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Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?
#1

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

I'm considering teaching math in China. I've read that the locals can be quite curious, friendly, and interested in white foreigners so they'll ask them lots of questions and invite them out often. However, I look Chinese, so maybe I won't get treated so well. I'd like to make local friends and hang out with them as opposed to the English teacher crowd

I've been looking at teaching in Hangzhou since I see many openings there and it's so close to Shanghai, where my close (married) Chinese friend lives. I've also heard Suzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Qingdao, and Kunming are good to live in.

Can anyone recommend what you think is the best 2nd-tier to live in?
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#2

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

I'm looking into teaching as well, I'm liking Chengdu and and Nanjing the most, but admittedly I haven't done much research on the other places.
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#3

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

I generally break down the Tier two cities into:
Tier One suburbs; Hangzhou, Suzhou, Tianjin and Dongguan
Livable regional capitals; Chengdu, Chongqing, Harbin, Dalian, Xian, Nanjing and Qingdao
Unlivable regional capitals: Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Zhengzhou
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#4

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

^^Why do you say this? What makes them liveable vs unlikeable?
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#5

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-17-2017 12:27 PM)boss13 Wrote:  

I'd like to make local friends and hang out with them as opposed to the English teacher crowd

Your cart is in front of your horse.

I'm the King of Beijing!
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#6

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Chengdu or bust.

I have a few friends who live in Wuhan and it's godawful.

Suzhou seems "eh"

Hangzhou seems "eh," but you can confirm with Vacancier Permanent

Also, what is your experience with chinese locals? If you already have a bunch of chinese friends, fine, but I think you will find that Chinese people in a tier-2 city in the mainland will drive you up the wall with how homogenous and boring they are.

Not to get on the bashing train, but nearly all my long-term expat friends in China have only 1-2 REAL Chinese friends. As in, they hang out often and really get along well and aren't just exchanging favors.

I once asked a friend why he didn't have more Chinese friends and his reply was quite telling.

me: bro why don't you have more local friends. You're fluent as hell.

Him: What are we going to do together? Smoke cigarettes and stare at each other? [Image: icon_lol.gif]

Not to be pessimistic or defeatist, but I have generally found it VERY hard to relate to the locals outside of a few exceptions. To be honest, most of my local friends are girls I've fucked. I know that sounds sorta weird, but I find Chinese women to have 100x better social skills than local dudes and are less generic.

Do not write off other foreigners. I guarantee that you'll come back to this thread in 1 year and tell me about how 95% of your close friends are other foreigners.

I will be checking my PMs weekly, so you can catch me there. I will not be posting.
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#7

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-18-2017 11:22 AM)Laserspewpew Wrote:  

I generally break down the Tier two cities into:
Tier One suburbs; Hangzhou, Suzhou, Tianjin and Dongguan
Livable regional capitals; Chengdu, Chongqing, Harbin, Dalian, Xian, Nanjing and Qingdao
Unlivable regional capitals: Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Zhengzhou

How so?

Quote: (06-18-2017 12:18 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

Also, what is your experience with chinese locals?

If you already have a bunch of chinese friends, fine, but I think you will find that Chinese people in a tier-2 city in the mainland will drive you up the wall with how homogenous and boring they are.

I was actually studying in another country and met a bunch of Chinese students. I ended up being close friends with one of them. I hung out with a few other Chinese guys who were really curious about me, but we haven't kept in touch.

And how could they be more homogenous and boring than Americans are?

Quote:Quote:

Not to get on the bashing train, but nearly all my long-term expat friends in China have only 1-2 REAL Chinese friends. As in, they hang out often and really get along well and aren't just exchanging favors.

I once asked a friend why he didn't have more Chinese friends and his reply was quite telling.

me: bro why don't you have more local friends. You're fluent as hell.

Him: What are we going to do together? Smoke cigarettes and stare at each other? [Image: icon_lol.gif]

Not to be pessimistic or defeatist, but I have generally found it VERY hard to relate to the locals outside of a few exceptions. To be honest, most of my local friends are girls I've fucked. I know that sounds sorta weird, but I find Chinese women to have 100x better social skills than local dudes and are less generic.

Do not write off other foreigners. I guarantee that you'll come back to this thread in 1 year and tell me about how 95% of your close friends are other foreigners.

The close friend I mentioned above was not boring, had excellent social skills, and was definitely more red pill than typical American guys are. I am Asian myself, so that's probably I found it easy to relate to him and why I don't relate so easily with blue-pill SJW-like white Americans. Only problem is that he just got married
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#8

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

China is a great place to travel to and stay for a few months. I wouldn't want to live there.
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#9

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

OP,

All I'm going to say is, you met rich Chinese kids who were studying abroad. Such people are the exception and not the rule. China's government does not seek to make people who think for themselves and they largely succeed in draining the individuality out of most citizens. Get to your tier-2 China and talk to me in a year.

The Chinese people you meet here are going to be VERY different from your "friends." In 1-2 years time, you will be begging for more foreigners to show up in your city if you choose the wrong tier-2 city.

I will be checking my PMs weekly, so you can catch me there. I will not be posting.
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#10

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-18-2017 06:27 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

OP,

All I'm going to say is, you met rich Chinese kids who were studying abroad. Such people are the exception and not the rule. China's government does not seek to make people who think for themselves and they largely succeed in draining the individuality out of most citizens. Get to your tier-2 China and talk to me in a year.

The Chinese people you meet here are going to be VERY different from your "friends." In 1-2 years time, you will be begging for more foreigners to show up in your city if you choose the wrong tier-2 city.
Your strategy of building friendship through girls you dated makes the most sense to me in terms of reaching out to people in Asia. I wouldn't over look hobbiest places either if your hobby attracts like minded people.

By the way, is Tinder a thing in China - or they don't have it since it is facebook related? Is Tantan the go too for online dating?
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#11

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-18-2017 06:45 PM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  

Quote: (06-18-2017 06:27 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

OP,

All I'm going to say is, you met rich Chinese kids who were studying abroad. Such people are the exception and not the rule. China's government does not seek to make people who think for themselves and they largely succeed in draining the individuality out of most citizens. Get to your tier-2 China and talk to me in a year.

The Chinese people you meet here are going to be VERY different from your "friends." In 1-2 years time, you will be begging for more foreigners to show up in your city if you choose the wrong tier-2 city.
Your strategy of building friendship through girls you dated makes the most sense to me in terms of reaching out to people in Asia. I wouldn't over look hobbiest places either if your hobby attracts like minded people.

By the way, is Tinder a thing in China - or they don't have it since it is facebook related? Is Tantan the go too for online dating?

I like tinder becuase you're dealing with chinese girls smart enough to have a VPN. Tantan is good and probably way more popular depending on where you are.

I will be checking my PMs weekly, so you can catch me there. I will not be posting.
Reply
#12

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-18-2017 07:39 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

Quote: (06-18-2017 06:45 PM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  

Quote: (06-18-2017 06:27 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

OP,

All I'm going to say is, you met rich Chinese kids who were studying abroad. Such people are the exception and not the rule. China's government does not seek to make people who think for themselves and they largely succeed in draining the individuality out of most citizens. Get to your tier-2 China and talk to me in a year.

The Chinese people you meet here are going to be VERY different from your "friends." In 1-2 years time, you will be begging for more foreigners to show up in your city if you choose the wrong tier-2 city.
Your strategy of building friendship through girls you dated makes the most sense to me in terms of reaching out to people in Asia. I wouldn't over look hobbiest places either if your hobby attracts like minded people.

By the way, is Tinder a thing in China - or they don't have it since it is facebook related? Is Tantan the go too for online dating?

I like tinder becuase you're dealing with chinese girls smart enough to have a VPN. Tantan is good and probably way more popular depending on where you are.

What? You use online dating applications? You don't go out and night game in clubs 5 times a week? Wow, just wow.

I'm the King of Beijing!
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#13

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-17-2017 12:27 PM)boss13 Wrote:  

I'm considering teaching math in China. I've read that the locals can be quite curious, friendly, and interested in white foreigners so they'll ask them lots of questions and invite them out often. However, I look Chinese, so maybe I won't get treated so well. I'd like to make local friends and hang out with them as opposed to the English teacher crowd

I've been looking at teaching in Hangzhou since I see many openings there and it's so close to Shanghai, where my close (married) Chinese friend lives. I've also heard Suzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Qingdao, and Kunming are good to live in.

Can anyone recommend what you think is the best 2nd-tier to live in?

Making friends with locals in China, is a somewhat hotly debated thing. The people who do, are guys that are shooting for language and cultural immersion. The guys that do not, obviously are not interested in the slightest.

I might be the only one on the forum? That went the immersion route I think (correct me if I am wrong someone). The vast majority here are not interested in that, or maybe they were at some point and gave up on it.

I had and still have plenty males in my WeChat/QQ friends list that are Chinese. I had so many at one point it was more than girls. Around the time I got married, all the young men I used to chat with grew up and moved on and I had blocked all my plates/gfs/female pen pals. Let's just say that 12-19 year old females you practice Chinese with are not exactly a good idea to keep around if you get married to a Chinese woman.... even if she does not care about side pussy etc. She would care about a xiaosan and being married never stops the others from trying, if they grew up with you it's worse.

Anyway, all my male buddies got replaced with male family member in-laws. Uncles, cousins, etc. I watch basketball with one cousin and talk about health stuff with another who is a doctor. They have pretty good English too, but we fill in the blanks with my shitty Mandarin. I go fishing with one of my uncle in laws and mostly drink hard with the other ones.

Just in case you are wondering, the answer is yes. If you want to immerse yourself into China and it's culture, you pretty much have to marry into it. The vast majority of the Chinese experience is blocked off because Chinese don't venture outside of family for even recreational activities very much (hence why some guys here call them boring). It's not like in America, where you spend more time with your best friends than you probably do with your own brothers and sisters, painting the town red. So if you are like the others and have zero interest in marriage, you may end up with similar experience like the others. Learning the language is like halfway there. You can use the language to build friendships with guys way easier, but it is up to you. Some will and some won't. Unless you get into the culture more, the language will only go so far.

As for Chinese being boring, it really depends upon the individual family. Some are always doing something and super extroverted. Some are always working and hardly even at home. Some live a completely miserable existence. I have dated a woman that flies to Hong Kong/Thailand on a private plane, solo or with family, on weekends (or whenever they fucking feel like it) for fun, and I have dated girls that are so poor she nor her family has ever gone on vacation. Like none of them have even gone to Mao's hometown and taken the tour but they live probably less than an hour away. It really varies and alot of that comes down to money. Middle-upper, and Upper class Chinese live different lives than the other kinds of middle class and lower classes.

Mobility was a major factor years ago, but now that lots of Chinese have cars now, or money for train travel, things are changing super fast. Every Golden Week or Spring Festival, the traffic gets nightmarishly worse than the previous years. Thailand is down for once because Chinese tourism dipped some this year and that hurt their tourism numbers. Probably temporary but it just goes to show you that attitudes in China on vacations, travel, and leisure are changing, because it was not like this even 5-6 years ago.

As for being being boring on a personality level, I had this debate with the guys a few weeks ago. I did not agree with them, because Chinese people are more traditional in nature. Food, family, and hard work are at the top of their priority lists. Most traditional societies are very much like this. Hell even people in Louisiana are kinda like that! With the small talk to match it! There is not a whole lot to do because the lifestyle is just not like big city lifestyle in Western societies. No one is going to be a big fan of heavy metal. In lower tier Chinese cities, people are playing cards on the side of the street. Old dudes are on chairs playing Chinese Chess with another dude, or just watching the world go by while. Anyone else is dealing with babies and children playing. Pace of life is just way slower. Real China is more likely in Tier 3 and below. You still might see some of it in a Tier 2 though. Younger parents, especially the males, have to work in the T1 and T2 cities, and they leave the wives and grandparents behind to raise the kids, and only come back home a few times a year. The big cities are all rat race central.

Anyway, I wrote enough. I hope I did not scare you already. If you want to see real China go for it, don't be squeamish when you see strange shit, and don't let any of us scare you or convince you of it. [Image: lol.gif]

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#14

Best 2nd-tier Chinese city to teach in?

Quote: (06-18-2017 01:01 PM)boss13 Wrote:  

Quote: (06-18-2017 11:22 AM)Laserspewpew Wrote:  

I generally break down the Tier two cities into:
Tier One suburbs; Hangzhou, Suzhou, Tianjin and Dongguan
Livable regional capitals; Chengdu, Chongqing, Harbin, Dalian, Xian, Nanjing and Qingdao
Unlivable regional capitals: Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Zhengzhou

How so?

It's very subjective. If you are in a suburb of a Tier 1 it is a major bonus in terms of being closer to some Western comforts and a real international airport. Hangzhou and Suzhou are both nice cities in their own right and somewhat commutable to Shanghai. Tianjin is ugly but is extremely well developed for a "Tier 2" some people class it as a Tier 1 and is a short train ride from Beijing. Dongguan is a bit of a hole but is close to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It's just the biggest of the non Tier 1 Pearl River Delta cities.

Liveable regional capitals are Tier 2's with something going for them. Again this is hugely subjective but Chengdu and Chongqing are, like Tianjin, pretty well developed for Tier 2 cities, I am also a big fan of Sichuan food and Sichuan women (Chongqing for all intents and purposes is Sichuan). Harbin and Dalian are decent looking cities for Tier 2, Harbin in parts, Dalian more so. Harbin, in my opinion, has the best women in China and you can buy hash over the counter, if you know where to go. Xian and Nanjing have more going on than your standard Tier 2, Xian with it's tourist influx can be interesting and it keeps the nightlife ticking over, Nanjing is borderline for this list to be honest. Qingdao is China's closest thing to a beach city and is the beer capital of the country, again it has a lot more going on than your typical Chinese city.

Unlivable regional capitals are Tier 2 cities, which are really just very big Tier 3's. Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan and Zhengzhou are just extremely large cities with little other than their size to distinguish them from your run of the mill Tier 3.
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