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[red]

Hello

This is just a very general question to those of you already in China who may be familiar with the above three places...

There is a strong possibility that I will be teaching in one of the above three cities as of September 04. I have yet to attend the interview and I have only carried out very basic research at this stage, hence my question: which city would YOU choose? I realise this is a highly subjective question and few people are likely to be familiar with all three. But I really have very little information about any of these places. The sum total of my knowledge is thus:
Guangzhou - big, dirty, polluted, good food; Zhongshan - small(er), a little dull; Humen - er..... ! As you can see, I am in dire need of some first-hand knowledge. Any recommendations? I am certainly not expecting any of these places to be an oasis of calm, beauty and tranquility, but a little open space would be nice - or at least, reasonable proximity to open space.

Thanks in advance.

[woza17]

I have been to Humen once to visit the opium museum and because it was a fun day trip and we went to the scenic spots, I can't really comment on the rest of the place. We had a lovely lunch at a seaside restaurant sitting outside with a fresh warm breeze and a cold beer. Ask the font of knowledge, Roger.
Cheers Carol

[Roger]

Thanks, Carol.
Perhaps you need to allow the school to choose you. In the end, you will probably have to accept what's being offered. If you live in Humen, you can always meet up with Carol in nearby Dongguan, just half an hour away. IT's a small place that I would not want to live in, but it's fast changing, and will eventually resemble any other town in the area such as Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen... all very dull places, though relatively clean and westernised.
Guangzhou is also in the same league though much bigger, and as you believe, dirtier. BUt it has a lot more old-time charms in historic temples and parks, not to mention colonial buildings.
You can also include in your considerations that place ZHAOQING someone else has posted about; it's a 2 hour busride from Guangzhou.