Au Pair Shanghai - Be an Au Pair Today!

It's very tempting to go to China as an au pair. The culture is exciting, the food is great, and the language is fascinating.

A little over three months ago I left for Shanghai, China to live there as an au pair for one year. Unfortunately, I had to leave after just three months when I couldn't renew to a legal visa. There is simply no visa for au pairs. The agency will try to get you a tourist visa, but you are not allowed to work on a tourist visa, nor with a student visa. The only way to actually be an au pair in China legally is to get a Business Visa. The caveat is that a business visa requires you to have a college degree or some similar certificate. There are some minor exceptions, but in general, that's how it is.

My experience was still now terrible. The English teacher that the agency provided was phenomenal, my host family was fantastic, and the people at the agency were friendly. Though their ability to communicate in-between themselves was subpar. Due to that, there were often contradictions within the agency and plenty of misunderstandings. Also, the contract that you sign as an au pair is awful since the agency can't enforce it because that would be biting the hand that feeds them (the families).

It's worth mentioning that many au pairs end up in host families where they simply don't have a good time. Talking to the other au pairs during my time there I got to hear some horror stories about their host families and the way the agency handled those situations. I saw several of them leave earlier than planned. They were clearly disappointed. If I would have had that information before I left, I would have decided to stay home instead. The odds of the experience turning out miserably is just too high.

Additionally, there are some massive issues with the whole business idea of Au Pair Shanghai. They try to recruit as many au pairs and families as possible. Then they charge the families a massive fee. You, the au pair, who work 30 hours a week will see almost none of that money. Instead, it goes to paying the employees who spend most of their time trying to reach out to more au pairs. In the end, it will be a bad deal for you.

My experience as Au pair has been so far exciting, at the beginning things could be a little difficult because the language and the culture but when you adapt you will find this is a beautiful country with a unique and interesting culture and with kind and gentle people.
My advice take enough time for choose the family who are you gonna live with, make a lot of questions in order to get to know them and make a good decision cause it's no only a place to live, this people with the time will become your family too. In my case it didn't work out with the first family but now I have the most lovely and funny family ever, I really love them and since the first day they make me feel as other member of the family.
I truly recommend this program, if you are really open mind and are willing to try and know new things, this adventure its unforgettable

YEAH... that's how I would describe my emotions...
I am in Love with China and with the amazing people i was able to meet and bond with.
You have a great support from the stuff members, some of whom I've grown to consider my friends as well.
I think everyone should try this experience: You can learn a new language, live in a new environment and even learn somethings you may still don't know about your self.

Go Au Pair Shanghai!!!

My own experience in China was an amazing.
I've spend 9 month with my host family and from the start they treated me like a family member. I've been taking care of 5-years old boy, and he was adorable.
The thing I would like to tell everyone, who's considering coming to China, is that it is not for everyone. The culture and habits can shock or confuse sometimes, but in general, once you get used to it and will be open, it would turn into a great adventure.
When I first came there, I felt homesick, because surroundings seem so different for what I got used to, but then I just got into it.
Chinese people are very friendly to foreigners. People on the streets are always trying to help, even if it's hard for them to understand you :D
In general, I'm very happy about my decision to come to China.

Good luck everyone :)

I worked for this agency just over six months, overall I feel really disappointed by them. They are not helpful and found them to be very rude at times. Most of the au pairs I knew had exactly the same problems. It's very rare for an au pair like me to stay the whole term, a lot of them go home early or try and move to another family. I was fortunate to have a really nice family and we got on great! My host family were also not pleased by them as well! They have told me that they are not trust worthy at all and should have treated me better when I told them some of the problems I was having. Please don't let this discourage you. Chinese are really good people and are so welcoming. It really is an amazing experience. I just recommend using another agency. This agency is just absolutely terrible!

Hi, my name is Carolina from Colombia, I have to say that this is my first time as au pair, but coming to China has always been my dream, this is not a fairy tale but thanks to au pair Shanghai this dream finally has come true. The first month was a little difficult for me because of the language, I studied Chinese before coming here but its hard to understand what people says.
The culture it's quite different, not just the food, there is something more that makes you feel like if you are in another world jajaja...... mmmm I don't know how to explain it, but if you really wanna come don't be afraid of taste everything. My host family has been really nice with me, I don't feel like a foreigner.
My work with the kid hasn't been easy because she don't speak English at all, however I think that patience conquest everything.

Finally I just have to say... good luck ....

Well I've had alot of experiences here so far, getting on wrong trains, getting millions of photos taken of me by randoms and getting clothes stuck in doors, but it has all been fun and we all laugh at the end, my day to day life is practically the same, get up take the child to school, wait around and clean my room till it is time to pick the child up and then play and hep the child with thier english skills. then I get 2 days off for Mandarin lessons and sight seeing and hanging out with the other aupairs. so overall my time here has been amazing so far.

Hi,
I am an AuPair here in Shanghai and stay for 9 months. I found to the agency online and it just took about one month untill I came here. Unfortunately My first family and I didn't get along with each other and so I changed after 3 months, which was a bit difficult but in the end we found a new family with two lovely girls.
I want to say that China doesn't fit to everyone. It's very different compared with our western standarts, also the people. But if you are able to adapt to this and become used to it this AuPair program can give you a good impression about chinese lifestyle and you can learn the chinese language quite fast.