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geosmiley · Joined: 25 Jan 2016 Posts: 62

If anyone has experience living in Fuzhou please let me know your impressions. My concern is that westerners may still be a novelty there with the locals. Cheers!

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Try 'off topic'

geosmiley · Joined: 25 Jan 2016 Posts: 62

Thanks, but I'm not going there to take the waters. Perhaps i should have added. "...living and working..."

Modernist · Joined: 03 Jan 2016 Posts: 72 Location: Routing

I didn't live there but I wasn't far off. I've been there a number of times.

OF COURSE westerners are a novelty to the locals. The list of non-Tier 1 cities in China where that isn't the case is pretty short. Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, maybe Dalian, Kunming...not many. Fuzhou, capital or not, suffers quite a bit in comparison to its glamorous southern neighbor and rival, Xiamen, which is also one of the few places where western faces are more common.

It has a large number of universities because of the capital status, and it's wealthier than the inland capitals, but realistically that doesn't matter much to your day-to-day. English levels aren't good, foreign foods are rare (they had a great Calimex style taco joint tucked into a random apartment complex though, that was nice). Shopping is whatever. It's a huge mess of Chinese branded junk near the river that I can't imagine any foreigner would have any interest in visiting more than once. The river itself is not so bad. It's no Ningbo or Tianjin but it's nice to walk it if the humidity isn't killing you that day.

The only attraction of note is the Three Lanes and Five Alleys or whatever it is, which is an old Ming area that for some reason wasn't demolished like everything else. It's nice once or twice, and after that you wouldn't go back. The Metro is decent. The in-city train station has a good location but the routing south isn't consistent. The East station is absurdly far away from anything. If the job is anywhere close to that, don't do it.

As far as I know, any Chinese would pick Xiamen any day compared to Fuzhou. Having been to both, so would I. There's really no reason to live in Fuzhou. It's another nothing Chinese provincial capital, like Nanning, Nanchang, Hefei, Changsha, Guiyang, etc. You could hardly tell the difference between any of them (and I know, as I've been to all of them). These places have to exist for practical reasons but they will never be places of choice for anyone except natives, if you ask me. Certainly not for foreigners.

theoriginalprankster · Joined: 19 Mar 2012 Posts: 895

Having visited regularly as an IELTS examiner I found Fuzhou to be drab and dull, also chaotic.

We did find a good Mexican restaurant nearish to the Wanda Plaza, and some cool bars nearby.

Another redeeming factor are the nearby mountains, which can be climbed, and its proximity to Xiamen, which is where you really want to be at (although its become crowded in recent years).

rogerwilco · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 1549

I spent some time in Fuzhou.

Yes, you will be a novelty there. Nothing particularly bad, just the typical staring, pointing, and xenophobia of most Chinese 2nd tier cities.

Similar to above, you could drop me in the middle of Fuzhou, and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it, and a hundred other mediocre Chinese cities.

Three lanes and seven alleys. I was there while the original buildings were being torn down and replaced by "new and improved" replicas and souvenir shops. It is a shame that China still doesn't seem to value its own history.

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Blistering Zanazilz · Joined: 06 Jan 2018 Posts: 180

geosmiley · Joined: 25 Jan 2016 Posts: 62

Please keep the political correctness out of this, especially if you haven't lived and/or worked in or around Fuzhou.

Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to respond with your relevant experience.

The bear · Joined: 16 Aug 2015 Posts: 483

Blistering Zanazilz · Joined: 06 Jan 2018 Posts: 180

1. Anyone going to a society that still grapples with the sight of newcomers needs to grow a thicker skin. I still see people in this city who likely haven't seen a foreigner before, and I get a few stares and giggles, but so what? If that's the kind of thing that gets to you're not going to make it here, or you're going to be angry 24/7. 2. My language comment wasn't related to learning minority languages. Many parts of China use the local dialect almost exclusively, and while the locals may speak Putonghua it's often not at a very high level. Or the sounds are very different from what one might be used to from previous experience. 3. I couldn't care less if I'm next to Huangshan, but I do want to be in an area where there might be something even remotely interesting or scenic considering I have plenty of free time to burn off. My first two years in China were in Chengdu, and from what I've seen there's a world of difference between there and a place like Zhengzhou or Changsha. These points may not be important to you, but to others they might be.

Just sharing my opinion.

rioux · Joined: 26 Apr 2012 Posts: 880

Fuzhou used to have a Carl's Jr. as well as a Papa John's but now they are both gone.

A good portion of the ladies there are as cute as dolls.

geosmiley · Joined: 25 Jan 2016 Posts: 62

In favor of Fuzhou is clean air, cheap rent, good uni job but to its detriment there are gaping locals. I agree, Xiamen is a much better choice socially but it also comes with a hefty increase in the cost of living and has very few uni jobs comparatively. I've decided to look a little further, time is still on my side. Anyone who has studied Asian cultures knows the true meaning of staring and what's behind the childish hello!