Post: #1

Checking into China, I found a ranking of the most livable cities there. I did not recognize the name of a single one. They are:

1. Qingdao, Shandong Province
2. Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
3. Taizhou, Jiangsu Province
4. Xiamen, Fujian Province
5. Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
6. Changsha, Hunan Province
7. Liaocheng, Shandong Province
8. Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
9. Baotou, Neimenggu Autonomous Region
10. Xinyang, Henan Province

I'm an English teacher looking for a new destination, something outside of Latin America. Turkey and China are the two top contenders in my book. In Turkey I would just go to Istanbul because outside of there (or maybe Izmir/Ankara) I feel it would just get too conservative to tolerate.

What's the situation like in second-tier Chinese cities? I imagine in rural China you'd find very conservative attitudes, but in these cities with a few million people, do those attitudes still exist, or are these cities attitudes more in line with Beijing/Shanghai etc.?

Post: #2

I have spent quite a bit of time in China and also don't recognize some of those cities! The following would be good in terms of liveability and openness:

Qingdao, Shandong Province; Suzhou, Jiangsu Province; Xiamen, Fujian Province; Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

edited to say: why not go to Taiwan? much better money, can still learn some chinese/learn about china, and it is all the same gene pool ...

(06-17-2011 08:12 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  Checking into China, I found a ranking of the most livable cities there. I did not recognize the name of a single one. They are:

1. Qingdao, Shandong Province
2. Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
3. Taizhou, Jiangsu Province
4. Xiamen, Fujian Province
5. Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
6. Changsha, Hunan Province
7. Liaocheng, Shandong Province
8. Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
9. Baotou, Neimenggu Autonomous Region
10. Xinyang, Henan Province

I'm an English teacher looking for a new destination, something outside of Latin America. Turkey and China are the two top contenders in my book. In Turkey I would just go to Istanbul because outside of there (or maybe Izmir/Ankara) I feel it would just get too conservative to tolerate.

What's the situation like in second-tier Chinese cities? I imagine in rural China you'd find very conservative attitudes, but in these cities with a few million people, do those attitudes still exist, or are these cities attitudes more in line with Beijing/Shanghai etc.?

Post: #3

My friends who do business around China tell me that if they were going to retire young tomorrow, they would go to:

-Dalian

-Qingdao

-Hangzhou

Of particular interest to me are the CHAMPS cities that will face immense economic growth in the future. It is the next wave of Chinese economic development as growth moves to second tier cities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAMPS

They are not exactly livable cities though.

Post: #4

(06-17-2011 08:12 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  Checking into China, I found a ranking of the most livable cities there. I did not recognize the name of a single one. They are:

1. Qingdao, Shandong Province
2. Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
3. Taizhou, Jiangsu Province
4. Xiamen, Fujian Province
5. Ningbo, Zhejiang Province
6. Changsha, Hunan Province
7. Liaocheng, Shandong Province
8. Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
9. Baotou, Neimenggu Autonomous Region
10. Xinyang, Henan Province

I'm an English teacher looking for a new destination, something outside of Latin America. Turkey and China are the two top contenders in my book. In Turkey I would just go to Istanbul because outside of there (or maybe Izmir/Ankara) I feel it would just get too conservative to tolerate.

What's the situation like in second-tier Chinese cities? I imagine in rural China you'd find very conservative attitudes, but in these cities with a few million people, do those attitudes still exist, or are these cities attitudes more in line with Beijing/Shanghai etc.?

Half of those cities are not tier 2 cities and some are straight up in the sticks and not for foreigners. 1, 2, 4, and 5 would be ur best options as well as Hangzhou, Dalian and Chengdu. Nowhere will compare to nightlife of shanghai or beijing, and some of those places if not all are more conservative. However, you can still get laid in any of them and have a good time.

Post: #5

So has anyone been to any of these cities, like Quingdao or Ningbo?

Post: #6

(06-18-2011 10:04 AM)Sonsowey Wrote:  So has anyone been to any of these cities, like Quingdao or Ningbo?

been to both, but only there a day or two. Lived in China for many years. Been to suzhou, chengdu, hangzhou, would consider all of them again when/if i move back including Qingdao and Ningbo.

Depends on what you want. Ningbo, Hangzhou and Suzhou (especially) are close to Shanghai. Qingdao has cobble stoned streets and some German influence, Chengdu has the mountains nearby. All have expat communities. Never been to Dalian but hear good things about it, but it will be cold as shit in the winter. Never been to Xiamen but also have heard good things about it, lots of Taiwanese there. The other places on the list are a probably a waste of time.

Post: #7

Of particular interest to me are the CHAMPS cities that will face immense economic growth in the future. It is the next wave of Chinese economic development as growth moves to second tier cities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAMPS

They are not exactly livable cities though.


[/quote]

Those cities are shitholes. Tier 2 cities have already been seeing tremendous growth for over 5 years, and Chongqing is the only one of those that would be considered a true tier 2 city. Anhui province? are you kidding me? i'd rather be in jail.

Post: #8

Is Ningbo like a suburb of Shanghai essentially, or is it a self-contained city more or less?

From what I've read it's an ancient port city with lots of its own history, including kicking out abusive Portuguese colonists back in the day.

Post: #9

(06-18-2011 11:47 AM)Sonsowey Wrote:  Is Ningbo like a suburb of Shanghai essentially, or is it a self-contained city more or less?

From what I've read it's an ancient port city with lots of its own history, including kicking out abusive Portuguese colonists back in the day.

definitely a self-contained city. Different local dialect then shanghai, and about 2 hours away, across the longest bridge in the world (i think). Most of it's wealth is private not state run companies. It's in Zhejiang province, which is well known for being the kings of copying shit in China. Very entreprenuerial city and province. The layout of the city was cool i thought, many chinese cities look and feel the same, i just liked the vibe when i was there. I was only there for 2 days of work and then left. Knew an expat that worked there for years and he liked it.

Post: #10

i've also been to qingdao, suzhou, and ningbo. no exp w xiamen and never been to chengdu. fwiw i would put chengdu in a dift category than these other 'tier 2 cities' - it is inland, it is much poorer, and it is fucking huge (ie not just huge).

hangzhou is probably more liberal w better nite life than original four. also add nanjing to this category, though dirtier because inland, it is a true cultural/education centre.

not mentioned yet and very 'second tier' is kunming.

cheers

Post: #11

Oh man. I would love to live in Kunming for awhile.

I was almost going to go here to learn Mandarin while building my biz:

http://www.keatsschool.com

Decided to come to Thailand instead.

Post: #12

(06-19-2011 04:51 AM)Beavis Wrote:  i've also been to qingdao, suzhou, and ningbo. no exp w xiamen and never been to chengdu. fwiw i would put chengdu in a dift category than these other 'tier 2 cities' - it is inland, it is much poorer, and it is fucking huge (ie not just huge).

hangzhou is probably more liberal w better nite life than original four. also add nanjing to this category, though dirtier because inland, it is a true cultural/education centre.

not mentioned yet and very 'second tier' is kunming.

cheers

Suzhou has much more nightlife options than hangzhou. never been to kunming but have also heard very good things about it. Nanjing is ok. Chengdu is easy to navigate, most of the nightlife is in the south and i didn't find it hard to get around or any more poor than the other cities. Sichuan province is cleaner than most of the other places bc it is up river before all the pollution starts, plus Sichuan ren are my favorite chinese people.

Post: #13

THere is a running stereotype that Sichuan chicks are the hottest in China. I've had at least two of them and they were def good looking.

Anyone else think this stereotype is true?

Post: #14

(06-19-2011 10:16 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  THere is a running stereotype that Sichuan chicks are the hottest in China. I've had at least two of them and they were def good looking.

Anyone else think this stereotype is true?

Sichuan and Jiangsu/Shanghai in my opinion.