If you were me?

Fear the heat more than the cold.  China is humid.  No, not the humidity you know from home.  You don't know HUMIDITY 

Air conditioning in your home is not a luxury.  Make sure it works, and consider it a dealbreaker.

Heating, on the other hand, is way easier and cheaper.  In Suzhou most homes and offices actually use their aircons to heat!  Go with the far mmore pratical mathods: sweaters, block heaters and electric blankets.

Why do you loathe Dalian, out of interest?

It really is a change and a half from Korea though

Could you expand on that thought?  What are the biggest differences you have noticed?

Are Chinese women in general just as immature, puritanical, and full of themselves?  In other words, has the sexual revolution started to hit China yet, or are the vast majority of the single women (no matter their age) still virgins living at home with mommy and daddy?  Understand that I live in a smaller city and that it is slightly different in Seoul, but my experience with dating Koreans reminds me of dating in high school (or maybe even middle school).  I hope to find someone closer to my emotional equal. 

If you are a teacher, perhaps you could give me an idea of the attitude toward English education.  As I'm sure you know, real English communication is not stressed at the vast majority of schools here, including mine.  It's all about memorization and test taking.  Their ability and their future are based on exam scores.  I've found that actually being able to express themselves in English is rarely the objective.  Do you find the same thing in China?

Which language have you found easier to learn?  Chinese characters look very intimidating.  The Korean alphabet on the other hand is pretty straight forward.  How about pronunciation and grammar?

Thanks again to all for the tremendous input and help.  This community rocks!

It's all about memorization and test taking.  Their ability and their future are based on exam scores.  I've found that actually being able to express themselves in English is rarely the objective.  Do you find the same thing in China?

Yep. Same thing. I caught a kid in class yesterday memorizing the answers to a "fill the blanks" question on an exam paper. You know the ones? They have a number corresponding to the correct verb and you've gotta put the correct tense in. So he was learning the numbers and answers. They learn to pass exams. They don't learn English!

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It really is a change and a half from Korea though

Could you expand on that thought?  What are the biggest differences you have noticed?

Are Chinese women in general just as immature, puritanical, and full of themselves?  In other words, has the sexual revolution started to hit China yet, or are the vast majority of the single women (no matter their age) still virgins living at home with mommy and daddy?  Understand that I live in a smaller city and that it is slightly different in Seoul, but my experience with dating Koreans reminds me of dating in high school (or maybe even middle school).  I hope to find someone closer to my emotional equal. 

Chinese society is a society in denial... They like to believe that they are more moral, superior etc, to everywhere else, but in reality they're all shagging like there's no tomorrow.  And they tend to trick the foreigners into thinking it's more conservative than it actually is.  For instance, a female teacher at my old school got married, and one of the other FTs made some comment to me about how she 'wouldn't be able to walk' the following Monday.  I pointed out that it was unlikely that she would have got married a virgin.

If you are a teacher, perhaps you could give me an idea of the attitude toward English education.  As I'm sure you know, real English communication is not stressed at the vast majority of schools here, including mine.  It's all about memorization and test taking.  Their ability and their future are based on exam scores.  I've found that actually being able to express themselves in English is rarely the objective.  Do you find the same thing in China?

In that respect it is very similar.  I find chinese and korean students have the same inability to really USE their language.  It's frustrating.  Today I have tutored two different students.  The first kid can answer any question in the book, yet cannot actually TALK about himself or his own life, it's all I don't know, etc.  He is Korean, but many chinese students are the same.  The second kid is a major exception.  Even if his vocabulary isn't that great, he WANTS to talk!  God knows what his parents put in his cornflakes, but it certainly has worked.

Which language have you found easier to learn?  Chinese characters look very intimidating.  The Korean alphabet on the other hand is pretty straight forward.  How about pronunciation and grammar?

According to my korean tutoring student, Korean is a much easier language - as you say it's just an allphabet, and there are no tones.

About half my Uni class is Korean.  Their spoken English is poor for the most part.  Several of them have very good written English.  Some almost no written English.

I tutor 5 - 10 year old Chinese kids.  2 on Monday, 2 on Tuesday and 1 on Wednesday.  4 of them have significantly better English than my Uni students.  One probably would if I could convince him to talk.  When he does, he speaks clearly and correctly.  Just very very shy.  The youngsters coming up will beat the heck out of the current Uni students. I ask them all sorts of questions like what did you eat for breakfast, what did you do yesterday, etc.  One student I have to shut-up as he would spend the entire hour telling me how his day went.

Universities classrooms and at least the foreign teachers apartments have central heating in them - north of the Yangzi anyway.  However, the Government decides when it's cold enough to turn them on and hot enough to turn them off.  Here in Xi'an around the 15th March (off) and the 15th November - on.  This does not always work well - but while they are on the apartments and classrooms are comfortable enough.  My apartment has reverse cycle airconditioning in each room.  SOME of the classrooms I teach in - especially the really high-tech ones - have aircon.  Others - a combination of windows and fans.  One group of students bought their own aircon and had it installed in their classroom. 

According to my korean tutoring student, Korean is a much easier language

From non-Koreans, I've heard mixed opinions.  From Koreans, I am told on a daily basis how their language, their medicine, their food, their technology, the beauty of their women, their beaches, their mountains, their weather, their music, their movies, their fashion, etc., etc., etc., are unmatched in the world.  Some are quite shocked and insulted to hear a contrary opinion.  Their education system, their families, and their media have them convinced that they are a superior race living in a superior society.  So I've learned to take such opinions with a grain of salt, and simply nod and agree.

This is a harsh and unfair stereotype.  To be fair, there are plenty of Koreans who have traveled abroad or are otherwise much more open-minded, and I am ashamed to admit that the average American (some of my good friends and family included) is just as ethnocentric and ignorant of the outside world.

just as ethnocentric and ignorant of the outside world.

I think that problem exists world wide.  If you have never travelled more that 20 miles/km from your birthplace.  The world revolves around your village/city.  In small town Canada, if you weren't born there, you don't belong.  You aren't a member of the community - so it isn't even foreigners it is strangers - fellow Canadians from other cities or provinces.

Geography, world culture, aren't taught in schools.  People aren't given the information.  This is where the internet is changing the world.  Youngsters and teens are getting on and talking with people from other countries.  I think this will make the world a global community some day. 

To be fair, there are plenty of Koreans who have traveled abroad or are otherwise much more open-minded, and I am ashamed to admit that the average American (some of my good friends and family included) is just as ethnocentric and ignorant of the outside world.

Bambam, fair comment but let's generalise this a bit.  For Koreans insert any nationality and for American insert any other nationality.  No nationality always gets it right, and no nationality always gets it wrong.  Politicians (Hitler, Dubya, little Johnnie, whoever) want you to believe otherwise but they're wrong.  The tragedy in my country is that we are  becoming more xenophobic with every passing day and so many of the people don't even realise it.

So, let's try to get back on topic.  Which is better, Korean or Chinese students.  It depends very much on the attitude of the dancing white monkey standing up at the front of the class.

And I've just read your post DS.  I reckon we're on the same page.

Your right newbs.  I'm sorry for the off-topic rant. 

The question wasn't which students are better.  I'm not sure what the ctriteria would be for that question.  I was more interested in the educational philosophy.  I was hoping to find a school and an environment where actual English fluency was the goal, not just arbitrary test scores and memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules. 

Your right newbs.  I'm sorry for the off-topic rant. 

The question wasn't which students are better.  I'm not sure what the ctriteria would be for that question.  I was more interested in the educational philosophy.  I was hoping to find a school and an environment where actual English fluency was the goal, not just arbitrary test scores and memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules. 

While there are schools and students that have what you are looking for, it's not the standard.

Pass the test. Get the degree/certificate. Get a job. Learning anything is optional.

Find a school that is interested in winning English speaking competitions - these ones will at least want some level of Oral English proficiency.  Others just want to pass the exams - and the students are pretty much the same as I was when I studied subjects I was forced to take.  English is compulsory here - so the majority of students know they won't use it after they finish school/uni, and they figure it is a waste of time.

I'm with Stil...for the most part the concept of learning something in a classroom doesn't often seem to exist here in a form we will recognize...if indeed it exists at all. The students who really want fluency badly enough to work at it at all are a distinct minority, especially among public school or uni students. It's all about passing classes, getting degrees, landing jobs, obtaining visas. Even the competitions Lotus refers to are supported in hopes of giving Mr. Big School Owner Mans an impressive (and highly promotional) trophy to display, NOT to foster real fluency. (IMHO.  )

The ineptitude and weaseltry of the Korean hagwons is legendary, but Korea seems to have at least some things on the ol' educational ball. Other East/Southeast Asian countries may be the same with different flies on it, but in terms of educational philosophy I don't want to even IMAGINE a place worse than China. 

Weirdly though, for all that we bitch about the ESL standards in China, my friend who taught in Japan before she came here, says the standards are actually MUCH worse in Japan than China...