Chefs were the highest paid in Chongqing Municipality with the top salary reaching 12,800 yuan (US$1,547) per month, according to a ranking of monthly pay in various industries.
The list, published by the local job market administration, showed the highest monthly pay of a business manager at 10,000 yuan (US$1,208) while a software engineer earned 4,000 yuan (US$483) a month at most.
However, some chefs in the city made even more money.
Hu Xiaohua, a 35-year-old head chef, admitted that his annual income tops 200,000 yuan (US$24,163) although he refused to reveal the exact amount. Hu said he had not expected to earn so much when he started work in restaurants at the age of 17 after failing to pass the college entrance exam.
It also surprised Cao Ping, an official with the local job market administration. Many job seekers in Chongqing were well educated or had good working experience, and few want to be chefs since traditionally it was not a respectable job, but what counted was market demand, he noted.
(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2003)
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