Abcdavid01 in Shanghai

[abcdavid01]

abcdavid01 - Did the pollution in Shanghai bother you at all? How would you rate it on a scale of 1 to 10?!

I'm looking to go back to China, but I want to live in a city where the quality of life is high or at least similar to the USA and I can make a descent income.

Pollution's not terrible for China. I've heard it said that it's about Los Angeles level. I was only there in the summer though and I heard it gets worse in the winter.

There's a lot of little things that make it even more modern than USA. For example, outdoor ATMS are inside private booths to prevent identity theft. Besides air pollution it's actually cleaner than New York City (less garbage on the streets, etc).

[MarcosZeitola]

Pollution's not terrible for China. I've heard it said that it's about Los Angeles level. I was only there in the summer though and I heard it gets worse in the winter.

There's a lot of little things that make it even more modern than USA. For example, outdoor ATMS are inside private booths to prevent identity theft. Besides air pollution it's actually cleaner than New York City (less garbage on the streets, etc).

Any amount of pollution is instantly terrible, IMO. Big cities are not a good place to raise a family at any level. How are the options of going more rural in a place with more natural surroundings, in China? I have seen some pictures of Chinese nature and it looks rather fantastic. A lot more appealing then traffic lanes and busy nightlife. A place where the kids get to play on the street without fear of being run over by a truck, surely must exist.

[zboy1]

abcdavid01 - Did the pollution in Shanghai bother you at all? How would you rate it on a scale of 1 to 10?!

I'm looking to go back to China, but I want to live in a city where the quality of life is high or at least similar to the USA and I can make a descent income.

Pollution's not terrible for China. I've heard it said that it's about Los Angeles level. I was only there in the summer though and I heard it gets worse in the winter.

There's a lot of little things that make it even more modern than USA. For example, outdoor ATMS are inside private booths to prevent identity theft. Besides air pollution it's actually cleaner than New York City (less garbage on the streets, etc).

Yeah, I've been surprised that the air in Shanghai hasn't been bad as advertisedl; I expected much worse. The air in Shenzhen and Hangzhou is pretty good, too.

Avoid Beijing, though! LOL. It's always smoggy there. ...

[xiongmao]

Shanghai's pollution was pretty bad when I was there. It wasn't so noticeable at street level, but I went to the top of one of the skyscrapers there and it was pretty obvious the city was bathed in smog.

Wuhan was also bad, but when I went to the countryside with my girl it was even worse - you got agricultural pollution then or maybe smog from coal fired power stations.

Bangkok had pretty clean air in the rainy season, although it was worse in the dry season when more foreigners go. There isn't much wind in Asia, well not when you're used to living in a small island in the Atlantic Ocean like I am.

In China I'm more concerned about the pollution I can't see. I bought an anti-mosquito thing and I swear it damaged my nerve endings. A friend's mom died of lung cancer there a couple of years ago, and no she never smoked. Was it caused by their apartment paint or maybe the smoke from mosquito coils? And food quality was very bad compared to Thailand. Chinese supermarkets seemed to sell all the fruit and veg that a British or even a Thai supermarket would throw away.

One other micro-observation I had from China is that Chinese people take absolutely ages at ATMs. I found it really annoying!

[momopi]

Duende, I have Chinese teeth. You ever see a racist caricature of a Chinese guy with buck teeth? If anything it makes me look more Chinese. The family I'm with, the father and son have awful teeth too. My parents even made me have braces as a kid, but it didn't correct everything. I doubt it's hurting my chances with girls much here.

Get them fixed if you can. You should improve your looks as much as possible. Chinese women DO notice things like that.
Looking good >> Looking Chinese.

If anyone wants their buck teeth fixed fast, it can be done with dental caps. In ye olde days they were porcelain crowns, the latest are zirconia crowns. Yup, like cubic zirconias but without the bling.

I had 20 crowns (yes twenty) installed for that perfect smile in lieu of braces. They were installed within weeks, versus braces need years plus wearing retainers. I had dental issues because my wisdom teeth were growing sideways-ish.

[momopi]

In China I'm more concerned about the pollution I can't see. I bought an anti-mosquito thing and I swear it damaged my nerve endings. A friend's mom died of lung cancer there a couple of years ago, and no she never smoked. Was it caused by their apartment paint or maybe the smoke from mosquito coils? And food quality was very bad compared to Thailand. Chinese supermarkets seemed to sell all the fruit and veg that a British or even a Thai supermarket would throw away.

A friend of mine years ago was suffering from nerve damage that caused temporary blindness. She was raising show dogs and used flea dips without gloves. Usually if you only owned 1 or 2 dogs and used flea dips occasionally, the level of exposure was a non-issue. However she had a lot of dogs and heavy exposure to flea dips on weekly basis.

Oh and, the unappealing looking fruits and vegetables that used to get tossed, will probably soon make a comeback in Western Supermarkets, following France's success. Though I'd worry about veggies that looks TOO perfect on the shelves in China and question if formaldehyde had been used as a spray to prevent decay...

[abcdavid01]

About time I added some photos for my trip.



Making zongzi



In Fengjing



Beijing market



Shanghai





Jing'an Temple



Yuyuan

More pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129187998 ... 750486844/

I'm thinking about starting a blog. I'll post the journal I kept in China, my experience working at Disney World and whatever I do after I graduate.