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Posts: 108

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Q: What do you like or dislike about Changsha?

I may take a job there and would like to hear some positives and negatives from some people who have been there.

thanks

10 years 40 weeks ago in  Lifestyle - China

 
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Comments (26)
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I like the weather, but I don't like the traffic! Too many traffic jams last time I was there. The weather was nice and sunny though. (Drunk!

 

He he, I said: "weather"!

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10 years 40 weeks ago

There are cookies, bookies and too many rookies for me to sit here trying to be a hooky! Looky Looky don't call me a wooky. Touchy Touchy Feely Feely Spicy Spicy Nicey Nicey & that's what the doctor Ordered!!

 
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I don't like that Sparkey was there.

Scandinavian:

pretending to have been there doesn't count. 

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

He wasn't. Incorrect description. It was almost never ever sunny. I can count maybe three or four sunny days in one year.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

In 2011 I was tasked with getting ice cream for the family. The shop is about 40 meters away, door to door. This was a massively stressful task due to the fact it was in the early afternoon, not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was 40C. Just saying, it's been sunny once. !

10 years 40 weeks ago
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10 years 40 weeks ago
 
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I like.... I don't know what I like about it here. But I don't like the same things that so many people across China don't like. If you come here though, be sure to bring plenty of sun cream and spray on deoderant.

Hulk:

It starts sucking really fast, doesn't it? The genuine China stuff is nice, but you can find that anywhere.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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10 years 40 weeks ago
 
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Was just there for dragon boat festival for the first time

 

first of all the layout of the city is huge and traffic ridiculous, so obviously its not a very bike friendly city.

 

The food is good if you can handle spicy, real spicy.  Easy to travel to Zhangjiajie *Avatar mountain, which is pretty cool. 

 

I was there for like 2 days but thats my opinion from that time.

 

Harpo:

I love spicy food. If I was choosing a place just for the food, I think I'd go to Sichuan because its even spicier. 

10 years 40 weeks ago
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10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

My experience is that every city in China has spicy food... everywhere I go there's spicy food.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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10 years 40 weeks ago
 
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What I like about Changsha: I met my wife there, and had lots of good times with her.

 

What I dislike about Changsha/Hunan province: EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!

 

It's worse than Wuhan by far. I used to think Wuhan was the worst place in China, period. Then I went to Changsha. What a horrible, horrible experience. Lots of cheaters, liars, scumbags, etc. I wouldn't recommend going there.

 

Go somewhere else.

DaveP84:

I wouldn't say its that bad Hulk. We all have different experiences. I think its just the vast openness of it just being another concrete dumping ground that makes it so damn ugly though. Saying that, I find the locals to be quite friendly, and I am not just talking about the ones that want my money. There is plenty to see and do here, just need to go out and look for them that's all. The best thing to look for..... I would say is the road out of here!

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Harpo:

I was hoping to hear from you Hulk because I've read  some of your rants about how bad Changsha is before. I was hoping you could get more specific cus can't you run into scammers in any big city in China? And maybe the changsha ladies make up for the scammers? You did wife up there.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

I've been to more cities than I can count (more than 40, and I can't remember all of them), and hundreds of rural countrysides within the past 3 and a half years that I've spent traveling China. Nothing has been as bad as Hunan/Changsha. My wife is from the only place in Hunan (a rural countryside) where I was able to meet/find half-way decent people.

 

People in Hunan only care about your money, and have the worst attitudes I've found in China. Yes, you will run into people who are great (we often did), but you may also often run into scumbags who make the whole place miserable for you (we always did). Triads are everywhere and usually dressed in normal clothes to cover up their full-body tattoos, and they actively target foreigners for scams. Many scams don't happen until after the fact. People seem nice on the surface, but when you really get to know them, that's when the ugly comes out.

 

DaveP has a job, and a provided apartment and all that jazz, so he can side-step apartment/utility scams which seem so common over there. He also spends enough time at work to avoid all the terrible people who prowl Changsha during work hours. I did not have a job in Changsha, so I just went around actively learning about Chinese culture, social norms, etc. I didn't like what I learned about Hunan.

 

I don't remember Yunnan, Fujian, Hubei, etc. being as bad as Hunan.

 

Changsha people in general weren't very friendly, and they were sneaky opportunists. I remember dropping my bags outside of Wal-Mart, and then having everyone help me. It was like my favorite non-wife moment there... but then I got home and saw they helped themselves to my expensive sunglasses too.

 

I don't know what was wrong, but I literally had nothing but bad shat happen every single day I was in Hunan. Every. Single. Day. Changsha literally had me praying to die. I hated it so much, and the only reason I stayed was because my wife needed to finish school. I would've left much sooner if she left.

 

You may have noticed that I have almost no complaints about my current city. There's a reason for that: it's awesome. I complain when I'm unhappy about something, and vent about it here. I'm not unhappy here in my new place.

 

In my current city, I do not have any real problems, so I don't complain. I'm actually looking for things to complain about... lol.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Harpo:

Thanks for the informative answer. That is really not what I want to hear though haha. My job offer is from a prominent university that provides great housing so maybe I can at least avoid the housing scams. Plus I'm from Chicago, so I'm sort of used to looking over my shoulder, having to read people quickly, and dealing with gangsters.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

中南大学?Central South University? That's the best university in the city, or so I hear. They also do not have "great housing." It's a run-down ghetto, and the new buildings aren't good either. You'll be living in the student's dorm building, and you won't have much privacy (source: my friend lived there for a bit and I checked out both places). It's also in Yuelu District. Yuelu District is the absolute worst place to be in Changsha. The other districts aren't as bad as that...

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

...but they're still all bad.

 

Anyway, the pollution is really bad in Changsha. If you're okay with that... meh.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

If it's the first normal university in yuelu, I feel comfortable recommending it as a nice place to work and live, but the busses take a while to get anywhere. To be honest, I don't think I should've lived off campus. That place was awesome.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

To be honest, Dave, the people you work with are probably very friendly because they badly need foreign teachers. There's a high turnover rate there. Stumble outside a bit further than your comfort zone, and actually learn Chinese, or find a girlfriend fluent in English who will translate the bullshat for you, and you'll see the city for what it really is. You can't understand them, so you don't really know what's going on, so...

10 years 40 weeks ago
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DaveP84:

I have already been outside the city limits, and many places within as well. When I am not at work, I am often out meeting the locals and practicing my Chinese. The people I work with also have their bad moments you know. They have already informed us that if we do not meet their expectations, then they will happily replace us if necessary. Every person has a different experience. Just because you didn't like it, does not mean that everyone is going to feel the same way. I have met many expats who have been here for five years or more. They have been to many other cities in China and have the pictures and momentos to prove it. But most of them have all said the same thing "Changsha is their favourite city to be in". Remember the old proverb... One mans trash is another mans gold? I think you could apply the same principles here, don't you?

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

You've met many foreigners who said that? Who? Non-natives from worse-off places than Changsha? There aren't too many foreigners from western countries in Changsha. In fact, there's such an abysmally-low amount of foreigners there, who aren't studying at universities, that non-natives are the norm there.

 

No you haven't, Dave. What district are you in, again?

10 years 40 weeks ago
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DaveP84:

You know there is a facebook page called "whats new in Changsha"? Lots of people there. Also lots of people in other groups to. But hey what do I know? You hated it and left... How long has it been since you lived here by the way? As for which district I am in. I live in Kaifu and work in Mowangdui. But often I travel to Hibiscus, Yuhua and around the Yuelu campus areas as well. https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/281163571908155/

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

Most of the people in "What's New in Changsha" either aren't in Changsha (lots of people who are "interested" in it, or aren't from western countries. Yes, there are some "big fivers" in there, but it's abysmally-small compared to say, actual native speakers.

 

Many of them are students. Students do not have much time to leave and experience the shatfest that is Changsha, so they have a very limited view of it.

 

Since you work in Mawangdui at a kindergarten, I know exactly where you are. It's not a new school that "just opened." I haven't lived in Changsha for 2-3 months now.

 

What you see walking on the streets is what you see everywhere in China, and it seems like people are friendly and awesome at first-glance. Just be careful... it's all I'm saying. If you like it, fine... enjoy it there. I honestly don't see how anyone could enjoy such a horrible city, but hey, as you said before, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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DaveP84:

Hulk I like you, you make me laugh. My kindergarten is new by the way http://pp.hnmama.com/store-1127-intro.html . Lets just agree to disagree on this one shall we?

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

I've been there! Same building, same everything - different name. Still have the address on my phone. Dave, I'm trying to save you from Changsha. But I fear the Maowashing has overcome you. YOU MUST FIGHT IT. FIGHT THE CHANGSHA LOVE! I BELIEVE IN YOU... DON'T GO INTO THE POLLUTION!

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Zhuhai: City in southern Guangdong province. 30 years ago it was 3 fishing villages, so it has not much in terms of native populations. The vast majority of people here are from Hunan. Wonder why they left. 

 

I don't really have much positive to say about Changsha, Like Mrs. Hulk, Mrs. Scandinavian is a Hunan girl. 

Most of the people I've met there seems incredibly narrow minded. The brainwashing has worked marvelous there. 

 

I detest all the Mao stuff there. It's an ugly city, despite it's size and status as province capital it has not managed to evolve into a modern metropolis. 

I like the fact that Changsha has something that resembles real winter. Of course the lack of proper windows and indoor heating makes this a severe downside

Hulk:

I hear mostly good things about Zhuhai. In fact, I almost moved there on a whim. I don't blame Hunanites for leaving Hunan. My wife loved Hunan and Changsha until she stepped outside her school and saw how bad people were in general, and experienced all the different cities inChina with me. Now she can't stand it.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

It's the tenth least polluted city in China according to this. 

 

http://www.tealeafnation.com/2013/02/interactive-maps-of-chinas-most-and-least-polluted-places/

 

I am planning to print the article and go show it to all the dying fish in the nearby river, but I am waiting for a day where sunlight will be bright enough for them to read it through the murky water

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Harpo:

I've done my research and Zhuhai does seem awesome. Im a good poker player so i liked the idea of being right next to Macau. That was my first choice but I didn't get any offers from there.  At least Changsha is only like 2 hours from Guangzhou. Then I can take the train to Macau.

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Scandinavian:

You cannot realistically do a one day trip from Changsha to Macau. 

 

Get to train station in Changsha, lets say 1 hour

Train from Changsha to Guangzhou 2-3 hours depending of what departure you get on

Train from Guangzhou to Zhuhai 1-1½ hours

Walk from train station to Macau (it's 500 meters) 2 hours due to 2xpassportcontrol and 1-200000 tourists and people going to work or smuggling cigarettes passing every day. 

From Macau border to Casino ½ hour. 

10 years 40 weeks ago
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Hulk:

Changsha > Guangzhou is 8-9 hours by regular train.

2 and a half to 3 hours by speed train.

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Changsha also has some of the worst criminal elements operating in broad daylight next to the police. Yeah, the police don't give a damn. They're in on it.

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10 years 40 weeks ago
 
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I have read, they got the no.1 super computer recently. should i like it or not ?

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Tianhe-2, (Milky Way-2), world fastest supercomputer, built in June, 2013 by NUDT in Guangzhou. It is expected, Tianhe-2 will be fully operational by the end of 2013.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianhe-2

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I did 2 years hard-time in Changsha.

It styles itself as the Entertainment capital of China and attracts the most superficial chinese people i have met. There is a lot of 'New money' there and all that that entails. Chinese friends said you could tell a Changsha person immediatly from the volume of their speaking. And they are SO proud of the Mao connection.

granted, i was not in one of the better universities, but i found most of the locals willing to cheat you as soon as look at you. for my sins, i was offered an increased salary for my second year and foolishly took it so i only have myself to blame for the secong year.

there is no heating or a/c in most class rooms so expect large student absences during cold weather and hot weather. Whatever university you are in will expect you to do extra work on short notice: a scottish friend, who worked in the best university in the city, was expected to help one of the senior staff members edit and proof-read books written in english. He was told that if he didn;t he would get a bad evaluation from the department and be asked to leave at the end of the semester. Some of the universities in the city have curfews for the foreign teaching staff (11.00) and they can be locked out on a Friday or saturday night after going to a bar or night-club. I had a nodding aquiantance with the security guards on my campus, but i made sure i was never out too late. Being the only foreign female in the place, i was under extra scrutiny.

the pollution level goes from bad to very bad, and that combined with the heat in the summer is not good for the health.

That is not to say i didn't make some very good local freinds there. But that was the ecpection rather than the rule.

i could continue, but i don't want to bore you any more

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10 years 35 weeks ago
 
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