Wats Shijiazhuang like?

Hey, I'm just wondering if any of ye have ever lived in Shijiazhuang? Wats the cost of living, nightlife and the city like? I've read that jobs there pay a bit less than other places but living cost's are also much lower. Any info would be great.
Thanks 

It's, uh....not an 'A' list city.
It kind of suffers the problems common to most lower-tier cities...dirty, polluted, squalid and ugly, although it has been getting something of a facelift lately. Isolated, provincial, staring-intensive, and boring can't be improved by Urban Renewal, though.

If you really want an off-the-beaten-path experience, you could do worse. But you could also do better.

I had a student from there, he talked about how it was a heavy industry center. Read:polluted by Chinese standards, which could well mean life threatening! 

Or at least grimy and skanky, especially in winter.
It's also far enough North to be in the heavy soft-coal-burning zone...

Thanks for the help lads. Thats what I like about this site, straight honest answers! I culd of looked at a number of other sites and I wouldnt of got a picture painted as clear.
Cheers 

I have spent huge amounts of time commuting to Shijiazhuang for business since day 1 of my China stay so I have seen that city evolve before my eyes.. it's a strange one!

Yes, it was one heavy mecca of smog and industrial pollution back in the days but it has gotten much better. The government has gone far and beyond in their efforts to clean up the city but they still got work to do.

It's gigantic and half developed with 5 star hotels, bars, discos and plenty of other amenities that can appeal to foreigners but it is very much a Chinese city.

It takes 2 hours on a D train to get to Beijing which is also a big plus for a day trip of shopping and what not.

One thing to remember is that it is the Capital of Hebei and the local government is quite paranoid. Hebei has the most stringent visa requirements and they're extremely weary of foreigners in the city after the milk scandal that took place there.

I still go about once a month and I love those trips, they're my "Chinese Weekends" as I call them with Baijiu, bathhouses, KTV and just plain old fun sitting on a street corner munching on chuan'r with a little erguoto

Now that you mention it, I do seem to remember many reports indicating that officials and public-school admins were extremely xenophobic, and that SJZ could be a pretty uncomfortable place to be foreign.