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Q: How do you respond to questions about your salary?
A lot of random people ask me what my salary is and it makes me very uncomfortable-people I've just met, taxi drivers, my friend's mother- how do you deal with this question?
It depends with who. If it's a person I'm not close with, I use the Blank Stare Technic (tm) or I just skip and change topic. If it's somebody close (friend, family), I just give the number, tax deducted 
I get questions about my money often. I tell them I don't talk about money. It's boring and low class. They usually get it.
My South African friend asked me that question last night and I told her. She said not bad, but hers is more. Then she asked me how many hours I work each week and I told her. She dropped her lip, then her drink, and started to sob.
Chinese: how much money do you make?
Me: None
Chinese: None?
Me: Yeah, none of your business.
If a Chinese person asks (even in English), then just drop a quick 没多少 (mei2duo1shao3). It's a great way to diffuse this question.
I always asked back "why do you need to know?". That usually shuts them up. If they probe further I tell them I make enough and they left it at that. Locals are always curious to know how much we make as foreigners. When they do know they'll go into a frenzy about how unfair it is for them to work twice as hard and get less than half. Then I ask, "Really? You work twice as hard? I see you skiving all the time, playing your QQ, wechat and playing video games. And you go back on the dot". Their reply to that - " but my contract says I go back at 5pm!" Enough said!
Don't know... ask the wife.
I can tell you what my pocket money is 
.
coineineagh:
Same here. I know my personal earnings, but what our little county school makes is vague. I hand it in and live on my allowance. They have full insight into the earnings, but my wife still has the gall to ask *me* when we'll get a car. Is she asking the magical money fairy? Makes me worried about her financial competence, and our future.
Scandinavian:
Wow you get pocket money. I Need to talk to the wife about this. That is some serious benefits you got there.
I don't like telling Chinese anything because nothing good comes from you telling them much of anything lol...
My wife told my relatives how much I made and they sort of when through a phase of disbelief and then depressing (after realizing they made far less).
Not exactly a great way to strike up a positive conversation. If you say you make less than them... they get all smug and say there must be something wrong with you... how can you make less than a Chinese person... If you say you make more, they complain how you don't work as hard, take China's jobs and then they get depressed...
expatlife26:
Yeah I agree Rob theres no upside to answering that question.
If it's lower than what they expect you get schadenfraude/disdain "So you must be a huge loser for a foreigner to make so little."
Or if they think it's a lot you get bitter jealousy "Such bullshit any loser foreigner can make so much"
Theres nothing you can say that will get a happy reaction like "Wow! That's the just the right amount for you to earn. You must be talented, yet still modest and down to earth to earn that perfect amount."
There are normal, secure people here who be happy to see you're doing well, but 99% of them aren't ignorant enough to straight up ask somebody their salary.
When Chinese realize I speak fair Mandarin I almost always get asked that question, I reply by saying 3500 with free dormitory shared with 5 other teachers. Which is a HUGE F-ING LIE, but it leaves the person asking questions completely amazed. If I feel like it I will BS them further by explaining how all Chinese think foreigners make FARRR too much money. After all, if I were making say.. 21,000 a month... why would I be riding on the back of your motorcycle taxi bargaining for a savings of 1rmb!! They believe it! 
I usually tell them that life doesn't revolve around money, that talking about money all the time is a third world peasant's attitude, can we talk about something else? If they insist I tell them that it's not their business and walk away, I don't want to make friend with people who are obsessed with money anyway.
Chinese: how much money do you make?
me: 3-4 million RMB per year.
Just to shut them up.
But then they start coming up with strange situations in which they need money, and I don't give them any. And they cry... and cry... and I say sorry. And I feel bad. :(
I don't mind telling them. most of my Chinese friends in my age group are making the same amount of money. Any where from 6 to 10,000 RMB per month. This puts them and me in the upper middle class in most of the urban centers outside Beijing and Shanghai. But I have a plus. I get my housing utilities on top of that. But last semester was really bad. Dawan High school in Qingbaijiang, which belongs to Metropolitan Chengdu, put my wife and I in a 25 square meter apartment (strongly resembles a jail cell in Canada) and told us we couldn't cook. The other thing is I work (including lesson planning) only 20 to 25 hours a week compared to their 40 to 60 hours per week. But then again, they might be gambling or having sex for 20 of those hours.
Hulk:
Um.... time to find a new school? I had a 5 bedroom apartment provided for me.
I always tell them, but that's because my salary isn't much. Perhaps I would think twice (feeling guilt, paranoia that they might rob me) if I earned more.
Depends how they ask.
Sometimes someone smart will strike up a convo with you, ask what you do and maybe get to "That pay well?" And that's OK I guess, it doesn't put you on the spot. You can say, "yeah it's alright" or "i'm happy for now"
But everyone who has ever flat out asked for a number has always been a fucking nosy idiot. We don't owe them an answer if they're being rude. Like i said above theres no answer you can give that is going to be positive. You'll either get disdain or jealousy...unless they want something from you. Fuck them.
