Is the air pollution (Smog) a big problem in Shanghai?

Western media are full of lies and distortions. They lie about everything. Anything that you have heard about china is more often than not terrible distortions and outright lies. china has pollution, it is true but it is quite different from what you are expecting. Shanghai is on the coast, and there isn't the kind of pollution that you have read about.

If you do an image search for Shanghai, you will notice that the vast bulk of photos have blue and clear skies. That's Shanghai.

Ok thx for your opinion i know that western media is as well manipulated as all the others thats why i asked here as i see you have lot of experience in Shanghai as you mentioned you live there for 15 years is that right? If you could pick out 3 negative points about shanghai, what would it be. I mean i hear a lot of positive things and everybody loves Shanghai, i just wanted to know if there are also downsides?

Well, I typed up a long explanation and it was eradicated during a youku update. drats.

I think that you misunderstand my experience. I lived in china for 15 years. But not in Shanghai. I lived in Shenzhen, Nanshan, Louhu, Wenzhou, Tangxia, Wenzhou and Zhuhai.

Never the less...

Hey, you want to go to Shanghai. Go. It's just like London, NY, or Sydney. It's a Western city. It's expensive, and full of non-Chinese. You can live there for years and never have any real Chinese experiences. It's a Western city, that happens to be located in china. That's it.

Now the disadvantages you asked about...

1.  It is terribly  expensive. you will pay (more than) New York prices for everything. As an expat you will not notice because the prices will resemble the super expensive things at your home country. Last trip (three weeks ago) My clients paid 5000 RMB/room while mine was 340 RMB a night. They ate 800 RMB/plate dinners while I dined on 125 RMB.

2.  The girls are tiger girls. When you go on a date with a Chinese girl in Shanghai, the chances are that she will be a local. Which mean that she will be a "tiger girl". This kind of girl will be your forever boss. She will rule, control and nag you. When you go out in public, she will tell you where to go. What to wear, how to act, and what to buy. You will follow her around a half a step back and carry her purse for her. Shanghai girls have this reputation. That's the way it is. True or false.



3.  It's full of foreigners. It is easy to surround yourself with other expats. Why go to a place that is hard to speak Chinese, meet Chinese people and do Chinese things. Shanghai is for expats. It is not really for Chinese. You will find it super easy to make expat friends in Shanghai. Just look at expat.com. They all want to hook up with each other as friends to go out. Hey! How about asking that pretty local Chinese girl in the lobby instead? eh?



Your choice. don't make the same mistakes as everyone else.