Thread: Anyone here ever lived in China?

Looks like I may be moving to Shenyang in the northeast in the near future for a decent career opportunity. Has anyone spent any time in the country? Recommendations? Tips? I've already looked up a bunch of info but more info is always better when moving across the globe. I've already spent some time living in Asia so culture/weather shock won't be too much of an issue. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

No, but I've been to Panda Express. Get the orange chicken

isn't "living in china" a contradiction in terms?

I went to Beijing back in 2008 for a hockey trip and I had a really good time. But I hated the fact it was very polluted over there and I had trouble breathing, so if you have asthma it's going to suck. The majority of people were really nice and they give the best massages!

The Chinese food sucked because it was obviously authentic Chinese food (which is bland), so we decided to stick with the American places like McDonalds and Pizza Hut in order to survive. It's funny because Pizza Hut was actually a fancy restaurant and not your typical delivery/carryout place. I remember one of the sides that you can order is Octupus! My suggestion is try to stick with American restaurants because you will starve yourself to death if you just eat Chinese food.

You can also take advantage of how cheap everything is and I remember buying two really nice suits for only $50!

Obviously, there are a lot of historical places to go to and the one I really liked the most was going to the Great Wall of China. You can take a chute down the freakin thing and it was pretty cool.

This is pretty much what I can remember so far, so if I remember anything else I'll let you know.

Originally Posted by 28kings28

The Chinese food sucked because it was obviously authentic Chinese food (which is bland), so we decided to stick with the American places like McDonalds and Pizza Hut in order to survive. It's funny because Pizza Hut was actually a fancy restaurant and not your typical delivery/carryout place. I remember one of the sides that you can order is Octupus! My suggestion is try to stick with American restaurants because you will starve yourself to death if you just eat Chinese food.

Wow. Bad advice.

I actually just got back from China (trip never lived there), a few things to note:
In the bigger cities they are putting together expatriot clinics to help with enrolling kids, getting drivers licenses and all the non resident registrations you're supposed to do. Talk to the company to see if there's any resources like that available in Shenyang. If not it might be worth it to get the contact info for the on in Beijing (which is closest to you I think) just in case you need someone that might be able to point you in the right direction.
You've been living in Asia so much of everything else shouldn't be too much of a surprise. The climate up there is going to be much more like the northern border of the US though. Be prepared to have some harsh winters.
One good point is China is finally starting to moniter more smog/pollution and might actually get around to doing something about it. Probably 20 years out still but you might see more progress. Its really sad that in 5 days I saw blue sky once looking straight up, and not because it was overcast on the other days.
I've only spent limited time in the northern parts, Shandong province is usually my further north stomping ground. I would say that the more north you go the more they drink, they do eat lunches and dinners much earlier than in the south (11 and 5 vs 1-2 and 9pm in Hong Kong). They also seem to start some of their days earlier, even the office workers.
If you need any other info let me know.

i grew up and spent most of my life in Monterey Park...

Them Mongolians keep trying to break down my wall.

Originally Posted by Annapurna

Wow. Bad advice.

I think it might be a problem with certain areas with bland food...but you'll never find that in the Sichuwan or Hunan provinces...or so I've been told... I've known Chinese chefs from those two regions and have gotten to know some of their cooking techniques (when they were teaching at a cooking school I went to about 20 years ago)... I still use those techniques in my cooking to this day...