Job Discussion Forums

Trebek · Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Posts: 401 Location: China

I'm visiting China this summer (to decide where I want to teach), and would like to know which ones to include in my travel plans. I tend to favor smaller less polluted towns.

Any advice freely given will be much appreciated.

jg · Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 4:55 am Post subject:

The poll choices don't match the question - anyway, my favorite city is either Xiamen or Suzhou.

Can't go wrong with either one, I reckon. Suzhou has great gardens and restaurants and some nice areas to stroll around in. Lots of great bike lanes, for you cyclists out there. Add in the canals and the selection of drinking/dancing places and it's proximity to Nanjing and Shanghai, and it is a fab city.

Xiamen I mentioned in another thread, I think it was the "great places to work" thread or something.

Really though it is the friends you make who can save/savage a city. A "small" city in China can be 4 or 5 million people and they all have good local and regional Chinese restaurants, plus some sort of bustling shopping district. Just look around the board at all the happy folks in places you wouldn't expect people to be quite so content.

Louis · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 275 Location: Beautiful Taiyuan

Come to Taiyuan! It's big, *and* it's polluted!

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Start your tip with MACAU, then go to ZHUHAI; spend 3 days between the two towns, then move on to YANGSHUO, Guangxi A.R.; some spend months here; I am sure you have heard of it: same karst outcrops as Guilin but decidedly small-townish, with character and good eateries and guesthouses;
from here, go to KUNMING, Yunnan for a day or two (fairly big but not as big as Guangzhou, Peking or Hong Kong); from there to JINGHONG in the South of the province, then all the way along the BUrmese border to RUILI, BAOSHAN, DALI, LIJIANG - those are Yunnan's major tourist destinations - all quaint, small and with character, charm and folklore;
in SICHUAN, visit LESHAN and its huge Buddha; a few days in CHENGDU (not small but still attractive); AN'KANG in Shaanxi province;
Wending your way eastward, go to QINGDAO, QUFU (Shandong), ZHOUZHUANG in Jiangsu, just outside of Shanghai;
and HANGZHOU is a must; from there along the coast to XIAMEN.

nolefan · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1458 Location: on the run

Hangzhou : The chinese have a saying that can be translated into: "up above, there is a heaven. down on earth, there is Hangzhou"

Ludwig · Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 5:18 pm Post subject:

Your poll quite obviously does not tally with your message heading but, in answer to your question, the best city in China in my opinion at least would have to be Hong Kong (with Macau a distant second).

windsorman1972 · Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 12:35 am Post subject:

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Hong Kong definitely is out of the race!

It is neither "small" nor "the best" of all cities in China.

Believing otherwise is deceiving yourself!

Trebek · Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Posts: 401 Location: China

Pardon for the Question not matching the poll. I'm new here and this is my first attempt. Anyway, thanks for the excellent info on some good places to check out and keep it coming!

yaco · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Posts: 473

What is the matter with Hong Kong ????

How can you like Macau and not Hong Kong ?

Roger, please provide an explanation.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

What's the matter with you, Peter yaco??? Hong Kong is not in the same category as MACAU, you can't be confused over this, can you???
HK is unwelcoming, unfriendly, boorish, a shadow of its former self; on top of this it is too expensive, and not worth a cent if you are on a shoestring trip to it.
You are not sightseeing in HK, are you?
Methinks I remember the foreign maids are your main attraction there, not the town!
Now do take your Filippina girlfriend to Macau - maybe she will be allowed back in to HK! Maybe not! It's up to the big boys of the Immigration Department and its arbitrary interpretation of who gets the welcoming mat at its entry points! Your girlfriend probably is not one of those!

garbotara · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 529 Location: China

I think HK is not as great as it used to be , too. It has really changed and not for the better.I find it very expensive and not worth the money.I rather go to Macau or go to Guangzhou .I only go to HK if I absolutely have to do something there.The hotels are crappy and very expensive.The food is way overpriced as well.

oprah · Joined: 26 Apr 2003 Posts: 382

Those that have been to Makau, what is it like and why do you like it?