I've been in Shanghai for about a week, so I thought I'd post about my trip so far. I'm on a woman finding trip, so read on if you're thinking of finding an Asian wife! I know Winston was asking about Chinese girls.
Also I've just read Mr S's great post about the Philippines. I've never been to the Philippines, but I have been to China and Japan in search of a wife. I still think I'm in the right country by sticking with China, although if I was starting afresh I'd be tempted to try Vietnam.
I can tell you that the flight from Heathrow to Shanghai was full of win. Clearly if you like beautiful women and you're marriage minded then China is the place to go in Asia. Also I got very broody after seeing so many cute Chinese/mixed babies.
It's so cold here my eyeballs are freezing. Please think twice before coming to China in Winter! I've picked up a bad cold (on top of the usual bad food/bug/skin problems) and it's really too cold/busy to do much in the way of sightseeing. Come to China in April or September/October. The rest of the year, stay at home! Also Chinese New Year is great if you like 8 hours of fireworks and firecrackers followed by 2 days of shockingly poor air quality.
There's plenty of money here, but at the same time it's a lot shabbier than Japan.
Japan doesn't have a 450km/h maglev train though! That's a good intro to the city of the future, and travelling so fast on land was a strange experience. Of course this being China you can't actually go into the centre of Shanghai on it, you need to transfer to taxi or metro. That took so long that I rather wished I'd just taken the metro from the airport in the first place!
Miss Xiongmao came to meet me from Southern China. So I didn't meet any new ladies this time. Miss Xiongmao is 12 years younger than me, and I am in awe of her smooth and soft skin and incredible chest. I don't know if all Asian ladies are so soft - she tells me only she is this soft.
I found her on Chinese Love Links, and I visited her for the first time last October. I guess here she's only regarded as average, but the chances of finding a girl like her back home are pretty remote. She is Cantonese, and they're often short and curvy, but on the plus side they have the mildest personalities in China (and if you're marrying a Chinese woman then that is a gigantic plus).
She really looked after me while I was here, and there are plenty of women who would quickly lose interest in an older guy with a terrible chest infection!
Is she the one? I'm still not sure, but this is down to a commitment issue on my part. That's not really unique to dating an Asian woman.
I will return to England to think, then maybe visit her again in the Spring. I have purposefully not met her family yet.
What I'll say about China is that the average woman is very hot here. Pretty much every woman here has a great pair of legs and lovely silky long hair. There are plenty of tall women here, and there's curves if you like that too. Chinese women also dress to impress. Another great thing is that some of them have a gigantic interest in sex.
On the downside it can be tremendously hard and also expensive to find a good Chinese wife. As Mr S says of the Philippines, the best girls are almost always taken by the locals, or they don't speak English. Most girls you see on dating sites have some sort of flaw. Some have nasty personalities. Some have little interest in sex. A lot have too much interest in money. Some are too intelligent for any man. Some are ugly (but often only by Chinese standards). There are plenty of scammers and hookers on there as well. This is my 4th visit to China and every time I visit I learn more about what really goes on here. I've dated around 12 Chinese women now, talked to hundreds on Chinese Love Links, Chnlove and China Love Match and I have to say that only about 5% of the women on these sites are worth marrying.
I'll say one thing though - the standard of English here is soaring. Miss Xiongmao is pretty much fluent, and she only went to an average University.
As to Shanghai, it's my first visit and it a lot different to Wuhan or Guangzhou. I may as well be in a different country. I'll post photos when I return home. To be honest it's been a big disappointment. The Bund is spectacular, the zoo wasn't bad and I loved the wooden model of the entire city of Shanghai. But on the whole the place is bland. For what it's worth, Miss Xiongmao thought pretty much the same thing.
I'm pleased with my Expedia hotel choice - yet again I picked a winner. It's around $40 a night for an executive room, which ain't bad for a place that's walking distance to The Bund and Nanjing Road. The place down the road is $400 a night, and it sure ain't gonna be 10x better than this place. Sure, you have to put up with the occasional cat having sex on the roof outside, and they never seem to deliver enough toilet paper. Maybe that's so the Chinese guests don't take it home.
On the downside the shopping in Shanghai is bland - Nanjing Road is just full of designer goods which are usually cheaper at home anyway. The metro is shabby and I can see why many Shanghai people mistrust it. Shanghai people speak a dialect that is incomprehensible to most Mandarin speakers. They clearly think they're superior to other Chinese, and they're not really into the whole multicultural thing that makes Cantonese cities such a joy to visit.
I've had to pay Westerners price for many things, including buying Miss Xiongmao the world's most expensive apples!
Service here is shockingly poor. I ordered chicken in one restaurant and ended up with hamburger. Fortunately the chicken was off so I escaped any problems here! McDonalds is attrocious here, the worst anywhere I have been. One Ramen restaurant we ordered in then 15 minutes later they told us the starter was out of stock. We got fed up with waiting in a freezing room and left before the mains arrived (English people are known to maintain that stiff upper lip at all times except when it comes to dining out).
So what have I learnt?
Chinese women are still in my opinion the best option for an Asian wife. I would however not go anywhere near Shanghai women. Well suffice to say everything you've heard about iPhones and LV bags is completely true. A friend of mine dated a Shanghai lady and he told me she had dollar signs for eyes.
I still think that if you want a Chinese wife then Guangzhou is the best place. Cantonese girls are terrific. The place is also awash with singles from Hunan and Hubei (also Sichuan but they rarely speak English or are well educated). And the warmer weather means there is a lot more flesh on display.
If you're more adventurous and want to brave the hostile climate and sometimes dodgy food then the are encircled by Wuhan/Changsha/Chongqing/Chengdu is also good. I once visited Yichang and the quality of ladies there was simply beyond belief. You'll have to take my word for it though because I saw no other Westerners there at all. And those who do visit there only go to get on the Yangtze boat cruise, they're not looking for Chinese women.
Back to Shanghai, and I have seen many Western men here with Chinese wives. Most of these men have bagged some seriously decent girl. In general 50yo+ men do well with elegant 36 yo women. 25-30 yo men seem to date girls the same age as them. As a 40yo man I seem to be in the minority here, I guess most men my age are still married to their western wives!
If you date a younger lady then be prepared to spend a lot/all of your money on your future babies. Children are worshipped by Chinese families. I saw one Shanghai guy (with LV bag wife) spend 525 RMB on books for his kids. Also if her family members get sick then be prepared for some sometimes gigantic medical bills. Yes, a Chinese wife is a big commitment.
Interestingly I've seen a lot of dating/marriage themed TV shows here, and some have had Western men on them. I think I've seen some of the YouTubes posted on this site. The Mandarin these guys speak is pretty impressive, but it doesn't seem to help in bagging a better looking wife.
Strange things about Shanghai: they have more coins here, in Guangzhou coins are extremely rare! M&M's are a different color here. People cross the road on the red man - this never happens in Japan. Also I saw hot dog sushi in one restaurant.
By the way, our hotel maid earns 1200 RMB a month (about $190). Wealth inequality here is staggering.
Anyway, if you have any comments or questions about China or Chinese women then leave your thoughts below!
