My choices...?!

[Loops]

I just wanted to know if by choosing the Boland school in Suzhou, I had made a good choice. Does anyone know anything about that school? Good or bad, spill the beans, please.
Raoul gave me some positive feedback on that and I thank him. I just want some reinforcement on what he said.

I am also wondering about Suzhou and how it fares compared to other cities. Once again, spill them beans folks!

Thanking y'all in advance,
loops

[George61]

I couldn't tell you any more than Raoul. He is the acknowledged World Expert on Suzhou...........aand Tequila!

[Lotus Eater]

I have no idea about Boland, but I am in Xi'an and love it. It's a dead easy city to live in. Enough of everything (nightlife, expats, western food supermarkets etc) to do but still retains it's "Chinese" character. So you can choose a 'western' lifestyle, a Chinese one or a mix as suits your needs. Smack in the middle of the country so transport to everywhere is brilliant.

Plenty of work here as well.

[Loops]

I know Xi'an, a bit, I was there in 2002 to visit my uncle who was the general manager for the Shangri La Golden Flower hotel. I stayed in the premium suite(yeah baby!) and had my fair share of great food in the muslim quarter. I also loved the Terracotta Warriors site. I can't remember much of the names of the places I visited, I had my own car and driver with a guide on the side all provided for by my uncle so I never really had to interact with the locals, it was all done for me. I went to a couple of good bars when the sun went down but then again I was wit the hotels F&B manager who refused to let me either pay or order anything... I guess he was trying to impress my uncle by taking care of me. All in all I loved it and would go back. One drawback in Xi'an was the pollution.

[Newbs]

"Above there is heaven, on earth there is Hangzhou and Suzhou"
Loops, if you ain't ever heard that expression before don't worry, you'll be damned tired of hearing it soon after you get to China.

RAOUL, DON'T READ THE NEXT BIT! I lived in Hangzhou for a year, and I've visited Suzhou lots of times, but never worked there. When all is said and done, Suzhou has it over Hangzhou. Smaller, yes really, nicer city to live in and easier and quicker to get to Shanghai when you want your fix of the big smoke.

Main negatives about Suzhou are that it doesn't have an international airport and there's some mad Yank who lives there.

[Loops]

Newbs: Yes, I have heard that before...by the big smoke you mean pollution, right...? Are you in Suzhou now or still in Hangzhou?

Thanks for the info, Newbs!

[Norbert Radd]

If your accomodation is OK, everything else will be where ever you are. I don't know about night clubs anywhere in China but if you're coming here for nightlife, you might be disappointed. Good luck with the teaching. It seems there's an over-supply of gringos and an under-supply of able instructors.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Loops, "big smoke" means big city. "The sticks" means the opposite, where some people end up. Suzhou is a pretty, well resourced city. Its close to the mega metropolis, Shanghai, which is about as big as cities get.
So Suzhou is a good location. Decent housing, regular pay, OK hours and employers and life will be SWEET. Dine out every night. Pay people to iron your shirts. Checkout girls will offer free french polishing services.
PS If Raoul said something, believe it. He doesn't give approval easily.

[Loops]

Thanks Doc, Norad! You guys are swell!

no, I don't really use that word and yes please do kick me if you ever hear me using it again!

[Lotus Eater]

Not sure what you mean by 'disappointed in the nightlife'. Xi'an is small by Chinese standards and I could still hit a different bar and nightclub every week and not finish seeing them all!

Although my favourite Snake Bar has closed down - maybe for the festival. I figure the snake eating the girls clothes became too expensive for the management every night.

If you live in tiny places it might be more difficult - but if it has universities it generally has bars!

[ilunga]

True Xi'an has a lot of bars and clubs but they're all a bit samey. That's probably what he meant. I think in general the nightlife is disappointing in China. At least compared with every othet country I've visited.

[Lotus Eater]

Music man for Fri/Sat nights (my favourite Xinjiang guitar player does those nights - different type of music (rock etc) during the week), Jazz bar for live jazz afterwards, Tibetan bar for loud Tibetan music, Youth Hostel bar South Gate for music and pool, Youth Hostel bar (Zhong Lou) music plus movie showings, Snake bar (maybe demised) for live shows of all sorts of odd bits and pieces, weird little art college bar for dancing + "happenings", On The Road bar for mellower live music, then all of the ones in Kaffei Lu for upcoming live Chinese stuff - some pop, some heavier, Night Cat for loud music and drinking, then there are the discos. Just off the top of my head. And that's not counting just the quiet drinking bars - Green Island, Fan's Bar, Back Road etc that are all over the place.

Ilunga - who's been taking you out?

[Raoul Duke]

Thanks, guys, by the way.

Noobs, I didn't read your bit but I regard both of those things as positives.

Dr. G doesn't quite have it right either...I'm just a big fluffy pushover for oral sex and narcotics.

[ilunga]

I probably should have gone into a bit more detail lotus. I think the clubs are all pretty much the same. Nightcat, 1+1, Babyface, Mix, Babi.... Same layout, same music, same kinds of people, same overpriced drinks. That's just the Chinese style. Everything is so organised and samey. Maybe there's a decent club or two that I haven't yet discovered.

I've been to Jazz Bar a couple of times. The hostel bar at South Gate is pretty decent. Green Island is cheap, and walkable. Just a regular quiet bar. There isn't any kind of bar scene though. I've walked down 'bar street' at 10-11pm on a weekend and there's hardly anyone about.

I prefer getting in a load of hans beer, inviting people over and going to a club afterwards. I don't mind the music if I've consumed enough and it saves paying the extortionate prices.

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I'm a poor student now and don't want to paying out to sit in a bar with a handful of people when I can do it a lot cheaper at home.

Beijing and Shanghai have good nightlife though

PS I'm not dissing Xi'an. I just expected the nightlife to be a bit more varied than little Luoyang. As far as clubs go it isn't.

[Lotus Eater]

Maybe that's why I go back to the same ones each time - I know what I want on that night and exactly where to get it. Getting old maybe??

[ilunga]

I don't know. I used to always go to the same bar and club in Luoyang. I don't have anything like that here - a place where I can just go on my own and feel comfortable. I like Xi'an but I feel it's stuck somewhere between small town and big city mentality. It's hard to describe. I don't know if I'm getting a bit of China fatigue. I'm getting bored and restless. Maybe it's just the winter blues. I'm sure it'll pass.

Am I going off-topic? I can't remember what the original topic was. I find that happens a lot on here.

[Lotus Eater]

I've just come back from Kulala with a bunch of students (who aren't mine, but rang me up,and asked me to go dancing). This doesn't happen in Oz - no univerity students ask somone old enough to be their mother to go to discos with them!!

Xi'an's charm is exactly what you are describing. It is a HUGE city (especially by Oz standrads) but still incredibly traditional in outlook. Look at Lantern Festival - it was fabulous.

So the night scene is slightly schizophrenic. But I go to those night clubs BECAUSE the music is loud frenetic and the dance floors are crowded as. I have a ball and usually end up dancing on the stage - often at the invite of the DJ.

Xi'an is a great city. For quiet drinks i go to the local bar - They know me and my friends. Not flash, but easy as to sit and chat in.

[con's fly is open]

Can't speak to Xi'an, but Suzhou's awful pretty. Lotsa canals.