Job Discussion Forums

dan · Joined: 20 Mar 2003 Posts: 247 Location: shanghai

I curious to learn more about Nanning (not to be confused with Nanjing) than the travelogues offer. Any info at all will be appreciated, esp. food, weather, local people, nightlife and ESL climate/demand for English. Thanks.

kimo · Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 668

None of my business, but I'll bet you met a woman on the internet. Something about the internet and Nanning.

Anyway, Nanning is a fairly liveable city located in a subtropical climate. It's relatively clean. Summer is hot and a bit steamy. Winter can be a little cool, but not long. Choices for employment are not great but if you look around you will find schools from there advertising. Do not expect big wages. They are about average. The people are very friendly and contrary to what people might say about a predominantly ethnic area of China it is possible to find many, many people who speak standard Manadarin Chinese with the exception of "s" for "sh" often. In Western style shops prices do not vary much from Beijing. On the street they are cheaper but southern people are tighter than Beijingers I believe and it is difficult to get the best price from them.

One note about Nanning, it is dammmm dangerous to walk on the streets there. They are more 125cc motorcycles than people. Sidewalks are fair game to ride on.

Now I'll let Roger pull out his Guide Book and tell you more.

Bertrand · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 293

AKA · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 184 Location: China

Don't worry Kimo, the rest of us know what you mean. In the market place anywhere in Guangxi, it's impossible to tell the difference between "si kuai qian" and "shi kuai....", except that sometimes it 's always "si", and othertimes it's always "shi". You've got to go with sign language to be sure.
And Bertrand, if you don't know what's going on, stay out. Anyway, you're meant to be on holidays, so give us a rest from your lectures.

ps A sometime poster by the handle of Lela was/is a Nanning resident. Track down her profile and PM her.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Kimo's description of Nanning is fairly accurate. To me, it is a nondescript place whose main charm is the local populace being Zhuang. Not a big difference except that the language you see romanised differs somewhat. Of course, they all are Mandarin speakers too. BUt as a so-called "Autonomous Region", it has officially to reflect local "minority" culture. You will notice far more interesting examples of differences in the garments women wear, and earrings.

The reason why some people opt for a place like Nanning is because it is close to other scenic areas such as Guilin (4 hours by train), Kunming (about 12 hours by train) and Beihai on the sea. Vietnam is pretty close too.

davis · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2003 11:32 am Post subject:

I live and teach in Nanning. The weather is nice in the fall and early spring. Cold in winter but not freezing. Summers are hot and humid. There is plenty of night life and a couple of places that foreigners can usually be found. There are teaching opportunities here but like the man said the pay is average. Usually in the 3500-5000 per month range. People are friendly and the city itself was very pleasing to the eye but that is disappearing as more and more trees and old neighborhoods are being torn down to make way for development. A good portion of the city is currently under development. Prices seem a little higher than in other places like Sichuan or Yunnan but not outrageous. We're about 4-5 hours from Guilin by bus and 2 hours from Beihai. (a coastal resort town) You can PM me with specific questions if you wish....