A Dart and a Map of China
This summer I plan on returning to China. I have been struggling with that decision off and on for a while. I have already “done” China, so I wondered if maybe I should go live another country and explore and write about it.
Of course, the appealing thing about living in China is that it is a vast, unknowable, constantly changing country. Going back and “doing” China again would be like going to a different country. I am sure of that. But where should I go?
I want to work only part time, but I would work longer if necessary. I think if I only work two to three days a week, I’ll have enough time to write and learn the language better. I have experience teaching ESL, so that option is always there.
Hainan is a possibility. I have been alerted to some opportunites there, but I have already lived in Haikou before. I wonder if maybe I should experience another situation. Hangzhou and Shanghai are also interesting options. Many of my best friends living in China live in those two places. I have already lived in Hangzhou. Shanghai is a big convenient city. Neither town would make me get out of my comfort zone that much.
So I have been thinking of going somewhere new. But where? I want a town that is no more than three million people and no less than 100,000 people. I want a place that has some natural beauty nearby. I like the outdoors and living somewhere beautiful does lift my spirits on those invariable days of loneliness and confusion. I need some help. I need some advice. If you are a China expat or a Chinese and you live in a cool place. Tell me about it. Could your town use another laowai?
I have money enough saved up to live in China for a couple of years without working. I don’t mind working some though. If I don’t hear anything exciting, I may resort to more creative decision making–a dart and a map of China.
Have you considered places in Sichuan or Western China? Chengdu is pretty sweet but perhaps too big for you. Leshan a couple hours to the south is smaller, greener, and has a big buddha. A REALLY big buddha. Plus living in this area puts you within 6-8 hours of the most spectacular place in China–the Tibetan Kham region, with all its big mountains and Tibetans in cowboy hats and pooing yaks.
Comment by KMM — December 15, 2006 @ 9:52 am
KMM,
Actually I have thought about Sichuan. And the size is not a huge factor I guess. I had some friends in Hainan who had spend a good deal of time in Chengdu and they liked it. Thanks for the feed back. Living near the Tibetan-Kham would be sweet.
Jamie
Comment by Doom — December 15, 2006 @ 6:40 pm
I lived in Chengdu for 2 years. The city itself is not all that beautiful but it’s great to live there because you can travel not very far in almost any direction and find a great and diverse range of really beautiful places. The food is brilliant too. It’s a much cheaper place to live than the eastern cities.
Comment by Daniel — December 15, 2006 @ 7:16 pm
man if you really want to get out there and in some beauty, go to somewhere on the li river. outside of yangshou? cant remember the name, but that town is VERY touristy, although the area is fricking UNREAL beauty.
Comment by shutty — December 16, 2006 @ 2:18 am
Daniel,
I like hearing about the good food, and living in a cheaper place can make things easier since I’m lazy and hate working that much. I must look into Chengdu more it seems.
Shutty,
Wanna get married and live on the Li river and heckle tourists?
Jamie
Comment by Doom — December 16, 2006 @ 10:22 am
if you do find yourself seriously contemplating chengdu, feel free to contact me, i’ll do what i can to help you out
Comment by KMM — December 18, 2006 @ 3:46 am
http://ask.jongo.com/ Maybe you can access this site. You can ask any questions about China on this site. Of course you can ask for suggestions. And you’ll get your answer in a short time. My advice will be some northern city like Harbin. It’s different. You’ll have a lot of fun there. Although it’s really cold in winter.
Comment by john — December 19, 2006 @ 3:34 am
Shanghai!!:P
Comment by aline — December 20, 2006 @ 6:03 am
KMM,
I am seriously thinking about Chengdu. I will be in contact with you.
John,
Harbin has been recommended to me along with Dalian by several people. The cold weather scares me a little bit, but other things I hear about it make me think I would like it.
Aline,
Shanghai is still on the short list. I wonder if living in a city with so many expats would hurt me learning Chinese like I should though.
In all I will narrow it down to five places here in the next month then go from there.
Jamie
Comment by Doom — December 21, 2006 @ 9:25 am
Jamie,
As much as I hate to say it, if you’re serious about learning Chinese, Shanghai is not the place to do it.
Comment by John — December 25, 2006 @ 12:39 pm
ok doom. lets get married. lets do it in china. but im going to require the villagers parade me around in one of those lifted chair things during the ceremony. and my father isnt giving you one single donkey. period.
Comment by shutty — December 25, 2006 @ 12:45 pm
I live in BJ and this is the last place I would recommend.
I think Xiamen is a nice choice, I was there two weeks ago, the weather was great and it’s a nice place, with beach, European streets and Shanghai/Taiwán style.
The only problem is that, in the case of a war with Taiwan, it would be the warfront. But this is just a possibility.
I don’t like Chengdu.
Comment by ChinoChano — December 26, 2006 @ 2:39 am
HARBIN!
If I wasn’t stuck in hellish Shanghai, I’d go back there in a second.
Comment by Pete — December 26, 2006 @ 8:50 pm
Kunming, i would say.
great access to beach and Hannan Island.
close to Tibet
Comment by marco — December 27, 2006 @ 4:14 am
What about Ningbo?
Comment by Jason S — December 27, 2006 @ 3:01 pm
Got this link from sinosplice.com
Hmmmm. I’ve lived in several places that meet your criteria.
Benxi - Small steel town in the hills of ShenYang.Nice people. Horrible weather. 3 small bars. one KFC(2003).
ZunHua - Small town near TangShan (3 hours east of Beijing). 30 minutes from the real great wall. Qing tombs (Eastern) within 45 minutes drive. 1 bar.0 expats. People wishywashy.
TaiYuan - Medium-sized town 3 hours from Xian. Cold. People = good. Pollution = Heavy. 4 bars.
Can I make a suggestion? ChongMing Island or the other smaller (forgot thename) island in Shanghai. It’s small. It’s scenic. It’s an hour ferry from Shanghai.
It’s pretty damn close to “real”China. The last time I checked (mid-July 2005) there are only 2 full-time foreigners living there. Try it out!
Comment by laolao — December 28, 2006 @ 4:28 am
G,day from australia. I lived in Xiamen Fujian for a while and while it can be rather remote some of the places surronding it ( Wuyishan, quanzhou )are quite beautiful. People are really nice and lots of History both from a Chinese perspective and overseas Chinese who have migrated from there.
Comment by dino — December 28, 2006 @ 7:08 pm
Xiamen’s okay. I lived there for 3 years. Loads of English teachers! ;op
Comment by andrea — January 2, 2007 @ 10:30 am
How about Wuxi or suzhou ?
Comment by Melody Zheng — January 16, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
i’m still pushing for chengdu, even though i don’t know you, and certainly don’t know you well enough to pimp a city at you. but i do have to show some pride and support for my adopted chinese home. at the very least the hotpot here is better than most anywhere else, as are the girls, if you believe in stupid chinese legends.
Comment by KMM — January 18, 2007 @ 12:13 am
Yes, what about Ningbo? I’m sure you’ve been there since you lived in Hangzhou before. It left a good impression on me (except for the guy with the monkey on a chain who I started screaming at). Medium sized, has foreigners but not too many, and unlike Shanghai it does have beaches. Allows access not only to HZ & SH, but also relatively unvisited areas in southern Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.
If you like the south, try Nanning (the ‘green city”)- but perhaps not all that good for Putonghua learning. I agree with the rest that Chengdu is a good spot, but last time I was there it was going through some serious growing pains (red skies from construction dust and other pollution). Fuzhou is the only other spot I can think of that hasn’t been mentioned. I keep trying to picture a place in western China that’d be nice, but most places I know of are massively polluted and likely to get worse before they get better.
Comment by Kris — January 21, 2007 @ 8:47 am
Hey Jamie,
Sorry for completely falling off the radar, but that tends to happen quite a bit here in northern Mozambique. I’m not even sure my family knows I’m still alive.
As for your return to China, how about Shandong province? I’ve always had a soft spot for that place. I was in Zibo and managed to have a great experience (although had to move elsewhere for the sake of my lungs), and there were lots of other smaller cities around there that seemed like good spots. And as a bonus, you are never very far from Qingdao.
Comment by Patrick — February 3, 2007 @ 11:48 am