First 30 daysHiring an ayi
Hiring an ayi
Two working adults, a villa, a school-bus pickup — without an ayi the corridor is the wrong one. A live-in ayi takes a bedroom. Ask at the viewing.
- 01
Live-in, day shift, or hourly? Overtime for airport runs?
- 02
Language, children (homework, school bus, a fever run to the clinic), cooking (Korean extraction, Japanese, oven, halal).
- 03
Walking the dog, cat allergies — this collides with the pet clause.
- 04
Who buys insurance, work injury, public holidays, year-end, cover when she is ill.
- 05
Wage path: WeChat or a bank card. A fapiao if the company pays.
- 06
Trial, notice, and whether a live-in ayi needs her own police registration.
Housing Huacao and Qingpu villas: which gate, can she enter alone, does she take a south-facing room. Lane houses often have no ayi room. Serviced cleaning is not childcare.
First 30 days
- Furniture: buying, renting or shippingMost Shanghai leases are empty. For a two-to-three-year posting, renting the core pieces usually beats buying them and shipping them home.
- Driving licence conversion for foreign holdersAn International Driving Permit is not enough on its own. Convert if you will live here. Apply for a temporary permit if you need to drive in the first weeks.
- How to read a school calendarA housing year follows the school year, not the Chinese public-holiday table. Open the school’s own Calendar page.
Each guide gives the official process with source links and effective dates, plus the pitfalls we have recorded from real cases. Anything requiring a licence is referred to registered providers only.
Live near what you love.
Tell us the school, the dates, and the corridor you are looking at.