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[YetAnotherCanadian]

I give China a solid five. And when I say that I'm talking extremes: I absolutely love 50% of what China has to offer (the convenience, the shedding of western social expectations, the emphasis on stimulation of all varieties). But I loathe the other 50% (don't need to give examples here). I'm thus a solid five out of ten.

'ow about ye'?

[x0vash0x]

I give China a solid five. And when I say that I'm talking extremes: I absolutely love 50% of what China has to offer (the convenience, the shedding of western social expectations, the emphasis on stimulation of all varieties). But I loathe the other 50% (don't need to give examples here). I'm thus a solid five out of ten.

'ow about ye'?

8/10

I generally love China's lack of Westernization. Actually, I should specify Hefei's lack of Westernization. If I lived in Shanghai, I'd probably give my living experience a lower score (I don't like Shanghai) since it's basically another international city.

My biggest issues are the Great Firewall/Intenet access in general and the lack of understanding how things work.  Seriously, I hate needing a VPN to watch a YouTube video of kittens. Also, not wearing a jacket for ten minutes is not why I'm sick. I'm sick because my sinuses are screwed up. And no, 999 isn't going to help me, I need a potent antibiotic.

[YetAnotherCanadian]

I give China a solid five. And when I say that I'm talking extremes: I absolutely love 50% of what China has to offer (the convenience, the shedding of western social expectations, the emphasis on stimulation of all varieties). But I loathe the other 50% (don't need to give examples here). I'm thus a solid five out of ten.

'ow about ye'?

8/10

I generally love China's lack of Westernization. Actually, I should specify Hefei's lack of Westernization. If I lived in Shanghai, I'd probably give my living experience a lower score (I don't like Shanghai) since it's basically another international city.

My biggest issues are the Great Firewall/Intenet access in general and the lack of understanding how things work.  Seriously, I hate needing a VPN to watch a YouTube video of kittens. Also, not wearing a jacket for ten minutes is not why I'm sick. I'm sick because my sinuses are screwed up. And no, 999 isn't going to help me, I need a potent antibiotic.

That's a fair comment about Shanghai. Actually, my 5/10 is with reference to Shanghai (the only Chinese city I've lived in). I likely would have enjoyed China more had I lived in a place like Hefei.

[x0vash0x]

I've actually thought about this question a lot since you first asked it. I think this question can be split into two parts:

1. How do you rank your quality of life?
2. How much do you enjoy living in China?

I think the two are vastly different questions.

I think my quality of life in China is a 9/10. Personally, besides pollution and healthcare, and even then, healthcare you can just got to a first tier city if it's a big issue. I really don't feel China is a bad place to live, especially in second and third tier cities. They're extremely cheap to live. You don't absolutely need to learn the language to be successful (although it is remarkably helpful). So, overall, and besides pollution, I think the quality of life in China is MUCH better than anything I could have in the United States or many European Countries. Taxes are much lower. My income in China is tax exempt from the U.S. I also enjoy the lack of any kind of rule of law. Some people complain about this, but frankly, I love this. Coming from a libertarian perspective, I love the grey area that is most of China. Want to start a business? Then do it. Need a business license, well, there's a guy who'll sell you one. I love the lawlessness of China. I'll be sad when it changes.

In terms of how much do I enjoy living in China, I'd give it a 7/10. First is getting used to the cultural aspects of living in China, but there's not much I can complain about. The constant smoking never bothered me (again, coming from a libertarian leaning individual, I say 'light one up!'). Sure, it gets annoying needing a VPN to go to a lot of websites, but do I really NEED to watch that video of kittens on YouTube or check my FaceBook every ten minutes? To me, needing a VPN serves as a barrier to going on the internet, and really, most of the things I do on the internet I don't absolutely need to do. Same thing with TV. I mean, how much do I really need to watch TV? Why not do something constructive like learn a hobby or focus on work?

My biggest complain about living in China is the lack of knowledge about how things work and this is my biggest annoyance. First of all, hot water does not cure cancer and second cold weather isn't why people get sick. It's like China developed without telling the regular Chinese individual how to adapt. It's like their country just developed around them and their still stuck a hundred years in the past in terms of mentality and knowledge of how things work. I don't mean this to say that Chinese are stupid, only that things that many westerns would consider 'common sense' is lost on Chinese. I put this into the 'cultural differences' category. After all, how many Chinese think foreigners lack 'common sense'? But, this cultural difference really bugs me at times.

[YetAnotherCanadian]

I guess I'd still tie the two questions together because my quality of life tends to dictate how much I like a place. Also, I think a person's expectations around living standards go up as you get older. When I was 25, for example, I loved China's grunginess and raw/unlawful (yet safe) take on day-to-day life. Adulthood in China seems to gravitate towards remaining stimulated as often as possible, which is awesome when you're young, but now that I'm 37 and have a wife and child, that sort of living has lost a lot of its appeal. I no longer appreciate the pollution, getting hustled by street vendors, the noise, the queue jumping, the BBQ sticks all over the sidewalk, hearing married colleagues talk about KTV adventures, sticky-fingered cashiers, getting photographed or randomly yelled "hello" at (...) these were the little things that made China so unique and vibrant to me once upon a time. Today, they are little challenges I'm very happy to do without. I just want to take my kid to the park in a clean environment among people capable of minding their own business / order in some food at home and not have to worry about whether it's safe to give my kid. That's just me, though. I totally respect others that fit well with the China scene.