TheTerran
6/3/2016 09:03 EST
I’m a British guy thinking about living permanently in Guilin or Yangshuo.
I have quite high standards for aesthetics. On the other hand, I’ve lived in Manila (Philippines) for a few years so I know my way around a slum. However, I’m really trying to avoid a repeat of Manila conditions.
Now…to my problem…I’ve seen photos of Guilin looking beautiful (can fall in love with it!!!) but also I’ve seen photos of it looking horrid and slummy. I can’t figure it out. Can you please explain this to me? Are there just some bad parts of town? What is most prevalent, yucky parts or lovely parts?
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alanexp
6/13/2016 17:20 EST
Years ago Guilin was very pretty. But fours years ago when I was there visiting again it was all changed. Too many tourists, mainly from mainland China itself, spoiled and polluted the once beautiful and magnificent tourist spot. However I still admire the natural and scenic part which still stand out over time.
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TheTerran
6/14/2016 04:57 EST
ok.
Are there any parts of China that are actually nice to live in?
So far I've read about:
a.) Expensive places - Beijing, Shanghai, etc.
b.) Nasty cities with terrible traffic - Shenzhen, Nanning, etc
c.) Places that were nice but now nasty because of tourists - Guilin Yangshuo, etc.
Is there anywhere actually livable????????????
My criteria is:
Warm climate
Good value for money
Quite easy to travel around the city
OK traffic (doesn't have to be perfect)
Basic needs like hospitals, internet, etc
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KAIXIN
From: China
6/20/2016 20:04 EST
Guangxi province particularly Yangshuo is incredibly beautiful. It is quite reasonable in the off season, but Chinese Tourism has increased astronomically. Shenzhen is a very new, modern and relatively clean city, but a city is a city. If you want quiet and clean you must live outside the major urban areas.
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kylouman
7/13/2016 06:18 EST
They are both beautiful. My home is in Hechi with the hills all around. Slum is not a word for these places. Guilin would be my first pick.
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petboy520
9/26/2016 22:34 EST
Okay, from my experience, I have to tell you that the only city I know that fulfills all your criterias is the city Xiamen. It's in Fujian Province, to the south-east of China, just by the sea. It's actually an island, connected to the mainland by five (or six?) crosss-sea bridges and one subbottom tunnel.
1. Climate: it's a subtropical climate which means it's hot in the summer, warm in both spring and autumn and not very cold in winter (the lowest temperature in winter is about 7~8 degree centigrade).
2. Living expense: it's a little bit higher than most North-west cities, but just a little bit (may be around 5%-10% higher). So it should not be a problem if you are an ESL teacher or something like that. You know all around China, except for the gaint cities like Beijing or Shanghai, the living expenses are famously low.
3. Travel: Since Xiamen is an island which is not very big, travel around the city is soooooooo much easier comparing with the situations of the big cities. About every 500 metres, you can see a bus stop. And it also has tube and BRT as the supplements to the public traffic. So no worries here.
4. Traffic: The private cars are fastly increasing these years in Xiamen (actually in every city all over China), so the traffic situation is not as good as before. But it is still okay.
5. Basic Needs: There are two major hospitals on the island, which have their own helicopters. And there are also a whole bunch of comparatively small hospitals all around the area. So medical issues should be taken care of with no problem. And there are also schools, universities in Xiamen, among which The Xiamen University is quite famous in China. Internet? Since China Telecom has already connected the Internet to the deepest mountains, so...no problem there.
One more thing I have to mention here is: although Xiamen is a city by the sea, the view of its coastlilne is just so so. For one, there are over 1M people living on this big island, and secondly, the seabed around the island are mostly sediment, so it cannot be compared with the coastline in Boracay, or Bohol. But if you rent a car to drive south, about 2 hours driving, you will find a beautiful shore called LiuAo. It has wonderful beach and sea, which is quite a view.
That's about everything I need to tell you about this city. I lived there for 8 years, and it's like a second-hometown to me. You can check for more info online about it. Hope you have a nice travel there.
My name is Alan, and I am Chinese. I lived in Canada for four years and now I'm back to China, living in my hometown Xian. If you come to China, you can contact me and let me show you around. :)
Alan
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petboy520
9/26/2016 22:43 EST
Okay, from my experience, I have to tell you that the only city I know that fulfills all your criterias is the city Xiamen. It's in Fujian Province, to the south-east of China, just by the sea. It's actually an island, connected to the mainland by five (or six?) crosss-sea bridges and one subbottom tunnel.
1. Climate: it's a subtropical climate which means it's hot in the summer, warm in both spring and autumn and not very cold in winter (the lowest temperature in winter is about 7~8 degree centigrade).
2. Living expense: it's a little bit higher than most North-west cities, but just a little bit (may be around 5%-10% higher). So it should not be a problem if you are an ESL teacher or something like that. You know all around China, except for the gaint cities like Beijing or Shanghai, the living expenses are famously low.
3. Travel: Since Xiamen is an island which is not very big, travel around the city is soooooooo much easier comparing with the situations of the big cities. About every 500 metres, you can see a bus stop. And it also has tube and BRT as the supplements to the public traffic. So no worries here.
4. Traffic: The private cars are fastly increasing these years in Xiamen (actually in every city all over China), so the traffic situation is not as good as before. But it is still okay.
5. Basic Needs: There are two major hospitals on the island, which have their own helicopters. And there are also a whole bunch of comparatively small hospitals all around the area. So medical issues should be taken care of with no problem. And there are also schools, universities in Xiamen, among which The Xiamen University is quite famous in China. Internet? Since China Telecom has already connected the Internet to the deepest mountains, so...no problem there.
One more thing I have to mention here is: although Xiamen is a city by the sea, the view of its coastlilne is just so so. For one, there are over 1M people living on this big island, and secondly, the seabed around the island are mostly sediment, so it cannot be compared with the coastline in Boracay, or Bohol. But if you rent a car to drive south, about 2 hours driving, you will find a beautiful shore called LiuAo. It has wonderful beach and sea, which is quite a view.
That's about everything I need to tell you about this city. I lived there for 8 years, and it's like a second-hometown to me. You can check for more info online about it. Hope you have a nice travel there.
My name is Alan, and I am Chinese. I lived in Canada for four years and now I'm back to China, living in my hometown Xian. If you come to China, you can contact me and let me show you around. :)
Alan
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Spruik
10/23/2016 05:47 EST
In 2011 I spent two weeks in Guiyang, also visited Zunyi and a small village where no foreigner set foot before (I was told).
I was impressed with Guiyang (also Zunyi), from memory is was clean (especially by Chinese standards).
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