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[Senor Boogie Woogie]

I was the one who started the post, "What do the locals do that drive you crazy" thread. Now for the upside, in what ways is China better than your country or even municipality.

1.) Not having to have a car. Although my wife has a car (to my chagrin), I do not have one or have ever really have seen the use of buying one or having one. On the contrary, I love not having a car. Cars are so expensive. Maintenance, insurance (I HATE insurance), government extortion (license, fees and taxes). Most important, having to depend on my car to take me to my job or where I need to go because the USA for the most part has a sucky transportation system, and taxis that are very expensive. Then there is the stress of driving, dealing with cops and fear of something breaking down.

Usually, I take the city busses or taxis. Even though it is more expensive than what it used to be, 11 RMB flag fall is still an economical rate. I will say that my wife does own a car, and I have asked her about getting a drivers license, but she doesn't want me driving for fear of getting into an accident. Fine by me.

2.) Alcohol laws. There are none. I love it. I actually did something that I could not do back in Tennessee, buy a bottle of wine on Sunday. Why? Because it is Sunday. Also, each state is different, but my backward state (or states as I claim Mississippi too as a home state) does not allow wine sales in a supermarket. Only in a liquor store that has to close by 11 AM and cannot be open on Sunday. China? Every little corner shop sells wine. 24 hours, seven days a week. There is no time that the stores are not allowed to sell alcohol. None of this "closing time" BS. If I want a bottle at 8 AM on a MF'ing Sunday, I get my wine.

There are no drinking age either. I have been in bars from Shanghai to Urumqi, from Sanya to Beijing and have yet to see any Chinese people under the age of maybe 20 in the bars. I have never, ever seen high school aged kids in the bars, even though it is perfectly legal for them to be there. Once, several years ago, I visited a friend in Shanghai and we went to this local place he liked and as we were chillin' at the bar, a bunch of American teenage kids walked in, 15, 16, 17 year olds. Personally, I thought they were too young to be in there, but I do not see the harm in letting them learn how to drink, instead of sneaking around. They are only in there because they cannot indulge legally back home. I had a college dorm friend who was arrested by undercover cops buying a bottle of wine for a date with his girlfriend, at TWENTY. This would not happen in China.

3.) The banks are open everyday and it being Sunday, the weekend, or holidays, even Chinese New Years. In the USA, the banks are closed on Sundays, mot Saturdays after noon and any and all holidays, even dinky holidays like Columbus Day. Nothing like going to the bank to see that it is Columbus Day and they are off because the government is off.

4.) If Keith Moon, drummer of The Who were still alive, he would love the insane firecrackers.

[Isidnar]

The HR girls pay my bills for me.

Far fewer Westerners.

[old34]

4.) If Keith Moon, drummer of The Who were still alive, he would love the insane firecrackers.

Agreed. But don't give up hope on this one. The Brits are trying to revive him for an Olympics 2012 appearance. At which, I'm sure, there will be fireworks, Keith or no Keith.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/keith-moon-drummer-died-1978-invited-play-olympics-173439598.html

[MK]

- OK, I will get booze out of the way first...Many bars will stay open until the last customer finishes drinking, even if that is 6:30 am.  On a related note, it's generally OK to get a bit 'merry' in a bar or even restaurant without getting chucked out by bouncers or somebody starting a fight (generally).  Going out on the lash at home (UK) is ironically very big-brother-ish after China.

- Eating out is excellent and affordable (understatement).  Whereas it's about 5 pounds for a plate of mangy fried rice in a UK take-away.

- Public transport, overall, is actually better here than it is the UK I reckon.

- People understand that the rules need to be bent sometimes (OK, they also tend to take this too far but sometimes it works in your favour).

- People here seem more cheerful and optimistic overall, and as much as many Chinese people like to remind us of their '5000 years of history' they are in fact a very forward looking nation right now.

[cruisemonkey]

The HR girls pay my bills for me.

I don't have any bills... and I can smoke anywhere.

[El Macho]

1.) Not having to have a car.

would top my list as well, and

3.) The banks are open everyday

is great, too.

I also love how easy it is to travel somewhere interesting in a relatively short period of time. Historical sites are a stone's throw away. At home it's quite easy to travel a short period of time and find yourself in amazing wilderness (something that I dearly miss), but here you can travel a short way and come across some really amazing history.

Seeing all that's being built, and all that's being torn down.

I love the colonial cities, especially those built by the Japanese in "Manchuko". Not the happiest mementos for the Chinese, but what interesting places.

And my current favorite thing: Uighur food. It's impossible to find in the west.

[dragonsaver]

Cell phones are for the most part inexpensive to purchase.  They work all over China.  They are much much much much cheaper to use than a cell phone in Canada or the USA.   

[becster79]

I always tell my students that China is so much better than Australia, but they don't seem to believe me (probably because most have dreams of migrating there!)!

-Electricity is cheaper here!!!
-Public transport is SO much better (non existant in Queensland!)
-Every day is interesting & an adventure
-We are in a fantastic city with so much choice, and if we get bored there's another large city to the West (Guangzhou) and 1 south (Hong Kong) only an hour away in either direction
-Job opportunities, at least for foreigners, are endless here
-China is a great springboard to travel to the rest of the world- Oz is ssssoooo far away (& ridiculously expensive- you still need to overnight usually in Hong Kong before going on!)
-Rent is cheaper here, though not by a lot now
-Walking home in the dark by myself after work isn't a problem- I wouldn't dream of doing it after sunset at home.
-Get to work with a myriad of cultures and meet more interesting people!
-Life is just cooler here. Don't ask me to explain it!

[Fozzwaldus]

And my current favorite thing: Uighur food. It's impossible to find in the west.

Ningbo too... 

my list starts with the fact that I get work opportunities here that would be much scarcer at home.

I get respected for what I do here, by both students and average Joes.

No matter which uni I've taught in I've been lucky to have beautiful hard-working students whose warmness I'll never take for granted.

Also the food. The food. The food. Even in Ningbo.

[The Local Dialect]

Hmmm. I will probably repeat some of what has already been written.

-- The job market is better, for foreigners, for the time being. If you don't mind being pigeonholed into certain lines of work, then it is easy to get a job.
-- Public transport is way better in most Chinese cities than it is almost anywhere in America.
-- Travel is cheap and there are lots of cool places to go. Taking yearly vacations is something I would likely not be able to afford back home.
-- Clothing is cheap and abundant.
-- Eating out is affordable and usually good, even if lacking in variety.
-- (*ducks*) Piracy is socially acceptable and pirated goods are super cheap and easy to come by.

[George]

Being able to sit on the footpath under a shady tree and eat BBQ and drink icy draught beer.....I miss that.
Plus all of the above!

[Borkya]

I would agree with pretty much everything already said.

The biggest thing I noticed is my health. Because I don't have a car here, I ride my bike or walk everywhere and within the first few months of arriving here I lost a bunch of weight. Also, I live on the 4th floor in a elevator-less building and at first I hated it. But now I bound up 4 flights, 5 flights or even 6 and think nothing of it.

I also go to the dentist more (because in China I can afford it, in the US I couldn't) and I see a dermatologist every year for a skin check (I'm really pale). These are things that were a big concern for me before. Yes, I did go to a dermatologist but I had to make an appointment ONE YEAR in advance. And if something happened and I couldn't make it I was SOL for another year.

So I know it seems odd to say my health, and healthcare situation has improved in China of all places, but it really has. 

[tomhume89]

1) It's safer. By that, I mean I can walk ANYWHERE in the city without going into a dodgy area where I might worry about my wallet and/or life.

2) Linked to above, people are out in force in the night and you can go for a walk in the park at 9pm if you wish. Not the best idea in my city in the UK.

3) I really enjoy the drinking. The getting rat-arsed at 7pm on baijiu at dinner, everybody scarpering, then having a few hours to sober up and therefore avoid the hangover. Or drinking loads at lunch then having a snooze.

4) Hunan vs. British food= no contest.

[Arnold J. Rimmer]

1)The lack of chavs.

One of the biggest reasons I left the UK and hate going back there is the plague of chavs that roam the streets, causing trouble for no reason. You don't get that in China, because if they behave like that they disgrace their parents and get a smack. I reckon there is a correlation between the increase in political correctness in the west, and the proliferation of horrible chavs controlling the streets (but I guess that's another thread).

2) Following on from that, I enjoy the lack of political correctness here. It is so easy to hurt people's feeling in the west these days and everybody seems so sensitive.

3) FOOD!! Uighur food and Sichuan food being my personal favourites. But the cheapness and deliciousness of the food is amazing. Also widely available, fresh and cheap fruit is great too.

4) Cheap taxis. Costs literally 10 times less than back home for the same journey.

[Escaped Lunatic]

Yes to just about all of the above.  In the USA, I never lived anywhere that a car wasn't mandatory.  I remember it taking almost 90 minutes on a city bus to do what was a 15 minute drive by car - and the buses didn't go to nearly enough places.  I remember being amazed in New York that the subway system made it possible to exist without a car.  The buses in China can be a little inconvenient at times, but they will get you there within a reasonable amount of time in most places.  Even better, my city's first subway lines are under construction.

I don't want a car.  My wife wants one for face.  Maybe I'll get a fake BMW to put in a parking space somewhere so she can sit in it while people admire her.

Sadly, a lot of banks in my area started closing on Sundays, but all-day Saturday banking still rocks.

And, naturally there's the #1 thing I like about China.  Hundreds of millions of amazing beauties.