Shenyang is Northeastern not Eastern China, if you exclude Beijing and Tianjin from the Northeastern area then yes it's THE place to be because well... there is not much else in Northeastern China.

I hope that you enjoy arctic-like temperatures during winter.

Shenyang is available in any colors, as far as it is gray. Forget about nice terraces and green parks, it will be concrete all around. It's freezing cold in winter (3 to 4 months), but steamy hot in summer (3 months), expect 5 months of nice temperatures. Air pollution is quite bad. It's not horrible by Chinese standard, just standard fare. Apart from Dalian (said to be nicer) and Harbin (said to be the same), there are not much around that qualify as city, so yeah, viewed like that, it's a place to be.

consider shandong provience, rizo,zibo, qingdao, dongying, weihai, yantai

Thank you all for the input!

I corrected my initial question to NORTHEastern China. Sorry, haha

Harbin is better with a river, Russian stuff and real history.

Changchun is smaller and easier to get around

Shenyang is a disaster.

Shenyang is not bad. I live nearby and have been there a few times. It's basically another large Chinese city with shitty air, a decent subway system, a lot of consulates serving the NE region and some good options for western food and shopping. Nothing special about the place - if you're interested in living in a large NE city with some comforts from home it's a good bet. If you're looking for scenery.... look elsewhere. Jilin City is a hidden gem in the Northeast - Tier 3 city but more and more shopping and dining options, a beautiful river running through town and surrounded by beautiful mountains and a nice lake 20 mins. outside downtown where there are islands with hotels and such. Also Dalian is a beautiful city in the NE. Very developed and clean air due to being on the coast. There is lots of seafood and overcrowded beaches. I live in Changchun, which is a decent place to live but there's nothing remarkable about the place. A decent sized expat community, some cool parks, shitty air but can be a cool place to live if you know where to go. 

There is plenty to see and do in Shenyang but the traffic is simply unbearable.....the air is much cleaner than even 5 years ago.....Dalian isthe place to be!

I spent four years in Shenyang, and I liked it well enough. As others have said, good options for western food.  the I <3 New York Pizza deserves special mention, as does this little middle eastern in HePing near the RT mart, GuanYa and SQL BBQ. The expat community is big enough so that you can get to know everyone without seeing the same people all the time. Also, despite what convensional wisdom might be Uncle Sams is the better bar than the Green Mile.  Good opportunity for extra work, if that's your thing. The  pollution level isn't bad.

BTW, at which school are you thinking about working?