[berserk]

I've been in Thailand for a year. It's been a good time, met a lot of cool online people, but to be honest I don't think Thailand is for me long term.

I'm looking for a place to touch down for the next 6 months or so in China. I'd like to be a place that is affordable, preferably warm, better if cheap, and which does not have a huge asian-white prostitution business. That shit and the always implied subcontext has gotten old.

Budget will be around 4K as a base and might go (significantly) higher. It would be cool if there were at least job opportunities for westerners or an active startup culture.

Cliffs:

Chinese city
High to medium English ability (can't speak chinese at all, but willing to learn)
Cheap to reasonable in cost (about 4-5K)
Attractive - non pro - women available

[clever alias]

if you want somewhere warm with a high english ability, shanghai or shenzhen is your best bet

[Alpharius]

Qingdao might be a good place, but come October the temperature is going to plummet. Fantastic (yet super crowded) beaches, cheap beer, decent level of English to be found. Relatively close to Beijing, Mount Tai, and the Confucius Temple.

As a bonus, every August there's a beer festival.

[Vacancier Permanent]

Berserk,
Have you thought about Taiwan? It has all the positives of first world but at third world prices, none of the pollution that is out of hand in mainland China and of course cute little things. With your budget, you'd be living pretty nice. Heck, on that budget, you could even get a good go at living in Honk Kong! That is if you are set on being near or in China.

In China, one place that continuously gets positive reports is Kunming in the south: warm semi tropical weather, still clean with a breathable air, great place to learn Chinese and tons of beautiful Chinese girls.

Otherwise, High end Manila would be anther great option.

[Global Entry]

Shenzhen is the best choice for all of the things your looking for (Guangzhou is good too, but not as good for learning Pu Tong Hua, in my opinion, due to the heavy Cantonese population). Shenzhen is also just a short ride to Hong Kong, so you'll have access to open internet, visa resets (if you're on a 30day multiple entry like me, its important that I don't need to fly somewhere every thirty days), western products without the huge Chinese tariff on them (China is cheap for things made in China, and overpriced for most imported goods).

Its not the cheapest cry but given your budget, you'll get something very nice, no problem at all.

China just completed a massive (massive in the way only the Chinese can accomplish) crackdown on brothels and gambling. Hookers were never out in the open here like they are in Thailand anyway, but its been very minimalized now. The stigma of sex tourism doesn't approach the level it has in the PI or in THailand - not even close to being comparable. You might get accused of being a player as a white/non-Chinese, but not of a whore monger. Most foreigners can't even figure out how to really engage in that activity in China in the first place.

Check out my Shenzhen sheet if you like, and I'll be happy to answer any questions as perhaps the forum's local "expert" - for lack of a better word.

[calwinston]

(03-29-2014 08:14 PM)G_global Wrote:  

Shenzhen is the best choice for all of the things your looking for (Guangzhou is good too, but not as good for learning Pu Tong Hua, in my opinion, due to the heavy Cantonese population). Shenzhen is also just a short ride to Hong Kong, so you'll have access to open internet, visa resets (if you're on a 30day multiple entry like me, its important that I don't need to fly somewhere every thirty days), western products without the huge Chinese tariff on them (China is cheap for things made in China, and overpriced for most imported goods).

Its not the cheapest cry but given your budget, you'll get something very nice, no problem at all.

China just completed a massive (massive in the way only the Chinese can accomplish) crackdown on brothels and gambling. Hookers were never out in the open here like they are in Thailand anyway, but its been very minimalized now. The stigma of sex tourism doesn't approach the level it has in the PI or in THailand - not even close to being comparable. You might get accused of being a player as a white/non-Chinese, but not of a whore monger. Most foreigners can't even figure out how to really engage in that activity in China in the first place.

Check out my Shenzhen sheet if you like, and I'll be happy to answer any questions as perhaps the forum's local "expert" - for lack of a better word.

I agree you should go with Shenzhen for all the reasons mentioned. Plus you have cheap flights from Hong Kong to anywhere in Asia.

[Patriarch]

Kunming, city of eternal spring. I haven't been, but it sounds wonderful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunming

And what the hell, was this ever in the news here?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Kunming_attack

Also, get a water filter. High levels of lead in the water supply due to mining in the province. China should hire me in its tourism department.

http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/11...in_kunming

[berserk]

(03-29-2014 08:10 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Berserk,
Have you thought about Taiwan? It has all the positives of first world but at third world prices, none of the pollution that is out of hand in mainland China and of course cute little things. With your budget, you'd be living pretty nice. Heck, on that budget, you could even get a good go at living in Honk Kong! That is if you are set on being near or in China.

In China, one place that continuously gets positive reports is Kunming in the south: warm semi tropical weather, still clean with a breathable air, great place to learn Chinese and tons of beautiful Chinese girls.

Otherwise, High end Manila would be anther great option.

Hey,

I have decided on 3 months in Taiwan, Taipei, which is what a visa free stamp gets me. I will spend 10-15 hours week on mandarin classes most likely to qualify for a student visa if I decide to stay longer.

Manila is not what I'm looking for right now, though I have no doubt high end Manila aka Makati would be a good time. As of now, I need to be in a place where I can work on my game as well and other life skills, which I think Manila would be too easy to fall into a routine of banging poor girls and coasting on easy life mode.

I plan to visit Shenzhen too within the next 3 months, always wanted to visit China proper. From there on, who knows, I've tried keeping in touch with a lot of people around Asia that I've met, so perhaps some opportunity will present itself for biz as well.

[big poppa]

Nice. Keep us updated, I'm hoping to travel to Taiwan in the next year.

[iknowexactly]

After catching Yellow Fever in Phils this sounds good, most of the hottest Asians in California are Chinese.
You are rolling with $4000+ USD!? You could even live in US for that, with that money, I imagine in small Chinese city he's looking at high WGF, yes?

[iknowexactly]

(03-29-2014 08:14 PM)G_global Wrote:  

Shenzhen is the best choice for all of the things your looking for

How's the old guy tolerance factor 45+? Do you have to be rolling 4-5k/ month to force interest?

[berserk]

(04-01-2014 11:37 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

After catching Yellow Fever in Phils this sounds good, most of the hottest Asians in California are Chinese.
You are rolling with $4000+ USD!? You could even live in US for that, with that money, I imagine in small Chinese city he's looking at high WGF, yes?

WGF?

I have large swings in my income. I've been at less than $2000/month to more than $7000/month in online income within the last 6 months. From comfort to despair. It's tax free though, courtesy of HK. At the moment it's not that high actually because there are higher biz expense right now. My travel goal has always been about 5K/month.

But yeah, I like chinese girls probably most of asian girls for the whole package.

[Cr33pin]

I think after Taiwan you should check out Shenzhen for sure. Its a good place to post up and do business from if your business is online. Plus its like a 30 min train ride to Hong Kong.

I met people from all walks of life and from all over the world in Shenzhen.

[Global Entry]

Im not sure I know what WGF is - White Guy Factor?

Anyway, i'd say its far worse than in the Philippines, where they basically don't care about age. That being said, as a young looking 43, I have easily dated girls in their early 20s. Can pull them no problem. I'd think, given what I could see about how you look, you'd be OK pulling women in their early thirties, but I am not sure about younger than that. They'd think your handsome (as a white skinned person, Anglo looking) but girls in their 20s might not go for you - if they're gonna go sugar daddy, they'll pick a wealthy married chinese guy first. Of course, if you're super charming (maybe) and spoke Chinese (I believe you do not) that could be a different answer.

Its definitely more expensive for certain things in SZ than in the Philippines, though basic food here (not in restaurants) isn't expensive (helps to be able to cook of have someone cook for you). I have a nice apt. for around 1000 USD per month, its not quite what one would get in Makati, but its pretty nice and modern and well-located (for me).

[Vacancier Permanent]

One of the main complaints about the Phils is that due to less developed infrastructures, high quality housing is rare and when available, is quiet more expensive than say in BKK. When I stayed in GZ, I had a very big and nice suite on a brand spanking new building in the best area in town for about 35 bucks a night. (I posted pics of it on my GZ thread).

G_g,
Is the rate for accommodations in SZ similar to GZ? Or more expensive due to the HKG proximity?

Also, while I know quality accommodations are available in Makati, I wouldn't expect them to be as affordable as say BKK or GZ. While I have lived in BKK and stayed in GZ, I have not done so yet in Makati and would appreciate your feedback on the quality and value for money between the 3-4 above mentioned cities as you have experienced all of these places.

Cheers.

[iknowexactly]

Thanks for responses, WGF = "White God Factor", I first saw the term used in the Exile in the 90s when they talked about going to rural Slavic countries and got treated like royalty by the locals. As time goes on, it gets harder and harder to find places in the world where there is A WGF.

[Global Entry]

VP - I think GZ is so big that there's a ton of variation on prices. You can definitely find very expensive to very inexpensive. I won't claim to know GZ very well. The Yuan (RMB), despite its recent dip, has gotten significantly more stronger against western currencies (not sure about C$) since you lived in GZ, though, so I'd expect to pay more now, all else equal.

As I wrote in my Shenzhen sheet, I believe HK does affect the price of accommodation in Shenzhen. Closer to the border is more expensive, though a lot of the areas very close to the border are older and a bit seedy (catering to HK guys crossing the border for massage/p4p activity). Its the neighborhoods perhaps ten minutes away that seem to have the more expensive accommodation and the higher end hotels. If you were happy being quite far from the border (an hour or more) to enter greater Hong Kong, you could pay probably 3000 RMB per month for first class accommodations on a twelve month lease living along. I pay 6000 per month, in a much more desirable (to me) location.

I've been to Thailand, but actually not to BKK, so cannot comment on BKK cost of living. I'd guess that for cost of housing, it would be Makati>Fort > Shenzhen>GuangZhou. BKK might be the lowest although per this forum, that might not be the case for Thong Lor. Again all of these places have great variability depending on location, and I don't think the differences are huge. How much was the Grammercy place in Makati?