Do you like living in Shenzhen??

Shenzhen：

1) Weather:  Thanks to the marine climate, summer's not very hot and warm during winter, livable place.

2) Pollution:  Also getting worse, but much better thanBeijingthe killer. Yeah you can see blue sky here and no need to wear mask.

3) Traffic: It’s a new and well planned city with wide roads. But giving the fast growing population, you can imagine…

4) Housing prices: As expensive as those inBeijing.

5) Food: if you prefer fresh sweet fruits and sea foods… and healthy Cantonese style food.

i was born in shenzhen and grew up there, but i am in beijing now, has been working here for about a month, the winter is really really cold here and as yes the pollution, even i love the job here, and so many adorable friends and fun places, i love beijing a lot except the weather and pollution. i have been in beijing many times before, for short trips, always thought it's a cool place, would love to live here but now after i really lived here for a bit, i decide to go back to sz still, will be back before 18jan.

Thanks! great reply!!!

Sounds like i could solve a lot of my issues by living there..actually sound quite wonderful for an option to be living in China.. I don't mind the rent being the same as beijing if the traffic, pollution, weather were all better...

does everyone agree with the above comment? and thanks so much for your reply!

-Weather and Pollution

I have been to Beijing for a short business trip last summer. When I came back to Shenzhen, the first thing I did was to take a deep inhale of the fresh air. Shenzhen is much better than Beijing in terms of weather and pollution. You will find Shenzhen has more trees in the city too, as Shenzhen has done the best job in urban greening among the metropolises in China. Although Shenzhen has smoggy and moisty period too, which often happens in March or April, it always does not last long, and it is too mild compared with the smog in Beijing. And yes, it is easier to see blue sky in Shenzhen.

-Traffic

The traffic is horrible in Shenzhen especially in busy hours (guess that’s a common phenomenon in all metropolises in China). But I would still think it slightly better in Shenzhen than in Beijing. I remember it took me almost 50 mins to wait for a bus in Beijing.

-House Price

The cost of living in Shenzhen is no way cheaper than Beijing, including the housing prices. Maybe you can find 2-bedroom suite at around 2500rmb/month in bare district such as Bao’an and Longgang district. In the downtown district in Shenzhen like Futian, Nanshan, the house price is as high as Beijing, even higher.

-Food

Each year, people from inland China flocked to Shenzhen to work. Cantonese does not seem to be the dominated population in Shenzhen for the increasing population of people coming from the inland China. So, Cantonese restaurants are not filled in all streets as you expected. There are many Spicy inland Chinese food here such as Xiang cai, Chuang ca, tooi. But surely it should be easier to get Cantonese food here than Beijing. And yes, more seafood, if you like it.

Last but not least, please note that Shenzhen is not a cultural-oriented city. You would not find scenic spots of very historical Chinese-style in Shenzhen. Shenzhen is really a modern concrete jungle. The city is too young to have history (built from 1980). It is good for doing business, not for savouring the Chinese culture. I may recommend smaller towns such as Zhuhai or Zhongshan to you, which has equal weather and air quality as Shenzhen, but less crowded, and nice to live. But I doubt they would have as many business opportunity as Shenzhen offers. It depends on what you regard as most important to you. Each city has its advantages and disadvantages. Maybe it is better that you come to Shenzhen for a small trip to get more knowledge about it before you are really settled?

Best luck for your stay in China.

i think that shenzhen is a good place for living but it does face some of the difficulties that Beijing is suffering from. Shenzhen's population is growing fast and renting is becoming more expensive. In terms of pollution this year was very good becuase of the universiade but i am sure Beijing's skies were  very good after the Olympics!!I think one of the great things about shenzhen is that its so easy to go to HK from here. This is very conveniant for a number of things such as finding good food ,cheap electronics (not fake) and for international travel. You can also get to macau from here very easily too. These are important factors to consider

Well i have been in Shenzhen for the past 9 years, it's a great city, the weather never really gets that unbearable cold like Beijing, Summers are a little hot, this past summer we had a few 35 degree days. As to living, i used to live in Louhu and Futian, the apartment are small and it started to get expensive. So i went to another district called Pinghu, Longgang, let me tell you this is a new developing city, it's exactly 22km from the city, by subway and bus a total of 45min travel for RMB 6. But this place is amazing, not so many foreigners yet, only a couple in my building, but i live across the road from a new wholesale market and two of the biggest shopping centre's you have seen, they still filling up with shops, but there is a gym, macdonalds, pretty much everything.... but my apartment is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 en-suite a really large lounge, the total size is 113m and get this, i'm paying RMB 2300 a month, the building is very family orientated... lots of small kids, so very safe.... and 3 new office buildings are just about to be completed.... it's really a cool place to live, all the apartments are not more than 2 or 3 years old... so the interior decorating is still good. But i recommend it to everybody i meet.

Uh, summers here are cookers, 100% humidity, coupled with the bowl of smog trapping the heat, you cannot live without aircon 24/7 but then you get the sneezes and coughing even in high summer!!

wINTER CAN be COLD, CLOUDY AND MISERABLE LIKE RIGHT NOW...

Food is ok, depnding what you like...prices in bars and western style restos are real high...rents too...Undoubtedly the best thing about SZ is the fact that you could get to HK and Macau real quick, and from there even further away, to Phil for example, where you can have a real good time..

Hi Tim,

From my view:

1. Weather: Shenzhen also gets very hot in the summer but with the wind, and some times very humid which effected by the northern weather in Spring, now winter gets colder as well but not very long, so yes, you can say Shenzhen better than Beijing.

2. Pollution: well, shenzhen is a small city and next to the sea, also the goverment tried to move all the factory to outside of the city, which make the city's pollution better,we do see the blue sky sometimes,but not all the time, so shenzhen's pollution also not good to anyway but better than Beijing.

3.Traffic: Shenzhen only has 3main road, the fast road is Binhe and Binhai which no traffic light, but it gets busy in the morning and evening we called the rush hour, but shenzhen is small city and new, so compare with Beijing, yes! Better again!

4.Housing price: well, this is my conversation:), compare the apartment condition and location, I think shenzhen's rent is lower than Beijing's rent. if you prefer to live by the sea, you have 2 good choices: live in Shekou which is very popular expat community, or by the beach(Dameisha or Xiaomeisha) but far from the city.

Hope above helpful,

Nicole

HMM...I replied yesterday but don't know what happened to it..

..just wanted to say thanks for the great reply and it's good to know what other people have said can be confirmed by someone actually living there

THANK YOU!!!!..and anyone else's opinion's would still be appreciated!

Hi Matthew, thanks for this information.  Do you think I can get an apartment for 2yrs in your building for a similar price. I will be coming to China as a teacher and will need an apartment from the second week in August 2012? Thanks