Good cities for families in China?
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1167
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Good cities for families in China?
I've had both the best and worst pizza of my life in China.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1167
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1167
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Good cities for families in China?
@kellysensei
Good luck with job hunt!
(as this is her thread)
Good luck with job hunt!
(as this is her thread)
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kellysensei
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:04 pm
- Location: St. Paul, MN
Re: Good cities for families in China?
I spent 19 days in mainland China and did not eat pizza. Seems like a good time to throw that out there. LOL
@Heliotrope
Thank you! I know with a non-teaching spouse and two kids, it's going to be hard, but we love Asia, so we're crossing our fingers! Next year will be the first year I actually apply for jobs after just dreaming about it for a decade!
@Heliotrope
Thank you! I know with a non-teaching spouse and two kids, it's going to be hard, but we love Asia, so we're crossing our fingers! Next year will be the first year I actually apply for jobs after just dreaming about it for a decade!
Re: Good cities for families in China?
I live in northern China. I will say that since moving here several years ago getting around and living has gotten much easier. My husband cannot speak Chinese at all, I know "survival" Chinese. Part of the reason we wanted to move here was economic, and the other was so that our children would learn Chinese. (Which they have.) But in the last couple of years, development of foreigner-friendly things has multiplied drastically. For example, now I can use Didi (a taxi app, kind of like uber) in English! It means we don't need to hire a driver, and it makes it so much easier to get taxis to take us exactly where we want to go. Gone are the days when taxis would pass us up telling us they didn't want to take us to whatever place we wanted to go, or just taking us to a different place than we asked for!
Deliveries are super convenient. You can get cooked food delivered as well as groceries and all other sorts of sundries. Even at the wet markets you can pay with electronic payments so you never have to keep track of cash. (I hate carrying cash.)
If you really want food from home (assuming your home is North American or Europe), it is widely available via regular Chinese stores now carrying more import goods, as well as specialized import stores and... of course... JD and Taobao/Tmall. Just since I've moved here I can now buy cheese and flavored yogurts in Chinese supermarkets. (I used to have to buy it in large quantities, like a wheel, which I cut up and froze and then pulled from during the next few months.) Decent cheese, even! (Granted, they did sell flavored yogurts before, but now there are European and US brands available, like Yoplait and Lepur. They are thicker and creamier, Chinese yogurt tends to be thinner and more apt to be drunk rather than mixed with muesli.)
Asian foods are readily available as well - Thai, Japanese, etc. I even bought a sushi kit and started making my own vegetable sushi for my kids. It was super easy!
You might not care about this, but now they are selling tampons with applicators! This is a major move for me, since I would buy them when in the US and bring back boxes with me to China. They are definitely more expensive... but at least now I CAN purchase them here.
Western goods are definitely way more accessible here, if that is something you are concerned about.
Family wise - we have three children so it is more expensive for us to travel since Chinese hotels aren't made up for families of five, so we have to get two rooms or a suite. Also, flying or traveling within China is actually more expensive than traveling outside China. For example, flying to Sanya from northern China, versus traveling to Phuket... Phuket is actually less expensive, so we went there for our holiday instead. We looked at going to Shanghai versus Osaka... Osaka was cheaper.
Trains are actually quite nice, we do use them but they are not necessarily cheaper than flying. But it is nice not having to go through the additional security and they are very comfortable. For our school trips we use them quite frequently.
Northern China is quite cold and pollution in winter is quite bad due to the government heating, but it is getting better. China recently passed some legislation moving a lot of the most polluting industry outside of city limits, so while they are still polluting it isn't as intense as it once was. The AQI has gone down a lot since we first moved here. First year here lots of 300+ days... now it usually ranges below 200.
Southern China definitely has more warmth and less AQI.
I hope this helps - good luck with your search!
Deliveries are super convenient. You can get cooked food delivered as well as groceries and all other sorts of sundries. Even at the wet markets you can pay with electronic payments so you never have to keep track of cash. (I hate carrying cash.)
If you really want food from home (assuming your home is North American or Europe), it is widely available via regular Chinese stores now carrying more import goods, as well as specialized import stores and... of course... JD and Taobao/Tmall. Just since I've moved here I can now buy cheese and flavored yogurts in Chinese supermarkets. (I used to have to buy it in large quantities, like a wheel, which I cut up and froze and then pulled from during the next few months.) Decent cheese, even! (Granted, they did sell flavored yogurts before, but now there are European and US brands available, like Yoplait and Lepur. They are thicker and creamier, Chinese yogurt tends to be thinner and more apt to be drunk rather than mixed with muesli.)
Asian foods are readily available as well - Thai, Japanese, etc. I even bought a sushi kit and started making my own vegetable sushi for my kids. It was super easy!
You might not care about this, but now they are selling tampons with applicators! This is a major move for me, since I would buy them when in the US and bring back boxes with me to China. They are definitely more expensive... but at least now I CAN purchase them here.
Western goods are definitely way more accessible here, if that is something you are concerned about.
Family wise - we have three children so it is more expensive for us to travel since Chinese hotels aren't made up for families of five, so we have to get two rooms or a suite. Also, flying or traveling within China is actually more expensive than traveling outside China. For example, flying to Sanya from northern China, versus traveling to Phuket... Phuket is actually less expensive, so we went there for our holiday instead. We looked at going to Shanghai versus Osaka... Osaka was cheaper.
Trains are actually quite nice, we do use them but they are not necessarily cheaper than flying. But it is nice not having to go through the additional security and they are very comfortable. For our school trips we use them quite frequently.
Northern China is quite cold and pollution in winter is quite bad due to the government heating, but it is getting better. China recently passed some legislation moving a lot of the most polluting industry outside of city limits, so while they are still polluting it isn't as intense as it once was. The AQI has gone down a lot since we first moved here. First year here lots of 300+ days... now it usually ranges below 200.
Southern China definitely has more warmth and less AQI.
I hope this helps - good luck with your search!
Discussion
WeChat really is the super platform in China, you use it for everything from apps like Didi to Qr code based electronic payments, which have really given many Chinese access to mobile and remote payments aside from having to carry coin. Though coin is still a very popular currency and its accepted everywhere and not susceptible to technology issues.
Deliveries have always been really simple and convenient, though Alibaba (the Chinese version of Amazon) has made it even more convenient and easy. Though honestly, its more work for you, because in the past you just went to your ISs secretary/reception and they made it happen after getting you a quote. Now you do it yourself.
Import stores were the primary source of western goods, now there are more in standard markets, but all that has done is shift the landscape. The availability of more global goods means import stores are just importing a new line of niche products and goods. If you want cheddar and mozzarella you can gt that at the regular market now, but if you want a pulled goat mozzarella or a brie you have to go to an import market still. The - market has just grown and thats the shift.
Yoplait is gross. If you want authentic Greek yogurt youre going to an import store. Chinese yogurt is more a smoothie or a little shot bottle.
They always had tampons at least for the last 20 years, but they were less common. Usually you talked to someone in the IS who knew where to order and get them.
As for travel it can be cheaper to fly out of the country and then back into the country to your intended destination than fly non-stop internally. However aside from trains (which have come a long way since hard and soft seat of 20 years ago) a number of regional carriers makes travel faster and cheaper.
Deliveries have always been really simple and convenient, though Alibaba (the Chinese version of Amazon) has made it even more convenient and easy. Though honestly, its more work for you, because in the past you just went to your ISs secretary/reception and they made it happen after getting you a quote. Now you do it yourself.
Import stores were the primary source of western goods, now there are more in standard markets, but all that has done is shift the landscape. The availability of more global goods means import stores are just importing a new line of niche products and goods. If you want cheddar and mozzarella you can gt that at the regular market now, but if you want a pulled goat mozzarella or a brie you have to go to an import market still. The - market has just grown and thats the shift.
Yoplait is gross. If you want authentic Greek yogurt youre going to an import store. Chinese yogurt is more a smoothie or a little shot bottle.
They always had tampons at least for the last 20 years, but they were less common. Usually you talked to someone in the IS who knew where to order and get them.
As for travel it can be cheaper to fly out of the country and then back into the country to your intended destination than fly non-stop internally. However aside from trains (which have come a long way since hard and soft seat of 20 years ago) a number of regional carriers makes travel faster and cheaper.
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Heliotrope
- Posts: 1167
- Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 1:48 am
Re: Discussion
PsyGuy wrote:
> Though coin is still a very popular currency and its
> accepted everywhere and not susceptible to technology issues.
It should be accepted everywhere, but it's not though. When I visited Beijing a few months ago, there were several instances where I couldn't pay with cash. Luckily I was with a friend that lives in China and used his phone to pay for me.
Apart from rural areas, mobile payments are the standard nowadays. So much so that China’s central bank felt the need to warn that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal.
This article paints a picture:
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... ears-ahead
An nice quote:
"I now only carry a 50 yuan bill in my wallet, just in case,” she says. “It has been there for months. I pay for everything with the phone, and so do my friends."
> Though coin is still a very popular currency and its
> accepted everywhere and not susceptible to technology issues.
It should be accepted everywhere, but it's not though. When I visited Beijing a few months ago, there were several instances where I couldn't pay with cash. Luckily I was with a friend that lives in China and used his phone to pay for me.
Apart from rural areas, mobile payments are the standard nowadays. So much so that China’s central bank felt the need to warn that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal.
This article paints a picture:
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... ears-ahead
An nice quote:
"I now only carry a 50 yuan bill in my wallet, just in case,” she says. “It has been there for months. I pay for everything with the phone, and so do my friends."
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Illiane_Blues
Re: Discussion
Heliotrope wrote:
> When I visited Beijing a few
> months ago, there were several instances where I couldn't pay with cash.
Having the same experience in Guangzhou, Dongguan & in Shenzen right now.
Paid another customer cash yesterday so I could use his WeChat to pay.
We're about to go to Hong Kong, hope it's easier to use cash there.
Kenya is also big in mobile payments through M-Pesa, but as opposed to China, cash can still be used everywhere I think. At least that was the case three years ago.
> When I visited Beijing a few
> months ago, there were several instances where I couldn't pay with cash.
Having the same experience in Guangzhou, Dongguan & in Shenzen right now.
Paid another customer cash yesterday so I could use his WeChat to pay.
We're about to go to Hong Kong, hope it's easier to use cash there.
Kenya is also big in mobile payments through M-Pesa, but as opposed to China, cash can still be used everywhere I think. At least that was the case three years ago.
Re: Good cities for families in China?
I've been to several places now that don't accept cash or accept my bank card. They prefer Alipay or WeChat because the fee is lower for those. Which is fine and all, I have both so it isn't a problem. But it is something to be aware of. My husband is tech-inept so only ever uses cash, so he will just walk away.
Honestly, flying out of the country and back in to get a cheaper fare seems a bit inconvenient to me, especially with three children. There's more to it than simple price.
Tampons are widely available, of course, but they are the kind without an applicator. (Well, until recently, as I noted above.) Asian culture doesn't tend to skew toward tampons because they feel it compromises your body or some such. One of my Chinese friends tried to explain it to me, but I didn't quite understand. There's a lot of issues regarding natural feminine processes. When that Chinese Olympian who competed in Brazil talked about using tampons for the swimming competition it made big waves. (Get it? Big waves??) Here's an article that talks about it a little. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/ ... iods-taboo
Honestly, flying out of the country and back in to get a cheaper fare seems a bit inconvenient to me, especially with three children. There's more to it than simple price.
Tampons are widely available, of course, but they are the kind without an applicator. (Well, until recently, as I noted above.) Asian culture doesn't tend to skew toward tampons because they feel it compromises your body or some such. One of my Chinese friends tried to explain it to me, but I didn't quite understand. There's a lot of issues regarding natural feminine processes. When that Chinese Olympian who competed in Brazil talked about using tampons for the swimming competition it made big waves. (Get it? Big waves??) Here's an article that talks about it a little. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/ ... iods-taboo