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Q: What do you look for in a city?
What kind of city do you prefer to live in, and what kind do you prefer to avoid? Rural or urban, big or small, northern or southern?
I'm content where I am for a plethora of reasons, but I admit the place where I live is a previously small and environmentally pleasant seaside city that is now rapidly being transformed into, well, something less desirable. But again, I'm content here and won't complain.
A few nice, clean parks to run and walk, with whatever the local flora can handle : trees, grass, even nice rocks and sand would do.
One spot to have a coffee and read a book on a terrace, with quiet surroundings.
Some wilderness or beach to enjoy close-by, say one hour drive.
Reliable supply of diverse vegetable, beer and wine.
Locals with some sense of civil behavior, who won't remind you every hour that you are not one of them.
royceH:
"Tell me one place, just one damn place, where people can enjoy the kind of life/freedom of which you speak, instead of the drudgery, filth and corruption that permeates through all facets of life in this great, historical (sic) land, and I'll go there. Just one place..."
Actually not a direct quote. Paraphrased. Anyway, it's from Billy Jack, one of the greatest movies ever.
DrMonkey:
He he, great quote ^^ I left my native land (France, South-West, the hilly part famous for wine, beaches and aerospace industry) because I was bored of it. I felt it would be a waste to not travel a lot when it's so easy. Now, I came to think that my native place fits all the points I mention. It sounds like a paradise to die for, in comparison to what I experience here. Because on top of having all my points, it's also relatively unpolluted and you got some serious civil society and welfare. I found some other places like that Down Under too. The drudgery will happen in the paradise too, it takes personal effort to fight it. Every time I will feel that my quiet western suburban area is boring, I will think of my life in China, and go running or go for a walk on the beach.
Mateusz:
"Locals with some sense of civil behavior, who won't remind you every hour that you are not one of them."
So, a non-Chinese city, in other words.
A smaller city, say less than 8 million souls. TIC. Some place I may ride my bike quickly. You know, few stoplights. A place with Mongolian BBQ everywhere, but not nearly as cold as Mongolia. A Starbucks would be nice, but not critical. Preferably close to Thailand and the east coast to save money on airfare. Oh, gyms everywhere. OK now I'm dreaming.
Single post.
I've just moved from Guangzhou to this very nice small town, with a hillside view from my apartment. Opposite is a female student dormitory from another school (don't start getting ideas!). The uni I'm in is just 4 stops from where I live. Food is cheap, air is clear and crisp, people are helpful (hope it keeps that way) and it's quiet and clean. Everything I want in a city. Finally.
Thanks a lot Scan! But you got the hint! louischuahm:
Mike@ Was in Shunde Daliang till last April. Moved up to Panyu for a year and now in Chongqing on a new gig. You are in Shunde now?
mike695ca:
No. Been in shenzhen for 2 years now. But spent years in Shunde. All my friends are there. Go back for all my free weekends. Lived exactly on the border of shunde and panyu.
louischuahm:
Mike@ I know where that is, Bi Gui Yuan. Shunde is still a small nice town. I lived in the industrial part near the bus station. Used to work in a factory in Daliang, think they've moved to Panyu, Shawan. Anyway, I had fun in Shunde, but won't be going back anytime soon.
Apart for the basic living standards (clean air, space and the like), I think a city should have a soul, I think a walk out should allow you to make nice and unexpected discoveries, may it be a place to sit, a place to buy stuff, a place to meet people, or anything else. A city should feel alive. Among the disadvantages of big cities, this should be one thing that make them worthy.
But China's big cities, spaces are either overly standardized (high riser, mall, mall, high riser, neat square with every square meter covered by cameras, high riser, hotel, mall, repeat), or overly disorganized as soon as you leave the developed centers (or the ghettos they couldn't demolish yet), with nothing to look forward to but the same dirty food joints, dodgy shops selling the same cheap products over and over. It's all completely boring and without surprise. Even historical spots feel completely fake and out of place. Urban equipments are not designed to be useful at anything, they just feel like stuff is put at places because it was part of a checklist leaked from some Hong Kong planning office no one understood but felt cool anyway (plus my friend has a factory that could use some orders).
The amount of public space in a city is a big thing - parks being a sign of this (and not being charged for the privalige 
)
many of the cities here in China feel so anonymous: just clones of each other.
as well, I look for a city with individual character.
most European cities have maintained unique historical buildings that celebrate their past. You can tell where you are in Europe by the building design of their oldest parts.
a city is a living thing where people live, not just somewhere for money to be made at every possible turn to the detriment of health.
Green areas, easy transport to other parts of the world, places to get away from all the crowds. I can't really think any city in China can match Zhuhai. It's proximity to Hong Kong/Macau gives the perfect escape, be it for just a couple of hours or a direct flight from HKIA to Frankfurt.
louischuahm:
Shunde is the best! A two hour boat ride direct to HK immigration. And no traffic problems! Can you beat that!
Scandinavian:
yeah, pretty easily. I can walk to Macau, and the boat ride to HK is just one hour (same ferry piers so same immigration)
DrMonkey:
I just checked out Zhuhai's Wikipedia entry. Sub-tropical climate without serious winter (I like Asia served warm and humid), and 1/5 of Suzhou's population, similar quality of life otherwise. If my emigration plan fails, sounds like a valid alternative ^^
Scandinavian:
You can certainly have a full plate of humid in Zhuhai, spring has some weeks of strange humid but cool air.
For example, walk outs on Sundays with family should be without the construction noise and dirt. Which is everywhere 24/7.
When I make my first steps out of my house, I really wish I don't see the small saliva lakes on every steps I do on my way to work. If I close my eyes, I will just have shoes literally full of this .... :(
Pub with reasonable beer prices. I am from beer nation, and pay 5 Euro for Buddha piss, or 10 Eur for Stella ?
Kindergarden for kids, where the main concern is not the dirty road from evening barbecues, sidewalks full of cars trying to kill you and your kid.
Neighbors who do not walk at home in High-heels.
Harmony, and as other said, city have to have soul. I simply miss the soul of Shanghai. Shanghai for me is a very impersonal, soulless city. Everything, everyone just move from A to B, nothing never stop...
Nessquick:
I am not Aussie, but I would like maybe, in some circumstances ... 
btw, I do not think any aussie can beat me in beer drinking competition :-P
Nessquick:
oups, should be " can't " beat me. my fault. 1-0 for you this game :)
Scandinavian:
The problem with Aussies: They think they are soooooo good at drinking beer when all they do is drink this thin piss with hardly any alchohol. Go to Prague, Brussels or Munich and enter any bar and ask for their strongest beer, I dare you.
The October Festival in Munich, if you ask for a light beer, apart from being smiled at awkwardly, you'll get a 1 liter mug of 4-5% of Bavarias finest "light" beer.
Beating an Aussie in a drinking contest is like beating a Chinese person in a "do not fart contest", I've had my share of Aussie colleagues (3 + an American guy who lived there for a while) and they all tumble at a stage of the drinking where a grown up Viking like me is thinking "When do we get started".
royceH:
Bavaria's finest, with an alcohol content of 4/5%， sounds just the ticket. How many of those do I ｈａｖｅ ｔｏ ｄｒｉｎｋ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｄｅｃｌａｒｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｗｉｎｎｅｒ？
Nessquick:
Not long time ago, I have read that some Viking descendants made the strongest beer ever. again. and it is about 60-70 degreess !!
Scandinavian:
@Nessi. it's not possible to brew beer with much more than 15-20% alcohol percentage as anything higher kills the natural alcohol producing process of the yeast, which is how beer gets its alcohol. Higher than that it is either added pure alcohol after the normal brewing or the final brew is somehow distilled. I wouldn't call it beer anymore. If it cannot be made under the rules of the worlds first food safety law "Reinheitsgebot" I will avoid it.
Nessquick:
Controversial Scottish brewery BrewDog claims that brew the strongest beer in the world. Tactital nuclear penguin how the new brand name, is equal to 32 percent alcohol by volume, beating previous records held by German beer Schorschbraer with 31 percent alcohol. Dark beer matured almost one and a half years in barrels of whiskey and then was stored for three weeks at -20 C to even increase the volume of alcohol.
royceH:
You're missing the whole point. The point of beer drinking is to spend the afternoon/evening with your mates while at the same time drinking an enormous quantity of beer and discussing life's serious issues; such as sport and politics. If you're in China, then you can add dolly birds walking by, to that list.
Any beer with an alcohol content much above 5 will preclude this whote premise.
When the whips are crackin. who's still there to engage...not the bloomin foreigners....
Nessquick:
not me, China is missing the whole point of drinking beer. and miss that point here too. as you said, drink beer and accusing the football referee of favoring the opponent, giving the best advice to our goverment and so on ... yeah, I miss this life point here :D
Fresh air, grass, birds, blue sky, outdoor places to drink cold beer...perhaps some live music on a Sunday afternoon. Some way of having a punt ｏn the neddy's. Golf that doesn't cost more than the GDP of a small country.
Sigh...
Perhaps this kind of thing is possible in another place. The Philippines?
Decent air quality, and "feeling."
There are plenty of really nice cities in China, but only a select few give me that special feeling. I wish I were articulate enough to put this feeling into words. Oh, wait... yeah, it makes you feel like you're home, and that you could easily make a life there. I've only felt that in 2 or 3 places out of the 300+ places I've visited.
Xiamen suits me well but the traffic is much worse now because of the subway construction...
