly have rare expertise. Second to that, you will most likely to be hired with an idea in mind that you can liaise with overseas customers/specialists/authorities and etc even if your job does not implicitly require that.
Best option is to actively solicit contacts and network a lot. Foreign professionals are a closely knit club here. Industry events are the best if you know nobody here.
Look for job offers in English, job boards of companies with a record hiring foreigners, foreign companies that are new in China, super senior level positions, jobs with PhD. level expertise level, jobs requiring people skills in English "product managers/ field application engineers/ sales or solution engineers"
Websites: 51job, zhaopin, ChinaHR. Look for English language keywords. A post in English almost certainly assumes the company keeps hiring a foreigner an option.
If there will be a good offer? Yes, without any doubt.
Getting a good offer is what makes the biggest difference.
There are good jobs on the table, and they are ok for your first take on Chinese job market. $3k to $4k net income is what you can get as a developer in an in demand niche with 4~5 years experience.
For me, after 6 years, just "simply good jobs" are not enough. They have to be really great. Something like with a clear road to above $4k $5k net income salaries, or $40 per hour or more short term contracts.
Getting such offers is totally possible after few years there making connections and proving yourself.
About quality of life and livability. I had zero complaints for last few years. Best districts of major cities in China score more on livability for me than most of Europe and America. See, the difference there is you can have great life with just mid-to-high ordinary job there. An equal lifestyle option in fancy parts of SoCal and London is virtually impossible without above 2nd percentile salary and good perks.
