Raoul's China Saloon (V5.0) Beta
Da Woiks: Links, Library, News and Other Stuff More Useful Than You Are => Le Laowai Liberation League Labor & Lifestyle Lending Library (ON-TOPIC) => Location-Specific Info (ON-TOPIC) => Topic started by: Raoul F. Duke on June 18, 2007, 06:11:19 AM
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If you have a question about a specific city and don't see a thread about it, please ask here and we'll see what we can do. Ya might just get a new thread going! agagagagag
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So I have
been refused by rethought Shuangyashan and am seeking an appointment in many places. One lesser known or visited is Zhenjiang. I saw that Eagle went there and took some amazing phots. Any info. on the city? Spendy place to live?
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Help guys....has anyone been to Mianyang in Sichuan?
Please contact Jollyjunklass if you have info?
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Anyone got an opinion on Henan province?
All I can hear is it is agricultural
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I was in Nanyang for a while--small, small town in a big, big province. At a college.
From this I got:
Henan folk are genuinely pleasant people.
The food is crap. Bland. Noodles to the left; more noodles to the right.
There's a lot of dust.
Brief visits suggest Zhengzhou is great. A gigantic modernised throwback. a) It's big. b) it's chock full of tree-lined old style streets , and c) and it's fast being overlain by lots of plain sweeping highways. Word has it, the city itself is fast becoming ever more featureless too. Catch it while you can.
That's about it. I stayed in the small town for six months. Didn't get out much.
Overall: a tad bucolic.
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Zhengzhou has a good museum, if you like museums. The city centre is modern, seen as a financial centre. Locals complain about the emphasis on money. There are some good bars reasonably accessible.
It's a nice day trip over to Kaifeng - a very interesting city, especially for it's connection to Chinese Jewry. Kaifeng has a great night market beside the lake.
Further north is pretty coal oriented - Puyang and Hebi are small, but have a couple of nice river/lake activities.
Further south along the border is good climbing and mountain park stuff.
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I've had several real-time friends who had come from stints in Zhengzhou. None had much kindly to say about it; some were desperately glad to be out of it. Not the worst city in China- far from it!- but not near the top, either.
Parts of Henan seem OK to visit...there is indeed a lot of significant history that can be seen there. However, so many people have learned that richness in historical sites DO NOT necessarily indicate an interesting city or a tolerable quality of life.
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Lin'an, Zhejiang. Anyone ever been there? It's not covered much in my guide books.
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So I'm moving to Haerbin in two weeks... I've read up on it but if anyone has any insider info on places to go/not go feel free to share?
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Lin'an: Not covered much because there's not all that much to cover. Factories in town; some pretty country outside of town.
Harbin: We've had a number of Harbinoids on the Saloon. Can anyone jump in here?
I've visited and liked it. The international fame of its genuinely amazing Ice Festival should say much about the weather there....cold, cold, cold...but nice in the summer. Winters are a little grimy due to the mountains of dirty, low-quality soft coal they burn there. But it seems a nice, busy little city and has a decent expat scene. Strong Russian influence remains there. One drawback: it's rather remote, and you'll have a LONG way to travel to see other interesting cities.
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Hey Boston, You're in for some fun. Harbin is beautiful this time of year. I lived there (or thereabouts) for a bout a year and really enjoyed it.
Some cool places:
Hamamas Kofi Haus: Hamamas is run by a Papua New Guinean guy called Ronnie and his Chinese wife. It's a small, casual & very popular coffee shop. Big-assed mugs of brewed coffee 12RMB & half-priced refills. Decent cappucino, latte and milkshakes. Great hamburgers, sandwiches (on real bread) and subs. The have a smoked chicken and salad sub that's worth a plane ticket to Harbin. There's also a desert-bar to die for. The staff speak good English, it's no smoking inside and there's a great selection of English books to keep you entertained. It's a pretty good place to meet the local laowai contingent and some friendly locals, too. Say Hi! to Ronnie (you'll know him when you see him) and tell him Aussie Dave sent you. He'll smile and tell you you're welcome and charge you extra!
It's located right near Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT HaGongDa 哈工大) and the computer market (jianghua guangchang 教化广场)
The address is 2/104 Mu Gong Jie (木工街2号104室) Phone number: 0451-88581660
Most of the cabs know MuGongJie - call the shop from the cab and get them to tell the driver if you have trouble.
The computer market is also a great place for anything electrical. (jianghua guangchang 教化广场)
Harbin has a great central walking street - Zhongyang dajie (中央大街) in the downtown daoli district. The south end has the Holiday Inn Hotel with a great sports bar and the best western brekky in town (not the cheapest). The north end has the Songhua River and a Walmart. Lots of good shopping in between.
At the river end is Zhong Xia Video & Audio shop (9 Zhongyi St - just near the intersection with Zhongyang dajie) Zhong Xia is the owner, speaks good English and has the best selection of DVD's in town. If she hasn't got it she'll get it. Phone 139 4517 0327 Chinese address: 道里区中医街9号
Lone Traveller probably has the best info on the nightlife...
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Hamamas Kofi Haus
"Hamamas" means "Happy" in New Guinea Pidgin. Dunno how a bloke from New Guinea could survive in Harbin!!
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So, has anybody worked here before? What's it like?
I have no idea why I keep getting pulled towards living in this city, but it feels right! I can't find much online about other peoples' experiences though, and that's kinda worrying at the moment.
And if you've been there, would you recommend any particular Schools/Locations to work/live in? What should I avoid? Are there any Chongqing-specific weird things I should be aware of?
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Chongqing is now apparently the most populous city in the world. Seems everyone displaced by the Three Gorges Dam project moved there, so it's grown dramatically, the poster child for Urban Sprawl and pollution.
Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Must be a scene there. I have to admit I'm curious as Hell about the place.
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The girls in Chongqing have a reputation for being more beautiful than girls anywhere else in China. Why? Because their skins are so white. Why? Because the pollution is so bad they never see the sun.
Chongqing has had some incredibly BAD factory explosions, leaks from chemical factories etc. They seem to have to evacuate parts of the city every year or so. When they measure the acidity of rain, it has reached the same level as the vinegar you use.
Have fun there.
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The girls in Chongqing have a reputation for being more beautiful than girls anywhere else in China. Why? Because their skins are so white. Why? Because the pollution is so bad they never see the sun.
offtopic Every city in China claims to have the prettiest girls. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chongqing....
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One of my friends has a younger brother working at the Danish Consulate in Chongqing. He says that he has forgotten what the sun looks like. His discription of the place was, nerdy as ever, "Imagine Coruscant without the flying speeders and Jedi stuff".
offtopic Well, it's time someone did a comprehensive study regarding this beautiful girls malarkey. An official Saloon Fact-Finding Committee. My report from Lin'an and Hangzhou will be in by December and I suggest all the male members of the Saloon, who are obliged to be on said committee, follow suit.
Ladies, you can report on whether or not this holds true for the males also.
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bqbqbqbqbq... ahahahahah.
I'd be literaly rolling in it, it seems!
So, anything... positive? llllllllll
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Never lived there, but interviewed there once. Every account I've ever heard about Chongqing has NOT been good.
Uh,...except re: the girls. bfbfbfbfbf And I can promise ya it AIN'T just the skin. afafafafaf
Badly polluted. Horrible weather...it's one of China's famous four "Furnace Cities"; so hot in the summer that many factories and other businesses there literally shut down for several weeks in August...there just ain't that much air conditioning in the world. Much of it is dirty and ugly...even by Chinese standards. Con is correct...it is the most populous city in the world (although this is for the municipality, which is about the size of Texas...) and has the urban sprawl and traffic nightmares to match.
One would think CQ has a good scene, and maybe it does...but it's eclipsed on this score by nearby Chengdu, which has better weather, more expats, and a Bookworm. bfbfbfbfbf
(Oh...and the occasional earthquake... oooooooooo )
Sichuan food is a favorite in China, and every city has good Chuan Cai restaurants.
And Suzhou alone has more Sichuan girls than you can shake a stick at...if THAT's your idea of a good time. ::)
Personally, CQ would be low on my list of places to settle.
Well, it's time someone did a comprehensive study regarding this beautiful girls malarkey. An official Saloon Fact-Finding Committee. My report from Lin'an and Hangzhou will be in by December and I suggest all the male members of the Saloon, who are obliged to be on said committee, follow suit.
Agreed. Let's do it in the Men's Lounge, where everyone knows what the hell they're talking about. uuuuuuuuuu
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I like to look, but I'm not a raging Chinese-girl-'bashing' retard with no regards to how others feel...
Well, hmmm, I know I shouldn't believe everything (anything?) Chinese people tell me about how great their city is, but I've only come across great comments from the Chongqing-rens I've spoken to on MSN.
The fact that it's highly populated, I think is quite awesome. I experienced that kinda thing in Hong Kong whilst on a short trip, and I loved being able to just fade into the whole mass movement of things.
I've also noticed the lack of job ads for Chongqing, though. :(
Edit: I come from England so I'm used to lots of rain... but not the Vinegar aspect, I admit. bibibibibi
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Agreed. Let's do it in the Men's Lounge, where everyone knows what the hell they're talking about. uuuuuuuuuu
Ohh, ohh, I forgot about these Secret Forums! Me want! bfbfbfbfbf
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Keep postin' the good stuff, Unc. You'll get there soon. bfbfbfbfbf
And you're right about the homeys....reviews from them of their own cities absolutely cannot be trusted. They are very chauvinistic about their home cities, and the same against all other places. I think much of this is very much for their own benefit; they either convince themselves it's great, or go crazy. bibibibibi
I'm not a raging Chinese-girl-'bashing' retard with no regards to how others feel...
Then what the hell are you doing here? aoaoaoaoao
No, just joking. You can have quite the fine time here and do it ethically; you don't have to rage, be a retard, or bash anyone. Just communicate clearly, and yeah...consider people's feelings.
Personally, I plead insanity.
I'm jus' crazy 'bouts dat stuff. afafafafaf
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Back on topic, I went to Chongqing for business last year or the year before and I think it's come on a lot since those reports were written. Yes the pollution will be bad and yes you may not see much in the way of blue skies but that holds true for many big, industrialised cities in China. What I saw was pretty good (including the Hilton Hotel afafafafaf).
The city centre was like Chengdu, pedestrianised, lots of big glossy department stores, I was on the hunt for Strepsils and saw a few of the big dept stores had imported food sections as well as all the made-in-China foreign food. Local food will be great provided you like spicy (and who doesn't). It's a very hilly city so you might have trouble getting around by pedal cycle but you could always get an electric bike and they've done a lot of work in recent years to greenify (is that a word?) the city centre so the ride from the airport to downtown, for example, is along a nice tree-lined expressway.
It's still not as nice as Chengdu, and the expat scene is no way as developed as Chengdu, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. And you are close enough to Chengdu (2-3 hours by bus on the expressway) that you can come to us for shopping, Bookworm, Western food etc. You should be able to find a job in either a uni or a high school easily enough, when are you hoping to come?
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No, just joking. You can have quite the fine time here and do it ethically; you don't have to rage, be a retard, or bash anyone. Just communicate clearly, and yeah...consider people's feelings.
Indeedy-do, and a little bit of patience pays-off. Afterall, you don't want to be having Sex with somebody who's Body is akin to a Sewer of Disease.
"Hey Mum! I had a great time in China, and I've come back with Aids!"... bibibibibi
LaowaiSaoSao, thanks for the reply! :)
It doesn't sound so bad, to be honest. I'm not fussed about a strong Expat community and, in fact, I didn't much enjoy the Expat scene in Shenzhen. A lot of the guys were obviously just 'passing through' and taking advantage of anything they can, and I'm a bit too young (and annoying) for the Oldies to really take me seriously. ahahahahah
Got a ton of energy for those Hills, though! bfbfbfbfbf
Edit: I'm planning to go out there for the 2nd half of this coming School Year. So, February, 2009 I would guess. I need the whole Visa issues to settle down somewhat, too.
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One tip when you're internet searching for info/jobs on Chongqing (apologies if you already figured this out), Chongqing technically isn't Sichuan, it used to be and then they split it into a separate municipality. So although it's still Sichuan at heart, it might confuse things if you look for stuff on "Chongqing, Sichuan".
Bearing in mind when you want to come, I will keep my eye out for anything relevant. Provided you are going to a proper uni or high school, have a degree, are coming from your home country and leave plenty of time the visa really won't be a problem so I wouldn't worry about that too much. And if you get stuck for a job in Chongqing I can point you in the direction of a good employer here or in Mianyang (if you fancy somewhere less expatious - another new word!). Happy job-hunting.
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Thanks for the kind offer, but there is one problem in that I don't have a Degree... bibibibibi
Of course, that will remain a big issue when finding legal employment, but with 6 months previous teaching experience in China and being a native speaker, I'm hoping I won't have to settle for the worst of the worst.
The requirement of being 'white', is also no problem. Believe it or not, I received an award at my previous job, for being the 'Whitest Teacher' in the School's history. ahahahahah
I didn't know that about Sichuan/Chongqing, so thanks for pointing it out. Are you aware of any specific Employer's who can apply for the Residence Permit, with exceptions (in terms of needing a Degree)? I hear that some Schools can do this, just as other requirements can be 'by-passed', such as older age. I'm 24. :)
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I still reckon you will find something, Chongqing just won't be overloaded with teachers, but you may not get a uni job. Lots of high schools want teachers too and I know of kindergartens in Chengdu that will employ people without degrees (and get work permits) so I'm sure you will be fine.
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Thanks, that's great to hear (read?).
I've taught from age 6 to 14 before, and I must admit I do prefer the older students. I don't think I'd feel good teaching University students, having no degree and all.
I'll try to find a High School job first of all, then maybe look into Middle School's.
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Have put in an application in a uni in Dongguan (no idea of the name, only that it's a public uni- going through Angelina's). Can anyone tell me (who's in the know about DD) where Songshan Lake Daxue Rd is in relation to the city proper??
Thanks :)
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I think SongShan Lake area is where Crippler and Ruth live.
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Ooohhh, so decent area, decent people then agagagagag?
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Ooohhh, so decent area, decent people then agagagagag?
Well .......
Nevermind
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Knew somebody would come back with a comment like that ahahahahah!
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Reposting...
Anyone know where Songshan Lake Road is in Dongguan? Looking at a job there (among other prospects, but they all seem to be terrible getting back to you!) and want to know where it is in relation to Dongguan city proper.
Thanks!
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It's out of the City proper, on the way to Chang'an where ND used to live.
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So how far away? Is it easy to get into the city? If I happen to work here I would probably take weekend trips most weekends to Guangzhou or Shenzhen, just want to know if it's viable.
Thanks bjbjbjbjbj!
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I don't know details, but there seemed to be busses running around all the time. PM Ruth or Non Dave for better info.
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I was waiting for Ruth to jump in here with chapter & verse as she works for said uni and lives on-site, but...
Dongguan is a biiiiiiig city - in terms of its land area. It includes 30-odd towns under the mantle of Dongguan City and stretches from the northern edge of Shenzhen to the southern end of Guangzhou. About a 2 hour drive on the highway, and very little undeveloped land in between. This is, after all, the manufacturing center of the world and there are wall to wall factories (some now empty!) as far as the eye can see.
The main "downtown" area is made up of the four suburbs of guancheng, nancheng, doncheng and wanjiang. This is where most of the shopping, restaurants and major government departments are found.
Songshan Lake is a newly developed district heading south of the main areas lsited above - about 15-20 kms I'm guessing. It contains the beautiful Songshan Lake with a brand new Hyat Hotel on the shore and surrounded by the university, a couple of schools and lots of new "high-tech" businesses. The major town of Dalingshan is abut 5 minutes away.
I takes between 30-60 minutes by local city bus to get there from downtown and about 50RMB by taxi.
It's a nice new area, but it is a bit away from the major retail/restaurant strips.There is a KFC there, however, so it can't be that bad!
Access to Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guangzhou & Macau is all pretty easy and inexpensive. There's also the Dongguan towns of Dalingshan (electronics), Houjie (shoes & furniture) & Humen (best clothes shopping in the world) surrounding Songhan Lake.
I believe that particular university pays really well and doesn't have terrible workloads and if I was ever going back down south I would definitely be trying to get a gig there.
PM Ruth for more info...
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Ooohhhh, thankee very muchly ND! I am hoping this is a comfortable place to live, as I would like to stay put for a few years (provided the uni will keep me!). Wow, I had no idea Dongguan was THAT big! I am assuming it's pretty easy to buy Western food in the town, e.g. fresh ground coffee, pasta, bread etc? I admit I DO want to live in a more 'westernised' area, but with easy access to Guangzhou as I will go to church there, and perhaps look at becoming an IELTS examiner in the future, so commuting back and forth pretty much every week!
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No probs, Becs. There's some great imported food shops in the downtown area and even the local supermarkets have a pretty good selection of western food. There's a huge foreigner population in this region, so we get well catered to - very different from the sticks, more like Beijing or Shanghai without the crowds.
But then there's the way people there speak. To paraphrase & translate from the Chinese: "I fear nothing on earth and nothing in heaven - except a Guangdong man speaking Putonghua!"
...and many of the foreigners will be Brazilian or Europeans and will definitely NOT be English teachers.
A good place for Dongguan info is www.heredg.com
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Sorry - just now seeing this thread. Non-Dave has done a great job of explaining the area to you. Buses leave from Dongguan almost every hour for Guangzhou. Getting back and forth is not a problem. Takes about an hour, depending on traffic and where you are heading, of course.
Songshan Lake is developing rapidly since TPTB have decreed it so. In the year that I've lived out here at the uni they've painted lines on the roads, installed street lights and covered bus stops (vs. flagging down a passing bus, which is still possible BTW) and increased the local bus service from two bus routes serving the campus to 4. Reasonable shopping exists just minutes away in Dalingshan (complete with McD's and KFC) and for your western fixes there are any number of shops in Dongguan proper, about 45 minutes away by bus.
PM me for the scoop on teaching here, if you want more info.
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Thanks very much for the info- I don't know the actual name of the school (yet) but do know it's on Songshan Lake Daxue Rd. I just don't want to be stuck in a continual rut living somewhere everyone 'says' is okay then find it's in the middle of whoop whoop and hard to get out!
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Thanks very much for the info- I don't know the actual name of the school (yet) but do know it's on Songshan Lake Daxue Rd.
Could it be Dongguan University of Technology. (1 Daxue Rd., Songshan Lake, Dongguan City 523808 mmmmmmmmmm ??
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Possibly, I really don't know at this stage...I will ask though once I hear more.
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I've gotten an offer from a school in Nanchang. So, I'm basically calling out Eric to share his opinion of the place! If anyone else has experience there, please feel free to share as well.
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My impression of the place was not good. Large without being prosperous, developed, or sophisticated. And STINKING hot...it's usually included among the legendary "Four Furnace Cities of China" (along with Changsha, Wuhan, and Chongqing). aoaoaoaoao
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Thanks Raoul! Similar replies from foreigners turned me off from the job, as the offer wasn't that much better than those I was getting elsewhere. I tend to think China is really hot and dirty in the summer in general, I don't really want to go to a place that is famous for being hot and dirty.
Of course, I'm off to Wuhan. ahahahahah
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Ha yeah you will find Wuhan both hot and dirty. Where are you teaching? It's still a cool place to be, changing very quickly. The first subway line will be done next summer (allegedly) and in 10-15 years it will probably be a nice modern city. Until then, anything goes.
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I'm going to be teaching at WUST Zhongnan, in Wuchang. I heard it is better to be in Hankou, but such is the life of a uni/college teacher, I guess.
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That subway must be a godsend. I've only visited Wuhan once, but the transportation seemed kind of crappy; navigating a a gazillion bus lines crawling through heavy traffic in the heat.
I remember there being lots of "food streets" in Wuhan (I think the breakfast street is in Wuchang), if you're into street food, which I definitely am (but then again, I think I've heard that Wuhan is the centre of the reprocessed nasty cooking oil scare).
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So, I've been offered some summer work in Zhangjiagang. Considering there are a lot of Suzhou people on this board, I was hoping that someone has been there or at least heard of it. I'm not too thrilled with Nanjing, and would welcome the chance to live somewhere else for a month in between jobs... if it was at least kind of nice. Can anyone chime in?
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Hello everyone! First time poster here.
Does anyone have any opinions of Shenyang or Changzhi?
I saw from another thread (I believe it was about Dalian) that Raoul thought that Shenyang was a "poohole." I did not see any reasons why he thought this. After some cursory searches online it seems like Shenyang would be OK, but I prefer personal experiences.
I can not really find much of anything online about Changzhi, so any information on that city would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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Welcome, FitchA!
I think Shenyang is a poohole compared to Dalian, but as such things go you could do much worse than Shenyang.
It's extremely cold in winter; it's too far inland to get the moderating ocean effect that Dalian enjoys.
I always found Dalian to be interesting and stimulating and progressive; a vibe I never got from Shenyang.
Shenyang struck me as being much grimier and uglier than Dalian.
Shenyang's one saving grace, the one thing that keeps it from being just another dull and dirty and frigid DongBei city, is the fact that it's home to a number of foreign consulates. This means you'll find foreign goodies and English-language conversations that you wouldn't enjoy in many other cities.
I've never even heard of Changzhi...it must be awfully small. Is it also in Liaoning Province?
Either way, small cities offer their own challenges. Some people love them and stay there a long while, and others will go barking mad within a month and return home in horror.
Search around The Saloon and you'll find numerous conversations about cities vs smaller towns.
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Thanks Raoul!
Changzhi is in Shanxi province.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changzhi
As you can see there is very little information about Changzhi on wikipedia, so apparently no one else has heard of it either.
Thank you for the information about Shenyang! Cold winters will deter me very little as I have lived on the Illinois/Wisconsin border most of my life, and I went to school in Minnesota. The mention about the pollution is a dampener, but I think most cities would have that charming layer of grime.
Again, you have my sincerest thanks Raoul!
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Ain't no thang, Bro. agagagagag
The mention about the pollution is a dampener, but I think most cities would have that charming layer of grime.
True for northern cities, but another area where Dalian stomps Shenyang as a place to live. Dalian gets ocean breezes that sweeps much of the crap in the air out to sea for the Koreans to enjoy. uuuuuuuuuu Coastal cities have by far the best air in the developed areas of China.
Shenyang, sadly, has no such cleaning system. What happens in Shenyang STAYS in Shenyang.
As for Changzhi...personally, a small town in Shanxi Province is my idea of Hell. That's just me; there are folks who love these venues.
Chances are it'll be a bit warmer than Shenyang, but even more polluted. MUCH more...Shanxi is the heart of the soft-coal mining (and burning) country. Not just the shitty coal, either...a lot of the nastier smokestack industries are there for the coal. It will likely be backwards, isolated, boring, and highly staring-intensive. Again personally, I can't imagine going there without some ability to speak Chinese. I would develop a case of the screaming woo-hoos in such a place. apapapapap
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Good call on not going to Changzhi without some skill in speaking Chinese. Currently I can say "I can not speak Chinese." and "beer."
I suppose I will stay far away from Changzhi.
Again, thanks for all the help Raoul!
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Well...get more opinions, Fitch. Don't let any one person (even me!) (ESPECIALLY me!) decide for ya. I think you'll ultimately decide rural Shanxi is not for you, but at least give it an airing.
If you really want to get in to the get-down funky down-wid-de-homeys full-force heart of China, a place like Changzhi would be great for that.
Just know that a lot of people who say they want that experience don't really understand exactly what that experience entails. aoaoaoaoao oooooooooo
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Hi all, I have just taken a post for 6 weeks in Shunde in Guangdong. I have found a little info on the place but am wondering if anyone can give me a bit of info from on it. Ie: nightlife, shopping, and transportation. Apparently I can take a ferry from HK there but not sure which terminals in HK to catch it at as there are a few. Anyway, any info will be helpful.
Thanks bjbjbjbjbj
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I lived in Shunde in 2003 but if you want the lowdown, PM Brandex. I believe he has been living in the area for several years.
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thanks Stil, what was it like back then? I imagine due to its proximity to HK that it was/is pretty much an industrial area similiar to Shenzen but on a smaller scale.
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The Wikitravel article on the surrounding area shows Shunde on a map:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Pearl_River_Delta
Their article on Shunde itself is crap, but they have good stuff on some nearby places.
There's a ferry HK-Zhongshan that would get you to Shunde, but trains might be better. The fast train from Guangzhou to Zhuhai is now in service, though only to the suburbs of Z last I heard. Does it stop in Shunde?
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Thanks Pash, I had looked at the wiki article and I agree, but the map I had not seen and it does give me a better idea of the location in relationship to the bigger cities around it. bjbjbjbjbj
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Hi guys!
I'm lookin' for some info on Lingang New City or the "Shanghai Harbour City". How's it like for livin'?
Wikipedia has only this much to offer-"Lingang New City (Chinese: 临港新城; Lingang New City, Shanghai Harbour City) is a planned city located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. Construction began in 2003 and is scheduled to be completed in 2020."
Does anyone have any experience of visiting it or knowing what's it like? All I know is that its about 60 kms from downtown Shanghai.
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I lived in Shunde in 2003 but if you want the lowdown, PM Brandex. I believe he has been living in the area for several years.
Yeah, pretty much or perhaps not at all. I was drunk most of the time.
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I'm lookin' for some info on Lingang New City or the "Shanghai Harbour City". How's it like for livin'?
Wikipedia has only this much to offer-"Lingang New City (Chinese: 临港新城; Lingang New City, Shanghai Harbour City) is a planned city located in the Pudong district of Shanghai, China. Construction began in 2003 and is scheduled to be completed in 2020."
Does anyone have any experience of visiting it or knowing what's it like? All I know is that its about 60 kms from downtown Shanghai.
I'm in Shanghai but know almost nothing about that area, which may be a bad sign. ananananan
There's some decent overall Shanghai info at: http://wikitravel.org/en/Shanghai
On the map there, under http://wikitravel.org/en/Shanghai#Pudong_and_outer_districts
what you are looking at is the lower right corner.
Pudong translates as East of the river. It is a huge district and the whole thing has been made a Special Economic Zone with various things done to encourage investment. It has worked. The whole area was mostly farmland a few decades back but now downtown Pudong (mainly the point sticking out into the river opposite the old center of town on the West bank) has more skyscrapers than New York.
The rest of Pudong (the Southern 80%) is usually referred to as Nan Hui. It is fairly developed and heavily populated but feels more like a provincial city than like central Shanghai. Probably a lot cheaper to live in, maybe more of a "purely Chinese" experience than central Shanghai which has at least 100,000 foreigners and a whole ecology of Western restaurants, bars, etc.
I do not think there is a metro line out to Lingang yet, but I could be wrong and anyway they are continually building new lines. Map here: http://www.urbanrail.net/as/shan/shanghai.htm then click at the bottom for a larger map showing "possible future extensions". I think it is out of date; most of those extensions are already in service.
There are metro lines out in that general direction, though I do not think any reach Lingang. Line 2 now goes all the way to Pudong airport, which is on the coast somewhat North of L. Line 6 goes N-S through much of Pudong and Line 8 wanders into S Pudong, but I don't think either goes nearly far enough for you.
My guess is getting to central Shanghai from L would involve either a couple of hours on bus then metro or a hour and something like 200 rmb in a taxi. If you look on the subway map, I'm down at Dong Chuan Road out near the end of Line 5. It is an hour by metro or 110 by taxi for me to get downtown.
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Thanks, Pashley! Appreciate it. I'll be going there soon so will post some info about the place after I find it out myself. bibibibibi