Expat hits it pretty much on the head. Tianjin is a dirty city. The airline is running a pass rate of between 10-25%, most busting out on the sim ride. If you survive the interview, expect about six months until you are actually in china. Training is... interesting. Glad I came here with a great systems knowledge on the 145, as my ground school time has equated to about 1 hour in a year and a half. Though, I have had 5 separate sim sessions in the past 12 months. And they throw the kitchen sink at you in the sims.

All in all, we do have it pretty good at tja compared to other contract gigs. So far, they have been good about the fines and not using them. The leader of the foreign pilot fleet seems to have a good head on his shoulders and is willing to at least listen to the foreign pilots about how to change the safety culture here.

Yes, the schools are spend ( I am putting my two kids through the international school here) but when all is said and done, I would do it again. Drop me a line if you would like more detailed info