Job Discussion Forums

[jg]

I have those two cities among my choices for jobs, and I would like to know what they are like. I am not expecting Shanghai/Beijing of course, but I need to be able to get a nice mixed drink some evenings and have a disco or two. A disco where there are actually people dancing and making merry, and not just eating sunflower seeds at the bar... that was one of the good things about Jinan for me - there were two discos/bars where I could run into westerners or English speaking Chinese on a somewhat regular basis.

Before anyone snaps at me to learn the language, trust me, I am putting in the work. But I am still quite a ways away from bar chatter in Mandarin!

Any info would be appreciated. Lonely Planet is all I have to go on now, and I don't care where the long distance bus station is...

[Minhang Oz]

Apparently not. I visited a friend in Changsha once; he hated the place. We stayed about 2 hours and headed for Chengdu.
Students I've had from Guizhou say its "beautiful", but they would. It did look good on a Lonely Planet TV program though, and the food is popular here in Shanghai. Have a go!

[Steiner]

I live an hour from Changsha. There's a good Brazilian restaurant, not many expats as far as I can tell, and I don't really know about an expat bar scene. But I'm guessing there's not much in the way of expat nightlife. I could be wrong, though.

There's not too much to say about Changsha. It's not filthy, and it's not all that interesting. There's not much to see or do, but it's fairly well connected to travel elsewhere. It does have a Metro, a Carrefour, and a Walmart.

[Roger]

Both Guiyang and Changsha are backwaters and rather underdeveloped. Guiyang has recently been spruced up to some extent at least near the train station - but go farther away from the city centre, and it is an eyesore teeming with poor rural folks.
It's main attreaction is a waterfall some 120 kms away, which is worth visiting, as are the many villages peopled by different nationalities. The landscape is nice, the climate too except for the fact that there hardly ever is sunshine, due to industrial activities (although the air is not really bad or worse than in many other places).
To my astonishment, I heard several expats are living there; good luck to you then!
As for Changsha, I never liked it particularly. In summer, it gets extremely hot - close to 40 degrees centigrade, and in winter near freezing. Most locals have no heating. SInce it is south of the Yangtse, you need a very charitable employer to think of your comfort in winter!

[mr pink]

I stayed over night in Changsha waiting for a flight and I wouldn't suggest living there. The whole city seemed to be like one big dusty construction zone. Few western or even appealing bars. The people were a bit backward and how do I say...conservative. Expect really spicy food.

If anyone has had the opposite experience, I'd welcome another point of view. I don't care for Hunan in any shape or form, yet I read posts about teachers dieing to get there or who love living there. One summer session in the countryside was all I could stand. Can you say county wide power outs, meaning no juice for the ac???

mr pink

[randyj]

I spent a year in Changsha beginning in 2000, and I would return. As Roger says, the summers can be brutal. Foreigners number relatively few there. Compared to Beijing, one may suffer culturally, same as most cities. Guiyang is a pleasant place, but Guizhou is poorer than Hunan, with fewer people, so Hunan offers more opportunities. Ceterus paribus, I would opt for Changsha over Guiyang.

[Steiner]

More on Changsha

Ok, just let me echo what others said about power outages--even in Changsha city itself, and it mostly happens on the very hottest days. Power was out this summer on the days when it was 40 and above.

It doesn't just get near freezing, it gets below freezing. We had quite a few days of snow this past winter. Most people don't have heat, they have these electric bamboo boxes that sit on the floor. There's a heating element inside and you put your feet on the box, put a blanket over your legs, and you don't move away from the box. But your school would/should certainly provide you with something more substantial.

Spicy food, but it's really good. My wife and I like it a lot better than any other region except maybe Shaanxi.

It's a bit boring here, but we like living here. We're in the countryside, though. I don't know if I'd want to live in Changsha, but it's nice having Changsha to go to to get away from my small town.

[zydeco]

The above are some of the first positive comments that I've ever heard about Changsha. I can't say that I have any experience with Guiyang, but teachers stationed in Changsha are sometimes known to disappear in the middle of the night. As a place to live, it just isn't very appealing. You're in a decent location to do some travelling, but unless you're looking to rough it, why not just try to find a job in one of those other cities?

[Steiner]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that Changsha and the area nearby are really great if you're into historical sites of the CCP. There's Chairman Mao's hometown and Liu Shaoqi's home, the school Mao taught at, the one he attended, etc.

Somehow I doubt that's your cup of tea.