During your program term, you are expected to focus on the host family's children and complete your au pair program with excellence. When you finish the au pair program, if you want to extend your au pair program and stay in China with your original family or a new family, you can inform your GreatAuPair representatives and they will guide you through the extension process. If you want to further study in a Chinese university, your GreatAuPair representatives can assist you in this process. If you want to further work in China, it would require an entirely different visa, which typically requires that you be sponsored by a Chinese company. Obtaining corporate sponsorship visas is outside of GreatAuPair China's services.

Since China had implemented a One-Child Policy in 1979 that ended in 2015, most Chinese families have between 1 and 3 children. Families with only one child tend to find their child being lonely and sometimes shy or afraid of strangers, so it's important that au pairs are more proactive and take initiative to bring up interesting topics to start up conversations and engage the child. Chinese children tend to have a lack of outdoor activities, spending a lot of time in indoor and extra-curricular classes. Also, children in China get a lot of attention from every family member, so they are usually spoiled and less independent. But Chinese kids are very polite and cute. Once you make the effort to become friends with them, your Chinese host children will bring you a lot of joy that is sure to make for many memorable experiences.

In most of countries, au pair activities revolve around childcare tasks and housekeeping related to the children. In China, au pairs are expected to accompany kids to and from school and tutor them English, with very light housework, as families usually have nannies and housekeepers. So, au pairs in China are expected to act as a role model to the children and educate the children in English, foreign culture and manners in daily life. Most successful au pairs in China are able to actively organize interactive kids’ games to play with the family and kids.

According to the regulations of GreatAuPair China Exchange Program, a foreign Au Pair provides up to 30 hours a week duty time to their Host Family while enjoying at least 1.5 days off per week. A detailed weekly/daily task schedule will be agreed upon in the Host Family – Au Pair Agreement when your match has been finalized. Here’s an example:
8:00 Eat breakfast with Sam and Jennie
8:30 Bring Sam to school; bring Jennie to community kindergarten
9:30 Go for Mandarin classes
12:00 Have lunch with other au pair classmates
13:00 Free time to spare in the city
16:00 Pick up Sam and Jennie
16:30 Play time with Sam and Jennie
17:00 Prepare dinner with the host parents
18:30 Dine with the family
19:00 English tutoring time for Sam
20:00 Story time for Jennie before going to bed
20:30 Free time

What's the cost of living in China?
Generally, a single meal costs around RMB 18-40 yuan, a bottle of water 2-4 yuan, tooth paste is about 10-20 yuan. It’s not expensive to live in China. Many things are cheap in China. For example, most things like haircuts, clothes, books, and even shopping online. Some things that are a bit expensive in China include drinks in bars, imported fruits, skincare products, western food restaurants, and Japanese restaurants. You should plan to bring some spending money and at a minimum, we recommend that you bring RMB 1000-1500 yuan to China and keep it for emergency use.

ATM cards of most major banks, and credit cards such as Visa MasterCard, Chinese Express, and Union Pay work in China. Some credit card companies may also charge you a foreign transfer fee for purchases made overseas. It’s a good idea to bring a Union Pay card that is acceptable throughout China. Some cards such as the Discover card, may have a partnership with the Union Pay network. Check with your issuing card company to verify your cards will work in China before you leave.

Most of overseas cell phones/SIM cards can be used in China under a special China plan offered by your carrier, but it's quite a bit more expensive than getting a local number in China. When you come to China, your host family/local coordinator will assistant you to get a Chinese SIM card for your phone. That way you'll have a local number with a local plan. You can always use Skype or WeChat to call home for free.

It's common and convenient to take an e-bike, bus, metro or taxi in most major cities. E-bike is everywhere. You’ll find an E-bike on nearly every corner and street, for a low cost of RMB 1 yuan/Hour. Usually the bus and metro costs RMB 1-5 yuan for a single trip. Taxis usually cost RMB 12-45 yuan for transportation within the city center area. For nearby cities, it's cheap and fast to take high-speed trains. China has the fastest high-speed trains in the world. Of course, air flight is always an option for longer-distance trips within China as well.

You are right to ask this question. In China, these apps are not available without a VPN. Before you leave for China, we recommend that you set up a valid VPN, and test access to your devices.

WeChat is the most common and popular social app in China. You can chat with your friends through message and video, send moments, and make payment through WeChat. WeChat is like Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype and PayPal all rolled into one app.
Gaode Map is a very convenient map app in China similar to Google Maps.
Didi Taxi is an app for calling a taxi similar to Uber.
Youdao Dictionary is a popular translator app that supports the translation to and from Chinese and most other popular languages. It’s similar to Google Translate.

Many of our host families are located in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Most families range in ages from 30 to 50 and are typically considered wealthy in China.
Most our host families have between one and three kids.
Some families have grandparents that also live in the host family's home.

Search the web and you’ll find that China is one of the safest countries in the world for travelers. Your safety is our highest priority; therefore, we interview and screen all families in person in China before allowing them to participate in our exchange program as a potential host family. Additionally, we provide you with a 24/7 emergency hotline while in China, as well as ensuring that you have regular face-to-face contact with your Local Coordinator. We are here to assure your experience in China is both safe and rewarding.

It depends on what type of visa you apply for and how many entries you are granted by the Chinese visa office. You will most likely receive a single entry visa to China, therefore, if you travel abroad during your stay in China, your visa will no longer be valid, thus you would have to reapply for a new Chinese visa.

Yes, when you apply for the visa, you will have to pay for the visa fee.

If you are able to provide legal residency (such as work visa, student visa) for the foreign country you currently reside in, you may apply for the Chinese visa in the Chinese embassy of that nation.

Normally it takes 4-7 working days starting from the date of submission.(not including shipment time) to obtain your Chinese visa

Yohoo International Culture Exchange cannot apply for the visa on your behalf. However, we will provide you with necessary documentation, often an invitation letter or admission letter, to apply for the visa to China.

Au Pairs will apply for and arrive in China with either an Exchange Visa (F Visa) or Student Visa ( X2 Visa), which will allow them to participate in the program for a six month period. If the au pair is interested in participating in the program for 12 months, then he/she must apply for an X1 Visa. An alternative to applying for an X1 Visa is to renew either the F or X2 Visa for another six months after the first six month stay in China.