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Iloveamma
Joined: 26 May 2013
Posts: 68
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 Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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| HaveAGoodRest wrote: |
@Iloveamma I am totally in the same boat, I love the Tier 3 cities.
For the mix of being deep in Chinese culture, but having a link to the west, and everything is cheap and there's usually a small, manageable group of foreigners.
Plus Starbucks is also my one joy in life for some reason. Starbucks espresso is my muse. And I am not ashamed to say I love everything about working at a laptop in Starbucks - the perfect temperature, the seats that curve just right to fit my butt, the interesting people watching, the customer service, everything.
I probably haven't done enough research, I am sure there is something out there in China like what you are looking for. China is such a huge place.
I would definitely cross check the Starbucks store locator with the Berkeley Earth AQI map for any place you are considering. (To me, above 50 AQI is shady breathing air).
My one debbie downer comment is that as far as I've seen, if the place is big enough to have a Starbucks, it will be polluted af.
I don't think Starbucks has spread enough to the non-polluted places here yet.
I live about 1.5 hours from the nearest big-city Starbucks. The air is just like America here usually because it's a tiny city. But I can't get to Starbucks daily and have to go to that city, buy the espresso, take it home and grind it and brew it myself. So I can't sit at Starbucks, but I get a cup full of happiness every morning. To me I'm only here for one semester and my health is the top priority. But going back to America, I will definitely need to know the intersection of every Starbucks if I live in a small place again. |
Haha. I am laughing. I am glad to know I am not the only one. I completely relate. Even if the Starubucks is one hour away, that is better than not seeing it for several years, like I have done. I live in Sweden. It took TEN YEARS for them to finally get one here since I have been here! NOW THEY HAVE THEM!
Please share..where do you live? As long as I can get any good tea or coffee near where I live daily, I can manage. And travel on the weekends to get the Starbucks if I want.
I love your store locate idea.... |
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HaveAGoodRest
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 49
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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| @Iloveamma I will PM you |
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Iloveamma
Joined: 26 May 2013
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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How is the pollution in Shenzhen???
And what about a business visa? Are they hard to obtain? |
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yurii
Joined: 12 Jan 2017
Posts: 106
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| Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 11:15 am Post subject: |
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| Iloveamma wrote: |
ohhhhh winters...and summers. Right. Seasons. Forgot those. Lol.
I have the idea of staying somewhere quite beautiful with some nature while giving me a good, westernized flat and job, WITH an accessible Starbucks and some decent restaurants where I can get vegetarian food...These few things, and I will be happy.
Is it possible to get a place which is blended...still a bit traditional mixed with big city life some km away?
Any other suggestions? I am taking notes. |
Why not just get a job in Spain or something? I guess you don't have a British/Irish passport? I don't live so far from Paris and although Paris itself is polluted, my town isn't at all. I get the advantage of a not so polluted place with western food (and good cheese of course, lol) and at the same time I'm not so far from Paris for many activities at the weekend.
I'm curious why, when the pollution is such a big issue, you are even considering China? |
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Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
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| Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| getbehindthemule wrote: |
| rogerwilco wrote: |
| Iloveamma wrote: |
I have the idea of staying somewhere quite beautiful with some nature while giving me a good, westernized flat and job, WITH an accessible Starbucks and some decent restaurants where I can get vegetarian food...These few things, and I will be happy.
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During my 8 years in China I never saw a place that comes close to matching your description. |
OP, China does not seem a fit for you at all. Even SH can be a pain for vegetarians let alone the smallers places with nature! Surely you can live without overpriced, overhyped Starbucks...
You need to ask yourself a serious question: Why do you want to come to China? |
+1. I can't think of any place in China that matches your requirements either (or even comes close). Seriously, from what you've posted so far, China isn't for you. If you really want to find out what it's like, I'd advise you take a holiday and go check it out yourself. |
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Jmbf
Joined: 29 Jun 2014
Posts: 663
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| Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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Come to think of it, if proximity to Starbucks is important to you then you'd love where I am. I have at least 7 within easy walking distance  |
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tyroleanhat
Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Posts: 209
Location: Austria / China
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| Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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I wonder why Kunming wasn't mentioned yet. It's such a pleasant city with clean air, I always loved my time there. Lots of nature pretty close-by. The city is not huge but big enough to have some nice vegetarian restaurants - I would say.
Kunming is also one of the few cities where you can stay in winter and summer. These 2 seasons are usually very unpleasant in China. Speaking of which, I am in Chengdu now, and the air is surprisingly good in spring and autumn - on average not worse than many European cities. If you have a university gig, the hottest and coldest (at the same time dirtiest) months are a good time to escape China. |
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Mixal
Joined: 08 Apr 2015
Posts: 80
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| Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| tyroleanhat wrote: |
| on average not worse than many European cities. If you have a university gig, the hottest and coldest (at the same time dirtiest) months are a good time to escape China. |
http://aqicn.org/city/chengdu/
Now move the map to Europe and show me how many orange and red numbers you see. |
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tyroleanhat
Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Posts: 209
Location: Austria / China
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| Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Mixal wrote: |
| tyroleanhat wrote: |
| on average not worse than many European cities. If you have a university gig, the hottest and coldest (at the same time dirtiest) months are a good time to escape China. |
http://aqicn.org/city/chengdu/
Now move the map to Europe and show me how many orange and red numbers you see. |
Look more closely - you are comparing apples and oranges. European cities dont show pm2.5 numbers on this map. pm2.5 numbers are generally much higher than pm10 numbers.
pm10 numbers in Chengdu are almost as low as in European cities, even in the last few days, were the air was indeed a bit worse than usual.
Besides, I said it before, since March it has been almost constantly green and yellow (pm2.5) in my area of Chengdu. Sometimes orange, very rarely red. I know that because I check every hour.
So yes, today (and in the last couple of days) you are right. I know, bad timing to proof my point to you. |
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Hermosillo
Joined: 17 Jun 2014
Posts: 176
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
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| Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| tyroleanhat wrote: |
I wonder why Kunming wasn't mentioned yet. It's such a pleasant city with clean air, I always loved my time there. Lots of nature pretty close-by. The city is not huge but big enough to have some nice vegetarian restaurants - I would say.
Kunming is also one of the few cities where you can stay in winter and summer. These 2 seasons are usually very unpleasant in China. Speaking of which, I am in Chengdu now, and the air is surprisingly good in spring and autumn - on average not worse than many European cities. If you have a university gig, the hottest and coldest (at the same time dirtiest) months are a good time to escape China. |
I was going to say this, too. I live in Chiang Mai, which is a 1:20 flight to Kunming. They say it is like Chiang Mai on steroids. Mild climate...mountains, arts and crafts.... |
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The bear
Joined: 16 Aug 2015
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Hermosillo wrote: |
| tyroleanhat wrote: |
I wonder why Kunming wasn't mentioned yet. It's such a pleasant city with clean air, I always loved my time there. Lots of nature pretty close-by. The city is not huge but big enough to have some nice vegetarian restaurants - I would say.
Kunming is also one of the few cities where you can stay in winter and summer. These 2 seasons are usually very unpleasant in China. Speaking of which, I am in Chengdu now, and the air is surprisingly good in spring and autumn - on average not worse than many European cities. If you have a university gig, the hottest and coldest (at the same time dirtiest) months are a good time to escape China. |
I was going to say this, too. I live in Chiang Mai, which is a 1:20 flight to Kunming. They say it is like Chiang Mai on steroids. Mild climate...mountains, arts and crafts.... |
Having being to both Kunming and Chiang Mai I don't think they're alike, beyond being idolized by people.
Yes, Kunming has a nicer climate than most places in China, but Chaing Mai it's not! |
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The bear
Joined: 16 Aug 2015
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| tyroleanhat wrote: |
| Mixal wrote: |
| tyroleanhat wrote: |
| on average not worse than many European cities. If you have a university gig, the hottest and coldest (at the same time dirtiest) months are a good time to escape China. |
http://aqicn.org/city/chengdu/
Now move the map to Europe and show me how many orange and red numbers you see. |
Look more closely - you are comparing apples and oranges. European cities dont show pm2.5 numbers on this map. pm2.5 numbers are generally much higher than pm10 numbers.
pm10 numbers in Chengdu are almost as low as in European cities, even in the last few days, were the air was indeed a bit worse than usual.
Besides, I said it before, since March it has been almost constantly green and yellow (pm2.5) in my area of Chengdu. Sometimes orange, very rarely red. I know that because I check every hour.
So yes, today (and in the last couple of days) you are right. I know, bad timing to proof my point to you. |
PM10 numbers aren't as scary as 2.5. PM 2.5 gets into your blood and doesn't leave. China has a much, much higher count of 2.5 than European countries.
Additionally look at this map:
http://aqicn.org/map/europe/#@g/46.7362/10.415/4z
That's for AQI 2.5. Vast swathes of green all over the map, the odd yellow speck.
Now compare that to Chengdu....or even China.
I'm not doubting there are good days in Chengdu, but to compare it to Europe is a false statement. |
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tyroleanhat
Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Posts: 209
Location: Austria / China
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 12:46 am Post subject: |
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I don't know what else to say, except in the three spring months we had maximum 5 orange and 5 red days (especially lately). The rest was green and yellow. You may believe it or not.
By the way, winter was the opposite. After weeks of dark-red (hazardous) I was glad to finally have one day of red (unhealthy). |
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HeidiHector
Joined: 10 May 2017
Posts: 36
Location: China
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 4:55 am Post subject: |
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It's weird that we are talking about how pollution in China compares with that in Europe and PM 2.5 vs. PM 10.
The very fact that one has to finagle some kind of way to say that China is somehow okay in terms of its air quality is the very indicator that air pollution is much more serious there than most other places on earth. I mean, does anyone seriously believe that somehow PM 10 is, despite not as harmful as PM 2.5, "okay" to breathe in on a regular basis; just because it kills you later rather than sooner or makes you less sick doesn't mean that it's okay. These things aren't even in the everyday vocabulary of most people in Europe and NA to begin with. |
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Iloveamma
Joined: 26 May 2013
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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double
Last edited by Iloveamma on Tue May 23, 2017 4:22 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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