Foshan in the spotlight….
Sunday, July 18th, 2010Foshan vs Guangzhou
Guangzhou seem’s so great, how can Foshan be as…. good? Many locals say they prefer Foshan after having lived in Guangzhou. Guangzhou is great, there’s lots to do, many tourist sights to see, there’s a strong expat community and many foreigners live there.
That’s great if you’re looking for just another city. There are many westerners in Guangzhou and many have settled there. Guangzhou is riddled with western franchises in their masses including: Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, KFC and even Tesco. You’ll find prices in these places are on a par with England and if take to shopping you’ll find prices on designer goods are more expensive than in England.
Guangzhou is very expensive, comparable to Hong Kong or cities such as Manchester or Southampton in England and teachers’ salaries are relative in comparison. You’ll actually find you have less disposable income working in Guangzhou on a 10,000RMB salary than working in Foshan on a 6,000RMB salary due to much higher living costs in Guangzhou city center.
As a result of such a globalised and international economy focussed on international profit through goods manufacture you’ll find Guangzhou has little interest in maintaining it’s heritage and is far more focussed on the future. As a foreigner visiting such a fantastic country as China it’s quite unlikely you’ll want to see a repeat of your home city. It would be great to live in a city surrounded by chinese culture and architechture, where only a handful of westerners live and work. It is also warming to feel a more relaxed environment, people aren’t moving at 100 miles an hour and there aren’t so many millions of people living in the city centre.
As Foshan is so close to Guangzhou it’s such an easy commute you’ll be able to enjoy Guangzhou’s treasures at arms length. It’ll take just 30 minutes to reach Guangzhou on the bus from Foshan and you’ll have the luxury of not having to live in the heart of one of the most industrial cities in the world.