Anyone lived in China?

Hi

Currently considering relocating to China with my company and would like to get some thoughts from anyone who has lived there. I have an option of either Beijing or Shanghai and am leaning towards Shanghai, if at all.

A lot of the information that I have is very positive regarding experience, quality of life etc as a westerner.

Our major concern, however, is the negative information on air quality (we have 2 small children - one with mild asthma). Is this as bad as reported? What are the effects on health?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

You may find something useful in previous threads. You may also get some advice on www.boards.ie

thanks, but nothing in those threads that addresses the specifics. Hopefully another member has lived there and can help!

I haven't lived there - but I do know people who have and I've visited a few times.

If you're on an expat package (e.g. a European Salary + relocation benefits) you can live very well in China indeed ... the cost of services / eating out etc. is for nothing ... it's maybe not quite possible to live like kings .. but not that far off .. Rent on "Western Standard" (i.e. top of the range) apartments can be steep enough ... so if your company isn't covering / subsidising that you'll need to factor that into your calculations.

Air Quality certainly isn't great in either city ... Shanghai in my limited experience is better than Beijing .. but certainly neither is great .... both can be very grey and smoggy ... but I suffer from (very) mild asthma too .. and didn't really notice any major issues.

One thign to note you'd almost certainly be living in an apartment building ... no garden for the kids to play in.

One of Mr Emisos ex colleagues has recently relocated there.He said that schooling in a decent school there is 12500 USD per year so they're going to home school. Otherwise all is good. They have a maid for 100 USD per month !

Hi,
i live in Beijing and am not so familiar with Shanghai.
Air quality is definitely an issue here. I remember when i first arrived how bad i thought it was, now i'm just used to it. Its only when new people arrive and mention it that i remember how bad it is.
I think there has only been a few days of clear blue sky in Beijing this year so far (one was for the national day celebrations, go figure). In general the air is very dusty and dry, and just wait until the sandstorms blow! I couldn't think of a worse place to be than BJ if you got asthma.
Also, everybody smokes, and i'm very aware of this coz im a non-smoker. If you go to a bar/restaurant/coffee shop there will always be smokers, esp. annoying when you're in a restaurant and settling into a nice meal.
Spitting is also very common here, more so than SH.
If you're company is sending you over on an expat package, you can live a great life.
I don't think its very children friendly. There's not a lot of green areas, there's just a few small parks here or there, or some green patches in the apartment complex that you're not supposed to walk on.
All the expat bosses send their kids to the expensive international schools, should definitely get your company to pay for this.
Also keep in mind that bith cities are huge. You could spend a lot of time travelling between work/home/school etc..
I don't mean to be negative, i really enjoy living here. Eat out in restaurants every day, meet loads of new people from all over, travelling, exploring, new life experiences etc.. My experience is that Beijing people are more friendly than shanghai people.

The following is my personal opinion, i don't know much about kids.
In my opinion the kids here lead a lot more sheltered life than back home. The play times are pre-arranged for an hour or 2 than everybody returns to their 200sqm on the 10th or 20th floor. To me it lacks the freedom and spontanaiety i had when growing up.

PM me if you got any more questions

Haven't lived there but having visited both cities this year, there was a huge difference in air quality between Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing was much better and that was put down to the big cleanup for the olympics. It was really noticible. The chinese girls we were travelling with were saying that the Chinese government plan to extend the cleanup to the other cities soon.