Introductions

Oops, I've posted about before really introducing myself, didn't spot this thread!

Well I'm Joe, soon to be 21, from Newcastle, in England. Planning on coming to teach in China after I've graduated (in May!)

Pretty excited to be coming over...not sure where I'm headed to be honest though!

Welcome aboard!

Where to go?  3 questions:

1. What size a centre do you prefer?  Metropolis?   Village?  Town?  Biggish city?  Smallish?
2. What climate agrees with you most?
3. Are you looking for the hardcore Chinese experience, or the comfortable Chinese experience?

Cheers mate! 

What size a centre do you prefer?  Metropolis?   Village?  Town?  Biggish city?  Smallish?

You wouldn't believe how small the village I come from is. Roughly about 10 houses! I think this has had an almost knee-jerk reaction; I have a unquenchable thirst for exploring big cities...yet I can't stand touristy places...I strive to find the back-streets (sounds seedier than intended), mainly in search of an interesting photo...but I digress...

What climate agrees with you most?

tropical/sub-tropical! (hopefully I'll acclimatize with time, found Hong Kong SO stifling)

Are you looking for the hardcore Chinese experience, or the comfortable Chinese experience?

Haha, define the 'hardcore' experience? I just want something new!

The definition of 'big city' in China is not the same as in other places.  Xi'an is not defined as a big city and has 7 million people in it's defined area.  Small cities can be 1-2 million people or more. So even a small city will be mindboggling for you.  And way easier to get around. If you're looking for interesting things to photograph, older, smaller cities, even though they have the same screaming drive for modernity, have more of the interesting bits and pieces left to explore.

For big cities, I wouldn't worry about the "touristy" problem.  You learn where those areas are, then avoid them.  There's always a Real China neighbourhood nearby, if you take the time to find them.

The "tropical/subtropical" definition is a tricky one.  Suzhou, not far from Shanghai, is certainly tropical in the summer; I grouse on about it for 5 months of the year.  It frequently hits 40C with a jillion percent humidity.  But right now it's near freezing, with a damp, biting wind.  Spring and Autumn are paradise, but you get extremes here otherwise.  China's like that.  

Whip out a map and use Shanghai as a standard.  Frankly, too hot for me- if Suzhou wasn't my true love, I'd move North.

By "hardcore", I mean a rural locale where nobody speaks English and women still wash clothes by the well.  I had that for my first year, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything- but I'll be damned if I'll do it again.  The other extreme would be Beijing or Shanghai, aggressively modernized metropoli.  

Followup questions?

Re: climate, do you find yourselves acclimatising to life in that heat/humidity? I was only in Hong Kong for 2 weeks, so never really got used to it. It seemed so weird...when I first got there my reaction was to open the window for a breeze! Coming in pissed was the worst, I'd be so desperate to cool down I'd automatically reach for the window and receive what felt like the heat that emanates from an oven!

Con that hardcore experience sounds amazing. I don't want to drift off topic but do you have a blog or photo's online of that time in your life?

5 years in Changsha. 42C and up in the summer. 0C and below in the winter with no indoor heating.
You don't get used to it, you learn to deal with it.

Spring and Autumn are nice. I really enjoy those 2 days.

Re: climate, do you find yourselves acclimatising to life in that heat/humidity?

Short answer: no.  Summers here are hell for me... well, maybe purgatory, since I choose to endure them for the payoff of the rest of the year in Suzhou.  I go home in the summer, hopefully dodging some of the sloppy worst of the heat and humidity, but each year is every bit as bad as the last.

Hot in summer..cold in winter, but ya get used to it. Make sure wherever you go has winter heating, and summer air-con!

Hong Kong is like that cause it is overpopulated and polluted. Zhuhai has very humid and hot summer but the air isn't as polluted. Spring and summer are very nice. In winter usually temperature doesn't go below 6-10C, mostly between 15C and 20C.

been gone too long but never mind, better a late welcome than never..


come on in the a.c.'s cool
i ain't tired of staring at empty stools
there's a free table if you like pool
you got no i.d., we can bend the rules

there's a poker machine will take your money
bartender will call you honey
feller from wisconsin thinks he's funny
will bore you to tears

we got big screen t.v.s small screen too
we got em in the bar, we got em in the bathroom
you're never more than 5 feet
from a cathode ray tube

we got a live band and we got no cover
you don't like this song, they'll play another
the lead singer is the waiter's lover
the bass player is working under cover

the bartender is on the lam
the waiter is in a witness protection program
i ain't telling you who i am
who's asking and who gives a damn

 

Thankyou all, nice to meet you! well, wherever I end up, I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

Either way...it's going to be a far cry from my home...

I live in one of those places where very few people speak English. It is fun, but can be trying at times too.
Pretty home you have there, Joe

A newcastle lad eh,  cool.  i lived near Lockerbie in the south west of scotland for 20 odd years and then came out here. im in the south of china, mildish winters and toasty summers which i like. You wont have any  probs acclimatising mate.

For me i dont like the cold thats why i chose the south, long freezing winters may look pretty but hailing from the Orkney islands in the north of scotland has left me with a bitter dislike of cold weather.