Clean air is good. No Facebook is not. It would take a lot to convince me to move to China.
More power to you for your decision and I wish you success and growth.
It’s grand, so far. It’s much cleaner and quieter than Taipei. It’s probably less fun, though.
I need to spend less time on Facebook anyway. Emails are good. No kiddie pics or inspiring quotes from ‘the Bhudda’. My mother just joined Facebook and that killed it stone dead for me anyway.
Ermintrude – very classy sobriquet btw – if you don’t mind me asking, what soured you on life in Blighty after your return from Taiwan? Was it just a case of ‘you can’t go home again’?
No souring at all. It was great living with my family again and I really miss my dog. It was great, living back in Europe again and I travelled to a few different places there and had a great time. I lived in another city for a couple of years, as well.
I was in Britain five years and I was browsing job ads and just saw something that looked good for me. I have some good Taiwanese friends that I’d like to see more often and who can’t realistically visit me in the UK, and also, wanted to learn some more Chinese and China offered me the chance to sort that out without feeling like I was going backwards.
I also considered the middle east but the language element of China swung it for me.
The first few moths were stressy, but I got used to it.
It’s the nature of the job to move around a lot.
I like it in Taiwan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m living in a compound in the UAE within the next few years.
[quote=“tomthorne”]It’s the nature of the job to move around a lot.
I like it in Taiwan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m living in a compound in the UAE within the next few years.[/quote]
Yeah, no drama at all. I just saw a job I liked the look of.
Me too, maybe tomthorne. Have a couple of pals there and it looks like fun. For now, I want to study Chinese and travel to Taiwan sometimes and see a bit of China, maybe.
Anything of interest in Ningbo? Is it somewhere Lonely Planet should be covering (I am serious)?
It seems very green and liveable. There are some histories somewhere: some lovely-looking temples and pagodas but I’ve not had time to go yet. Kind of brown Chinese ones, not red Taiwanese style. Parks, rivers and lakes everywhere. Saw loads of cranes or herons or pelicans or something: whatever those big white birds on Chinese paintings are, zooming over the lake outside my office.
The river has the 老外滩, with lots of restaurants and bars. Same sort of foreign restaurants as Taipei, really.
Locals a little ‘provincial’, shall we say, but super friendly. I get approached in the street a lot: been patting loads of tubby babies. Most of the foreigners seem to be guys or wives and I guess I stand out. There seem to be stax 'o waiguoren. Loads of Chinese language schools and Joy and Shane here, as well as the unis.
I guess it’s a question of perspective, and I don’t really have much of that as I’ve only been to Shanghai and Beijing for comparison. It’s definitely a nice place but not sure if it would go on a must-see itinerary of China. It’s would be a nice place to come if you wanted a city break but couldn’t be arsed with Shanghai’s hustle and bustle but wanted to go shopping and get a pizza, I guess? It’s convenient for Hangzhou and has an airport.
There seems to be a lot of money here but – and this is nothing but an unquantified instinct – it seems full of money in the same way suburban Bangkok did in 1995. Lots of gleaming newly built but mostly empty offices.
Only been here a week so I don’t have a huge insight, so feel free to PM in a couple of months maybe? I’ll show you around if you’re here.
And yes, you should put a section in. Cost me twelve bloody quid and Ningbo wasn’t even in it!
This guy wrote an excellent blog about hiking around shanghai, but I see alot of the trails are around ningbo and hangzhou. Have you ventured out yet? I would be interested to hear about some of them.
[quote=“crimpster”]This guy wrote an excellent blog about hiking around shanghai, but I see alot of the trails are around ningbo and hangzhou. Have you ventured out yet? I would be interested to hear about some of them.
piksl.info/wordpress/trips-around-shanghai/[/quote]
Looks cool. I’ve only been here a week and it’s hot and humid as fck, right now. I’m not acclimatised to the humidity yet because I’ve come from the UK. Afaic, hiking means trekking over the street to Starbucks. Planning to get out more when the weather breaks.
It seems very green and liveable. There are some histories somewhere: some lovely-looking temples and pagodas but I’ve not had time to go yet. Kind of brown Chinese ones, not red Taiwanese style. Parks, rivers and lakes everywhere. Saw loads of cranes or herons or pelicans or something: whatever those big white birds on Chinese paintings are, zooming over the lake outside my office.
[/quote]
Thanks. Sounds decent but unless it actually has things to see and do that are worth a traveller’s time (though finding green space in China counts 
) then there is little point including it. Lots of big cities aren’t in the guide. It’s already too big.
If you don’t mind I’ll contact you later in the year though to see if anything special has turned up.
Not very likely… 
At least its got a starbucks. Thats a win when you’re in China!