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Q: Which is the best second tier city to live in?
Since that seems to be what's recommended from my previous question anyway! Where's the best? Lets take everything into account: weather, commuting time, pollution, ability to earn a decent income, friendliness of locals and quality of local food.
To me, without a doubt, Nanning in Guangxi Province. It is called the Green city, quite dynamic, large enough to be a city, and not big like a monster ready to swallow you.
Weather is for the last 20years never below 0 C, in winter average 5 to 10 C, in summer is 25 to 29 C. Rainy season during spring and summer, but sometimes almost a month between rains. also pollution is not as bad as in other large metropolis like Beijing, Shanghai.
Salaries are not that outstanding, but cost of living is much lower than at larger cities, so in a way it evens out.
Food supplies are good and cheap, and fruits are plentifull. Locals are extremely friendly if treated with dignity and respect.
I rent a 190 sq meter apartment, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, living room, dining room, nice kitchen, maybe now 5 years old, and pay 3,000 Rmb per month total, including maintenance fees and water usage. In Beijing, same apartment would be in the high 10"s or low 20"s, in Guangzhou maybe above 15's, in Shanghai around 18,000 per month.
A 2 or 3 bedroom apartment in a nice, recntly contsructed building runs 700 to 1500 depending on location. That beats the lower salary paid here.
That's a great answer by HappyExPat. It is true that salaries are lower in Nanning than in other cities BUT the quality and enoyability of life is much higher.
I might also like to Xiamen, Fujian; Nanjing, Jiangsu; Suzhou, Jiangsu; maybe even Macau for something really and small (but a tad not so clean). Then there is also Kunming, Yunnan, which is a favorite of many expats. And then there is Hangzou, Zhejiang, which is also favored by many expats but as far as I am concerned, it would be at the bottom of the favorite places list but still on the list.
I think that the OP is somewhere up northwest, somewhere cold, or so I gather from her previous posts. All of these places would have to be better than where you are now, or at least that is what I think.
MissA:
I live in Urumqi, which is a fascinating place with a lot of good points but is very, very cold and I think one year will do. That said, I'm not looking to up and move tomorrow, and was more curious than anything.
Yes, I had a feeling that you were in that particular. It is a fascinating city, if not a rather troubled one these past several years and yes, in winter, the weather can be daunting. I would like to know your reaction to the city after about 2 - 3 weeks of - 30 C. and surely that will happen soon, if not already. Local food, both Chinese and other, is really great. Salaries for ESL teachers out there are rather low or lower than in most other comparatively-sized metropolitan areas.
It is a fascinating region, that is for sure, but I prefer peace and quiet and would rather avoid the kind of turbulence that sometimes comes with the region, speaking very, very diplomatically of course.
There is another members of this Board from Urumqui and he was looking to meet expat friends out there. He put up a post about it several weeks ago.
MissA:
It probably sounds like I dislike the city; that's not the case but January is definitely not my favourite month! As far as the winter goes, it's pretty brutal for an Aussie who had the habit of putting jumper on whenever the temperature got below 20 celcius, there's no avoiding that. It's definitely for the adventurous.
Oddly enough, everything is really quiet here at the moment. People actively avoid talking about the problems, or in fact making any reference to them in any way. You do see a LOT of police busses whizzing around the place but I've been told that it's considerably less obvious than even a few months ago.
Obviously the food is a huge advantage, but its not the only one. There's less of a crowded feel to the streets, and there's slightly less public spitting, crapping, shouting, staring and shoving than seems the norm in other mid-level Chinese cities (the Uyghurs dislike these things just as much as we westerners do). The mix of cultures is refreshing, and in fact was the true appeal for us.
Out here, it is possible to earn a decent living. From jobs boards, I know that a lot of the salaries offered here are quite low, but I'm on roughly 10,000 a month after probabtion, with free apartment in walking distance of the school. I actually think, given the low cost of living, that it's not bad at all.
981977405:
With that salary in Urumqui, I would say that you are doing very, very well for yourself. You are quite fortunate, actually. Now, that only the weather, over which unfortunately you have no control. Urumqui is also known for its pickpockets. They operate in legion, particularly on the city buses. Please exercise great caution with your things in public spaces, more so than in other places in China.
My favorite 2nd tier city is Dalian. But, if you don't like the cold, then it won't be for you. Right now the tempratured is around -25C. But the summers are awesome and it hardly gets above 25c.
An apartment like Happy mentions would run about 7k, but the costs for just about everything else is pretty low.
Xian is a good place to live,bad points the traffic and pollution,good points nice people lots of expats living or on travels,cheap overheads like food and housing,plenty of jobs,plus GOOD LOOKING GIRLS
I've had good experiences with Wuxi. The train makes short trips to Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai, etc. Expat community. Reasonable weather if you can get over not having central heating. There's a subway under construction now so the roads will be torn up for the next few years.
