|
|
Post by Dr. Gonzo on Dec 19, 2005 3:36:22 GMT 7
A colleague here in OZ has taken a one year position teaching the South Australian matriculation maths course in Zhengzhou. 15,000 a month, BTW.
Has anybody spent time there?
I've given him Raoul's joining details, and hope he'll join up.
|
|
|
|
Post by ilunga on Dec 22, 2005 13:03:18 GMT 7
I've been to Zhengzhou a few times. I can't really think of anything good to say about it. Erm, it's very central. I believe it has the most rail connections of any chinese city. There's nothing to see in Zhengzhou in way of sites. It's an hour from Kaifeng, and two hours rom Luoyang, which are both worth a visit. It's a few hours by bus from Shaolin Si.
On the plus side, 15,000 a month is a fortune for Zhengzhou. You would be hard-pressed to spend a quarter of that.
I'm not keen on the nightlife there. There's a club called Top Ten which is pretty good but the bar area is really lame, and not that cheap. I spent a night there on my own waiting for a connecting train and ended up going home at about eleven, as the bars I tried were so drab. There is supposedly and ex-pat hangout called Hank's but I couldn't find it, despite having the address written down and asking about five different people.
That's about all I know of the place.
|
|
Decurso
Barfly
Things you own end up owning you
Posts: 581
|
Post by Decurso on Dec 22, 2005 13:56:26 GMT 7
I was there a few weeks ago and I quite liked it.Very modern and very easy to get around despite it's size.There are a lot of sights to see outside the city...Shao Lin Shi and Song Shan are the two biggies.
The cost of living is said to be very cheap.Lots of latenight restaurants...including a western restaurant that serves steak for 25 yuan.I don't know about Hanks...but there is a great place called Target Pub that plays western music and even has a dart board.The owners name is Lao Wang...and the hefty prices(15 yuan for Tsing Tao) are offset by his generosity.He laid 5 free tequila shooters on me when I visited.
Another plus is that it's 6-8 hours of many worthwhile destinations...Luoyang,Jinan,Xian and Beijing are all easy to reach from here.All in all I'd be quite happy to live and work in Zhengzhou.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lotus Eater on Dec 22, 2005 18:48:13 GMT 7
I've spent a couple of weekends in Zhengzhou - Chinese mate of mine lives there. Housing is cheaper and more modern than many other similar places. The museum is a great little museum, the food is good.
My friend who lives there doesn't really like it - she believes that the people are far more money oriented than in Xi'an. But is is clean and easy to live in.
|
|
|
|
Post by hankuh on Dec 23, 2005 14:25:13 GMT 7
The babes in Zhengzhou are relatively cheap, and can easily be bought for a night's entertainment. They don't care nothin' about English, and that in itself means a great night!
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Gonzo on Dec 24, 2005 3:52:37 GMT 7
Erm, his wife will be with him, teaching ESL, but thanks THA, I'll pass that on too.
|
|
|
|
Post by Raoul Duke on Dec 28, 2005 22:34:15 GMT 7
A teacher who worked for me the first time I lived in Suzhou- a very cool young Australian man- came to us from Zhengzhou and he hated it. Was clawing at the walls to get out. I don't remember his specific problems with it but think he was mainly just bored to death there. I also remember the word "dirty" coming up a lot.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chips Downe on Jan 11, 2006 10:31:16 GMT 7
Zhengzhou must be one of the fastest developing cities in China... unfortunately that means it gets worse every year. Evidently it was a one horse town until it became the capital in 1950... now there's nothing left in the way of local charm, (but the museums are good)... as it continues to 'modernise' it becomes more car-oriented and less people-friendly. The authorities seem to regularly go out of their way to plasticize the place: the little restaurants become gaudy and the food gets worse; the street food vendors are sent scrambling and disappear... the markets are 'cleaned up' meaning loud piped music and women telling the vendors where to sit... (for god's sake... they'd do better directing the traffic!) Five years ago it was difficult but fun... now, despite the traffic, it's easy to get around but looks ok. Still, if I could find a school in Xi'an (I mean, in Xi'an, not Xi'an county) I'd go like a flash. Sorry, I'm a bit discouraged; shopkeepers have been particularly unfriendly in the last term around my new school - I'm often hungry, and now also cold... (tried shopping again last night..."meo, meo, meo" My student friends are busy doing exams... people I thought were good friends seem to have dropped me until the past week or so! "Are you having a New Year party this year?" Suddenly they're turning up, just before the Spring Festival... well, I gave quite a lot of money last year.) I used to relax by going to a small restaurant and having a drink and chatting in Chinese, instead of struggling with poor English and cultural arrogance - I haven't found a friendly one for miles around here... I've been invited to the country for the holiday but I know it would be too cold. Yeah, lots of my Chinese friends have left. The other poster is right though... sex is easy, although hardly thrilling...
Sorry, there's nowhere I'd recommend to go...and I have had lots of rich friends who took me out... I don't even have a favourite restaurant.
|
|
|
|
Post by Norbert Radd on Feb 18, 2006 20:44:17 GMT 7
The two can easily live on half his wife's salary if it's on the Henan scale. The best thing I found about zhengzhou was leaving it. It is definitely a good place to practice your mandarin because no one will speak english.
|
|
