Two research questions guided this study of teacher selection: (a) What characteristics do Chinese principals look for when hiring teachers? And (b) what is the effect of participants' gender, experience, or school location on perceived characteristics of effective teacher candidates in hiring? Both interviews and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data from a southwest city of Shandong Province, China. In this mixed design study, quantitative results were consistent with the qualitative results. Additionally, the study results are intended to help readers better understand school principals' perceived characteristics of effective teachers in a Chinese context and provides a framework for future comparative research between China and the USA.