Job Discussion Forums

[bluetortilla]

I've taken a job in Guangzhou and just came across remarks that it was the most hated city in China! Aside from pollution (which I figure is any big city), what's so bad about ol' Canton? Isn't Guandong pretty much Guandong?

What criteria do people have for disliking Guangzhou so much compared to other cities?

[Non Sequitur]

I've only been there during the New Year celebration when factory pollution is probably low.
But, it had a spacious air with wide streets & nice buildings.
After hearing nothing but bad for years I was impressed.
Nice Metro too.

[AdrianG4]

I think -- I've never been -- it's big, beautiful and extremely modern by Chinese standards.

However, it has this scummy, corrupt -- "we're far from Beijing so anything goes here" -- South east asian cowboy town kinda feel.

I think it must be awesome !

[Non Sequitur]

I think GZ should be supported for the reason that BJ is trying to make them use Mandarin and not Cantonese.
Haven't heard mention over recent months.
Anyone have an update?

[sistercream]

If I could take make choice of mega-cities north of the Shenzhen River, Guangzhou would be my first choice Maybe it's because I prefer tropical weather, maybe because I tend to get along better with Yue than with northern Chinese, prefer Cantonese cooking, or just because I enjoy the crazy mix of old and new.
My personal most-hated mega-city is Shenzhen (at least of the ones with which I'm familiar)

[bluetortilla]

[bluetortilla]

Well, Guangzhou sounds just great to me. Thanks everyone!

[MisterButtkins]

bluetortilla maybe part of the problem is that while many people will get angry about something and go online to post about it, few people will go online and type out a long post about how happy they are. So really you get only the bad reports, it's not necessarily representative of the whole picture.

[bluetortilla]

I was in HK for a month about 20 years ago (yikes!), so I'd imagine with most of the inhabitants there coming from Guangdong, the 'feel' to it must be similar. And after all, it was Guangzhou, not the lonely port of Hong Kong, that was and is the center of Cantonese culture for so many centuries (correct me if I'm wrong).
About 8 years ago we had some kids from Guangzhou come to our town for homestay's (I was married then- yikes again!). Our girl was bright, gentle, and tried very hard to learn Japanese language and culture. She brought videos and pictures of her city and family, and it looked like a wonderful place. She left a really great impression on us and I don't attribute that just to the fact that her family must be wealthy. Great to know I'll be meeting her and her family soon.

We need to go by our gut feelings. I still would have gone to Guangzhou even if everyone said it was horrible. I'd come out stoic at least!

[igorG]

In fact, Guangzhou, Guangdong has its distinct standards/regulations from Beijing and perhaps other parts of the country. Some of those are in the real estate, some in business and some in the educational sector. In this city, for example, you can get a job in a public school that has recently been built and that holds few licenses to support its operation. No pro 'cause this is Guangzhou.

As for Mandarin vs Cantonese in the city, it seems to cause few issues. My observation is that many are flexible and non-confrontational. In public schools, all are supposed to use the Mandarin, although kids and even some teachers at times switch without being bothered much. Maybe this lenient approach comes for Beijing's policy of one country with two systems, where varieties of standards have been practiced. Worth mentioning that there are scores of Mandarin born Chinese that have moved in and "converted" themselves into local Cantonese and those kinds of people, in my opinion, are to look out for. They have a firm control of the city and province. One sign that you deal with such a person is when you hear a clear Mandarin although some second generations are pretty sleazy.

With regards to the pollution, depending on what part of the city and for how long, it may be from concerning to life threatening; however, if one is strong enough s/he will probably cope with it adequately well.

On the metro/subway that one has mentioned, it's, in fact, nice. It's long, efficient and so it reaches easily far to the outskirts and even as far as to other cities such as Foshan for example. Although it causes issues at its major transfers where passengers have to walk through other trains to get to their lines. I've got two kids and walking through just a half full train to get to my line scares me. If one of my kids got stuck in the metro while transfering, i'd be more than p*ssed. And, waiting at some stations could put you in a sauna like conditions as i experienced on Sunday. Then, when you get in a subway train, the temperature may suddenly dropp by some 15 C, which may trigger a serious cold. Locals do not have any common sense whatsoever when using the AC.

[HLJHLJ]

Temperature changes don't cause colds.

[igorG]

With all due respect, i believe the above info is wrong. But i agree that the temperature changes themselves don't directly cause colds, the sweaty clothes that cause sudden cooling effects and/or the overly blowing AC units on exposed parts of the body, especially head, may be the culprit.

[HLJHLJ]

People believe all sorts of things, that doesn't make them true. There is absolutely no evidence for it whatsoever. Not even for sweaty clothes or cold air blowing on your head, it's just old wives' tales. The main connection between colds and air conditioning is that AC can mimic or exacerbate symptoms by drying out the mucus membrane in the nose. Seasonal changes can increase or decrease the number of colds people get, because it affects the extent to which the viruses can thrive in the atmosphere, but going from a warm area to a cold one does not.

If you have any evidence whatsoever to the contrary (beyond 'I believe...') I would be interested to hear it.

[igorG]

I don't really want to get into some polarizing or flaming of the topic on as i have seen it on forums topics too many times. So, i hope this post can settle our differences.

[El Chupacabra]

I like Guangzhou well enough to have renewed my contract here. There's nothing wrong with it that isn't common to any megalopolis.

Food supply is abundant. There are many hypermarkets and even a few specialty grocers that import goodies from outside of China. The local food vendors tend to have the freshest fish and produce available in the wet markets. If you want to go out, you can get Yue style food which isn't hot and spicy, or easily find Chuan or Xiang style if you're craving hot and spicy.

Transportation is easy. There's an extensive tube and bus rapid transit system, which is well connected to major train and coach stations and rapidly approaching the airport. The airport itself is a convienient hub to the rest of China and the rest of the world.

I could add more but I don't want to remind myself of the five-paragraph essyas I'm pacing some of my students through this year. But my first sentence says a lot; those who know me well know I don't like to stay in one place more than a year. My wife and I both love Guangzhou, and already plan to stay for a third year.